The first day of a controversial counterterrorism training seminar in Culpeper County went off without a hitch Tuesday.
“Everything went smoothly,” said Sheriff Scott Jenkins, who added that he was flooded with emails and visits to his office yesterday in support of the classes held by former FBI agent John Guandolo.
Although about an eighth of an acre of parking lot at the Daniel Technology Center of Germanna Community College, where the seminars are being held, was blocked off for demonstrators, none showed up.
Security was beefed up for the possibility of an incident, with extra Germanna security officers on hand. A Virginia State Police cruiser also circulated through the parking lot during the first two hours of the seminar.
The “Understanding and Investigating Jihadi Networks in America” classes went on despite four days of efforts by the D.C.-based Council on American–Islamic Relations and Islamic Center of Culpeper to have them canceled. Both groups characterized Guandolo as an extremist who is against all Muslims; CAIR noted that he has claimed CIA Director John Brennan is a secret Muslim agent.
Calls and email protests had been made not only to Jenkins, but also to members of the Culpeper County Board of Supervisors, asking that funding to the Sheriff’s Office be pulled, and to Germanna officials, asking that the community college revoke use of its rented conference hall.
Late Monday, the Rappahannock Regional Criminal Justice Academy backed away from issuing in-service credit hours to officers who took the three-day seminar.
Jenkins, however, refused to give in and said Tuesday afternoon that he is glad he held his ground.
“The entire group got a lot of information in a short period of time,” he said. “I certainly do think it was worthwhile.”
The sheriff also said that he thought that a 90-minute introduction to Islam, presented Monday by Corey Saylor of CAIR and Dr. Nabeel Babar, director of the Islamic Center of Culpeper, was extremely helpful.
“It led those from my office to ask good questions of Guandolo,” said Jenkins. “A few [exchanges] even got argumentative, but [Guandolo] gave his strongest argument.”
The sheriff said Guandolo made it clear that his counterterrorism seminars were not aimed at all Muslims, but only at specific militant groups.
About 50 officers from as far away as Maricopa, Ariz., and Philadelphia are enrolled in the seminar. Twenty-five are from the Culpeper County Sheriff’s Office.
Guandolo will present a free two-hour seminar starting at 7 tonight at the Daniel Technology Center that is open to the public.