Youth charged in Chantilly mosque vandalism case

An 18-year-old has been charged with felony destruction of property for allegedly vandalizing a mosque that was under construction in Chantilly, Fairfax County police said.

Trenton M. Carter of the 14400 block of Round Lick Lane in the Centreville area was arrested May 3, police said. Carter and possibly other suspects allegedly threw rocks through most of the windows and door glass of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Mosque in the 4500 block of Ahmadiyya Drive in January, police and mosque officials said.

Police declined to release other details about the suspect, but said more arrests could be made and the investigation into the vandalism is continuing.

Washington Post, 11 May 2012

U.S. military taught officers: use ‘Hiroshima’ tactics for ‘total war’ on Islam

Dooley moderate Muslims
A slide from Lt. Col. Dooley’s presentation mocking the idea of moderate Muslims

The U.S. military taught its future leaders that a “total war” against the world’s 1.4 billion Muslims would be necessary to protect America from Islamic terrorists, according to documents obtained by Danger Room. Among the options considered for that conflict: using the lessons of “Hiroshima” to wipe out whole cities at once, targeting the “civilian population wherever necessary.”

The course, first reported by Danger Room last month and held at the Defense Department’s Joint Forces Staff College, has since been canceled by the Pentagon brass. It’s only now, however, that the details of the class have come to light. Danger Room received hundreds of pages of course material and reference documents from a source familiar with the contents of the class.

Continue reading

150 gather near Michigan Capitol to support anti-sharia bills

LANSING, Mich. — Supporters pushing measures that would ban implementation of foreign laws are trying to get the bills through the Michigan Legislature, a move they hope will curtail Islamic Sharia law in the U.S.

About 150 people gathered Thursday near the state Capitol to hear advocates for House and Senate bills modeled after a proposal dubbed “American Laws for American Courts” and written for a group called the American Public Policy Alliance. Similar legislation has been proposed in about two dozen states and approved in three.

Continue reading

On Islam, Romney doesn’t have the slightest idea what he’s talking about

“Romney is a scary conspiracy theorist when it comes to the Muslim world, and his discourse in this regard is eerily similar to that of European far-right figures such as Anders Breivik…. he sees the Muslim world as in the grip of a congeries of pan-Islamic caliphate movements against which he wants to wage a Mormon jihad with trillions of dollars of taxpayer money. But in fact almost none of the movements he mentions has anything to do with al-Qaeda or a caliphate.”

Juan Cole assesses Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s understanding of Islam.

History News Network, 7 May 2012

Via Tabsir

Halloween mosque fire in Wichita declared an arson

Wichita mosque arsonThe fire that heavily damaged a west Wichita mosque early on Halloween morning was an arson, a fire department official said today.

The fire at 3406 W. Taft, southeast of Maple and West streets, was reported at 12:45 a.m. on Oct. 31 and caused an estimated $120,000 in damage. The damage was so extensive the congregation only returned to the mosque last Friday, Capt. Stuart Bevis said.

Test results received from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives lab in Maryland ruled out the last possible accidental source of the fire, Bevis said. That only leaves a fire set “by human hand” as the source of the fire, he said.

Continue reading

Baby, 18 months old, ordered off plane at Fort Lauderdale airport

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Eighteen-month-old Riyanna has been called a lot of things: cute, adorable and now … a suspected terrorist.

She was called that on Tuesday night at the Ft Lauderdale Airport. She and her parents had just boarded a JetBlue flight when an airline employee approached them and asked them to get off the plane, saying representatives from the Transportation Security Agency wanted to speak to them.

“And I said, ‘For what?'” Riyanna’s mother told only WPBF 25 News on Wednesday. “And he said, ‘Well, it’s not you or your husband. Your daughter was flagged as no fly.’ I said, ‘Excuse me?'”

Rihanna’s father was flabbergasted. “It’s absurd,” he said. “It made no sense. Why would an 18-month-old child be on a no-fly list?”

Continue reading

Anti-Sharia rally set in Lansing

LANSING — A rally is planned for 8:30 a.m. at the state capitol Thursday to support a bill aimed at banning foreign laws in Michigan. The bills, HB 4769 and SB 701, have been called anti-Sharia legislation.

Its sponsor, Michigan Rep. Dave Agema (R-Grandville), said the bill is aimed at barring the implementation of foreign laws. While the law does not mention Sharia or Islamic law, local Muslim activists and others say the bill is aimed at Muslims.

Continue reading

Brookfield mosque earns support of plan commission

Brookfield mosque plan commissionFollowing overwhelming support at a public hearing Monday night, city plan commissioners unanimously backed construction of a mosque in Brookfield, sending the plans to aldermen for final approval.

The voice vote drew applause, handshakes and hugs among the approximately 30 people who stayed to hear the vote after the hearing that packed the Common Council chambers and two overflow areas.

Commissioner Gary Mahkorn, one of two aldermen whose district includes the mosque site, said he was “so proud” of the community for its support of religious diversity and freedom of religious worship, despite concerns some raised about Islam and terrorism. “We’re a welcoming community,” Mahkorn said. “I’m proud of this community. I’m proud of this country.”

Continue reading