A coalition of more than 40 groups including the ACLU have fired off a letter to Rep. Peter King (R-NY) voicing concerns about the scope of his planned hearing on Muslim "radicalization" Thursday.
Write the groups:
"[T]he Committee, like law enforcement, must distinguish between First Amendment-protected ideological beliefs – whether radical or not – and criminal terrorist activity or plots. Only the latter may properly be the subject of official inquiry. Congress simply has no business examining Americans’ religious or political beliefs in official hearings – even if these beliefs are considered 'radical' by some."
The letter also raises the specter of McCarthyism: