Bobby Rush hits hearings into Islamic radicals

WASHINGTON — Illinois Congressman Bobby Rush has joined with 56 other U.S. House members in criticizing a hearing into alleged Islamic radicalization.

The hearing, to be conducted by the House Homeland Security Committee, will get underway Thursday in Washington.

Rush and other congressmen contend the hearing chaired by New York Republican Peter King seeks to single out one class of American citizens.

Rush lent his name to a letter to King that expressed lawmakers' concern that "the stated narrow scope and underlying premises of these hearings unfairly stigmatizes and alienates Muslim Americans."

King said Muslims should not feel threatened by the hearing.

Plans for the hearing touched off days of protests from critics who liken it to McCarthyism and the era of communist witch hunts.