DHS AD CAMPAIGN ENCOURAGES REPORTING SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY - TOP
Diane Jennings, Dallas Morning News, 1/28/11

A national security ad campaign rolling out just in time for the hordes of visitors coming to town for the Super Bowl warns people: "If you see something, say something."

The ads emblazoned across trains and buses, as well as on digital billboards around the area, are "not related to any specific threat," said Amy Kudwa, spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security. But "the Super Bowl is an opportunity to reach not only D-FW residents, but a lot of the visitors coming in."

The campaign, already introduced in other parts of the country, is akin to a gigantic neighborhood watch program, Kudwa said, with residents being asked to notice and report "suspicious activity."

Civil liberty watchdogs worry the campaign might lead to abuses.

"It could have unfortunate consequences, like racial profiling and false reporting," said Jose Medina, media coordinator for the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas.

Racial profiling concerns Ibrahim Hooper, communications director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Obviously, citizens should report suspicious objects such as unattended luggage or containers, Hooper said. "But if you start reporting people in head scarves and a beard, then that's another issue."

"We've had a situation where Muslims at a football game ... were praying during the game because it came time for prayer. And that caused the people to report them to authorities." (More)

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VIDEO: CALIF. MAN ARRESTED FOR TERROR THREAT TO MICH. MOSQUE (CAIR) -TOP

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A man is behind bars following a threat of terrorism.

It's still on the minds of worshipers walking into the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn.

A 63-year-old man is now in police custody charged with a threat of terrorism and for being in possession of fireworks.

Police arrested Roger Stockham outside the center Monday night.

We're told a bar owner in Detroit called police after Stockham mentioned plans of blowing up the center.

Earlier this week the Imam addressed worshipers trying to calm fears.

In the meantime the executive director of Michigan's chapter of CAIR wants people to be more conscious when it comes to conversations pertaining to race and religion as the anniversary of September 11th approaches.

CONTACT: CAIR-MI Executive Director Dawud Walid, 248-842-1418, E-Mail: dwalid@cair.com

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EXPERT: FIREWORKS NEAR MOSQUE COULD HAVE KILLED - TOP
Associated Press, 1/31/11

DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) -- An explosives expert says the fireworks police say were found a car driven by a man accused of planning to attack a Dearborn mosque could have wounded or killed people nearby had they all exploded. (More)

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'HE WAS SERIOUS,' BAR OWNER SAID OF MOSQUE BOMB SUSPECT - TOP
Detroit Free Press, 1/31/11

Police are crediting a local bar owner with helping them apprehend a 63-year-old man they say was trying to blow up a Dearborn mosque.

Comments made by a customer at J.S. Fields bar on Ford Road did not sit right with the owner who heard the man talking about an explosion at a mosque in the area and called police.

"The person who came in here had said that he is going to harm innocent people, and when he was stopped, I felt good," Joe Nahhas said today. He suspected the guy was up to no good and called police "very quickly." (More)

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CAIR-MI: TERROR CHARGES FILED IN PLOT TO BLOW UP ISLAMIC CENTER - TOP
J. Patrick Pepper, Press & Guide Newspapers, 1/31/11

DEARBORN -- A California man is behind bars for allegedly attempting to blow up the Islamic Center of America last week.

Roger Stockham, a 63-year-old Army veteran and ex-con, was arrested Jan. 24 with a car full of explosive fireworks in the parking lot of the mosque after driving here from his home in Imperial Beach, California. Police apprehended Stockham after receiving a tip from an employee at a local bar Stockham had just left.

The bar employee said he was concerned Stockham might carry out an attack on Muslims or Arabs in the Dearborn area, which is the most densely populated Middle Eastern enclave in the U.S.

"We got the tip and he was there when we made the scene," said Chief Ronald Haddad. "It happened very quickly, which is fortunate because this guy is really dangerous. He had enough fireworks there to cause some problems had he fashioned them right."

Hundreds of people were inside the mosque for a funeral when police closed in on Stockham. ...

Though the incident happened a week ago, information wasn't made public until Saturday when the Council on American-Islamic Relations-Michigan issued a press statement.

