CAIR Advisory Board Member Objects to Letter, Steps Down

An advisory professor to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is stepping down temporarily after the group sent out a letter blasting two high-profile leaders in the Somali community, and has issued his own letter defending Omar Jamal.

A letter attacking both Jamal and Abdi Bihi's education and experience was sent to Minnesota law enforcement agencies ahead of a Thursday conference where the two will be keynote speakers. CAIR has urged a boycott of the conference and declined an invitation to participate in the discussion.

"These individuals, who have no credibility in the Somali community, are going to be educating law enforcement," the letter read in part.

Professor Peter Erlinder, director of the International Criminal Law Institute, objected to that letter's portrayal of a criminal case involving Jamal. As the counsel of record for Jamal, he issued his own response the day after the letter was released, saying it "mischaracterizes the case."

Erlinder's full letter can be read below. You can also read FOX 9 News reporter Tom Lyden's take on the letter here .

Professor Peter Erlinder's Letter responding to CAIR boycott call