It’s in Los Angeles, with one of the nation’s largest Muslim populations, where leaders face the biggest challenge with buy-in on Countering Violent Extremism, and where the program’s success or failure will likely be decided. The Obama administration is piloting programs in Boston, Los Angeles and Minneapolis focused on tackling global terrorism on a local scale. But some community members and activists worry the efforts will amount to wide-scale government surveillance of Muslim communities.
Officials offered details in February at a White House summit at which President Barack Obama declared Muslims need to fight a misconception that groups like the Islamic State speak for them, even as senior administration officials insisted they were not focusing exclusively on the threat from the Islamic State group, which has recruited from many walks of life. Local law enforcement officials have been doing such outreach for years.
