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CAIR wants to stop controversial UCF professor from speaking in Brevard

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — An Islamic-American group is asking Brevard County not to rent out meeting space to what it calls an anti-Islamic hate group.

  Act For America's guest speaker Tuesday night is controversial University of Central Florida communications professor John Matusitz, who's come under fire recently for his views about terrorism.

Channel 9's Kathi Belich learned the issue has gotten people fired up, and Brevard County commissioners have been getting emails asking them to deny the group a venue.

"When my colleagues tell me that Islam is a religion of peace, I tell them that Islam is a religion of pieces, piece of body here, piece of body there," Matustiz has said.

Act For America has been renting the Brevard commission room at $20 an hour for nearly two years, but the Council on American-Islamic Relations doesn't think it's right that county taxpayers subsidize the use of the space to what they said is a hate group that incites violence like the Ku Klux Klan.

"Both the KKK and Act promote hatred against particular minorities," said Hassan Shibly, of CAIR. "In this case, Act demonizes the entire American-Muslim community."

Brevard County manager Howard Tipton told Channel 9 he's checked  Act's invitation and website and saw no mention of violence.

"It was basically a 'come and hear our perspective,' and that's a time-honored tradition for public places and is certainly consistent with our county's position on First Amendment rights," he said.

Tipton said he'd surely face a lawsuit for banning Act from meeting at the commission room.