Category Archives: USA

Republicans promote paranoia over sharia threat

Posted on by Bob Pitt

'Ground Zero mosque' opponents3
‘Ground Zero mosque’ opponents demonstrate in August 2010

As potential GOP candidates jockey to distinguish themselves heading into primary season, there seems to be at least one issue on which they widely agree: Sharia law is a continuing threat to the United States.

Invoking Sharia and casting it as a growing danger at odds with American principles has become a rallying cry for conservatives. It’s also quickly becoming an unlikely pet issue among 2012 presidential contenders: Potential candidates have almost unilaterally assailed the Islamic code, making it as much a staple of the campaign stump speech as economic reform, job creation and rising gas prices.

Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann responded to Osama bin Laden’s death not just by praising the U.S. military. She used the news to remind her followers about a threat she considers alive and well.

“A time to express our deepest gratitude to the U.S. military for taking out Osama bin Laden,” Bachmann tweeted. Expanding on her tweet on Facebook, she wrote, “Osama bin Laden dead! May this be the beginning of the end of Sharia-compliant terrorism.”

While the Al Qaeda leader’s death provides a fresh opportunity to target the Islamic code, Republican presidential candidates have had Sharia in their cross hairs for months.

“Creeping Sharia is a huge issue here in the United States,” former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum told POLITICO. Sharia represents an “existential threat to America,” Santorum said during a foreign policy speech several weeks ago. “The enemy is motivated by an interpretation of Islam, Sharia, that is antithetical to American civilization.”

“Even immediately after Sept. 11, we didn’t see this kind of hatred mainstream in our society,” said Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations. “There seems to be a coordinated effort to both marginalize American Muslims and demonize Islam.”

Politico, 10 May 2011

See also Adam Serwer, “Creeping sharia law becomes an issue in 2012 GOP primary”, The Plum Line, 10 May 2011

California: criminals called gas station clerk a ‘jihadist’ and punched him

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office is searching for two Eureka men suspected of committing a hate crime on Sunday along with assault and other charges.

Suspects Jamie Sean Hunt, 32, and Jeremy Lee Schweizer, 30, allegedly attempted to pay for gasoline with a counterfeit $100 bill at about 9 p.m. According to the press release, the station clerk refused to accept the bill and an argument ensued.

The two suspects allegedly used racial epithets at the clerk, who is of East Indian descent, including statements that the clerk was a “jihadist” and that he was angry Osama bin Laden was dead.

One of the suspects then allegedly punched the clerk in the side of the head. As they left, the men pushed to the ground one of the clerk’s relatives, who was standing outside, before stealing his cell phone. The clerk’s relative received gashes on his forehead, nose and right knee.

The two men left in a gray Dodge 2500 pickup truck. While doing so, they struck a passing motorist with the truck and continued fleeing.

Times-Standard, 10 May 2011

See also KRCRTV, 9 May 2011

US court rules in favour of Muslim inmate

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A Muslim inmate at the Federal Correctional Institution in Loretto didn’t get a fair shake when he filed a lawsuit claiming religious discrimination, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday.

Charles Mack, 52, sued in federal court in Johnstown. He wrote that a corrections officer slapped a label on his back reading “I love bacon.” The officer later told him, “there’s no good Muslim, except a dead Muslim,” according to the complaint. Mr. Mack complained, and was fired from his commissary job, he said.

He sued, claiming that his rights to free speech and exercise of religion were being violated, he was being subjected to cruel and unusual punishment, and he faced retaliation and a hostile work environment. Six weeks later, U.S. District Judge Kim R. Gibson dismissed his case.

The 3rd Circuit judges found that Mr. Mack’s claims met legal thresholds that warrant further review. It rejected Judge Gibson’s view that the “I love bacon” sign was a “junior high school level prank,” that spurred only “offended religious sensibilities.”

The appeals court ordered the U.S. District Court to take another look at the complaint and allow Mr. Mack to amend it if warranted.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 7 May 2011

Two more Muslim religious leaders taken off plane

Posted on by Bob Pitt

For the second time in less than a week, two more Muslim religious leaders say they were not allowed to fly to Charlotte. “What we have here is a case of blatant discrimination,” said attorney Mo Idlibi, who now represents the Imams.

On Friday, two Imams were told to get off a flight from Memphis to Charlotte after going through TSA security twice. After they boarded the flight, the pilot decided to return to the gate and the Imams were told to get off the plane. Both were allowed to take a later flight but the Imams say they never got a clear understanding of why they were asked to leave the plane in the first place.

Then on Saturday, two more Imams were prevented from boarding a flight to Charlotte for the conference on Islamaphobia. The father and son, both Imams, tried to board a flight from LaGuardia to Charlotte. The younger man, Abu Bakr Adul Latif, was initially allowed to board after passing through a security screening. However, his father, Al Amin Abdul Latif, was never allowed to get on the American Airlines flight. Later Abu Bakr Adul Latif and the other passengers were taken off the plane – apparently because of security reasons. Both Imams had cleared security more than once.

“Body frisks, excessive security checks and they were cleared every time,” said Idlibi. “Discrimination based on race, based upon national origin and religions and those are just unacceptable in our country.”

Idlibi said that he plans to seek damages in court and would like to see pilots undergo sensitivity training. He said he also wants answers. “My clients want to know why they haven’t received any explanation from American Airlines about why this took place,” he explained.

WCNC, 9 May 2011

Posted in USA

Sign next to mosque reads ‘Bomb making, next driveway’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Bomb Making Next Driveway

AMHERST, N.Y. — There was no answer at an Amherst home, where a stenciled sign reads, “bomb making, next driveway.” The property is located next to a newly built mosque at the Jaffarya Center.

