Official Apologizes for Remark

Santa Barbara’s top county official has apologized for public remarks equating Muslims with terrorists, saying he misspoke.

Describing himself as “profoundly sorry,” county Administrator Mike Brown also promised Tuesday to work with an Islamic group to increase his sensitivity to Muslim issues and people.

“As the county administrator, I take seriously my role in leading the county’s opposition to bigotry and intolerance in any form,” said Brown, 57, who has been administrator for five years. “I did not intend to say--nor do I believe--that all Muslims are terrorists or support terrorism.”

Brown’s apology came in response to an uproar over remarks he made Friday before top county managers, laying out the challenges the county faces in coming years.

While speaking about the war on terrorism, he said Muslim states were behind the terrorists. “I wanted to focus on the threat posed by nation-states that harbor and support terrorists,” he said. He used the word Muslim accidentally, he said.

He denied describing as “bunk” comments by government officials, including President Bush, that Islam is a peaceful religion. “I said it’s bunk that there is not some state sponsorship” of terrorism, he said.

He also said he did not assert that celebrations on the streets of Palestinian neighborhoods after the Sept. 11 attacks were proof that all Muslims support terrorism.

Nonetheless, Brown met Tuesday with the Santa Barbara Islamic Society and pledged to “work with them regarding my own frame of reference and to educate myself better.”

Michel Shahadeh of the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee said Brown appears to “envision a world polarized between absolute good and absolute evil. He equates evil with Muslims. Such logic resides in the grip of racism.”

Others were not convinced of Brown’s sincerity. “He certainly knows all of the tricks,” said Gilbert Armijo, a Latino activist who has criticized county policies toward minorities. He said Brown should be put on unpaid leave.

The Board of Supervisors does not appear willing to go that far. After meeting with Brown in a closed session, the board issued a statement saying that it had “discussed the seriousness of this matter with Mr. Brown” and that it will continue to monitor the situation “and take action as appropriate.”