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Chronology of Islam in America (2014)
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
April 2014
NSA performed warrantless searches on Americans' calls and emails – Clapper
April 1: US intelligence chiefs have confirmed that the National Security Agency has used a "back door" in surveillance law to perform warrantless searches on Americans’ communications. The NSA's collection programs are ostensibly targeted at foreigners, but in August (2013) the Guardian revealed a secret rule change allowing NSA analysts to search for Americans' details within the databases. Now, in a letter to Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat on the intelligence committee, the director of national intelligence, James Clapper, has confirmed the use of this legal authority to search for data related to “US persons”. “There have been queries, using US person identifiers, of communications lawfully acquired to obtain foreign intelligence targeting non-US persons reasonably believed to be located outside the United States,” Clapper wrote in the letter, which has been obtained by the Guardian. “These queries were performed pursuant to minimization procedures approved by the Fisa court and consistent with the statute and the fourth amendment.” The legal authority to perform the searches, revealed in top-secret NSA documents provided to the Guardian by Edward Snowden, was denounced by Wyden as a “backdoor search loophole.” Many of the NSA's most controversial programs collect information under the law affected by the so-called loophole. These include Prism, which allows the agency to collect data from Google, Apple, Facebook, Yahoo and other tech companies, and the agency's Upstream program – a huge network of internet cable taps. Clapper did not say how many warrantless searches had been performed by the NSA. It was not the first time the searches had been confirmed: after the Snowden leaks, the office of the director of national intelligence declassified documents that discussed the rule change. But Clapper's letter drew greater attention to the issue. Confirmation that the NSA has searched for Americans’ communications in its phone call and email databases complicates President Barack Obama’s initial defenses of the broad surveillance in June. [The Guardian]
Straight From the NSA's Mouth: We Searched You Without a Warrant
April 2: In a letter to Senator Ron Wyden, NSA Director James Clapper finally admitted what had already been revealed in secret documents: the NSA has spied on Americans without first securing search warrants. "There have been queries, using US person identifiers, of communications lawfully acquired to obtain foreign intelligence by targeting non US persons reasonably believed to be located outside the US," Clapper said in the letter. Those Americans whose communications were searched without a warrant were targeted as part of a program aimed at foreign "persons of interest." That program was authorized under Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act of 2008. Under that section, individual warrants are not needed to spy on Americans believed to be connected to certain foreign people if their communications are swept up as part of "lawful" bulk data collection. The program is currently facing challenges in federal court, and two senators are proposing legislation that would require the government to secure a warrant before searching the communiations of any American whose correspondence is sucked into the 702 database. At least one official has said that the NSA is spying on so many people in the 702 database that a requirement to obtain a warrant would be highly impractical, according to The Washington Post. “The number of times that we query the 702 database for information is considerably larger” than the number of times queries are made of the NSA’s telephone records database assembled under a program to search for clues to terrorist networks, Robert S. Litt, the general counsel in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, said to the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, an independent watchdog. [AlterNet]
Chief Justice Roberts Shreds Another Campaign Finance Law—Individuals May Now Shower Gold on Pols
April 2: The U.S. Supreme Court majority led by Chief Justice John Roberts has overturned one of the few remaining barriers in American elections that seek to limit wealthy individuals from using vast amounts of their money for political power and influence. Today's ruling, in McCutcheon v. FEC, threw out parts of a 2002 law that imposed a $123,000 limit on federal campaign contributions in a two-year congressional cycle. It came in a lawsuit brought by a Republican Alabama businessman and the GOP that was designed to challenge those so-called aggregate contribution limits. “Candidates will solicit million-dollar checks, contributors will write them and the pay-to-play system in Washington will only become more direct,” said J. Gerald Hebert, the executive director of the Campaign Legal Center. “The Roberts Court has exponentially increased the already-significant political influence of the very richest while further undermining the influence of the overwhelming majority of Americans who could not afford to write checks to politicians for even a fraction of the former aggregate contribution limit of more than $123,000 per election cycle.” While the conservative majority’s anti-regulatory ruling was expected, coming four years after its Citizens United ruling that deregulated some corporate contributions, what was striking about today's ruling was its contemptuous tone, written by the Chief Justice, on the subject of what’s best for American democracy. The legal basis for upholding campaign finance regulations is to prevent corruption, the Supreme Court ruled in 1976. But the Roberts Court, as was the case in Citizens United, chose to define corruption as a quid pro quo activity—like a bribe, which is already illegal—and turned a blind eye to what anybody who has worked in politics knows: that spending large sums of money on someone’s agenda or election does not come without some strings attached or expectation of future benefit. [By Steven Rosenfeld - AlterNet]
U.S. Islamophobes stand by Wilders as his own party members defect
April 2: Dutch politician Geert Wilders has once again become the subject of controversy after he led supporters in an anti-Moroccan chant during a campaign rally last month. Despite the mass condemnation he has received for the remarks, Wilders’ anti-Muslim counterparts in the United States are standing by his draconian approach to immigration. While at the rally in The Hague, Wilders, who heads the Party for Freedom (PVV), asked the crowd: “Do you want in this city more or fewer Moroccans?” to which they chanted, “Fewer! Fewer! Fewer!” “We’ll take care of that,” he responded with a wry smile. Wilders later defended his comments and outlined his party’s plans to uphold his promise by “limiting immigration from Islamic countries, including Morocco” and promoting “re-emigration.”
