The Terrorist among us. Know your Enemy on Domestic Terrorism. Isn't a Hispanic or Latino.




Why the Vigilantes Tomas (Tom) Tancredo, Louis (Lou)Dobbs, Esteban (Steve) King stereotyping and blaming Hispanics, Latinos as a Terrorists? That's Just ashamed...

MAN INVOLVED IN DOMESTIC TERRORISM PLOT TARGETING MILITARY AND JEWISH FACILITIES SENTENCED TO 22 YEARS

SANTA ANA, Calif.—A former inmate in a California state prison who became part of a domestic terrorist cell that planned to attack United States military operations, “infidels,” and Israeli and Jewish facilities in the Los Angeles area was sentenced this morning to 22 years in federal prison.

Levar Washington, 30, who was recruited into the terrorist cell while in state prison and subsequently recruited others into the plot, was sentenced this morning by United States District Judge Cormac J. Carney. Washington pleaded guilty last year to conspiring to wage war against the United States and a weapons charge.

Two other defendants in the case—Kevin James, who formed the terrorist group which he dubbed Jam’iyyat Ul-Islam Is-Saheeh, or JIS, while in a California state prison, and Gregory Patterson—also pleaded guilty last year to the terrorism conspiracy charge. Patterson is scheduled to be sentenced on July 9, and James is scheduled to be sentenced on February 9, 2009.

In plea agreements filed in federal court, James, Washington and Patterson admitted that they conspired “to levy war against the government of the United States through terrorism, and to oppose by force the authority of the United States government.”

The fourth member of JIS named in an indictment—Hammad Samana—has been found unfit to stand trial and is currently receiving psychiatric care at a federal prison facility.

“The JIS terrorist group posed a significant threat of violent action against a variety of targets,” said United States Attorney Thomas P. O’Brien. “Through the fine work of members of the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, potentially deadly attacks were averted. Now, one of the members of this terrorism cell will not pose a danger to the United States for nearly a quarter century.”

Salvador Hernandez, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office, stated: "This case reminds us that Los Angeles is an attractive target for homegrown or radicalized terrorists, as well as state-sponsored terrorists. Los Angeles was spared a potentially devastating attack because of excellent police work and a cohesive team effort by JTTF members. This case serves as an example of how local officers are serving in the front lines in the war on terrorism."

After forming JIS in 1997 while in state prison, James recruited Washington into the organization in late 2004 while both were prisoners at New Folsom Prison, where James had Washington swear an oath of loyalty and obedience to James and to JIS. After his release from prison several weeks after taking the JIS oath, Washington recruited Patterson and Samana into JIS and had them swear oaths of allegiance and obedience to JIS. After forming this cell, Washington and Patterson conducted about a dozen armed robberies of gas stations to obtain money for the group’s planned attacks in the Los Angeles area.

Samana researched targets and prepared a document called “Modes of Attack.” The document listed “LAX and Consulate of Zion,” “Military Targets,” “Army Recruiting centers throughout the county,” “Military base in Manhattan Beach” and “Campsite of Zion.”

After Torrance Police investigators linked Washinton and Patterson to a gas station robbery, various Jihadist documents were found at a South Los Angeles apartment where they lived. In addition to the “Modes of Attack” document, investigators discovered a document titled “Notoriety Moves,” which contained a James-authored statement to be given to the media after a deadly attack. The proposed press statement reads, in part, “This incident is the first in a series of incidents to come in a plight to defend and propagate traditional Islam in its purity.” The document also warns “sincere Muslims” to avoid a series of targets, including “Those Jewish and non-Jewish supporters of an Israeli state.”

The investigation into the terrorist conspiracy was led by the FBI's Long Beach Joint Terrorism Task Force, whose participating agencies include the Los Angeles Police Department; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; the Torrance Police Department; the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department; the Long Beach Police Department; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; the Los Angeles Port Police; U.S. Customs and Border Protection; the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service; the Defense Criminal Investigative Service; the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; and the Redondo Beach Police Department.

