New Jersey’s longest-serving Muslim mayor was blocked from attending a White House reception to celebrate the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Fitr.
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Mayor Mohamed Khairullah of Prospect Park was not allowed to attend Monday night’s Eid al-Fitr reception with President Biden, News 12 NJ first reported.
“I guess I’m back to being accused of something,” the mayor told a reporter. He was referring to a 2019 incident where he was detained at JFK Airport.
A spokesman for the Secret Service confirmed that the mayor wasn’t allowed in.
“While we regret any inconvenience this may have caused, the mayor was not allowed to enter the White House complex this evening. Unfortunately we are not able to comment further on the specific protective means and methods used to conduct our security operations at the White House,” a spokesperson for the Secret Service said in a statement.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations is condemning the incident.
“We call on the White House to override the Secret Service and reinstate the mayor’s invitation, disband the secret watchlist, and issue an apology to [Mayor Khairullah],” a spokesperson for CAIR wrote in a statement.