Excerpt:
A national Muslim civil liberties group has called on the South Dakota Republican Party to break ties with a pair of speakers set to present Thursday night in Rapid City.
But hours ahead of the event, state party leaders said they supported the event and had no plans to drop their sponsorship.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) on Thursday said the Pennington County GOP, which has sponsored the event featuring John Guandolo and Chris Gaubatz, should instead reach out to the state's Muslim community to foster understanding.
"Following yesterday's terror attack on members of Congress and their staff in Virginia, it is more important than ever to repudiate the promotion of conspiracy theories and bigotry targeting any segment of our society," Robert McCaw, government affairs director, said in a statement.