Substantial assistance during the investigation was provided by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, Bureau of Investigations; the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation; the California Department of Justice; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations; and the Department of Defense.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office worked collaboratively with the United States Attorney’s Office during the investigation

SEAL THE BORDER; KNOW YOUR ENEMY ON DOMESTIC TERRORISM.

GALVESTON COUNTY RESIDENT SENTENCED FOR ROLE IN 2006 TEXAS CITY EXPLOSION


Curtis Lee Jetton, 23, of LaMarque, was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison for aiding and abetting the manufacture of explosive materials without a license, United States Attorney Don DeGabrielle announced today.

At a hearing this morning, United States District Judge Vanessa Gilmore imposed the 27-month sentence followed by a three-year-term of supervised release. In explaining the sentence, Judge Gilmore noted the approximately five pounds of triacetonetriperoxide (TATP) found in Jetton’s apartment was the largest discovery ever reported in the United States .

She also stated that Jetton had used the TATP to make destructive devices, including one that was detonated underneath a van. Jetton will remain free on bond pending his surrender at a Bureau of Prisons facility.

Law enforcement discovered Jetton’s involvement in the manufacture of TATP after a July 19, 2006, explosion at the Lakeview Apartments in Texas City resulted in the death of Jetton’s roommate. According to information in the public record of this case, Jetton and his roommate began manufacturing TATP in October 2005. Jetton accompanied his roommate to Lowe’s and Sally’s Beauty Supply, where acetone, muriatic acid and other ingredients were purchased. Jetton then assisted his roommate in the manufacturing of TATP based on recipes obtained from the internet. The FBI found several pounds of TATP and some detonators in the apartment after the July 19th explosion.

The case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Gregg Costa.

Why should the American people be responsible for paying for Rolls-Royce medical care for illegal aliens?" Rep. Steve King said.



I said: Mr. King with all my respect being so inhumane, heartless and ignorant are not for well educated people. The taxes paying for Undocumented, Legal and U.S. Citizens are paying for your Rolls Royce, your private jet, your entertainment, your luxury dinners and your Salary so do not be so pathetic. Or you are consenting or agree with people dying while in ICE Custody?


DHS bureau will report the number of people who die awaiting deportation.

The top U.S. immigration enforcement official told a congressional subcommittee yesterday that the Bush administration will disclose more information about foreigners who die in the sprawling network of federal detention centers around the country.

Julie Myers, assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement bureau, said her agency will report such deaths to a branch of the Justice Department that collects similar information about inmates in state prisons and local jails.

The Justice Department publishes statistics on the fatalities, not the identities of the victims, but Myers said the change represents "more transparency" about detainee deaths. Since last year, congressional Democrats have pleaded with ICE to reveal the names and circumstances of foreigners who have died in U.S. custody.

Myers announced the new reporting requirement during a congressional hearing on medical care for immigration detainees, the first since The Washington Post published a series of articles last month that documented a broken system of care for the growing number of foreigners who are imprisoned while the government tries to deport them.

The articles, based on thousands of pages of internal documents, found that 83 detainees had died since ICE was created five years ago and that many more sick and mentally ill people have been denied the treatment to which they are entitled. The Post found medical staff shortages, treatment delays, sloppy record-keeping, poor administrative practices and cover-ups by employees aware of the poor care.

Yesterday's hearing was partisan and testy. Myers said ICE has been working to improve the health-care system. But detainees, their lawyers and relatives, and advocates for immigrants offered graphic testimony about misdiagnoses, medical neglect and secrecy.

ICE officials "are defending the indefensible," said Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee's immigration subcommittee. "Whatever you think about the overall debate on immigration," Lofgren said in an interview, "you are not supposed to kill people who are in custody."

Rep. Peter T. King (R-N.Y.) countered, "Why should the American people be responsible for paying for Rolls-Royce medical care for illegal aliens?"

Myers and committee Republicans said that ICE figures show that the rate of deaths among detainees has fallen in recent years, and that fewer people die in immigration detention than in prison.

