(Newser) – Rep. Peter King says his controversial hearings on Muslim radicalization in the US have uncovered some actual radicals. As the hearings resumed today, King declared that 40 Americans and 20 Canadians have signed up with Al-Shabab, a Somali insurgent group with ties to al-Qaeda, the National Post reports. “We must face the reality that al-Shabab is a growing threat to our homeland,” said King.

US counterterrorism officials haven’t confirmed King’s figure, though the government has in the past said that at least 21 Americans are believed to have joined the group, according to the AP. King also berated the "vacuous ideologues" at the New York Times for a story criticizing his hearings in light of the Oslo massacre, which was allegedly the work of an anti-Muslim fanatic. “There is no equivalency in the threat to our homeland from a deranged gunman and the international terror apparatus of al-Qaeda and its affiliates,” he said. (Read more Peter King stories.)

