The scope of Rep. Kings Hearings Creates Homeland “in"Security

by Sheila Musaji

Rep. Peter King has some difficulty in accepting that terrorism is terrorism no matter what its source **.  This may explain his narrow focus on only one source of terrorist activity.  But, it is an explanation that doesn’t stand up to the facts.  Extremists in the U.S. come in many different forms – white nationalists, anti-gay, black separatists, racist skinheads, neo-Confederates, anti-immigrant, anti-government, anti-tax, anti-Semitic, anti-abortion, etc. 

King says he is only concerned with groups who have committed such acts in the U.S. because his “loyalty is to the U.S.”  King said:  “There’s a systematic effort to radicalize young Muslim men.  It would be irresponsible of me not to have this investigation.

.” 

I agree with King that as Americans, our primary concern is homegrown terrorism and extremism and terrorist acts committed within the U.S. 

TAM has a lengthy article collection Claim that all terrorists are Muslims ignores history which clearly shows that political violence and terrorism are clearly coming from many different groups.  I disagree with King that the American Muslim community is the primary source of such acts.

Radicalization of individuals is a problem, and it is not only al Qaeda who is interested in radicalizing individuals to carry out criminal acts to further their political agenda.  Homegrown terrorists are a problem.  Our enemy is the individuals and organizations promoting the false belief that the end justifies the means — That they can justify violence against innocent civilians if that will help to bring about whatever ideological program they consider more important than human life.

Sometime ago I wrote a series of articles A Spiritual Jihad Against Terrorism.  Here are a few relevant quotes

Our society is whirling down a spiral of violence of which terrorism is the face, that is currently at the front of our minds.  There is a growing exploitation by religious extremists, political extremists, nationalist extremists, etc.  All of these share a “religious” element in that they are all convinced that they are God’s agents to bring about and enforce their “right” belief on everyone else, and that they, and they alone - know the “right” way.  This “religious” element is particularly dangerous because it is devoid of spirituality.

More innocent lives are in danger today than in any previous period of history.  The entire world is in danger.  We are at the beginning of a new century and a new millenium, and it is possible that we will not complete either without destroying ourselves. 

Too often, we excuse “our” violence and condemn “their” violence (whether individual or state) in the name of ethnicity, culture, politics, self-defense, religion,— but, no matter the “reason” or excuse, the end result is the same, more death and destruction.

Questions that need to be answered: 

—  What are the agreed upon definitions for terms such as “radicalization”, “terrorist act”, etc. to begin the discussion?
—  Is there a profile of the individuals who have been involved in terrorist acts?
—  Are young people more easily radicalized?
—  Is there any community or demographic group that is more prone to radicalization than others?
—  What are the primary methods being used to radicalize individuals?
—  Are there particular techniques most often used by groups attempting to radicalize individuals?  What are they?
—  Are there any particular groups more likely to be targeted by attempts at radicalization? (e.g. individuals with mental illnesses, or a criminal history)
—  What are the early warning signs of radicalization?
—  What are the most effective strategies that have been developed to counter radicalization? 
—  What are the root causes of radicalization?
—  What is the role of law enforcement and what is the role of ordinary citizens in preventing acts of violence?

Listed at the end of this article are some of the terrorists acts carried out in the past 20 years by non-Muslims.  It would seem obvious that it is the violent behavior that is a problem.  Whether the individual believes that they are furthering a political, economic, social, religious (or any other) ideology by such an act - it really doesn’t matter to the victims.

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D.-Miss), the ranking member on the Homeland Security Comittee published an article in Politico, where he lends caution to the “Peter King Hearings” that are scheduled to begin soon to examine home grown terrorism solely in the context of terrorists claiming to be Muslim.  He claims this is too narrow a focus and urges Congress and the public to expand their focus on terrorism beyond race and religion.  Here are a few quotes from Rep. Thompson’s article:

The Sept. 11 commissioners had it right when they said, “The U.S. has to help defeat an ideology, not just a group of people.”