"We thank law enforcement authorities for their quick and professional actions in this troubling incident," said Dawud Walid, executive director of CAIR's Michigan chapter. "The increased number of bias incidents targeting American Muslim institutions must be addressed by local, state and national authorities." (More)

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CAIR-MI: PLOT TO BLOW UP DEARBORN MOSQUE FOILED BY TIP TO POLICE - TOP
Man arrested in Dearborn served time for threats against Bush
Jennifer Chambers and Francis X. Donnelly, The Detroit News, 1/31/11

Dearborn -- A decorated Army veteran accused of plotting to blow up a Metro Detroit mosque served time in federal prison for threatening to kill President George W. Bush and bomb a Vermont veterans' clinic in 2002.

Roger Stockham, 63, who flew 600 combat helicopter missions in Vietnam, is behind bars in Michigan after he drove from his home in California last week and parked a car with a trunk full of explosives outside the Islamic Center of America, authorities said.

Acting on a tip, Dearborn police thwarted the alleged plot by arresting Stockham outside the sprawling religious center, one of the largest mosques in North America. At the time, 500 members were attending a funeral at the mosque. ...

Dawud Walid, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations' Michigan chapter, said he learned from police that Stockham had been drinking at a Detroit bar on Monday when he threatened to do harm to a mosque in Dearborn.

A bar employee followed the man outside and wrote down his license plate number and called Detroit police, who in turn contacted authorities in Dearborn, Walid said.

Dearborn police began searching around mosques in the city and found Stockham inside his vehicle outside the Islamic Center of America, Walid said, with a load of M-80s and other explosives in his trunk.

"We thank law enforcement authorities for their quick and professional actions in this troubling incident," Walid said. "The increased number of bias incidents targeting American Muslim institutions must be addressed by local, state and national officials and law enforcement authorities." (More)

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CAIR-MI: CALIFORNIA MAN JAILED IN ALLEGED ATTEMPT TO BLOW UP DEARBORN MOSQUE - TOP
Police: Suspect targeted large Arab-American, Muslim population
By Niraj Warikoo and Elisha Anderson, Detroit Free Press, 1/31/11

A California man is in jail on a terrorism charge after he was arrested in Dearborn for allegedly trying to blow up the biggest mosque in metro Detroit, Dearborn officials said today.

The suspect was arrested in the parking lot of the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn on Monday, while hundreds were inside the mosque that sits along Ford Road, police said. He came to the city because of its large Arab-American and Muslim population, police said.

Roger Stockham, 63, was arraigned Wednesday on one count on a threat of terrorism or false report and one count of explosive-possession of bombs with unlawful intent for possession of Class C fireworks, Dearborn Police said.

"He's very dangerous," Dearborn Police Chief Ron Haddad told the Free Press. "We took his threat to be very serious." ...

Dawud Walid, director of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said "we thank law enforcement authorities for their quick and professional actions in this troubling incident." (More)

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CAIR-MI: MAN ARRESTED WITH EXPLOSIVES OUTSIDE MICH. MOSQUE - TOP
A 63-year-old is arrested on explosives charges in a mosque parking lot after reportedly making anti-Muslim remarks
By Justin Elliott, Salon.com, 1/31/11

Roger Stockham, a 63-year-old California man, was arrested on explosives charges last week after police allegedly found him with M-80s in the trunk of his car in the parking lot of the Islamic Center of America, a Dearborn, Michigan, mosque.

Stockham was arraigned on Wednesday on one count of false report or threat of terrorism and one count of possession of explosives with unlawful intent, police said in a statement. Bail has been set at $500,000. The chief of police told the Detroit Free Press that Stockham has a history of anti-government feelings and he was attracted to Michigan because of its large Arab and Muslim population.

A spokesman for the Dearborn police told Salon today that no more information is being released and the investigation is ongoing.

But Dawud Walid, executive director of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told Salon some more details of what allegedly happened, according to his conversations with police and mosque officials: He says Stockham had been heard by an employee of a Detroit bar making anti-Muslim remarks, including "describing Muslims as the enemy." The employee took down Stockham's license plate and alerted police. When they found him in the mosque parking lot, police found a concealed knife on Stockham and a large amount of fireworks, including M-80 exlposives, in the trunk of his car, Walid says.

He adds that he heard Stockham had praised Timothy McVeigh as a hero; but that and the other details could not be independently confirmed.

