Minor league owner refuses to meet with Muslim rights group

NORWICH, Conn. (AP) — The owner of two minor league baseball teams is refusing to meet with a Muslim civil rights group, accusing it of supporting terrorists.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations sought a meeting with E. Miles Prentice, owner of the Single-A Connecticut Tigers and Double-A Midland (Texas) RockHounds. CAIR is concerned that Prentice is chairman of the Center for Security Policy, an organization identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an anti-Muslim hate group.

Prentice said Thursday he considers the SPLC “radical leftists” and sees no use in “meeting with, or otherwise legitimating, those who seek to silence us or are associated with terrorist organizations like Hamas.”

The Tigers, an affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, declined to comment. Tark Aouadi, the executive director of CAIR, Connecticut called Prentice’s statement unfortunate but said he had not had time to review it.