Rep. Peter King will begin his hearings on the “radicalization” of American Muslims on Thursday. Yesterday, People For and a coalition of over 50 progressive groups sent King a letter [PDF] expressing concern over his targeting of Muslims. The letter reads in part:

While we all take the threat of terrorism seriously, we see no productive outcome in singling out a particular community for examination in what appears to be little more than a political show-trial. American Muslims, like all Americans, want to keep our country safe, and to cooperate with law enforcement when they are aware of criminal activity. Yet many elected officials have chosen to demonize all American Muslims, denigrating their religion and questioning their patriotism. We fear that these hearings will only add to this toxic climate of suspicion toward American Muslims and may hinder the important efforts to maintain trust and mutual respect between American Muslims, law enforcement, and public officials.

Much of the concern over King’s hearings comes from the false statements King himself has repeatedly made about American Muslims, falsely claiming that Muslim communities don’t cooperate with law enforcement and saying that there are “too many mosques” in the United States. Think Progress has put together a video debunking some of King’s smears of American Muslims: