The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) “demands” to be the “arbiter” who decides if a Center for Security Policy (CSP) official is allowed to continue to own a minor league baseball team in Connecticut, Frank Gaffney revealed this week.

Gaffney, the executive chairman of the CSP think tank, convened a Facebook Live panel discussion to discuss the issue on Thursday.

The Connecticut chapter of CAIR has targeted E. Miles Prentice, the chairman of the CSP board of directors, Gaffney, a former Pentagon official under Ronald Reagan, said.

With the support of Connecticut Democrat officials, CAIR is reportedly demanding that Prentice cut his ties to the think tank.

Gaffney explained on Thursday:

The Council on American-Islamic Relations Connecticut [CT] chapter demands that it be the interlocutor, that it be the arbiter of whether Miles Prentice is allowed to have a baseball team in Norwich, Connecticut, or not. And the price of his being able to do that has to be disassociating himself from the Center for Security Policy … The situation of Miles Prentice is just a microcosm of what is happening to this country much more broadly. … This is part of the stealth jihad against America. Make no mistake about it, Miles is simply the latest target. I commend him for standing up to it, and I hope that he will — with your help, that of the mayor, and the people of Norwich, Connecticut, and across this country — succeed in continuing to help fight the good fight for freedom, for our Constitution, and for the American way.

John Rossomondo, a senior analyst at the Investigative Project on Terrorism who participated in the panel discussion, wrote a report on Monday describing Prentice’s predicament in Connecticut.

He noted that officials from the Connecticut Democratic party are calling on Prentice to meet with CAIR as demanded by the Muslim group.

In a joint statement carried by the Norwich Bulletin, Connecticut state Democrat lawmakers Sen. Cathy Osten as well as Reps. Emmet Riley and Kevin Ryan declared:

While Mr. Prentice is allowed to have his own political opinions, it is clear that the Center for Security Policy supports anti-Muslim rhetoric, something that risks the safety and security of many, especially today. We encourage Mr. Prentice and CAIR to attempt to work toward a better understanding between them.

Early this month, the Norwich Bulletin reported that Tark Aouadi, the executive director of the CAIR CT chapter, is demanding to meet with Prentice to discuss his connection to CSP.

“They’ve funded all sorts of anti-Muslim bigotry,” Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for CAIR, told the Norwich Bulletin, referring to CSP.

Prentice has declined to meet with the group, telling the Associated Press (AP) in a statement:

My colleagues and I at the Center for Security Policy are more than willing to debate the content of our research and advocacy on behalf of freedom and the practice of peace through strength with Americans of differing views, but who are also committed to freedom and our Constitution. We see no utility, however, to meeting with, or otherwise legitimizing, those who seek to silence us or are associated with terrorist organizations like Hamas.

Norwich Democratic Committee member Tracey Burto indicated to the local newspaper that Prentice must cut his ties to the CSP.

Citing the report from the Norwich Bulletin, Rossomondo noted:

The Connecticut Tigers lease a city-owned stadium and are negotiating a 10-year lease extension. Burto, Aouadi [from CAIR] and other people attended last week’s meeting of the Norwich Baseball Stadium Authority to voice their concerns about Prentice’s CSP ties.

“I really think his being part of an anti-Muslim hate group is completely inappropriate,” Burto argued.

The panel of experts who participated in the CSP-sponsored discussion on Thursday, including retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. William “Jerry” Boykin, accused CAIR of having links to terrorism, namely the Palestinian group Hamas. Gen. Boykin served as undersecretary of defense for intelligence.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has designated CAIR a terrorist organization.

Panelist Robert Muise, the co-founder of the American Freedom Law Center, also said CAIR is running a “global money laundering” operation.

Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, the co-Founder of the Muslim Reform Movement and president of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, added that CAIR is a threat to Islamic adherents in the United States.

Jasser, a U.S. Navy veteran, further noted that the organization “represents Islamists,” not American Muslims.

CAIR is attempting to vilify Prentice for his work at CSP to silence or otherwise suppress those who disagree with their Sharia-supremacist agenda, Gaffney said during the event.

In a report issued in June, CAIR deemed CSP “a well- known far-right hate group” and member a so-called “Islamophobia Network” that espouses “extreme anti-Muslim animus” and works “to negatively influence public opinion and government policy about Muslims and Islam.”

Investigative reporter and panelist James Simpson noted that CAIR deemed any group who uses the word jihad or radical Islamic terrorism as a proponent of anti-Muslim bigotry and Islamophobia.