Despite the mass exodus from his own party, anti-Muslim activists in the United States continue to uphold Wilders as a symbol of resistance against the devastation they believe will come as a result of an increased Muslim population: Longtime anti-Muslim activist Daniel Pipes said although he didn’t agree with Wilders’ tactics, he sympathized with his goal of curbing immigration. Frank Gaffney took to his radio show to say Wilders is representing the “free world.” During the show, Gaffney described PVV’s policy as being a subscript for “describing the affliction that immigration, some of it illegal, has represented for a country like the Netherlands.” Islamphobic columnist Diana West joined Gaffney on his show and took issue with the negative media coverage Wilders has received. David Horowitz Freedom Center fellow Bruce Bawer also defended Wilders at FrontPage Magazine. Even at a time when Wilders’ own party is trying to distance themselves from his extreme rhetoric, those in the broader anti-Muslim movement continue to show their unwavering support for him. [Imagine 2050]
FBI smashes alleged radical-right terror plot in Texas US media show little interest
April 3: FBI agents in Texas have arrested a man who allegedly was plotting to use C-4 explosives and weapons to kill police officers, rob banks and armored cars, and blow up government buildings and mosques, authorities announced today. Robert James Talbot Jr., 38, of Katy, Texas, was arrested today on federal charges of attempted interference with commerce by robbery, solicitation to commit a crime of violence and possession of an explosive material, the FBI said. After setting up a Facebook page called American Insurgent Movement (AIM), Talbot allegedly sought to recruit five or six like-minded people who wanted “to restore America Pre-Constitutionally and look forward to stopping the Regime with action by bloodshed.” He wrote this year on the AIM page that he was seeking people interested in “walking away from your life … to stop the regime.”...... Court documents say the FBI opened an investigation into Talbot’s activities last August after learning of his desire to recruit others for terror attacks. The “like-minded” individuals he initially attracted worked for the FBI, it turns out. The FBI used a confidential informant and two undercover FBI agents assigned to the agency’s Joint Terrorism Task Force. [Loon Watch]
West Point cadets visit New Jersey Islamic Center
April 4: In a sign of respect, cadets from the United State Military Academy at West Point removed their shoes and military caps as they entered the Muslim Federation of New Jersey in Jersey City today. The future Army officers met with religious leaders and members of the Muslim community at the community center as part of a three-day tour of the culturally diverse city. After starting with a prayer in the Muslim Federation this afternoon, about 20 cadets spoke with religious leaders and asked them a range of questions about their experiences both living in Jersey City and abroad. The cadets, who were mostly seniors and dressed in their navy blue and gray uniforms, then broke for lunch and ate some traditional Pakistani dishes. After the brief meal, the cadets joined the community members in the mosque to pray. All of them sat on the floor with more than two dozen community members who streamed into the building for Friday afternoon prayers. The cadets began their three-day cultural field trip yesterday. Before they end their journey tomorrow, the cadets will have visited Egyptian churches, various mosques and Islamic centers, Jewish synagogues, Mormon communities and more. [The Jersey Journal]
Brandeis University withdraws invitation to Islamophobe Ayaan Hirsi Ali
April 9: The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today welcomed a decision by Brandeis University to withdraw its invitation to notorious anti-Muslim extremist Ayaan Hirsi Ali to receive an honorary degree at commencement ceremonies on May 18 and attributed the "victory over hate" to a unified community response. CAIR, the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, requested that move in a letter to Brandeis President Frederick M. Lawrence. Ali has in the past seemed to express sympathy for mass murderer Anders Breivik, who included her writings in his manifesto. She has also stated "we are at war with Islam," called for the closing of "all Muslim schools" in America, urged that Islam be "defeated,"claimed "there is no moderate Islam," and suggested that the U.S. Constitution be amended to allow for discrimination against Muslims. In its statement announcing the withdrawal of Ali's invitation, the university said: "We cannot overlook that certain of her past statements are inconsistent with Brandeis University's core values." [CAIR]
