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Chronology of Islam in America (2012)
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
December 2012
Border agents’ power to search devices is facing increasing challenges in court
Dec. 3: The government has historically had broad power to search travelers and their property at the border. But that prerogative is being challenged as more people travel with extensive personal and business information on devices that would typically require a warrant to examine. Several court cases seek to limit the ability of border agents to search, copy and even seize travelers’ laptops, cameras and phones without suspicion of illegal activity. “What we are asking is for a court to rule that the government must have a good reason to believe that someone has engaged in wrongdoing before it is allowed to go through their electronic devices,” said Catherine Crump, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union who is representing plaintiffs in two lawsuits challenging digital border searches. A decision in one of those suits, Abidor v. Napolitano, is expected soon, according to the case manager for Judge Edward R. Korman, who is writing the opinion for the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of New York. In that case, Pascal Abidor, who is studying for his doctorate in Islamic studies, sued the government after he was handcuffed and detained at the border during an Amtrak trip from Montreal to New York. He was questioned and placed in a cell for several hours. His laptop was searched and kept for 11 days. According to government data, these types of searches are rare: about 36,000 people are referred to secondary screening by United States Customs and Border Protection daily, and roughly a dozen of those travelers are subject to a search of their electronic devices.
Courts have long held that Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches do not apply at the border, based on the government’s interest in combating crime and terrorism. But Mr. Pascal’s lawsuit and similar cases question whether confiscating a laptop for days or weeks and analyzing its data at another site goes beyond the typical border searches. They also depart from the justification used in other digital searches, possession of child pornography. “We’re getting more into whether this is targeting political speech,” Ms. Crump said. In another case the A.C.L.U. is arguing, House v. Napolitano, border officials at Chicago O’Hare Airport confiscated a laptop, camera and USB drive belonging to David House, a computer programmer, and kept his devices for seven weeks. The lawsuit charges that Mr. House was singled out because of his association with the Bradley Manning Support Network. Pfc. Bradley Manning is a former military intelligence analyst accused of leaking thousands of military and diplomatic documents to the antisecrecy group WikiLeaks.
In March, Judge Denise J. Casper of Federal District Court in Massachusetts denied the government’s motion to dismiss the suit, saying that although the government did not need reasonable suspicion to search someone’s laptop at the border, that power did not strip Mr. House of his First Amendment rights. Legal scholars say this ruling could set the stage for the courts to place some limits on how the government conducts digital searches. “The District Court basically said you don’t need individualized suspicion to search an electronic device at the border,” said Patrick E. Corbett, a professor of criminal law and procedure at Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Mich. “What they were troubled with was the fact that the government held these devices for 49 days.” [New York Times]
Cypress-area mosque target of possible hate crime
Dec. 10: A Cypress area mosque has filed police and hate crime reports after members of the Islamic Outreach Center-Cypress (Texas) found a dead pig on the mosque deck today. Members found the slaughtered pig during their evening prayer time, and they believe its appearance was no accident. A day later, members found what appeared to be pig intestines hanging from the mosque's gate. Over the years, pigs have been used as a symbol against Muslims because it is against their faith to eat pork. In response, the Texas chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a civil rights group, has joined the local mosque to speak out against what they consider an apparent hate crime. Muslim leaders additionally stated the mosque will be installing a security system. "It is very alarming to see a house of worship being targeted with such an offensive gesture. It compromises the Muslim community's sense of safety,” said Mustafaa Carroll, executive director of CAIR-Texas in a statement. “We ask for everyone's support during this time. We ask that law enforcement investigate this incident and the perpetrator be held accountable.” According to the group, hate crimes have been increasing. The FBI reports there were 107 anti-Muslim hate crimes in 2009 and 160 in 2010. “Between July 2010 and July 2012, the organization’s lawyers and staff processed 5,589 civil rights complaints. CAIR has served more than 28,000 complainants since 1994,” according to a report the group presented to Congress. [Cypress Creek Mirror]
FBI: Anti-Muslim hate crimes still up