Americans have almost been conditioned to believe that the majority of people who seek to do us harm are those of Muslim descent. Capitalizing on this fear, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King (R-N.Y.) wants to hold narrowly focused hearings — only on the threat posed by foreign jihadist groups.

If law enforcement officials have told King that the Muslim community has been systematically uncooperative and wholly prone to radicalization, as he has repeatedly stated, I invite those officials to step forward.

In fact, tips from the Muslim community have directly led to foiling numerous plots — including the case of the Northern Virginia Five and the Times Square bomb plot.

When I served as the committee chairman in the 111th Congress, the panel regularly heard testimony from top law enforcement and intelligence officials. None of these officials has backed King’s assertions that the Muslim community has not been helpful in thwarting terrorist attacks.

While I agree that homegrown terrorism and the jihadist threat deserve continuing attention, a single-minded approach ignores all other threats.

Today’s terrorists do not share a particular ethnic, educational or socioeconomic background. Recently, when state law enforcement agencies were asked to identify terror groups in their states, Muslim extremist groups ranked 11th on a list of 18.

Law enforcement agencies identified neo-Nazis, environmental extremists and anti-tax groups as more prevalent than Muslim terrorist organizations. The sophisticated explosive device found along a parade route in Washington on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, an act of domestic terrorism clearly motivated by racist ideology, should prove that other groups are just as willing and able to carry out horrific attacks on Americans.

In addition, terrorist groups are not our only threat. According to the Department of Homeland Security, “lone wolves and small terrorist cells” may be the single most dangerous threat we face. Attacks are just as likely to come from lone-wolf extremists — like James Wenneker von Brunn, the Holocaust Memorial Museum shooter, or Jared Lee Loughner, who is charged with the tragedy in Tucson, Ariz. — as they are from Muslim extremist groups.

And what do von Brunn and Loughner have in common with Muslim extremists like Nidal Hasan, the Fort Hood shooter, and Colleen LaRose, also known as Jihad Jane? All allegedly espoused radical views on the Internet through extremist websites, chat rooms and popular sites like Facebook.

This starkly illustrates what should be common sense: The most effective means of identifying terrorists is through their behavior — not ethnicity, race or religion.

While knowing these facts puts us at an advantage, just being aware is not enough. The nation’s law enforcement resources are already stretched thin. We must ensure that we are using these resources to yield the best results.

Devoting all of our assets to investigate only the Muslim community leaves a gaping hole in our security. Holding hearings is not only likely to increase the level of government mistrust within the community, but it will weaken counterterrorism cooperation by ignoring the long history of Muslim cooperation. Poisoning this relationship through inquisition-style hearings would substantially risk losing this crucial cooperation.

We must maximize our efforts to counter violent extremism, radicalization and recruitment in the United States, and stop using xenophobia and ethnic stereotyping. If we are going to move forward and protect this nation, we must recognize trends in terrorist activity.

We cannot cripple ourselves by ignoring the fact that terrorist activity knows no race, ethnicity or religion. Doing so would be a grave disservice to our nation — and would disrespect those who have sacrificed their lives as a result of terrorist activity.”

On the function of the Department of Homeland Security, King said: “The department was set up primarily to protect us from another terrorist attack from Islamic terrorists, and yet they talk about everything but that.”  

I am sorry Rep. King, but I expect the Dept. of Homeland Security to attempt to help make us secure from terrorist attacks from all sources, and since the overwhelming majority of terrorists are not Muslims, this statement gives me no peace of mind.  The scope of the Dept. of Homeland Security and the scope of these hearings needs to be broader.

King has refused to consider expanding the scope and has made many claims about the American Muslim community - we haven’t uniquevocally denounced terrorism, 80% of mosques run by radicals, most terrorists are Muslims, we don’t cooperate with law enforcement, we haven’t responded to the issue of radicalization, we haven’t done enough to prevent terrorist acts, etc.  and each and every one of these claims has been shown to be FALSE.  There are no grounds to focus only on one religious community other than bigotry.

