Muslim NJ mayor says he was turned away from Eid celebration at White House
Prospect Park Mayor Mohamed Khairullah speaks as hundreds are gathered and joined the rally with people carrying Palestinian and Turkish flags at the Gould Park of Paterson to demonstrate in support of Palestinians in New Jersey, United States on May 16, 2021. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
A Muslim mayor from New Jersey said he was disinvited from the annual Eid al-Fitr celebration at the White House shortly before the event on Monday.
Prospect Park Mayor Mohamed Khairullah was reportedly on his way to the White House when he was informed he had been denied security clearance by the Secret Service, according to NorthJersey.com.
“It’s disappointing and it’s shocking that this continues to happen under our Constitution, which provides that everyone is innocent unless proven guilty,” Khairullah told NorthJersey.com. “I honestly don’t know what my charge, if you want to put it that way, is at this point, to be treated in such a manner.”
The Secret Service confirmed Khairullah was not allowed to attend the White House event on Monday evening, but it did not provide additional information about the decision.
“While we regret any inconvenience this may have caused, the mayor was not allowed to enter the White House complex this evening,” Anthony Guglielmi, chief of communications for the Secret Service, said in a statement.
“Unfortunately we are not able to comment further on the specific protective means and methods used to conduct our security operations at the White House,” he added.
The head of New Jersey’s chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) slammed the revocation of Khairullah’s invitation as “wholly unacceptable and insulting.”
Khairullah has served as the mayor of Prospect Park, N.J., for more than 17 years.
Brett Samuels contributed to this report.