[Ppnews] FBI Kills Cleric for Being Muslim at the Wrong Time in America

[Political Prisoner News]

Monday, November 02, 2009

http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/


FBI Kills Islamic Cleric, Arrests Followers, for Being Muslims at the 
Wrong Time in America

FBI Kills Islamic Cleric, Arrests Followers, for Being Muslims at the 
Wrong Time in America - by Stephen Lendman

On October 28, New York Times writer Nick Bunkley wrote the following:

"Federal agents (today) fatally shot a man they described as the 
leader of a violent Sunni Muslim separatist group in Detroit." 
Targeted was Luqman Ameen Abdullah "whom agents were trying to arrest 
in Dearborn on charges that included illegal possession and sale of 
firearms and conspiracy to sell stolen goods."

The Times echoed FBI allegations that Abdullah "began firing at them 
from a warehouse (and) was shot in the return fire...." Ones also 
that he said:

-- "America must fall;"

-- if police tried to arrest him he'd "strap a bomb on and blow up 
everybody;" and

-- that he urged his followers to get bulletproof vests by 
"shoot(ing) a cop in the head and tak(ing) their vest."

In fact, neither happened, and no surprise. No bombs were found or 
went off, and bulletproof vests are easily bought online from web 
sites like bulletproofme.com, so why shoot anyone to get them.

Post-9/11, America declared war on Islam with the FBI in the lead at 
home. It notoriously targets the vulnerable, entraps them with paid 
informants, inflates bogus charges, spreads them maliciously through 
the media, then intimidates juries to convict and sentence innocent 
men and some women to long prison terms. Justice is nearly always 
denied. At times willful killings are committed. The Detroit Muslims 
are their latest victims.

The Muslim Community Reacts

The Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) "is a public service agency 
working for the civil rights of American Muslims, for the integration 
of Islam into American pluralism, and for a positive, constructive 
relationship between American Muslims and their representatives." 
Since its 1988 founding, it's become known for promoting "Mercy, 
Justice, Peace, Human Dignity, Freedom, and Equality for all."

On October 29, MPAC's Executive Director, Salam Al-Marayati said:

"There is a clear and present danger in the escalating mob mentality 
against vulnerable Muslim Americans."

The organization called for an investigation into the shooting death, 
saying it is "deeply disturbed" by the incident.

So is the Muslim Alliance in North America (MANA), a national network 
of masjids (mosques), Muslim organizations and individuals committed 
to addressing the needs of the Muslim community. It released a 
statement saying:

"It is with deep sadness and concern that we announce the shooting 
death of Imam Luqman A. Abdullah, of Masjid Al-Haqq (Detroit, MI). 
Imam Luqman was a representative of the Detroit Muslim community to 
the 'National Ummah' and the general assembly (Shura) of the Muslim 
Alliance in North America (MANA)...."

Ummah founder Jamil Al-Amin (aka H. Rap Brown) wanted it to be an 
association of mosques in US cities to coordinate religious and 
social services primarily in the black community. Calling it a 
"nationwide radical fundamentalist Sunni group consisting primarily 
of African-Americans" is an "offensive mischaracterization."

Those who've worked with Imam Abdullah know him for having "advocated 
for the downtrodden and always sp(eaking) about the importance of 
connecting to the needs of the poor." Alleging that he and his 
followers engaged in illegal activity, resisted arrest, and waged an 
"offensive jihad against the American government" are "shocking and 
inconsistent."

On October 30, the American Muslim Taskforce on Civil Rights and 
Elections (AMT), a coalition of major national Islamic organizations, 
issued this statement:

"It is imperative that an independent investigation of Imam Luqman 
Ameen Abdullah's death make public the exact circumstances in which 
he died. And unless the FBI has evidence linking the criminal 
allegations to the religious affiliation of the suspects, we ask that 
federal authorities stop injecting religion into this case. The 
unjustified linkage of this case to the faith Islam will only serve 
to promote an increase in existing anti-Muslim stereotyping and bias 
in our society."

