ACTOR MIKE FARRELL & SHERIFF BACA JOIN COALITION OF CIVIC & FAITH LEADERS IN SPEAKING OUT AGAINST ANTI-MUSLIM DVD

ACTOR MIKE FARRELL & SHERIFF BACA
JOIN COALITION OF CIVIC & FAITH LEADERS
IN SPEAKING OUT AGAINST ANTI-MUSLIM DVD

(Los Angeles - 10/10/08) -- Sheriff Lee Baca and LAPD Captain Mike Downing will join actor Mike Farrell and the newly formed Coalition for Renewing American Democracy to speak out against an anti-Muslim film called "Obsession" during a press conference on Monday, October 13 in Los Angeles.

The DVD, called "Obsession: Radical Islam's War with the West," has been distributed to 28 million households in election swing states, and has been widely criticized as a divisive political ploy.

WHAT: SHERIFF BACA JOINS CIVIC-FAITH COALITION IN SPEAKING OUT
AGAINST MASS DISTRIBUTION OF ANTI-MUSLIM DVD

WHEN: Monday, October 13, 2008 at 10:00 a.m.

WHERE: Islamic Center of Southern California
434 S. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90010

WHO: Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca
Actor Mike Farrell
Captain Mike Downing (Los Angeles Police Department)
Xandra Kayden (Coalition member, League of Women Voters)
Rabbi Steven Jacobs (Coalition member, Progressive Faith Foundation)
Rabbi Allen Freehling (Coalition member, L.A. City Commission on
Human Relations)
Salam Al-Marayati (Coalition member, Muslim Public Affairs Council)
Dr. Maher Hathout (Coalition member, Muslim Public Affairs Council)

The coalition will also release a statement, signed by more than a dozen religious, civic and law enforcement officials, voicing their "deep concern over the recent distribution of a deeply divisive and anger-provoking DVD" which undermines "our common and cherished beliefs by inciting fear and furthering ignorant stereotypes."

The statement from the Coalition for Renewing American Democracy reads, in part:

We, as members of civic and religious organizations along with law enforcement, come together united against hate and extremism. We believe that the best way to counter political and religious extremism is through cooperation and coordination. Those who divide our pluralism along the lines of religious or political views only further the cause of extremism. They profit from the fear generated from propaganda while we are on the front lines of pursuing effective public policy to eradicate terrorism.

We have come together to express our deep outrage over the recent distribution of a divisive and hate-provoking DVD called "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West" to residents across the nation.... Invoking fear and anger in American voters is never the way to address the real problems of extremism and terrorism, and in a city as diverse and complex as Los Angeles -- at a time of great economic uncertainty -- this sort of hatred and blind tarring of a people and a faith is painful and dangerous.

America stands for the core values of freedom of speech, freedom of religion, pluralism, and equality for all. The Coalition for Renewing American Democracy seeks to work with a diverse group of faith and civic leaders and communities to renew America's promise by engaging elected officials and community leaders to promote security and guard against discrimination.

Founded in 1988, the Muslim Public Affairs Council is an American institution which informs and shapes public opinion and policy by serving as a trusted resource to decision makers in government, media and policy institutions. MPAC is also committed to developing leaders with the purpose of enhancing the political and civic participation of Muslim Americans.