ACT for America
Other names: ACT
Type: Anti-Muslim group
Founded: 2007
Location: Washington D.C., U.S
Organisation Ideology: Radical Christianity / Racism / Anti-Muslim
Leadership: Brigitte Gabriel
Online Resources
Official website: Act for America
356k followers
84k subscribers
221k followers
247k followers
Overview
ACT for America was established in 2004, and was initially named the American Congress for Truth. In 2007, ACT for America became the official name of the organisation. ACT describes itself as “dedicated to combatting the threat of radical Islam”, and is considered the largest an anti-Muslim grassroots organization in the U.S., with an estimated 750,000 members countrywide. The organization also claims it advances anti-Muslim legislation at the local and federal levels, while continuously targeting Islam as a religion, likening it to Nazism, and targeting American Muslims as traitors, with some calls for the eradication of
Brigitte Gabriel - the founder of ACT for America - stated that every Muslim is a radical, and any woman who wears a hijab is an extremist. Since ACT promotes anti-Muslim theories, vilifies American Muslims, and conflates mainstream Islam with radical Islam, it was designated as an anti-Muslim hate group.
In 2008, a year after establishing the organization, Gabriel released her book, titled: "They Must Be Stopped: Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam and How We Can Do It". In her book, Gabriel stated that “It is not yet politically correct to talk about a religious war. But this is exactly what we are facing: a religious war declared against us by devout Muslims.”
Ties to Extremism
In 2007, Gabriel gave a lecture at the Department of Defense’s Joint Forces Staff College to military officers, stated that “American Muslims should be prohibited from holding public office in the United States”, further adding that “a practicing Muslim who believes the word of the Koran to be the word of Allah … who goes to mosque and prays every Friday, who prays five times a day — this practicing Muslim, who believes in the teachings of the Koran, cannot be a loyal citizen of the United States.”
In a CNN interview in 2011, Gabriel said “America has been infiltrated on all levels by radicals who wish to harm America. They have infiltrated us at the CIA, at the FBI, at the Pentagon, at the State Department. They're being radicalized in radical mosques, in our cities and communities within the United States."
On the other hand, ACT published "Education or Indoctrination? The Treatment of Islam in 6th through 12th Grade American Textbooks" report in 2012. The report criticized textbooks for failing to “accurately” depict Islam and its historical role.
ACT continued its anti-Muslim activities by organizing a “March Against Sharia” protest in 28 cities across the United States in 2017. The aim of this march was to safeguard women and children from the fictitious danger of “Sharia rule”. The protest came under heavy criticism for the attendance of neo-Nazis such as Billy Roper.