|
New York Daily News – Sept. 11, 2007
Mentally unstable Muslim convert
alleged to plot to kill mayor
Alison Gendar, Kerry Burke and Michael White
A mentally unstable Muslim convert tried to recruit help at a Brooklyn mosque to kill Mayor Bloomberg, prompting the NYPD to beef up security around the mayor, law enforcement sources said.
American-born Edwin Thomas allegedly spoke of his plot in August at the Al Farooq mosque in Brooklyn, the source said.
But worshipers promptly alerted the authorities.
Thomas prays regularly at the Atlantic Ave. mosque, which gained a reputation for radicalism in the 1990s and after Sept. 11, its members said.
Although Thomas was not arrested, investigators had spoken to him and were keeping tabs on him, the sources said.
Mohamed Houras, 28, of Brooklyn, said people like Thomas often flock to Al Farooq.
"They come in all the time," Houras said. "These guys go to jail, convert and then show up at the mosque with plots. They talk jihad, but they're out of their minds…..
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/09/11/2007-09-11_mentally_unstable_muslim_convert_alleged.html
NBC12 News – Sept. 12, 2007
Muslim woman protests rough treatment
at Richmond International Airport
By Diane Walker
Travel security measures six years after 9/11 have Muslims facing extra searches at airports everywhere. A Richmond woman says she was pulled for additional screening because of the religious head scarf she wears.
Zainab Nasser, originally from West Africa, works as a librarian and has lived here 10 years. While she believes she was racially profiled, unfairly scrutinized, the Transportation Security Administration calls it a necessary layer to ensure safe air travel.
“I was just so shocked, and everybody there — I could feel everyone’s eyes were on me,” she said.
The hijab is a prominent and controversial symbol of her identity as a Muslim. Zainab Nasser removed her head scarf for TSA officials, away from public view in a private room at Richmond International Airport, Virginia.
“She goes like this banging on my head on my bun,” Zainab said of the TSA agent. “She said, ‘I’m just going to give you a hard bump to make sure you are not hiding anything in there.’”
She cleared the inspection. Zainab’s key objection is that she never set off the security scan. No alarms sounded when she walked through the scanner, so why was she selected for the extra check?
Screeners are permitted to conduct secondary checks, says the TSA, in a post 9/11 society. Officers receive cultural sensitivity training, but their primary mission is to make sure threats don’t get on board planes.
Zainab believes the dragnet is snagging innocent people. Under the new travel crackdown, you may have to remove a cowboy hat, a skull cap, a hijab — anything that could conceal explosives.
http://www.nbc12.com/news/state/9721587.html
|