Homegrown extremism poses a threat to all Americans, and is a serious concern.  We really do need to try to understand how radicalization happens, and how to stop it from happening.  Focusing on only one source of that threat does not make us safer.

As to the question of Muslims somehow doing more than they are doing to prevent radicalization and stop acts of violence,  I am not certain what King is suggesting about doing more.  As a private citizen it is my responsibility to report anything suspicious I might become aware of - but criminals are not likely to speak openly in front of anyone they don’t believe to be sympathetic to their cause.  Is Rep. King really suggesting that the Muslim community become a vigilante group and set up some sort of an armed militia to go out and hunt down suspected criminals?  Should Mexican Americans and Columbian Americans be required to do the same and solve the problem of the drug cartels?  Should Italian Americans be responsible for going after the mafia?  Isn’t that the job of law enforcement?

I am asking Rep. King, and the Department of Homeland Security to make a sincere attempt to make all Americans safe by investigating extremist groups no matter what their ideology. 

2000 to 2011

- Jim D. Adkisson opened fire in the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville TN killing two and injuring seven (a note found in his SUV indicated this was intended as a suicide attack and said the church was apparently targeted because of its support of liberal social policies),
- - Alabama Free Militia, five members of anti-immigration militia were arrested for planning a machine gun attack on Mexicans.  During raids by federal agents, authorities seized 130 hand grenades, two machine guns and more than 2,500 rounds of ammunition
- Chad Altman and Sergio Baca were arrested for the arson of Dr. Curtis Boyd’s clinic in Albuquerque NM
- The Animal Liberation Front targeted a UCLA professor with a firebomb due to her research on animals,
- Daniel L. Barefoot, Sharon Renee Barefoot, Jonathan A. Avery, Jonathan Maynard, Marvin G. Gautier and Rossie Lynwood Strickland , six members of the Nation’s Knights of the Ku Klux Klan pleaded guilty to a variety of weapons and conspiracy charges in connection with an illegal gun trading scheme in the early 2000s to finance a plan to blow up the Johnston County, North Carolina, courthouse.
- Philip Bay planned a massacre of fellow Virginia Beach students
- John Patrick Bedell, an anti-government extremist walks into the Pentagon and opens fire, wounding two officers before he is himself shot dead. 
- Kody Brittingham, a Marine is arrested and charged with plotting to assassinate President Obama. Brittingham also collected white-supremacist material. 
- Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people and wounded many others at Virginia Tech before committing suicide,
- Demetrius Van Crocker a white supremacist from rural TN attempted to acquire Sarin nerve gas and C-4 explosives that he planned to use to destroy government buildings,
- James Cummings dirty bomb plot, -Belfast, Maine, police discover the makings of a nuclear “dirty bomb” in the basement of a white supremacist shot dead by his wife. The man, who was independently wealthy, reportedly was agitated about the election of President Obama and was crafting a plan to set off the bomb.
- Matthew L. Derosia rammed a SUV into the front entrance of a Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Paul, Minnesota
- John Earl, a Catholic priest drove his car into the Northern Illinois Health Clinic and pulled out an ax before being shot at by a security guard,
- Earth Liberation Front members plead guilty to burning The Center for Urban Horticulture at the University of Washington.
- Paul Ross Evans left a package at a women’s health clinic in Austin, Texas containing an explosive device capable of inflicting serious injury or death. A bomb squad detonated the device after evacuating the building. Paul Ross Evans (who had a criminal record for armed robbery and theft) was found guilty of the crime
