Lazaro Yoshioka's blog ::The Virtues of Law School Pro Bono
First they came for the Samaritans who save lives, but in the process accidentally offend or injure victims. Then they came for the police officers and firefighters who try to do their jobs, but often must use physical force. Now they're coming for John and Jane Doe, who try to fight terrorists and others who would harm us by making phone calls and reporting suspicious behavior - just as we've all been asked to do. The Story: Six Imams Get On A Plane . . . It happened in Minneapolis, a city becoming infamous for Islamic controversy, on November 20, 2006. In the lobby waiting for a U.S. Airways flight, six imams, dressed like ordinary Americans, drew attention from passengers when they continually talked to one another and on the phone in Arabic. Several passengers stated that the imams were "pacing nervously." Passengers keep hearing the words "bin Laden" and "terrorism," either in English or Arabic (several other passengers were Muslim as well). As they were boarding the plane, they paused at the gate to recite an Arabic prayer, probably the traditional evening prayer as it was sunset. A gate attendant told the captain of the plane after passengers boarded that she did not want to fly with these passengers. However, at this point, though passengers were nervous, no one refused to fly. They did watch. Upon boarding the plane, the imams prayed loudly once again. Afterward, they did not sit in their assigned seats. Instead, they split up, moving to six different parts of the plane and choosing seats that flight attendants reported (and later FBI reports corroborated) were consistent with the seat choice of the original 9/11 terrorists -- two in first class, two in the middle of the plane, two in the back, all on opposite sides of the plane. This did raise alarms. So did their actions immediately afterward, when they continued getting up and moving around, according to at least one passenger, fifteen minutes after everyone else had their belts fastened, ready for takeoff. Some imams (including the two in or near first class), reasonably normal-sized men, requested seat belt extensions. These are two-foot-long (or a little more) seat belts with a male and a female attachment on either end, designed to attach to the corresponding ends of the airplane seat belt. Instead of attaching the belts (where they would have fit the imams like Pavarotti's pants), the imams placed the attachments on the floor beneath their feet. Now you have to think about that. Why would they request extensions and then set them aside? The conclusion passengers and attendants came to: With the heavy buckles on either end of a heavy nylon strip, one can easily imagine the belts being used as impromptu weapons or restraints. When this happened, the plane erupted in whispers. Passengers from all corners started protesting that they didn't want to take off if the imams were still on the plane. The flight attendants concurred. The captain understood. Laconically, he came over the intercom to tell the passengers that there was a "mix-up in our paperwork," and thus the flight would be delayed. It was, of course, a way to give the police and FBI time to arrive. But during the two-hour wait for law enforcement, other things were happening. One passenger had slipped a note to a flight attendant warning about the imams' behavior back in the airport lobby. Another, who spoke Arabic, pulled a flight attendant aside and translated what the imams had been saying: things about bin Laden and angry words because America had killed Saddam. When one married couple just behind first class tried to speak to the imam who sat next to them, he refused to meet their eyes and instead moved to a different part of the plane. Faced with numerous complaints from air crew, ground crew, and passengers, the captain consulted a federal air marshal, a U.S. Airways ground security coordinator, and even the Phoenix U.S. Airways security office. All concurred that the imams were behaving in a suspicious manner. Ultimately, bomb-sniffing dogs were brought onboard the plane. The six imams were removed (but not in handcuffs, as some media reports claimed). More information came out at this point. Half the imams had one-way tickets, a pattern noted in the 9/11 terrorists. Only one had checked a bag. And the imams had prayed twice, once at the gate and again on the planes; it is very irregular for a Muslim to pray twice at sunset, but not if he is going into a life-threatening situation. After the imams were removed, the dogs did their job, all the belongings of the imams were removed, and all passengers were rescreened, the plane took off at last, three and a half hours late. On takeoff, the passengers applauded and cheered for the flight crew. The Imams: Suing Concerned Citizens The imams were prepared. Almost immediately upon their release from a short detainment, they were on television talking about the ordeal they'd gone through. One flight attendant said she had just gotten into her hotel room that night after the flight when she turned on the television and saw the imams on television -- almost, she said, as if they'd been ready with a press statement. Only a day or two after this incident, Omar Shahin, one of the imams, threatened a lawsuit against U.S. Airways, and filed it in federal court in March with the support of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). They demand unspecified damages from U.S. Airways and the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) in Minneapolis. But the most alarming portion of their lawsuit deals with a pair of John Does. These people, passengers on U.S. Airways, are described as an older couple who contacted the airline to report the suspicious behavior of the imams. According to the complaint, they turned around to watch as the imams prayed in the airport lobby. The gentleman John Doe made a call on his cell phone while watching the imams pray, then he moved to a corner of the lobby while he continued talking. U.S. Airways and MAC have been asked to identify this couple. The response to this request