AMT also urged the Congressional Tri-Causus (African-American, Latino 
and Asian) to call for a judicial inquiry.

A statement from The International Council for Urban (Formations) 
Peace, Justice and Empowerment read:

We members "are appalled by the raids on Masjid Al-Haqq and a halal 
meat packing plant that left (Abdullah) dead. We are demanding an 
independent investigation into this action that is clearly the result 
of a climate of Islamophobia fed by law enforcement and a media bent 
on sensationalism. (The FBI's) complaint and the resulting raid are 
nothing more than government sponsored terrorism against a group that 
was working to help the community...."

"The inconsistencies in this investigation are glaring. The case is 
based on sworn statements of informants. These informants were 
convicted criminals who were paid by the federal government for their 
'work.' These criminals were used to engage and entrap law abiding 
citizens...."

We "never heard Imam Abdullah make any statements (or suggest any 
actions) consistent with the statements in the complaint...."

"The FBI has stated that this was not a terrorism case. However, the 
investigation was conducted by a counter terrorism unit."

"....Masjid Al-Haqq, under the direction of Imam Abdullah, fed the 
hungry, housed the homeless, worked with gangs and the formerly 
incarcerated to turn a crime ridden and drug infested neighborhood 
around to becoming a productive community....The most disturbing fact 
is that a religious leader who reached out to his people and his 
community is dead, the victim of a society that sees anyone who is 
different as dangerous."

Omar Regan, Abdullah's son, led the Friday, October 30 prayers at the 
Al-Haqq mosque, and said the following:

"My father was a sharp-tongued individual. He would talk about his 
dislike of the government, about how law enforcement wasn't 
protecting and serving the people. But speaking his emotions and 
acting on (them) are two different things."

Other community members echoed that sentiment in accusing the FBI of 
heavy-handed tactics that killed Abdullah maliciously from multiple 
gunshot wounds.

Abdullah El-Amin, an imam at Detroit's Muslim Center (the city's 
largest black mosque), said he knew Luqman for years and never heard 
him talk about wanting a separate Muslim state, just something "like 
the Pennsylvania Dutch have (with) their own communities and stuff."

He and about 20 other Detroit imams attended an October 29 meeting 
with US Attorney Terrence Berg and FBI Special Agent Andrew Arena at 
which they charged the Agency with entrapping Abdullah, then killing 
him in cold blood. One informant, they said, was a former Abdullah 
follower with a criminal past, and he and the others "came to a place 
where people are not getting social security, unemployment. They had 
nothing," so could easily be manipulated to sell stolen items they provided.

Dawud Walid, Executive Director of the Michigan chapter of the 
Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said:

"The very incendiary rhetoric that the FBI alleges, I never heard 
that from (Abdullah). There was nothing extraordinary about him....I 
knew him as a respected imam in the Muslim community....I knew him to 
be charitable. He would open up the mosque to homeless people. He 
used to run a soup kitchen and feed indigent people....I knew nothing 
of him that was related to any nefarious or criminal behavior."

Walid added:

"Is this the kind of excessive force that we black Americans are all 
too familiar with?" He also questioned using informants he called 
"agent provocateurs" who entice law-abiding people to self-incriminate.

Other community members believe Abdullah was maliciously targeted, 
that the FBI likely initiated gunfire, and if he shot back it was in 
self-defense.

Even the FBI's complaint admitted that whatever alleged crimes were 
planned or committed, they were minor and inconsequential. Hardly 
offenses warranting a high-profile raid, shoot-out, and political 
assassination.

Department of Justices Allegations

On October 28, a Department of Justice (DOJ) press release headlined: 
"Eleven Members/Associates of Ummah Charged with Federal Violations - 
One Subject Fatally Shot During Arrest." The FBI and US Attorney for 
the Eastern District of Michigan, Terrence Berg, charged:

"Luqman Ameen Abdullah, aka Christopher Thomas, and 10 others with 
conspiracy to commit several federal crimes, including theft from 
interstate shipments, mail fraud to obtain the proceeds of arson, 
illegal possession and sale of firearms, and tampering with motor 
vehicle identification numbers. The eleven defendants are members of 
a group that is alleged to have engaged in violent activity over a 
period of many years, and known to be armed."