-  David Anthony Fuselier and 4 other members of the American Invisible Empire of the Ku Klux Klan were convicted in federal court in Louisiana on conspiracy and intimidation charges for burning a cross at the residence of three African-American men in Longville, Louisiana. The five men, who all pleaded guilty, had burned the cross in an attempt to coerce the victims into leaving the community
-  Matt Hale of the World Church of the Creator was convicted in 2004 of soliciting the murder of Chicago federal Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow
-  Jeffrey Harbin who has ties to the neo-Nazi National Socialist Movement (NSM) and was formerly a member of the neo-Nazi National Alliance, arrested for transporting 12 grenade-like improvised explosive devices.
- Kevin William Hardham has been charged with illegal possession of an explosive device and attempting to use a “weapon of mass destruction,”  after leaving a backpack bomb with the potential of killing or injuring dozens of people along the route of a Martin Luther King Day “unity march” in downtown Spokane, Wash
- Lucas John Helder rigged pipe bombs in private mailboxes to explode when the boxes were opened, He injured 6 people in Nebraska, Colorado, Texas, Illinois, and Iowa. His motivation was to garner media attention so that he could spread a message denouncing government control over daily lives and the illegality of marijuana.
- Patricia Hughes and Jeremy Dunahoe threw a Molotov cocktail at a clinic in Shreveport, LA,
- David Hull, Pennsylvania Klan leader was convicted of a variety of illegal weapons charges in connection with an alleged plot to use hand grenades to attack abortion clinics; he also allegedly told an informant that he had turned his car into a “suicide bomb on wheels.”
- Hutaree “Christian warrior” militia.  Seven militiamen from the Hutaree Militia in Michigan and Ohio are arrested and charged with plotting to assassinate local police officers with the intent of sparking a new civil war.
- An Idaho Mountain Militia Boys plot to kill a judge an a police officer and break a friend out of jail is uncovered,
- Vadim Ignatov shooting attack on Muslim home in Oregon
- Bruce Ivins anthrax attacks kill five across the U.S. with politicians and media officials as the apparent targets,
- JDL plot by Irv Rubin and Earl Krugel to blow up the King Fahd Mosque and the office of Congressman Darrell Issa in CA foiled,
- Jerry and Joe Kane, two “sovereign citizens” gunned down two police officers who pull them over for a traffic violation, and then wound two more officers in a shootout in which both of them are eventually killed. 
- Anarchist Joseph Konopka was found in possession of deadly amounts of sodium cyanide and potassium cyanide
- William Krar is charged for his part in the Tyler poison gas plot, a white supremacist related plan, his weapons cache included a half a million rounds of ammunition, more than 60 pipe bombs, machine guns, silencers, and remote-controlled bombs disguised as briefcases.
- James J. Lee wearing explosives and carrying a gun took hostages at the headquarters of the Discovery Channel in Silver Spring, Maryland before being killed by police. He was protesting the channel’s “anti environmental” message and programming encouraging birth of humans who he called filthy
- Ryan Daniel Lewis was convicted of arson in a number of incidents on behalf of the Earth Liberation Front in CA
-  Jared Lee Loughner, the alleged mass murderer who shot U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona at a political gathering
- - Donny Love, Sr. has been indicted for his alleged role in bombing of the federal courthouse in downtown San Diego.  Multiple nail-laden pipe bombs exploded at a Federal Courthouse in San Diego causing “considerable damage” to the entrance and lobby and sending shrapnel two blocks away. The F.B.I. is investigating links between this attack and an April 25 explosion at the FedEx building also in San Diego
- Keith Luke went on shooting spree in MA to kill as many non whites and Jews as possible,
- Dennis & Daniel Mahon send mail bombs to a diversity office in Scottsdale AZ that injure three,
