Tigers Owner Under Fire For Ties To Accused Hate Group

NORWICH, CT—The state chapter of Council on American-Islamic Relations wants to meet with the Norwich Tigers and its owner, E. Miles Prentice III, the chairman of the board of the “far-right” Center for Security Policy.

The Anti-Defamation League calls it “neo-conservative” policy group that promotes “the conspiracy that America is under threat” from Islam and its founder claims “the U.S. government has been infiltrated by the Muslim Brotherhood and that a number of political figures have actual ties to the group.”

In 2015, then-candidate Donald Trump, cited a study from the Center for Security to support a Muslim ban calling it a “very fine group.”

Prentice III said his work with the policy group is completely separate from baseball and his other pursuits.

"My colleagues and I at the Center for Security Policy are more than willing to debate the content of our research and advocacy on behalf of freedom and the practice of peace through strength with Americans of differing views, but who are also committed to freedom and our Constitution," he said in a statement. "We see no utility, however, to meeting with, or otherwise legitimating, those who seek to silence us or are associated with terrorist organizations like Hamas."

In 2010 it released its report, "Shariah: The Threat to America." Norwegian far-right terrorist Anders Breivik, who shot and killed 68 people and planted a bomb in Oslo that killed eight, at a teen camp in 2011 cited the Center for Security Policy numerous times in his anti-Islam manifesto.

The group is a Southern Poverty Law Center-designated hate group which says, founded in 1988 by former Reagan administration official Frank Gaffney, Jr., it’s “gone from a respected hawkish think tank focused on foreign affairs to a conspiracy-oriented mouthpiece for the growing anti-Muslim movement in the United States.”

But to ensure Muslims are welcomed, CAIR wants a meeting with Prentice.

“CAIR-CT is seeking a meeting with the Norwich Tigers to discuss the participation of the team owner in an anti-Muslim hate group.”

Tark Richard Aouadi, CAIR-CT executive director, an attorney, studied at American University, Howard University, Florida State University, and was a US Department of Justice paralegal.

He and other local Muslims and residents went to the Norwich Baseball Stadium Authority meeting Wednesday, to ask for a meeting.

After illustrating the Center for Security Policy stance on Muslims, he called for city officials and team management "to come together and discuss this matter, the public safety concerns it may bring about and dialogue on the best practices to ensure a safe, healthy and inclusive environment for all local residents of Norwich wishing to enjoy America’s favorite pastime.”

It was noted that the city 9-member board manages city-owned Dodd Stadium, which it leases to the Tigers, and not the team.

The Day reported that Tigers Vice President C.J. Knudsen did not address the request for a meeting with Prentice.

In a Facebook post, the city's Democrat Party group Responsible Leadership for Norwich wrote the "stadium should be a place where all residents of Norwich feel safe," pointing out Prentice's visibility, and ideology, as chairman of "a national organization that promotes anti-Muslim rhetoric, is troubling."

A number of local and state legislators representing Norwich support Prentice meeting with CAIR.

In a statement, state Sen. Cathy Osten and state Reps. Kevin Ryan and Emmett Riley said in part, "While Mr. Prentice is allowed to have his own political opinions, it is clear that the Center for Security Policy supports anti-Muslim rhetoric, something that risks the safety and security of many, especially today. We encourage Mr. Prentice and CAIR to attempt to work toward a better understanding between them.”

However, previous statements may cast doubt on a Center for Security Policy meeting with CAIR.

What to know about E. Miles Prentice III

Prentice, 77, has been on the Center for Security Policy’s board since 2005. Partner at Eaton & Van Winkle, he's practiced commercial and financial law since the early 1970s. A director of National Life Insurance Company of Vermont, he's also a baseball aficionado who sits on myriad clubs and league boards nationally and owns or is president of three minor leagues teams, including the Tigers. He lives in Vermont.

Patch sent emails for comment to addresses for Prentice and Antonia Passalacqua at the Center for Security Policy.