Norm Maves Jr. and Daniel Uthman
Religion News Service

PORTLAND, Ore. - An attorney for New Mexico State University on Tuesday (Aug. 29) denied that three football players were removed from the team because they were Muslims and said the school “did nothing wrong.”

Bruce Kite, the university’s general counsel, was responding to a federal civil rights complaint filed on behalf of the three men, who currently play at Portland State University. Kite said the suit stemmed from one player’s demotion from the 2005 New Mexico State starting lineup.

Kite promised to contest the suit, which was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union. “We’ll file the appropriate paperwork, but our position is that we did nothing wrong and we deny the allegations,” Kite said.

PSU running back Mu’Ammar Ali, the central figure in the suit, declined comment, saying, “I can’t really talk about it, it’s such a contained thing.”

The suit contends that Ali and cousins Vincent and Anthony Thompson were dismissed from the New Mexico State team in 2005 because of their Muslim faith. Ali transferred to Portland State last year, had an impressive 2006 spring practice and was expected to be the Vikings’ No. 1 running back this season until he was injured. The Thompsons, twin brothers who were not on scholarship at New Mexico State, joined the PSU program as junior walk-ons this fall.

Both Vincent Thompson, a wide receiver who is planning to change his name to Mika’il Ali, and Anthony Thompson, a defensive back who is planning to change his name to Salah Ali, waved off questions during a team practice.

The suit stems from a complaint the ACLU submitted to New Mexico State’s Office of Institutional Equity last fall on behalf of Ali. The ACLU asked for an apology to the team from coach Hal Mumme at the time and reinstatement of Ali’s scholarship for the 2006-07 school year.

Among the claims in the federal lawsuit are violations of constitutional rights and violations of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It seeks compensatory and punitive damages for revoking Mu’Ammar Ali’s scholarship for the 2006-07 school year.

The suit said Mumme initiated a practice during 2005 spring drills of having the team recite the Lord’s Prayer after each workout. During the prayers, Ali and the Thompsons would move to the side, pray together and recite passages from the Quran. The suit also claims that Mumme questioned Ali about his attitudes toward al-Qaida.

The ACLU said it moved forward with a suit because it was unsatisfied with the university’s response to the original complaint.

“We were pretty shocked and pretty disappointed because there are some large facts that would raise obvious concerns: the Lord’s Prayer issue and the fact that three of the four Muslims on the team had been kicked off,” said Peter Simonson, executive director of the New Mexico ACLU.

Copyright 2006 Religion News Service. All rights reserved. No part of this transmission may be distributed or reproduced without written permission.