Dec 10: Hate crimes against perceived Muslims, which jumped up 50% in 2010 largely as a result of anti-Muslim propagandizing, remained at relatively high levels last year, according to 2011 hate crime statistics released today by the FBI. The bureau reported that there were 157 reported anti-Muslim hate crimes in 2011, down slightly from the 160 recorded in 2010. The 2011 crimes occurred during a period when Islam-bashing propaganda, which initially took off in 2010, continued apace. The FBI statistics, which are compilations of state numbers, are notoriously understated. Two Department of Justice studies have indicated that the real level of hate crimes in America is some 20-30 times the number reported in the FBI statistics, in part because some 56% of hate crimes are never reported to police and more than half of those that are mischaracterized as non-hate crimes. Nevertheless, the FBI statistics can be used to get a sense of general trends. Last year saw continued high levels of anti-Muslim propaganda such as the crusade by some against the alleged Muslim plan to impose religious Shariah law on the United States. There were a number of local battles over the construction of new mosques, and several were attacked by apparent Islamophobes. At the same time, the FBI statistics suggested that there was a 31% drop in anti-Latino hate crimes, from 534 in 2010 to 405 last year. It’s not clear what might be behind that drop, other than an apparent diminution in anti-Latino and anti-immigrant propaganda as negative attention focused on Muslims. Other hate crime categories remained relatively steady. Anti-Jewish hate crimes fell from 887 in 2010 to 771 last year, while anti-LGBT hate crimes rose slightly, from 1,256 to 1,277. Anti-black hate crimes also fell slightly, continuing a trend of dropping from a high of 2,876 in 2008 (when Barack Obama appeared on the national political scene, fueling anti-black hatred in some quarters) to 2,076 last year. [Mark Potok the editor-in-chief of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s quarterly journal, the Intelligence Report.]
Sandy Hook School massacre shocks the nation
Dec. 14: A gunman, Adam Lanza, 20, walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut this morning and opened fire, killing 26, including 20 young children and six teachers. The shooter was also found dead inside the school of a self-inflicted gunshot. He came to school after killing his mother at home. The massacre was the worst in the US since the 2007 rampage at Virginia Tech University, which left 33 dead. The killings follow by less than five months the shooting rampage at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, where 12 were killed and 58 injured.
Interfaith prayers
Dec. 16: The Al Hedaya Islamic Center in Newtown, in Connecticut today joined the nation in grieving the victims of the shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School that left 20 kids and 6 teachers dead two days ago. The Al Hedaya Islamic Center message was read at the interfaith prayers, joined by President Barrack Obama: “The Muslim community of the Al Hedaya Islamic Center in Newtown, in Connecticut and throughout the nation joins with our fellow Americans in grieving for those who died in this senseless tragedy and praying for them and their families. We ask God to grant those lost a special place in paradise and we ask their families to be granted the strength to endure the unendurable. It is in such times of almost unbearable loss that we seek comfort with our Creator and that artificial divisions of faith fall away to reveal a nation of mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, son and daughters, all united in a desire to bring healing and renewed hope.” All faiths were represented at the Interfaith service that was arranged by the Newtown Interfaith Clergy Association. Perhaps one of the most touching readings came from a Muslim boy who seemed not much older than those who were killed. He stepped onto the stage and stood at the podium reading from the Quran.
Islamic Society of North America’s condolence message
Imam Mohamed Magid, President of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), in a letter of condolences to the Governor of Connecticut Dannel P. Malloy, said: “We are deeply troubled by the incident and hope you will reach out to us or others in the faith community if there is any way we can be of assistance…. While this tragic event took place in Connecticut last week, we know it could have happened anywhere and at any time. As the father of five school-age girls, my heart goes out to all of the parents who lost their children that day. As Muslims, we consider children to be precious gifts from God who warrant our love and protection. It is a great tragedy when, in spite of our great love and care, they are taken from this world far too soon…. We are committed to standing with people of all faiths to join together to prevent such horrible tragedies from happening again. We hope that people of all faiths from across the nation can be a part of long-term solutions to create safe and peaceful communities.”
Newtown Massacre: ICNA grieves with fellow Americans
The Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) joined fellow Americans in grieving for those who died in the senseless tragedy. In a statement, ICNA said: “You are not alone in your grief. Our world has also been torn apart. In these moments of sorrow and grief, we would like to assure the families who lost a loved one that we have wept with them on this tragedy. We would like to extend our deepest condolences to the families who lost a loved one in this massacre. In the Quran, Islam’s revealed text, God says, “Give glad tidings to those who endure with patience; who, when afflicted with calamity, say: ‘We belong to God and to Him we shall return.’ Such are the people on whom there are blessings and Mercy from God.” (2:155-157) It is time, we as a nation, must engage in a productive dialogue to come up with practical solutions to end this culture of gun violence. We call on our leaders and citizens of this great country to come to agreement on a lasting solution so that we would never see another Tucson, Aurora, Oak Creek, Columbine or Newtown.”
