Cop Defies Order to Celebrate Islam

'Startling example of double standard when Christian civil rights are involved'

A public-interest law firm is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case of a Christian police captain in Oklahoma who refused to attend, or order officers under his command to attend, services at an Islamic mosque with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.

As WND reported in May, a panel of federal judges in Denver, in an opinion written by Judge Harris Hartz, found that it is perfectly appropriate for a police chief to order subordinates to attend an Islamic mosque where Muslims “discussed Islamic beliefs, Muhammad, Mecca, and why and how Muslims pray” in addition to encouraging officers “to buy” Islamic books and pamphlets that were for sale.

The lower-court ruling came May 21 from the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a case brought by Capt. Paul Fields, who had been ordered by Tulsa police officials to either go to a special event at the local mosque himself, or order others to do that.

Fields, a 16-year police veteran, refused based on religious freedom objections and was punished for doing so.

“This case is another startling example of applying a double standard when Christian civil rights are involved,” said Richard Thompson, president and chief counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, or TMLC, which has filed a petition in the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision. “If this were a Catholic or Protestant prayer event, I am positive no Muslim police officer would have been ordered to attend. Further, no federal court would have approved the punishment of a Muslim officer had he refused to attend.”

The police department executives had promised they would send officers to the mosque for Muslims to talk to them about the Quran, Muhammad and their other beliefs, but were unable to find volunteers. So they issued an order making attendance mandatory.

“The event at issue, dubbed ‘Law Enforcement Appreciation Day,’ had nothing to do with any official police function,” said a statement from TMLC. “Rather, it included a mosque tour, meetings with local Muslims and Muslim leadership, observing a weekly prayer service, familiarizing the officers with Islamic religious books, and lectures on Islamic beliefs, Muhammad, Mecca, and how Muslims pray. The event was scheduled for Friday, March 4, 2011 – Friday being the Islamic ‘holy day.’”

Fields objected, telling officials, “Please consider this email my official notification to the Tulsa Police Department and the City of Tulsa that I intend not to follow this directive, nor require any of my subordinates to do so if they share similar religious convictions.”

After the event, a photo of the officers attending the function was posted on the mosque’s website with the caption, “Discover Islam Classes for Non-Muslims.”

According to TMLC, a week before the event, the mosque hosted a dinner and speech by Imam Siraj Wahhaj, an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. In 1992, Wahhaj reportedly told a Muslim audience in New Jersey, “If only Muslims were more clever politically, they could take over the United States and replace its constitutional government with a caliphate.” Wahhaj has also said, “In time, this so-called democracy will crumble, and there will be nothing, and the only thing that will remain will be Islam.”

Police officials immediately launched an internal affairs investigation which resulted in a two-week suspension for Fields. TMLC states that Fields was stripped of his command and transferred to another division where he was subsequently assigned to the graveyard shift.

When he filed a lawsuit against the city of Tulsa, TMLC said, “The city issued a personnel order against Captain Fields reflecting that the lawsuit and the publicity the lawsuit garnered brought discredit upon their police department.”

According to the firm, Field’s immediate supervisor, Police Maj. Julie Harris, testified:

• The Tulsa Police Department retaliated against Fields for exercising his constitutional rights.
• Fields had the right to object to the order to attend the mosque because of his deeply held religious beliefs.
• Fields was punitively transferred for invoking his constitutional rights.
• There was no need for Fields to attend the mosque if he had a religious conviction against doing so and there was no crime to investigate.
• Fields was the top performing shift commander in his division.
• Fields’ punishment was inconsistent with other similarly situated officers of his rank.
• The allegations of the internal investigation of Fields could not be sustained.

“The matter is now ripe for the United States Supreme Court’s review. As the petition states, the city of Tulsa has been allowed to punish a public employee, Capt. Fields, for his right to seek redress of a civil rights violation in court,” said Erin Mersino, the TMLC attorney handling the case. “The Thomas More Law Center is hopeful that the United States Supreme Court will step in to right the wrongful punishment and retaliation Capt. Fields has faced because of his Christian beliefs.”

Source: http://www.wnd.com/2014/09/supremes-asked-to-review-case-of-cop-ordered-to-attend-mosque/