Those charged were "believed to be armed and dangerous (so) special 
safeguards were employed by law enforcement to secure the arrests 
without confrontation. During the arrests today, the suspects were 
ordered to surrender. At one location, four (did) and were arrested 
without incident. Luqman Ameen Abdullah did not surrender and fired 
his weapon. An exchange of gun fire followed and Abdullah was killed."

"Abdullah was the leader of part of a group which calls themselves 
Ummah ('the brotherhood'), a group of mostly African-American 
converts to Islam, which seeks to establish a separate Sharia-law 
governed state within the United States. The Ummah is ruled by Jamil 
Abdullah Al-Amin, formerly known as H. Rap Brown, who is serving a 
(life) sentence (without parole) in USP Florence, CO, ADMAX 
(supermax), for the murder of two police officers in Georgia."

In the US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, a 
criminal complaint named:

-- Luqman Ameen Abdullah (aka Christopher Thomas);

-- Mohammad Abdul Bassir (aka Franklin D. Roosevelt Williams);

-- Muhammad Abdul Salaam (aka Muhammad Addul Salam; aka Gregory 
Stone; aka Gun Man; aka Norman Shields);

-- Abdul Saboor (aka Swayne Edward Davis);

-- Muhahid Carswell (aka Muhahid Abdullah, Luqman's son);

-- Abdullah Beard (aka Detric Lamont Driver);

-- Mohammad Philistine (aka Mohammad Palestine; aka Mohammad Al-Sahli);

-- Yassir Ali Khan;

-- Adam Hussain Ibraheem;

-- Garry Laverne Porter (aka Mujahid); and

-- Ali Abdul Raqib.

At the time of the raid, three of the men were still at large - 
Mujahid Carswell (Abdullah's son), Mohammad Philistine and Yassir Ali 
Khan. However, Windsor, Ontario police announced the arrest of 
Carswell the next day, and on October 31, they arrested Philistine 
and Ali Khan.

The unsealed complaint charged Abdullah with "espous(ing) the use of 
violence against law enforcement, (and) train(ing) members of his 
group in the use of firearms and martial arts in anticipation of some 
type of action against the government." It said "Abdullah and other 
members of this group were known to carry firearms and other weapons."

According to FBI Counter-Terrorism Squad Special Agent Gary Leone, a 
"confidential source" (aka paid informant) called S-2 provided 
"reliable and credible" information, "independently corroborated by 
other sources, and by consensual recordings he has made with the 
members of The Ummah at the direction of the FBI."

In a "surreptitiously" recorded December 12, 2007 conversation, "S-2 
told Abdullah he had asked to donate $5,000 to pay to have someone 
'do something' during the 2006 Super Bowl in Detroit. Abdullah said 
he would not be involved in injuring innocent people for no reason: 
'If there's something to be done....it (has) to be legitimate.' "

He then allegedly said...."things are coming....I got some violence 
(in me) because of what they did to Imam Jamil (H. Rap Brown)....I 
got some stuff, man, I got some soldiers with me....Brothers that I 
know would, you know, if I say 'Let's go, we going to go and do 
something,' they would do it."

Leone said this and other recordings "confirm(ed) by (another paid 
informant) S-1 (showed) that Abdullah and his followers view 
themselves as soldiers at war against the United States government, 
and against non-Muslims," yet nothing in his above statement says 
that, so charges amount to putting FBI allegations in the mind of a 
dead man, unable to refute them.

The DOJ presented no evidence of a plot, a crime, or intent to commit one.

The FBI used three paid informants for over two years. On October 10, 
2008, the third, S-3, allegedly recorded Abdullah saying:

"We have to cut the ties to (Christians, Jews, and the Kuffar 
(infidels). You cannot please them until you follow their 
religion....Obama is a Kafir (infidel, non-Muslim, an insulting term 
for any African American)....the premise of Allah and Islam (is) 'the 
worst Muslim is better than the best Kafir....we should be trying to 
figure out how to fight the Kuffar....Washington is trying to stop 
everything we do....they are my enemy, and I should be trying to plot 
as to how to make moves to get some things accomplished....(we) need 
to plan to do something."

