
A Florida mosque tied to radical Muslim figures has received federal funding for a program aimed at preventing terrorist attacks.
The Biden administrationâs Department of Homeland Security (DHS) awarded more than $440,000 to the Valrico-based Deen Center in Fiscal Year 2024, Florida records show. The Deen Centerâs staff have promoted individuals who have defended violent âjihad,â called Jews âoppressorsâ and said âthe Jews ⌠control the whole world by the money,â among other extreme rhetoric, the Washington Free Beacon first reported.
The Deen Center did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Deen Center founder Eddie Redzovic has hosted multiple extremists on his program âThe Deen Show,â including a conspiracy theorist in 2020 who said 9/11 was a âfalse flagâ designed to incite hatred toward Muslims while Redzovic expressed agreement. A Muslim guest in 2021 described âthe Jewsâ as âthe oppressorsâ and âour enemies.â
A 2023 guest on Redzovicâs show was a pastor who said that âthe Jews have been doing Freemason secret rituals beneath the Temple Mount for quite some time in the tunnels.â
A Saudi-based Muslim cleric who has stated that âthe Jews ⌠control the whole world by the moneyâ also appeared in a video promoting the Deen Center.
The Deen Centerâs website also boasts of endorsements from scholars such as Bilal Philips, a preacher who was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombings but never charged. The U.S. and other countries have banned or deported Philips over his support for Islamic terrorism, according to Counter Extremism Project.
The website also features an endorsement from a British cleric who has declared that âIslam teaches its followers to seek death on the battlefieldâ and âdying while fighting jihad is one of the surest ways to paradise and Allahâs good pleasure.â
The funding for the Deen Center was awarded under the DHSâs Nonprofit Security Grant Program, designed to support âphysical security enhancements and activities to nonprofit organizations that are at high risk of terrorist attack.â The DHSâs media office did not immediately respond to an inquiry.
The Deen Centerâs homepage complains of âIslamophobiaâ in America stemming from âa negative portrayal of Islam in the Media and political discourse which causes distrust.â
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