Excerpt:
A Muslim leader in Sanford says his mosque has never preached violence against gays, despite a recent visit from a controversial scholar who has said homosexuality should be punished by death.
The Husseini Islamic Center has become the target of vandalism and verbal attack since a gunman pledging allegiance to the Islamic State killed 49 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando.
"This anger was stoked further by widespread misinformation and false allegations that a guest speaker at our center fanned the flames of homophobia and inspired the attack at the Pulse nightclub," center president Inayat Walli wrote in a guest column for the Orlando Sentinel.