After 9/11, Chicago FBI tries to improve its image within Muslim community

After 9/11, Chicago FBI tries to improve its image within Muslim community
Robert Grant, right, speaks at a press conference in 2006. AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast
After 9/11, Chicago FBI tries to improve its image within Muslim community
Robert Grant, right, speaks at a press conference in 2006. AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast

After 9/11, Chicago FBI tries to improve its image within Muslim community

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Today, we’re looking at how 9/11 transformed Muslim-Americans around the country and in Chicago.

In a previous segment, we talked to a lawyer who defended the Global Relief Foundation, a local Islamic charity shuttered by the federal government shortly after the attacks. The group was never convicted of any wrongdoing. Incidents like this did nothing to endear the government to American Muslims. To build relationships and trust, the FBI office in Chicago has made a concerted effort to reach out to the local Muslim community.

For a progress report, WBEZ’s criminal justice reporter, Robert Wildeboer, sat down with Robert Grant, who heads the FBI’s Chicago field office. They began with the controversy surrounding the government’s decision to close two Islamic charities in Chicago.