Source: News and Observer
On June 12, 2003 the News and Observer reported that the American Muslim Council and other Islamic advocacy groups held a conference "which aimed to enlist mosque leaders, called imams, in the fight to roll back some of the broad new enforcement powers that authorities are using in the domestic hunt for terrorists. Speakers decried the government's shutdown of some Muslim charities in the United States, lengthy detention of terrorism suspects and immigrants and the surveillance of mosques. The event was organized by the Washington-based American Muslim Council, among several Islamic advocacy groups searching for candidates in the 2004 elections who will give importance to Muslim civil rights problems in their campaigns."