Thomas Anthony Trento (born 1951 or 1952)[1] is an American conservative activist, radio and web show host, and founder of the Florida-based counter-jihad group The United West, the successor to the Florida Security Council.[2] He has also been the national security chairman for the Tea Party National Convention.[3]
Tom Trento | |
|---|---|
| Born | Thomas Anthony Trento 1951 or 1952 (age 72–73) |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Ocean County College (AS) Moody Bible Institute (BA) Denver Seminary (MA) Florida Atlantic University |
| Occupation(s) | Activist, web show host |
Background
editTrento hails from Jersey, and later studied at the Florida Atlantic University under Walid Phares, a leading scholar of "stealth jihad".[2] The United West website states that he has degrees in Law Enforcement, AS, Ocean County College, Theology, BA, Moody Bible Institute, and Philosophy, MA, Denver Seminary.[4] He received the Carnegie Medal from the Carnegie Hero Fund in 1983 for having rescued an unconscious man from a burning car while he was a seminary student in Denver.[5][6][7][8] He identifies as an evangelical Christian,[9] and was noted as an anti-abortion activist[10] in the late 1980s,[11] who was once arrested for trespassing outside a Denver abortion clinic.[12]
The United West
editTogether with Florida Republican state representative Adam Hasner, Trento launched the Florida Security Council in 2007, the predecessor to The United West.[2] In 2008, the Florida Security Council took part in distributing the DVD Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West,[9][13] which according to Trento has been "extremely effective in waking people up" to the threat of radical Islam.[14] The associated group Security Research Associates then received funding from the Donors Capital Fund.[10] In 2009, Trento hosted Dutch politician Geert Wilders at a freedom of expression conference.[15] He was one of nineteen co-authors of the Center for Security Policy publication Shariah: The Threat To America in 2010.[16]
The United West was launched in March 2011 at an event that was attended by Donald Trump, who posed for photographs together with Frank Gaffney and Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff.[17][18] Trento and his group has claimed that the U.S. and the West "are at war with Muslims and Islam" according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which has designated the group as an anti-Muslim "hate group".[19] The group has been described, and describes itself as a counter-jihad organization,[15][17][18] with strong support for Israel,[20] and is based in Lake Worth.[21]
Trento has also been the national security chairman for the Tea Party National Convention, and a director of the Tea Party Founding Fathers.[22][23]
In 2013, Trento held a controversial speech at an event at the September 11 Memorial in Patriots Park, Venice, Florida, attended by the Venice mayor and public officials, in which he denounced not only radical Islam, but "all Islam".[24] In 2015, he called out Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel at a rally for hiring a "terrorist", due to the sheriff's decision to hire deputy Nezar Hamze, who was also the director of the Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).[25]
Trento has later collaborated with former Trump administration Director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Thomas Homan.[19] In November 2022, The United West organized a private fundraising event at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort, during which it said it premiered a television program associated with Homan's Defend the Border and Save Lives project.[19]
References
edit- ^ McClare, Kate (January 22, 1988). "Group stand united against abortion law". Boca Raton News. p. 4A.
- ^ a b c Murphy, Tim (August 2012). "Allen West's Rise From the Florida Fever Swamps". Mother Jones.
- ^ Hendley, Matthew (July 29, 2011). "Allen West Declared a "Tea Party Defector"; He Says Tea Party Has Schizophrenia". New Times Broward-Palm Beach.
- ^ "Tom Trento, Executive Director". The United West. 20 May 2017. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
- ^ "Fund honors heroic deeds of 26 people". Lawrence Journal-World. July 21, 1983. p. 6.
- ^ "Thomas Anthony Trento". Carnegie Hero Fund Commission. Retrieved May 8, 2024.
- ^ "Medal presentations to new awardees commenced locally by past recipients" (PDF). imPULSE: A Periodic Newsletter of the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission. No. 22. Carnegie Hero Fund Commission. June 2010. p. 10.
- ^ "Tom Trento". AM 920 the ANSWER. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
- ^ a b Lewis, Gregory (September 27, 2008). "Muslims fear film backlash". South Florida Sun Sentinel.
- ^ a b Clifton, Eli (October 28, 2010). "Right Wing "Slush Fund" Behind 2008 Islamophobia Campaign". LobeLog. Inter Press Service.
- ^ Pulle, Matt (September 21, 2000). "Bad News Boy". Nashville Scene.
- ^ Pulle, Matt (March 23, 2000). "Stand and Deliver". Nashville Scene.
- ^ Ahmed, Akbar (2010). Journey into America: The Challenge of Islam. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 252. ISBN 9780815704409.
- ^ Slajda, Rachel (August 25, 2010). "How 30 Million DVDs Sent In 2008 Election Fuel The Anti-Mosque Debate Today". Talking Points Memo.
- ^ a b Groen, Janny; Kranenberg, Annieke (June 21, 2009). "Wilders gaat steeds een stapje verder". de Volkskrant (in Dutch).
- ^ Darrow, Allayana (October 21, 2019). "Controversial speaker presents keynote at Sheridan GOP dinner". The Sheridan Press.
- ^ a b Pertwee, Ed (October 2017). 'Green Crescent, Crimson Cross': The Transatlantic 'Counterjihad' and the New Political Theology (PDF). London School of Economics. pp. 125, 141, 268.
- ^ a b Aked, H.; Jones, M.; Miller, D. (2019). Islamophobia in Europe: How governments are enabling the far-right 'counter-jihad' movement (PDF). Public Interest Investigations (Report). University of Bristol. p. 16.
- ^ a b c Kieffer, Caleb (November 3, 2022). "Former ICE Chief Taps Anti-Muslim Hate Group To Help Run Border-Focused Project". Southern Poverty Law Center.
- ^ Marcus, Lori Lowenthal (August 22, 2012). "Florida debate: 'Should Jews Vote for Obama or Romney'". Jewish Press.
- ^ Kam, Daral (January 9, 2012). "Florida Legislature to open with unhappy activists on left and right". Palm Beach Post.
- ^ "Tea Party blasts GOP 'Stupak defectors'". UPI. July 28, 2011.
- ^ Cohn, Alicia M. (July 29, 2011). "Tea Party groups target 'defectors' on debt vote". The Hill.
- ^ Webb, Shelby (September 11, 2013). "Venice speakers denounce Islam at 9/11 ceremony". Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
- ^ Arbaoui, Larbi (December 20, 2015). "Florida Sheriff Under Attack for Hiring Muslim Deputy". Morocco World News.