The Investigative Project has reported on the defense offered by the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) to convicted terrorist Tarek Mehanna, sentenced in April for conspiring to provide material support to Al Qaida. According to the report:
IPT News • Jul 17, 2012 at 4:58 pm The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) Chicago chapter defended convicted terrorist Tarek Mehanna Tuesday, arguing his actions in a plot to kill American troops are akin to a report of American military training for a radical Iranian opposition group. Mehanna was sentenced in April to 17½ years in federal prison after being convicted of conspiring to provide material support to al-Qaida, conspiracy to murder in a foreign country, lying to the FBI and providing material support to terrorists. The charges stem from a plot to kill American soldiers overseas. To CAIR-Chicago, it’s another example of law enforcement’s unjust treatment of American Muslims, In an article by an intern posted on its website and distributed to its email list, CAIR cast Mehanna as a victim of FBI surveillance and harassment who was simply exercising his right of free speech. He launched his own al-Qaida ‘media wing’ espousing violent jihad and published translations of al-Qaida materials including 39 Ways to Serve and Participate in Jihad and the Expedition of Umar Hadid. ‘So were Mehanna’s online posts ‘material support for terrorism’ or was he just using his first amendment right to voice his opinions?’ the article asks. ‘Mehanna was sentenced to 17 ½ years in prison, and it’s suspect that his being Muslim had something to do with his indictment.’ To accept the argument would mean the jury and presiding judge were duped. After Mehanna made a statement comparing his support for jihad against American troops to American revolutionaries fighting the British, U.S. District Court Judge George A. O’Toole Jr. said he was ‘frankly concerned by the defendant’s apparent absence of remorse.’
For the rest, go here.
Documents released in the Holy Land Trial have revealed that the founders and current leaders of CAIR were part of the Palestine Committee of the Muslim Brotherhood as well as identifying the organization itself as being part of the US. Brotherhood. A recent post discussed an interview with the Deputy leader of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood in which he confirms a relationship between his organization and CAIR. Investigative research posted on GMBDW had determined that CAIR had it origins in the U.S. Hamas infrastructure and CAIR and its leaders have a long history of defending almost all individuals accused of terrorism by the US. government, frequently calling such prosecutions a “war on Islam.” In 2009, a US federal judge ruled “The Government has produced ample evidence to establish the associations of CAIR, ISNA and NAIT with HLF, the Islamic Association for Palestine (“IAP”), and with Hamas.”
For more on CAIR’s history of support for terrorism, go here.