has been outrage. As it should be. Suppose you thought the neighbors upstairs were abusing their small child. You heard thumps and screams, the child was often bruised. You had no direct evidence that the child was abused. If you called the police and it turned out that the parents were completely innocent, would they then have the right to sue you because you reported your suspicions? Or if the child were ultimately killed by abusive parents and you never did call, should you feel guilty? This case is even worse. The accused John Does are not listed in the police report (linked in Resources below this article). They are described as behaving in a manner that could simply be someone annoyed at the noise of the imams praying while he was making a last-minute phone call. And yet they are expected to defend themselves against - what? Reporting a reasonable suspicion of an impending crime that put them and potentially thousands of other people at risk? At any rate, the seventeen counts cited by the imams' lawsuit allege religious and ethnic discrimination, not a fear of terrorist attack, motivated the airlines to remove them from the plane (despite the fact that several Muslims who also spoke out against the imams that day were allowed to fly.) They complain of fear, depression, mental pain, and financial harm; they state that they endured exhaustion, humiliation, and ridicule, loss of sleep, and now are anxious about flying. CAIR, their financiers and legal backers, are also calling for congressional hearings and asking that federal legislation be passed to eliminate racial profiling in air travel. On March 27, the United States House of Representatives sent the Rail and Public Transportation Security Act of 2007 back to committee with a new clause intended to protect similar John Does from prosecution in the future. The current John Does are receiving offers from all over, including the moderate Muslim group American Islamic Forum for Democracy, from pro-bono lawyers and fundraisers wishing to ensure they do not incur any expenses from this lawsuit. The Head Imam's Interesting Past Omar Shahin, the apparent spokesperson for the six imams, is a lawyer specializing in Islamic law and was a representative of a charity called KindHearts for Charitable Humanitarian Donation, an organization linked to funding for HAMAS. Additionally, Shahin was until 2003 the Imam at the Islamic Center of Tucson, which originated as a satellite of the Mektab al Khidmat (MAK), which was the precursor of al Qaeda. The ICT hosted conferences for the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), which has also been linked closely to HAMAS. The FBI shut down KindHearts in 2004 after an investigation led to the arrests of some Toledo-area terrorists who were threatening the President, planning to attack our soldiers, and building suicide bomb belts (the apparati were found in their apartments). A spokesperson of the FBI stated that the two investigations were separate, but related. But there's more. In November 1999, Hamdan al-Shalawi and his friend Muhammed al Qudhaieen, both Arizona college students, were detained and removed from an American West flight. The students, both of whom had flown on international flights more than once, claimed they were looking for the bathroom. Like the six imams, they both sued American West for racial profiling (again, what race is this?); their lawyer was their teacher and imam, Omar Shahin. Later, Shalawi was questioned secondary to the 9/11 attacks about his visit to Afghanistan in the 1980s, when he attended a "training camp." Though he denies it, the FBI think he was trained to carry out truck bombings such as the one at Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia. Muhammed al Qudhaieen was later linked to 9/11, arrested, held and questioned, and ultimately deported to his home country, Saudi Arabia. Now Shahin is removed from a plane with five companions for their suspicious behavior, and proceeds to sue the airlines and passengers who reported his suspicious behavior. Interesting. What We Can Do Clearly, we cannot allow these things to continue happening. But most Americans feel relatively powerless. How can we keep these things from happening? How can we protect ourselves and those we love from these dangers? Learn as much as we can. Muslim extremists are calling for an all-out war, not just a blood war, but a war on our computer systems, a war on our legal system, and a war on our will to resist. This is all documented in their own words, on their own videotapes, in their own newspapers and television stations. By learning what is really being said, not what we're told is being said, we can uncover the lies that loosely cover this horror. Don't take anything at face value. I learned a while back to research everything I hear, whether it's from Fox News, a blog, or the New York Times. No one has the whole truth, but you can find the whole truth if you're willing to work at it. I challenge you to research the people and organizations referenced in this article and come to your own conclusions. The information is all there, if you'll just look it up. Most importantly, don't be frightened into not speaking out or trusting your own judgment. When we turn into a nation of frightened or apathetic sheep, the bad guys have won. Recent Happenings The Rail and Public Transportation Security Act of 2007, above referenced as the legislation that would contain protection in the future for John Does, passed on March 27th, 2007, with a margin of 304-121. One party (I won't name it) voted to include the protection in a block. All those opposed were in the other party. The full act, including the John Doe addendum, passed the House on April 4 and went on to the Senate. The imams have rhetorically tried to distance themselves from the inclusion of John Does, but refuse to drop those specified in their lawsuit. The John Does as of today remain anonymous. Some passengers not named in the suit have expressed concern that their lives and the lives of their families may be in danger. |
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