These and other recordings show anger, not intent to commit crimes. 
Yet that's what the DOJ alleges. Saying "We are going to have to 
fight against the Kafir" suggests resistance against a hostile state. 
Even stronger statements, allegedly recorded, aren't hard evidence of 
planned violence against the FBI, other federal agents, or anyone else.

In its October 28 press release, the DOJ acknowledged that the above 
criminal complaint "is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A 
trial cannot be held on felony charges in a complaint. When the 
investigation is completed a determination will be made whether to 
seek a felony indictment." Yet the FBI killed Abdullah, allegedly in 
a shoot-out with only its account for proof, an Agency notorious for 
political assassinations and twisting facts to make its case.

Imam Umar Responds

In a widely distributed message, an Imam Umar wrote:

"The FBI ups the ante. They set up Imam Luqman of Detroit and 
murdered him. We know him and the community he comes from. This is no 
terrorist trap. This was part criminal sting and when the Imam and 
his brothers peeped the tricks of the FBI, they lured him to a 
warehouse and killed him. Now they accuse Imam Jamil (H. Rap Brown) 
who has been in prison for the past ten years as leader of this 
group. He is an easy target. A lone Imam with the FBI was also an 
easy target. The FBI is not only tricky and devious....they are 
extremely dangerous thugs and murderers."

A follow-up message added:

"The FBI is known for their murderous tactics all over the world. 
When they are given an assignment they use every imaginative strategy 
to accomplish their goal. When they were under J. Edgar Hoover, he 
found various ways to discredit Martin Luther King....They turned the 
Black Stone Rangers against the Black Panthers in Chicago that 
(caused) the death of the (BPP) leaders. They got the Huey P. Newton 
and Eldredge Cleaver factions to kill one another. They have gone 
after the so-called terrorists with one phony case after another. 
They first went after immigrants, decimating their numbers in 
America. Now they are after African American Muslims. Next will most 
likely be the support groups of mostly white people....These FBI 
devils are very shrewd and their evil spreads....The murder of a good 
Muslim will only make it more dangerous to live in America. They know 
that black people sooner or later will fight back."

"The Ummah is not a 'brotherhood,' it is the Arabic word for 
'community.' This group setting up a Muslim state? What a joke. They 
can hardly set up an annual conference. This information is to cause 
fear....to cause backlash against Muslims....Let the FBI continue 
with their tricks, lies and murder. Before long, everyone will see 
through their veil and they will become the target."

Imam Jamil Al-Amin, Formerly Known as H. Rap Brown

Born Hubert Gerold Brown, he became famously known as H. Rap Brown, a 
1960s civil rights activist, social commentator, and chairman of the 
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (succeeding Stokely 
Carmichael) where he distinguished himself as a charismatic leader 
and effective organizer. In 1968, he was named minister of justice 
for the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense that strove for ethnic 
justice, racial emancipation, and real economic, social, and 
political equity across gender and color lines.

As a result, he was targeted by federal and state authorities, 
charged with inciting a riot in Maryland, violating the National 
Firearms Act, and illegally crossing state lines to skip bail. During 
his 1970 firearms trial, he disappeared for 17 months and was placed 
on the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted" list. In late 1971, he reemerged after 
being arrested and falsely charged with armed robbery in Manhattan. 
Convicted, he served five years in Attica State Prison.

While there, he converted to Islam and changed his name to Jamil 
Abdullah Al-Amin. After release, he started an Atlanta mosque and 
operated a small grocery store and community center. Then in 2000, he 
was charged with murdering a black police officer and injuring his 
partner in a gun battle outside his store.

In 2002, he was tried, and despite strong evidence of his innocence, 
was convicted on 13 counts, including murder, aggravated assault, 
obstruction, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and 
sentenced to life imprisonment with no possibility of parole.