U.S. Muslims cite progress but say they still fight bias
April 13: About 800 people came out today to support the Michigan chapter of (CAIR) America's largest Muslim civil liberties organization, where both the progress and the challenges of the community were highlighted. There was much to praise. National studies show eight out of 10 Muslims are satisfied with their lives in the United States and two out of three say the economic and political environment of this nation is far superior to most Muslim nations. But “Islamophobia” is on the rise, according to many speakers at the Council on American Islamic Relations event. A national survey last year by the Pew Research Center found that 45 percent of Americans say Muslim Americans face “a lot of discrimination.” In Metro Detroit, the Michigan chapter of CAIR has been involved in a local landmark federal case against the FBI and other law enforcement agencies. In the lawsuit, CAIR says there is repeated detention and questioning of Muslims about their religious beliefs and practices by federal agents at U.S.-Canada border crossings. [The Detroit News]
The NYPD disbands Muslim spying unit
April 15: The New York Police Department (NYPD) to disband a special unit that conducted widespread warrantless surveillance of law-abiding Muslims, the Associated Press reported today. The NYPD spokesman Stephen Davis was quoted as saying that detectives assigned to the controversial unit had been transferred to other duties within the department's Intelligence Division. An ongoing review of the division by new Police Commissioner William Bratton found that the same information collected by the unit could be better collected through direct contact with community groups, officials were quoted by the AP as saying. In a statement, Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, called the move "a critical step forward in easing tensions between the police and the communities they serve, so that our cops and our citizens can help one another go after the real bad guys." The Demographics Unit, conceived with the help of a CIA agent working with the NYPD, assembled databases on where Muslims lived, shopped, worked and prayed, the AP said adding: Plainclothes officers infiltrated Muslim student groups, put informants in mosques, monitored sermons and cataloged Muslims who adopted Americanized surnames. [AP Report]
Feds urged to Probe Closures of Muslim Bank Accounts
April 22: The Minnesota and Florida chapters of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest Muslim civil rights organization, said today they have asked the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate the systematic closure of accounts held by Muslims at Chase, SunTrust and TCF Bank.In Minnesota, the account closures began with those belonging to Iranian students studying at the University of Minnesota.TCF then closed the accounts of Minnesota Muslims of Somali, Middle Eastern, South Asian, and European origin. The account closures are apparently not based on transactions, as none of the accounts closed displayed extraordinary activity.
In letters sent to the DOJ, Treasury Department Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the Minnesota Attorney General, CAIR's Minnesota chapter (CAIR-MN) wrote in part: "The only similarity among the clients whose bank accounts were closed, starting with the Iranian University of Minnesota Students, Somali American patrons, and Americans of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and European origin, is their religious affiliation of Islam and the fact that they have Muslim sounding first names and/or surnames. . . As a civil rights organization we are deeply disturbed by the apparent discrimination and religious profiling of loyal TCF Bank customers. We want to ensure that TCF Bank is not engaged in discrimination and is not targeting people who are Muslim or come from predominantly Muslim countries." In February, CAIR-MN asked for an investigation by the Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights (MDCR), which issued a Director's Charge on behalf of Muslim clients whose accounts were closed by TCF Bank without explanation. CAIR's Florida chapter (CAIR-FL) sent a request to the DOJ asking that it launch an investigation into the unexplained closures of bank accounts held by Muslims in that state. [CAIR]
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