Middle school cancels Muslim speaker after furor

BRISTOL, Conn. – A Connecticut middle school teacher’s plan to have a Muslim woman talk to students about her religion has been cancelled because the teacher felt threatened by the resulting furor.

Bristol schools Superintendent Susan Moreau tells the Hartford Courant the Bristol Northeast Middle School teacher who planned the presentation was worried by some of the phone calls and emails she received after news of the event was posted online.

Police say they did not receive any reports of threats.

Moreau says she cancelled the event but hopes to put together a panel discussion on various religions.

She tells WVIT-TV she hopes “the opinions of a few Bristol residents” are not seen as representative of Bristol as a whole.

The Council on American Islamic Relations said the school’s cancellation decision emboldens Islamophobes.