But one witness, who works in detention centers with foreigners seeking asylum in the United States, disputed ICE's claims, saying that health care in detention centers "is getting worse, not better." Homer Venters, a physician at the Bellevue-New York University Program for Survivors of Torture, said ICE's assertion that deaths among detainees fell by 49 percent between 2006 and 2007 is misleading.

Venters said those figures ignore the fact that detainees are, on average, spending less time in custody. Taking the length of stay into account, he testified, the mortality rate during that period increased by 20 percent.

Venters said ICE's assertion that fewer people die in immigration detention than in prison also is misleading because detainees tend to be younger and in custody for less time than prisoners.

Democrats grilled Myers about The Post's findings that more than 250 detainees had been sedated with powerful psychotropic drugs for their deportation over the past five years, even though they were not mentally ill. ICE has recently changed its rules to require permission from a federal judge before detainees are drugged for behavioral reasons. Myers said yesterday that the agency has sought four such court orders, all of which are pending.

Rep. King gets in war of words over Muslims. He is fostering stereotypes.



WASHINGTON – Rep. Steve King said he's just watching out for national security interests.

The first Muslim elected to Congress, Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota, said the Iowa Republican is fostering stereotypes.

At issue is a special immigration visa that is used by religious organizations to bring religious workers into the country.

In August 2005, the government reviewed 220 pending and completed petitions applying for religious work visas. It found that one-third involved fraud, such as phony churches or nonexistent U.S. jobs.

The public report on that review did not break down which religious groups were linked to the incidents of fraud.

But King said people who helped prepare the report told him that 80 percent of those cases were coming from what he called "the mosques." King declined to name his sources.

King is calling for congressional hearings to investigate which religious groups were involved in the fraudulent petitions.

If his information is accurate and one group is responsible for most of the fraud, King said, people from that group should be excluded from the visa program "until they clean up their act."

Ellison said King's comments were irresponsible and could lead to religious stereotyping.

"Saying that some groups are more responsible for fraud than others . . . that's a slur on somebody," Ellison said. "If he's going to make an inflammatory comment like that, he should be prepared to back it up — and he obviously wasn't."

Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., said U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services told her that the government review "doesn't reveal any indications that any one denomination over any other has any particular problem."

King said that he could not believe that.

"That's nuts," he said. "It violates my sense of credulity, because anybody knows that when you have human beings involved, you're not going to have an equal distribution across a spectrum."

Chris Rhatigan, spokeswoman for the immigration agency, declined to comment on King's assertion.

King said he's not stereotyping anyone.

He and Ellison had a testy exchange at a hearing of a House immigration subcommittee on which they both serve.

King said he was trying to be sensitive about the matter and at first spoke only in generalities about one religious group being responsible for more fraud than others. He said he singled out Muslims only after Ellison asked him repeatedly to specify which group he was talking about.

"If you ask three times and you get the answer, you can't blame the guy that gave you the answer," King said of his pointing to Muslims.

King said that the United States must be vigilant about who is allowed to enter the country, given the threat of terrorism.

If 80 percent of the fraud in religious visas is occurring within one group, then excluding that group from the program would greatly reduce the fraud, he said.

King said the nations of origin of those who committed the fraud concerned him more than did any particular religion. "I've got to get more documentation before I say more," he added.

Ellison said the United States is supposed to be a nation where people are not harassed because of their religion or country of origin.

The Special Immigrant Non-minister Religious Worker visa program was established in 1990 to allow churches, synagogues and mosques to hire qualified foreigners. It's being debated in Congress because the program is set to expire.

The House Judiciary Committee last week approved a bill to reauthorize the program for seven more years.

King pushed unsuccessfully to reauthorize the program for only five years, to put more pressure on immigration officials to fight fraud.

One portion of the bill — which could go to the House floor in the coming weeks — would require federal immigration officials to finalize new rules aimed at addressing the fraud problems.

Those proposed rules include an inspection of sponsoring religious organizations and requiring proof that applicants are qualified for the work they are supposed to be doing.

James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, said Friday that his group would look into King's statements.

"If he's making claims, then the burden is on him to come forward and establish" those claims, Zogby said.