Muslim groups have stepped up efforts to co-opt protests over
the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., with a drive to
equate the teen’s death to the death of a radical Islamist shot during
an FBI raid in 2009, a Washington-based security watchdog group is
warning.
Using social media, conference calling and traditional outreach
methods, leaders of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) are
portraying Brown and Detroit mosque leader Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah
as African-American victims of police targeting, according to the
Washington-based Center for Security Policy (CSP). In a conference call
organized by CAIR-linked "Muslims for Ferguson, a CAIR official called
Abdullah a “Shaheed,” or martyr, and said both he and Brown were victims
of a national security apparatus that had “completely gone wild” and
engaged in “demonizing and criminalizing Muslims.”
“The reality is that this country, in law enforcement, be it local,
state or federal law enforcement, people with guns have always seen
black men and black people as threats,” Dawud Walid, executive director
of CAIR’s Michigan Chapter, told the some 100 protest organizers on the
call, made on the five-year anniversary of Abdullah's death and which
was monitored by CSP.
Walid claimed Brown was a Muslim, although when pressed, Walid denied
he had made such a claim. Brown was buried in August after a memorial
service at the Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church in St. Louis.
“They’re interested in building coalitions with other organizations in order to effect a legislative change to weaken anti-terrorism laws and weaken the ability of law enforcement to engage in counter terrorism.”- Kyle Shideler, Center for security Policy
Linking Brown and Abdullah, who federal prosecutors say was a
separatist intent on overthrowing the U.S. government, is part of a
wider effort to co-opt minority group support for causes they promote,
according to Kyle Shideler, director of CSP’s Threat Information Office.
One such cause is to reduce police scrutiny of the American Muslim
community in terror-related matters.
“They’re interested in building coalitions with other organizations
in order to effect a legislative change to weaken anti-terrorism laws
and weaken the ability of law enforcement to engage in
counterterrorism,” said Shideler. “And they’re trying to bring other
people into their efforts so it doesn’t look like it is just a Muslim
effort.”
“By hosting the conference call,” Shideler wrote, the campaign is
“fulfilling the goal of the Muslim Brotherhood in North America to be
positioned as the leadership of a broad coalition seeking to target law
enforcement under the camouflage of civil rights.”
The effort comes as police in the St. Louis suburb brace for a
possible resurgence of the violence seen following Brown’s Aug. 9 death
if an imminently expected grand jury decision passes on indicting Darren
Wilson, the white police officer involved in his shooting.
Muslims for Ferguson's Facebook page has offered instruction on
protest and media outreach and the group held a news conference call
Nov. 17 to discuss activist preparations “on the ground” in response to
the grand jury’s decision, when it is announced.
Speakers – who represented such groups as the Organization for Black
Struggle – spoke of ways to sustain the momentum of the Michael Brown
cause, called for the targeting of federal buildings, but also said
protests should be non-violent.
One speaker said the police were the “No. 1” source of violence on the streets.
Also on the conference call linking Brown to Abdullah, Muhammad
Sankari, youth organizer with the Chicago-based Arab American Action
Network, argued that black and Latino minorities should look to Muslims
as the “gatekeepers of policing” in the United States because
anti-terrorism efforts had provided police with greater arsenals that,
he claimed, were now being turned on those communities. He said
“justice” could only be found “in the streets,” and not in “marble halls
and marble buildings.”
“Black youth, now, are facing tanks and M16s,” he said. “Under the
guise of fighting terrorism, police are now armed as a military force in
their neighborhood.”
The shooting and subsequent protests have already drawn in a host of
Muslim groups, including a committee that calls itself "The Palestinian
Contingent," which includes CAIR and seeks to "focus on a target
highlighting intersections of militarized policing in Ferguson and
Palestine."
Palestinian sympathizers have also shown solidarity from afar, but
Shideler suspects stateside Muslim groups played a role when
Palestinians tweeted tips to Ferguson protesters on how to deal with
tear gas.
“I have a hard time believing that folks in Palestine were minding
their own business and then they learned that something was going on in
Ferguson and they felt honor bound to tweet something,” he said. “I am
more inclined to believe that the various networks that support
Palestinian causes in the U.S. reached out to their contacts over there
and said, ‘We want to do this. Can you help us out?'"
Shideler believes the Muslim groups' involvement could potentially
make the protests more violent than they otherwise may have been by
further undermining confidence in law enforcement. In his report,
Shideler references incendiary language used in the conference call, as
well as "false claims issued by CAIR's Walid of shadowy conspiracies and
ruthless murders carried out by the FBI." Shideler also writes that the
call distorted the circumstances surrounding Abdullah's death, "calling
Abdullah a Shaheed (martyr) and blaming Abdullah's death ... on law
enforcement malfeasance."
The FBI has said that agents shot him after the 53-year-old mosque
leader opened fire on them as they tried to arrest him and 10 others
during a raid on a warehouse in Dearborn, Michigan, on charges that
included conspiracy to sell stolen goods and illegal possession of
firearms. They say that Abdullah, who had an extensive criminal record,
shot dead an FBI dog.
In an interview with FoxNews.com,
Walid dismissed as “preposterous” the CSP charge that CAIR or other
Muslim groups were active in the Michael Brown cause in order to win
favor with other minority groups.
“I’m black, Iman Luqman was black, and Michael Brown was black,” he
said from his Michigan office. “And us being Muslim does not stop us
from being black, and there is a long history in America – that
continues – of excessive force against black men.”
Walid said Muslims For Ferguson representatives were on site in St. Louis and “prepared” for the grand jury’s announcement.
“We’re prayerful that, irrespective of whether Darren Wilson is
indicted or not, people will remain peaceful,” he said. “That’s the most
important thing – and that there is not property damage (nor personal)
injury to human beings.”
Walid said there was no CAIR timetable for the length of time any protests would continue.
“The protest is up to the grass-roots, and the people who are there
and how it mobilizes them toward further action,” he said. “Michael
Brown can’t be brought back, but there needs to be more citizens’ input
into police practices and procedures (because) the real goal is
accountability – it is not simply about whether he is indicted or not.
“But, obviously, people are looking for him to be indicted…and we
strongly believe there is enough evidence to at least indict him, and
then he can face a jury of his peers in a criminal trial.”
Steven Edwards is a freelance journalist in New York. Follow him on Twitter @stevenmedwards
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