Effort in 3 US Cities to Combat Extremism Off to Slow Start
BOSTON— A federally funded effort in Boston, Los Angeles and Minneapolis to combat extremist recruitment has been slow to start since it was announced a year and a half ago.Few local programs have been directly created by the “Countering Violent Extr...
FILE - In this March, 27, 2015 file photo, Haroon Manjlai, left, public affairs coordinator for the Council on American-Islamic Relations of Los Angeles, and Ali Jakvani, right, chairman of the Young Muslim Leader Advisory Council, listen during a discussion on American Muslims and civic engagement from the local to the national level, at the Islamic Center of San Gabriel Valley in Rowland Heights, Calif. More than a year and a half after it was first announced, the federal effort in Los Angeles, Boston, and Minneapolis to combat extremist recruitment has been slow to start. AP Photo/Christine Cotter, File
BOSTON—A federally funded effort in Boston, Los Angeles and Minneapolis to combat extremist recruitment has been slow to start since it was announced a year and a half ago.
Few local programs have been directly created by the “Countering Violent Extremism” pilot initiative, with officials in those cities just starting to distribute more than $500,000 in Department of Justice grant money to jumpstart new local efforts.
The furthest along appears to be Minneapolis, where officials point to at least one newly created but still not operational effort: a privately financed mentorship program working with youth in the city’s sizeable Somali community, which has produced extremist recruits over the years.
Six other organizations there also recently received $300,000 in federal and private money to develop programs addressing mental health, employment and parenting issues among the Somali community and other refugee populations.
In this March 31, 2015 file photo, Muslim, Christian, minority and government leaders fix their eyes on a laptop screen showing a video as part of a federal pilot program called Countering Violent Extremism, at Roxbury Community College in Boston. AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File