Across the street, patients of Dr. John Athans expressed shock upon viewing the sign, questioning the timing of it. It went up this past weekend, only days after the death of Osama Bin Laden.

WIVB, 9 May 2011

See also WNY Muslims, 7 May 2011

Update:  See WGRZ-TV, 10 May 2011

Further update:  See “Neighbor removes sign next to mosque”,WBEN, 11 May 2011

Posted in USA

Anti-Muslim incidents in the US follow the death of Osama bin Laden

Posted on by Bob Pitt

When he announced the death of Osama bin Laden, President Obama acknowledged and echoed his predecessor, telling the nation, “I’ve made clear, just as President Bush did shortly after 9/11, that our war is not against Islam.” Not everybody listened. While the incidents are for the most part isolated, several public expressions of anti-Muslim sentiment have occurred around the country.

ABC, 6 May 2011

Posted in USA

Investigation into border harassment of US Muslims

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The U.S. government has launched an investigation into allegations that federal agents at several U.S.-Canada border crossings in Michigan repeatedly harassed, jailed and body searched Muslims because of their background or appearance.

In a letter sent this week to a local Muslim group, Margo Schlanger, the head of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties in the Department of Homeland Security, said her office has received accounts of “repeated handcuffing, brandishing of weapons, prolonged detentions, invasive and humiliating body searches at the border, and inappropriate questioning that pertains to religion and religious practices.”

The complaints include incidents at the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel, the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit and the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron.

The investigation comes in response to complaints filed in March by the Council on American-Islamic Relations with the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security.

Detroit Free Press, 7 May 2011

Muslims travelling to Islamophobia conference removed from plane

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Mohamed Zaghloul and Masadur Rahman

Two Muslim religious leaders on their way to a Charlotte conference on “Islamophobia” said they were removed from a commercial flight Friday because the pilot refused to fly with them on board.

Imams Masudur Rahman, an adjunct professor of Arabic at the University of Memphis, and Mohamed Zaghloul said they and their bags were checked twice by security agents at the Memphis airport before boarding the 8:40 a.m. Delta connection Flight 5452 to Charlotte.

Rahman said the plane left the gate and was taxiing to the runway when the pilot came over the intercom. “The pilot said: ‘There is an issue. We need to return to the gate,'” Rahman said.

“They were screened and cleared to fly,” said TSA spokesman Jon Allen in Atlanta. “The decision to deny boarding was made by the airline, not TSA.”

The imams were flying to Charlotte to attend the North American Imams Federation 2011 Conference this weekend. Organizers said more than 150 religious leaders from across the country will meet through Sunday to discuss prejudice and fear of Islam or Muslims.

“The conference is about ‘Islamophobia,’ so it’s ironic that these guys were stopped on their way here because of this same issue,” said Jibril Hough of the Islamic Center of Charlotte. “These guys definitely have something to talk about.”

Herald, 7 May 2011

Posted in USA

Mosque bombing suspect shot dead in confrontation with FBI in Oklahoma

Posted on by Bob Pitt

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A St. Johns County man wanted in the bombing of a Jacksonville mosque was shot and killed Wednesday when he pulled a weapon as agents tried to serve an arrest warrant in northwest Oklahoma, FBI officials said.

Sandlin Matthew Smith, 46, was suspected of setting off a pipe bomb at the Islamic Center of Northeast Florida nearly one year ago.

Investigators said Smith had been on the run for the last few days after acquaintances of Smith, both in northeast Florida and out of the area, tipped them off that he was involved in the mosque bombing and was in Oklahoma.

FBI Special Agent Jeff Wescott said agents learned late Tuesday that Smith was staying in a tent in a park in the rugged foothills of the Glass Mountains, near Fairview, in northwest Oklahoma.

“During the overnight hours, the Oklahoma City FBI SWAT team, along with the assistance of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, set up a perimeter around the area,” Wescott said.

Agents said that Smith refused to surrender and pulled out a firearm. Agents opened fire and killed Smith, FBI officials said. The agents involved weren’t injured.

Wescott said Smith was carrying an AK-47 when he was killed. Authorities found remnants of a crude pipe bomb at the scene, and shrapnel from the blast was found a hundred yards away.

Smith was facing several federal charges, including damage to religious property and possession of a destructive device, in connection with the May 10, 2010, bombing.

WJXT Jacksonville, 4 May 2011

It will be interesting to see how much attention this case receives on, say, Fox News. Considerably less than if it had been a Muslim suspected of carrying out a bombing who had been shot by the FBI, I’ll bet.

College rejects call to drop anti-Muslim speaker

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A Muslim civil-rights organization, along with religious leaders from a dozen area places of worship, has asked Everett Community College to cancel Thursday afternoon’s talk by a writer they portray as holding racist views.

Everett officials say they’re not planning to make any changes to the program, which features Raymond Ibrahim, associate director of the Middle East Forum and contributing writer of a blog called “Jihad Watch.” Ibrahim’s appearance is “consistent with the belief that students be exposed to a variety of views,” said John Olson, Everett vice president for college advancement.

But the Washington chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and several local religious leaders said they fear Ibrahim’s views could incite violence against Muslims.

“Everything Mr. Ibrahim has done in his career seems to have the single-minded focus of portraying Islam and Muslims as evil, deceitful, conspiring to take over the world, and … feeding the perpetual questioning and mistrust of their presence in the West,” reads the letter by Arsalan Bukhari, executive director of the Washington chapter of CAIR. The letter is signed by Bukhari and 58 others.

Seattle Times, 4 May 2011