The Council on American-Islamic Relations and Blaine's first Muslim city councilmember are locked in an ongoing, bitter legal dispute that has seen accusations lobbed ranging from defamation to cyberstalking and Islamophobic extremism.
Lori Saroya, a former senior leader with the national Muslim advocacy group and now the first Muslim to serve on Blaine's city council, sued CAIR in federal court in Minnesota earlier this week — nearly two years after CAIR dismissed its own federal defamation suit against her.
Saroya's new lawsuit is in response to a January 2022 press release from CAIR's national board in which the group accused Saroya of using anonymous email and social media accounts to harass CAIR employees and spread "Islamophobic tropes and conspiracy theories" about the organization.