Alderman Wery quizzes Muslim woman on terrorism

There is something about this story that bothers me, and I can't put my finger on it. But it has to do with the last line of the story, "It's something that had been rattling around in the back of my head."

A Green Bay alderman has apologized to a Muslim resident for responding to her inquiry about public bus service with questions about her political beliefs and whether she condemns Islamic terrorism.

Alderman Chris Wery directed his questions to Heba Mohammad after the recent University of Wisconsin-Green Bay graduate asked the alderman in an email why city bus service is not free on Election Day.

Wery agreed to check into the bus service question, but then he asked Mohammad about her involvement in starting a Muslim Student Association group at UW-Green Bay.

"I just want to be assured that your group in no way promotes or defends militant Islamic ideology," Wery wrote, asking if Mohammad and the association condemn "terrorist groups such as Hamas."

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In an interview, Wery said he attended UWGB and he recognized Mohammad's name as founder of the Muslim Student Association from a campus publication that he receives. He said Muslim college groups elsewhere in the United States have espoused anti-American sentiments, and he added that he took the opportunity to ask Mohammad about the UW-Green Bay group.

Saying he was questioning the group as a concerned citizen rather than an aldermen, he said, "It's something that had been rattling around in the back of my head."

Alderman Wery quizzes Muslim woman on terrorism