At trial, his lawyers argued for a case of mistaken identity, claimed 
prosecutors were out to get him for decades, and presented a strong 
defense in his behalf, including:

-- his fingerprints weren't on the murder weapon;

-- he wasn't wounded in the incident even though the arresting deputy 
said he shot the assailant;

-- he also identified his eyes as gray; Al-Amin's are brown;

-- his attire didn't match clothing the shooter wore;

-- blood found at the scene was discounted and unchecked;

-- potentially exculpatory evidence relating to the sheriff's vehicle 
was either lost or destroyed;

-- a man named Otis Jackson confessed to the crime; it was ignored, 
never introduced at trial, days later Jackson recanted, and the 
defense team never got a chance to interview him; and

-- withheld evidence and proceedings were so controversial that 
observers believed Brown was convicted pre-trial for his civil rights 
activism and conversion to Islam; he was clearly a targeted man;

It became clearer when the Georgia Supreme Court agreed that the 
prosecution committed a grave constitutional error when, in closing 
arguments, the assistant district attorney directed jurors to 
consider posed questions relating to Al-Amin's failure to present 
testimony or evidence. Nonetheless, the Court upheld the verdict.

Afterward, his legal team filed a habeas corpus writ citing gross 
irregularities, including:

-- not investigating Otis Jackson's confession;

-- denying a change of venue due to negative publicity;

-- prohibiting Al-Amin from testifying in his own defense;

-- eliminating Muslims from the jury pool;

-- dismissing three of his four trial lawyers;

-- prohibiting potentially exculpatory evidence from being introduced;

-- denying favorable testimony in his behalf;

-- withholding discovery from the defense team;

-- denying them a chance to cross-examine an FBI agent relating to 
his prior misconduct against a Muslim, his misleading and false 
testimony, and charges that he tampered with evidence; and

-- inflammatory media reports during trial, portraying Al-Amin as a 
radical extremist.

A Final Comment

As a nationally known civil rights champion and Islamic leader, 
Al-Amin was a prime FBI COINTELPRO target, the agency's infamous 
counterintelligence program against political activists, legitimate 
dissent, independent thought, and non-violent opposition to the 
Vietnam war, and racial and social injustice.

It continues today against men like Abdullah, his followers, and 
dozens more like them for their faith, ethnicity, race, activism, 
prominence, and opposition to government injustice at the wrong time 
to be Muslim in America.

According to an Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) December 2007 
report on Al-Amin titled, "Prisoners of Faith Campaign Pack," many 
thousands of "Muslim prisoners of faith around the world" are being 
held in Muslim and non-Muslim countries, including politicians, human 
rights activists, students, writers, and others with "one thing in 
common:" their adherence "to the Islamic belief and way of life."

They're portrayed as "terrorists, inciters of religious hatred or of 
even trying to change the constitution of the country" where they 
live. They're vilified and denied their civil rights. In custody, 
they're neglected, brutalized, tortured, and forgotten as 
non-persons. As one of them, Al-Amin once said:

"For more than thirty years, I have been tormented and persecuted by 
my enemies for reasons of race and belief....I seek truth over a lie; 
I seek justice over injustice; I seek righteousness over the rewards 
of evil doers; and I love ALLAH more than I love the state."

For others like him, their struggle for equity, social justice, and 
mutual understanding persists against hostile government oppression. 
In America as much as anywhere. Its tradition continues.

Stephen Lendman is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on 
Globalization. He lives in Chicago and can be reached at 
lendmanstephen at sbcglobal.net.

Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to The 
Global Research News Hour on RepublicBroadcasting.org Monday - Friday 
at 10AM US Central time for cutting-edge discussions with 
distinguished guests on world and national issues. All programs are 
archived for easy listening.

http://republicbroadcasting.org/Global%20Research/index.php?cmd=archives.year&ProgramID=33&year=9


posted by Steve Lendman @ 
<http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2009/11/fbi-kills-islamic-cleric-arrests.html>3:03 
AM




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