by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley
In the wake of 9/11, the Bush regime launched a domestic terror entrapment and provocateur offensive in search of trophy victims. "If Barack Obama's policies and pronouncements to date are any indication, there is little reason to believe that he will put an end to this insidious practice." Four poor and easily manipulated Black men from New York, are the latest foils in this sordid political theater. A paid agent, Shahed Husain, "targeted ‘mostly young black members' of the Masjid al-Iklsa in Newburgh, New York and was so obvious in his methods that he was quickly labeled as an informant." But the targets took the bait, lured by Husain's money.
Freedom Rider Phony Terror and Black America (Part II)
by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley
“Muslims should probably not mention hating America or Israel to a new friend. That friend may need to create a terrorist to keep himself out of jail.”
“The defendants were duped into carrying what they thought were actual bombs and missiles.”
Those are the words of this columnist, first appearing in the June 13, 2007 issue of Black Agenda Report. Sadly, the words of warning are just as apt in 2009 as they were in 2007. On May 21, 2009 Onta Williams, James Cromitie, David Williams, and Laguerre Payen were arrested in New York. The men, all with prior criminal records, were charged in a plot to obtain anti-aircraft missiles and to bomb two synagogues in the Bronx, New York.
The arrests came on the heels of the federal government’s successful conviction of the Liberty City Six in Miami. The defendants in this case were accused of plotting to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago and were tried for a third time after two previous mistrials. The jury in this last trial was deadlocked until one juror was removed by the judge. If this jury had also been unable to reach a verdict, the defendants would have gone free. Prosecutors had already declared they would not try the defendants a third time.
In these and other cases, Muslims and persons of African ancestry were targeted by FBI informants for the purpose of creating previously non-existent terror plots. Individuals were induced into swearing loyalty oaths to groups designated as terrorists, as in the Liberty Six case, or into planning crimes they had no ability or intention of committing until informants prompted them to. The effect of government officials and their media scribes loudly proclaiming that terror has been averted is very useful to the state. Citizens are kept in a state of fear, and will therefore accept endless war abroad and attacks on their liberties at home.
“Individuals were induced into planning crimes they had no ability or intention of committing until informants prompted them to.”
The federal government has learned a thing or two since the Liberty Six case. Two of those defendants were acquitted outright, and the double mistrial must have given them pause. No longer would mere loyalty oaths to al Qaeda suffice to announce a terrorist take down. The defendants in this latest case were duped into carrying what they thought were actual bombs and missiles, making arrest and prosecution much easier.
The government conspiracy is so blatant that the media immediately identified the well known informant. Newspapers such as the New York Daily News, Albany Times Union, New York Post and New York Times, to name but a few, have all identified him and reported on his prior history of entrapments. In 2002 Shahed Husain, a Pakistani national, was just days away from being nationalized when he was arrested for conducting a fake driver license scheme. He was convicted and in danger of being deported back to Pakistan when he began his journey as a paid FBI agent provocateur.
Husain targeted “mostly young black members” of the Masjid al-Iklsa in Newburgh, New York and was so obvious in his methods that he was quickly labeled as an informant. Most congregants had the wisdom to avoid him. As one mosque member told the New York Times, “It is easy to influence someone with the dollar. Especially these guys just out of prison.” Another made a clear and personal connection between the informant and one of the defendants. "James [Cromitie] for some reason didn't stay away from him. James had no money. The longer James stayed and spoke to him, the more money James had." The four defendants have criminal records, but no indication of politically motivated crimes until their encounter with Husain.
“The agent was so obvious in his methods that he was quickly labeled as an informant.”
All of the previous terror entrapment plots were initiated during the Bush administration. If Barack Obama’s policies and pronouncements to date are any indication, there is little reason to believe that he will put an end to this insidious practice. Obama has just announced that he will bring Guantanamo prisoners to American soil, something that the Bush clique never dared consider. He will also maintain the hated military tribunals and hold terror suspects without charge in “indefinite detention.” He is obviously devoted to the discredited war on terror at home and abroad, and it is extremely unlikely that the terrorism for dollars campaign will cease under his watch.
Black Agenda Report condemns even the threat of terror, whether committed by the state or by hapless individuals. We also condemn the misuse of state power, which always falls disproportionately on black people. Both the FBI and Pakistani immigrants know that there is rarely a downside to targeting black people for prosecution and imprisonment. The new president proudly announced that he is just as bad as his predecessor, which can only mean there are more Liberty City and Newburgh cases to come.
Margaret Kimberley's Freedom Rider column appears weekly in BAR. Ms. Kimberley lives in New York City, and can be reached via e-Mail at Margaret.Kimberley(at)BlackAgandaReport.Com.
We’re joined by Anthony Rogers-Wright, a Black Agenda Report contributor and a climate/environmental liberation and racial justice advocate, writer, and policy expert. He is an active member of the…
Trump is not unique in the collective west. As the crisis of capitalism deepens, "democratic" states intensify repression and criminalize dissent.
The appraisal of American universities as liberal institutions remains one of the purest examples of the elasticity of the English language.
NATO was never a good idea gone wrong. It was founded to crush communist, socialist, and anti-colonial movements in Europe and around the world.
Thirty years after Timothy McVeigh’s Oklahoma City bombing, his legacy lives on in the racist mass shooters, anti-government extremists, and MAGA reactionaries who continue to target Black…
