Baca speaks up for Muslims at Congress hearing *

Los Angeles Sheriff Lee Baca has let Congress know before that he doesn't cotton to broad-brush slams on the Muslim community. He was back at it today, telling the panel convened by Rep. Peter King to investigate radical Islam that his department builds bridges to "the various ethnic, cultural and religious communities that thrive in the Los Angeles area. Nowhere is that relationship more positive than that which exists between my agency and the American Muslim Community."

We have established strong bonds through continuing outreach and physical presence at events important to the community and law enforcement. I would caution that to comment only on the extent of radicalization in the American Muslim Community may be viewed as singling out a particular section of our nation. This makes a false assumption that any particular religion or group is more prone to radicalization than others.

What he said.

* Update: Later in the day, Baca bristled at a suggestion by Rep. Chip Cravaack (R-Minn.) that he was being used by the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Baca said there's no evidence CAIR is a terrorist organization. "I hate to even imagine what his motives are," Baca said of Cravaack.