Walid says there were roughly 500 people inside the mosque on Monday for a funeral when Stockham was arrested in the parking lot. Asked how the community is reacting, he said:

"I've heard a couple of different reactions: What they were saying is that this guy, whether he has some mental instability or not, he could have caused a lot of damage." And, he added, "if his name was Ali or Muhammed and he did a similar thing at a synogogue, he would have been immediately labeled a domestic terrorist." (More)

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CAIR: OKLAHOMA'S BAN ON SHARIA LAW GAINS TRACTION IN MORE STATES - TOP
By John Gramlich, Stateline, 1/31/11

Several states are weighing legislation that would ban international law from being applied in their courtrooms. The proposals come after Oklahoma voters approved a controversial November ballot measure targeting Islamic Sharia law, the body of law based on the Koran.

The National Center for State Courts, a nonpartisan court research organization, reports that lawmakers in six states -- Alaska, Arkansas, Indiana, Nebraska, South Carolina and Wyoming -- recently have introduced legislation that would prevent courts from applying foreign law if it means American rights guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution are violated. Oklahoma itself is considering similar legislation, even though the ballot measure approved last year is now under legal review. And The Associated Press reports that lawmakers in South Carolina also will address the issue in their current session.

Of the states considering the legislation, Wyoming appears to go the furthest in specifically targeting Sharia law. The bill introduced in Cheyenne not only would prohibit use of Sharia, but would prohibit Wyoming courts from referencing the law of other states if those states apply Sharia, according to the National Center for State Courts. (More)

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RACIST REACTION TO MOSQUE PLAN A TOO-FAMILIAR PUBLIC RESPONSE - TOP
Courier News Editorial, 1/28/11

Let's be honest -- the fervent opposition to a proposed mosque in Bridgewater is being fueled in significant part by racism.

There's no point in pretending otherwise. There's no reason to jump through rhetorical hoops to suggest that it's really about traffic or quality of life or noise or any of the other complaints that usually accompany new projects.

No, this is about American fears of Muslims and their "strange" religious beliefs and the terrorist acts of a small subsection of Islamic fanatics. One resident said the mosque "represents a coming in and taking over an entire community by the Islamic World."

Not exactly an enlightened comment, although that only highlights the thoughts of one person. Still, is anyone going to try and argue that such apparent prejudice is an anomaly, a unique bit of ugliness in a community that would otherwise widely embrace a mosque? Where the only project concerns are about logistics and infrastructure? (More)

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CAIR: CHICAGOANS MARVEL AT, PARTICIPATE IN EGYPT UPRISING - TOP
Becky Schlikerman, Chicago Tribune, 1/30/11

Ahmed Rehab has been hit 24 times with an acrid cloud of tear gas -- stopped in his tracks as he and thousands of other protesters march for democracy in Egypt.

"It's a painful experience," Rehab said in a telephone interview Sunday from Cairo. "But as soon as the effects are gone, you think of going right back into the calls for freedom."

Unlike other American travelers, the Chicago-based civil rights activist, who heads the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, went to Egypt in anticipation of the simmering revolution.

Rehab has been one of many thousands of Egyptians who have taken to the streets in an attempt to oust longtime President Hosni Mubarak. (More)

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VIDEO: CAIR-CHICAGO DIRECTOR JOINS RALLIES FOR FREEDOM IN EGYPT - TOP

Watch the video.

An uprising in Egypt intensifies as protesters risk their lives to demand that embattled president Hosni Mubarak step down.

The demonstrators are fighting for a more democratic government and their concerns are shared worldwide, including Chicago.

The uprising has been dangerous but that hasn't been a deterrent for a Chicago man in the middle of it.

It's an historic moment in Egypt and Chicagoan Ahmed Rehab is there, protesting alongside the Egyptian people.

"Today was a day of great significance in my life and in the lives of many Egyptians, the likes we've never seen, and the likes I'll probably never see again," Rehab said.

In Chicago, Rehab oversees the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Since the internet is down in Egypt, Rehab dictated his blog entry to staff members here. It's his way of telling the world what's happening.

"We did this for dignity and freedom for the world to know that Egyptians are a proud people and sooner or later want democracy. It's been a long time coming," Rehab said. (More)