Lowe's stands by decision to pull ads

Home improvement chain Lowe's plans to stick by its decision to yank its ads from a reality TV show about American Muslims amid growing debate over the move.

California Sen. Ted Lieu said Sunday that he is considering calling for a boycott of Lowe's Cos., sparking criticism of the chain from both inside and outside of the Muslim community.

On social media web site Twitter, actor Kal Penn began directing people to a petition on signon.org in support of the TLC cable network show, "All-American Muslim." By Monday afternoon, there were about 9,200 signatures.

U.S. Representative Keith Ellison of Minnesota, who is Muslim, released a statement Monday condemning Lowe's for choosing "to uphold the beliefs of a fringe hate group and not the creed of the First Amendment."

And Democratic state Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Detroit, the first Muslim elected to the Michigan Legislature, voiced her concern in a letter to Lowe's CEO Robert Niblock.