A video has been posted to You Tube in which LAPD Deputy Chief Michael Downing, commander of the LAPD’s Counterterrorism and Special Operations Bureau. defends the Muslim Brotherhood at an appearance at the Islamic Center of Southern California (ICSC). Chief Downing’s defense of the Muslim Brotherhood included the following statements:
- “[Hasan Al-Banna’s] ideas are different than some of the people who are on the fringe of it here.”
- “The Muslim Brotherhood has evolved and changed just like we have evolved and changed.”
- “Just like Republicans and Democrats have more conservative and more liberal, that’s what we have here.”
- “The message is not to demonize the Brotherhood here.”
- “The original doctrine of the Brotherhood…has evolved and changed just like we have evolved and changed.”
- “You can’t say that [Al-Banna’s doctrine] is the same as the Muslim Student Association which is kind of an offshoot of the Brotherhood…You can’t say it’s the same thing.”
- “[The Brotherhood] is a political body that is having a voice that we should listen to the voice and we should give them a forum to talk.”
Chief Downing goes on to speak favorably of Ijtihad, the doctrine of Koranic interpretation closely associated with Youssef Qaradawi, the most important leader of the Global Muslim Brotherhood.
The entire video can be seen here.
One of the most important leaders of the ICSC was the late Hassan Hathout whose early history in Egypt which strongly suggests he was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood and a disciple of Brotherhood founder Hassan El Banna who he once referred to as “my teacher.” Hassan Hathout was also the brother of Mather Hathout, a leader of the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC). MPAC, headquartered in Southern California, was established initially in 1986 as the Political Action Committee of the ICSC and since that time, MPAC has functioned as the political lobbying arm of the U.S. Brotherhood. MPAC has opposed virtually every count-terror initiative undertaken or proposed by the U.S. government. At times this opposition was said to be on civil-rights grounds but, just as often, MPAC claimed that U.S. counter-terror efforts were aimed at the U.S. Muslim community itself. MPAC has consistently supported and facilitated terrorism by supporting terrorist organizations and, more broadly, constructing an elaborate ideology defending the use of violence by Islamists and Islamist organizations. More than any other U.S. Muslim Brotherhood organization, MPAC has developed extensive relationships with the U.S. government which have included numerous meetings with the Department of Justice and the FBI. A previous post reported that two MPAC leaders were scheduled to speak at a 2010 Southern California counterterrorism conference to be attended by many individuals from local and federal law enforcement.
(Note; This video was found at Pajamas Media.