- Alberto Martinez - two officers were killed at Forward Operating Base Danger in Tikrit, Iraq by a deliberately placed mine,  Staff Sergeant Alberto B. Martinez was charged, but was acquitted in a court martial trial at Fort Bragg, NC,
- David McMenemy of Rochester Hills, Michigan crashed his car into the Edgerton Women’s Care Center in Davenport, Iowa. He then doused the lobby in gasoline and then started a fire. McMenemy committed these acts in the belief that the center was performing abortions
- Justin Carl Moose plot to bomb abortion clinics.  The FBI alleges he referred to himself as the “Christian counterpart to (Osama) bin Laden”
- Donny Eugene Mower was arrested on federal charges of attacking a reproductive health clinic in Madera CA, and authorities said he also is responsible for vandalism and menacing signs left at the city’s Islamic center.
- Robert Pickett discharged a number of shots from a weapon in the direction of the White House,
- Richard Andrew Poplawski - Three Pittsburgh police officers are fatally shot and a fourth wounded by Richard Andrew Poplawski, who had posted his racist and anti-Semitic views on white supremacist websites.
- Project 7, two members are arrested plotting to kill judges and law enforcement officials in order to kick off a revolution,
- Charles Carl Roberts IV went into an Amish school in Lancaster County, PA and killed 5 girls before committing suicide, 
- Daniel and Timothy Robinson arrested in possession of materials to make bio-chemical weapons
- Scott Roeder Assassination of Dr. George Tiller
- Daniel James Schertz, N GA White Knights member pleaded guilty to building pipe bombs designed to blow up buses carrying Mexican and Haitian migrant workers from Tennessee to Florida
- Kyle Shaw bombing of a Starbucks in Manhattan’s Upper East Side, police said his motive was to emulate “Project Mayhem” a series of assaults on corporate America
- Joseph Stack’s suicide flight into an IRS building. 
- Roger Stockham was arrested in a car laden with explosives outside one of the nation’s largest mosques in Dearborn MI
- Texas Militia former leaders plot to attack the Federal Building in Houston,
- Bruce and Joshua Turnidge, a pair of “Patriot” movement radicals who wanted “to attack the political infrastructure”—threaten a bank in Woodburn, Oregon, with a bomb in the hopes of extorting money that would end their financial difficulties, for which they blamed the government. Instead, the bomb goes off and kills two police officers. The men eventually are convicted and sentenced to death for the crime.
- Jomar Falu Vives a Fort Carson, CO soldier and Iraq war veteran accused of killing 2 people and wounding another in drive-by shootings,
- U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum shooting by James Wenneker von Brunn,
- Lonnie Vernon and 4 others were arrested on charges connected with an alleged plot to kidnap or kill state troopers and a Fairbanks, Alaska judge
- Clayton Waagner, claiming to act on the part of the “Virginia Dare Chapter” of the Army Of God mailed hoax letters containing a white powder to 554 clinics,
- white supremacists planned to bomb a series of institutions associated with the black and Jewish communities including the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum,
- two white power skinheads plot to target an African American High School and kill 88 blacks and decapitate 14 more (the numbers 88 and 14 are symbolic to white supremacists) and although expecting to fail try to assassinate Barack Obama,
- Jeffrey Weise killed his grandfather and his grandfather’s girlfriend on the Red Lake, MN Chippewa reservation, then went to Red Lake H.S. where he killed 7 people and wounded 5 others before committing suicide,
- Byron Williams loads up on weapons and drives to the Bay Area intent on attacking the offices of the Tides Foundation and the ACLU, but is intercepted by state patrolmen and engages them in a shootout and armed standoff in which two officers and Williams are wounded.
- Alexander Robert Youshock’s plot to bomb a school in San Mateo, CA