Questions I ask myself about Connecticut School Shooting by Juan Cole
I ask myself, “Why?” i. Why don’t the news anchors or discussants ever bring up the simple fact that between 1994 and 2004, the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994: The Federal Assault Weapons Ban prohibited assault weapons? The prohibition was not unconstitutional. Congress foolishly put in a 10-year sunset provision, and of course Bush and his Republican Congress allowed it to expire. Ii. Why aren’t the politicians in Congress who take campaign money from assault weapons manufacturers ever held accountable by the public? iii. What in the world does the 2nd amendment have to do with these incidents? Do they look like a “well-regulated militia” to you? Semi-automatic weapons are the 18th-century equivalent of artillery in terms of their ability to kill. Do you think people should be allowed to have artillery pieces in their back yards, too? Is this some sort of sick joke, that you are telling us our children have to die because the Founding Fathers wanted madmen to have high-powered weaponry? iv. Why does complaining about semi-automatic weapons (and the means to make them fully automatic by attaching e.g. ammunition drums) being freely available always devolve into an argument about gun control and hunting? No one minds if people buy rifles to shoot deer with in the countryside. An ordinary, non-automatic rifle can’t produce a mass killing like that in Connecticut because it cannot get off so many rounds so quickly. Nobody hunts with an automatic pistol, and if they do, they should be publicly shamed by, like a group of hot girls calling them wusses as they set off in their hunting jackets.
Sandy Hook School massacre presents towering Challenge for President Obama by Earl Ofari Hutchinson
During his stint in the Illinois legislature, Obama's major concern was cracking down on illegal gun sales, and the spread of and access to semi-automatic weapons. This does little to keep guns out of the hands of loose screws such as alleged Aurora shooter James Holmes and alleged Sandy Hook school shooter, Adam Lanza. In the White House Obama has simply followed the precedent of nearly all presidents and that's to leave tougher restrictions on gun sales and trafficking to the states. Some states have passed laws that ban assault guns and high capacity ammunition magazines, limit the number of gun sales, require child safety locks on new guns, and outlaw the sale of cheap handguns.
Domestic violence shooting spree kills 20 helpless elementary school children as U.S. prioritizes wars on children By Ruth Hull
The shooting in a Connecticut kindergarten classroom by an adult male of his mother and her students did not happen in a vacuum. There probably were signs at home. Did watching violence at home immunize the gunman to violence against those unable to help themselves? Perhaps Obama should apologize for his role in showing all of America that it is good policy to drone bomb helpless school children in foreign lands to help oil companies get richer or to give billion dollar bailouts to Wall Street bankers as rewards for throwing widows and orphans out of their homes and into the streets to die. How many more American kids will die before our leaders understand that they need to take care of America's families and teach respect for women and the innocent? Domestic violence is treatable but not by setting the examples of wars, violence and oppression. How can a government that is engaged in its own violence against the helpless set an example of non-violence?
School shooting in Connecticut leaves 27 dead, including 20 children By Kate Randall
What intellectual bankruptcy! No US government official or media personality has the mental capacity or courage to ask why these horrible tragedies occur in America with such heartbreaking predictability. The public has barely adjusted itself to one horror when the next one takes place. Even as the media reports Friday’s incident, everyone knows that it is only a matter of time before the next atrocity. The same figures that speak of “inexplicable tragedies” preside over extreme levels of violence both at home and abroad. Obama is the first US president to openly claim the right to select and order assassinations, including of US citizens. The ruling elite prosecutes an unending series of wars and military invasions, with hundreds of billions of dollars going to the giant killing machine. How could any expression of violence in America today be entirely “incomprehensible”? At home, the American population is subjected to a culture of violence, not only in the form of police shootings and brutality, but an assault on democratic rights. While the financial elite continues to amass record profits, growing numbers of working families are plunged into poverty.
Sadly, Sandyhook drives gun sales up By Tracy Turner
Once again, every gun nut in America has galvanized themselves into defending the profits of Glock, Smith and Wesson, Sig Sauer and Charter Arms, et al. Guns don't kill people, laws that prohibit guns kill people, the gun toters claim. They recite one-third of the Second Amendment, ignoring the other two-thirds. [AMP Report]
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