UNIDENTIFIED PERPETRATOR

- A man rammed his car into a women’s clinic that he thought was an abortion clinic and set it ablaze in Davenport, Iowa,
- A bomb was left in a women’s clinic in Austin but failed to explode, 
- UC-Santa Cruz molecular biologist David Feldheim’s home was firebombed. A car belonging to another researcher from that University was destroyed by a firebomb in what is presumed to be related. FBI is investigating incidents as domestic terrorism related to animal rights groups,
- Three Packages detonate in the mail rooms of two Maryland state government buildings. No serious injuries
-  A homemade bomb damaged a Recruiting Office in Times Square
- A pair of improvised explosive devices were thrown at the Mexican Consulate in New York City. The fake grenades were filled with black powder, and detonated by fuses, causing very minor damage. Police were investigating the connection between this and a similar attack against the British Consulate in New York

1990 to 1999

- American Front Skinheads, pipe bombing in Tacoma WA
- Animal Liberation Front bombing in Franklin Township, N.J. of Circus Vehicles
- Animal Liberation Front, 9 incidents of firebombing in Chicago, IL
- Boricua Revolutionary Front,Chicago IL, Car Fire and Attempted bombing
- Frank Eugene Corder attempted to hit the White House with a single-engine Cessna,
- Francisco Martin Duran fired at least 29 shots with a semi-automatic rifle at the White House,
- Earth Liberation Front, Colo. Arson Fire at Ski Resort
- Earth Liberation Front arson attack on Agriculture Hall of MSU and office complex in Monmouth, OR
- Buford O. Furrow, a former member of the Aryan Nations, in a firearms attack on a Jewish Community Center in Granada Hills, CA wounded three children, a camp counselor, and a receptionist.
- Eric Harris & Dylan Kleboldat Columbine H.S.  killed 13 people and wounded 24 before commitng suicide,
- Rev. Paul Jennings Hill murders Dr. John Britton and an assistant in FL
- Ted Kaczinski, the Unabomber,
- James Kopp murders Dr. Barnett Slepian was shot to death at his home in Amherst, NY
- Sgt. William J. Kreutzer, Jr.  killed one officer and wounded 17 other soldiers when he opened fire on a formation at Fort Bragg, NC.,
- Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, the Oklahoma City bombing
- Mexican Revolutionary Movement, attempted firebombing in Urbana IL
- Minnesota Patriots Council plots to assassinate law enforcement officials using ricin
- Alfred Reumayr plot to blow up the Trans Alaska Pipeline
- Eric Robert Rudolph, connected to The Army of God, carried out the Centennial Olympic Park bombing and abortion clinic bombing in Birmingham AL
- John Salvi killed two receptionists in two clinic attacks in Brookline, MA
- Benjamin Nathaniel Smith, a right-wing extremist and member of the World Church of the Creator, shooting rampage left two individuals dead and eight others wounded before Smith killed himself, 
- Russell Eugene Weston kills two in U.S.  Capitol shooting

SEE ALSO

HISTORIC MOMENT - PETER KING’S HEARINGS

Rep. Peter King’s hearing “The Extent of Radicalization in the American Muslim Community and that Community’s Response.” took place on March 10, 2011. 

TAM has an article The American Muslim Community and Rep. Peter King’s “Islamic” Radicalization Hearings which has a great deal of background on Peter King and these hearings, and an extensive article collection.  We also have a series of articles breaking down various aspects of the hearings:
-  Peter King’s Hearing: What Was the Point? discussing the content of the hearings, with a collection of articles written after the hearing ended. 
-  Peter King’s Civics Lesson for American Muslims which has a collection of anti-Muslim statements by elected representatives and government officials made during and before the hearings. 
-  Existing reports and studies on radicalization in the American Muslim Community and Polls, Surveys, and Statistics Relating to Islam and Muslims  with actual hard evidence so lacking in the hearing. 
-  Response of Civic Organizations and Interfaith Community to “Muslim Radicalization” Hearings  
-  Elected Representatives & Government Officials Who HAVE Questioned Islamophobia with quotes from elected representives and government officials attempting to counter the bias of this hearing both during and before the hearing. 
- Peter King’s hearing: witness testimonies - allegations but no facts
- Zuhdi Jasser and AIFD - Identified by Rep. King as the Ideal American Muslim Leadership
- Does Rep. King’s IRA/Terrorist Connection Matter?
-  Answers to Peter King’s Claims About the American Muslim Community which lays out all of his claims and allegations and provides detailed answers to each.  (e.g. Do Muslims cooperate with law enforcement?  Do Muslims speak out against terrorism and extremism?  Are most Muslims terrorists?  Are 80 to 85% of mosques run by radicals?  Have American Muslim organizations responded to the issue of radicalization?  Are mosques the source of radicalization?  etc.)
- The scope of Rep. Kings Hearings Creates Homeland “in"Security

All of these articles will be updated as further information comes in, and there will be more articles in this series.