Wil Cruz, Joe Kemp, and Patrice O’Shaughnessy, New York Daily News, May 22, 2009
The four men accused of plotting to blow up synagogues and shoot down a plane all did stretches in state prisons—a major breeding ground for Islamic radicalization.
At least two of the suspects, James Cromitie and Onta Williams, entered the system as Baptists and were paroled as Muslims.
{snip}
FBI Director Robert Mueller has called America’s prisons “fertile ground for extremists.”
A 2006 study called “Out of the Shadows” found “tight-knit communities of Muslims in prison are ripe for radicalization, and could easily become terrorist cells.”
{snip}
The harshness of life behind bars “can be a radicalizing experience,” said Robert Gangi, executive director of the Correctional Association of New York, an advocacy group.
“A lot of inmates convert to Islam—or Christianity. Most people in upstate prisons are not politicized, but they can be when they see injustice, and use their time to develop a political outlook.”
Still, he said, there is not a lot of concern about people being radicalized to the point that they become terrorists.
Salahuddin Mustafa Muhammad, imam at Masjid al-Ikhlas Islamic Learning Center of Orange County, the Newburgh mosque where the suspects sometimes worshiped, said Muslims behind bars are not being radicalized.
{snip}
The NYPD’s Intelligence Division maintains a liaison with correction facilities in the city and state to gauge possible radicalization activities.
In 2006, city correction officials created a specialized intelligence unit on Rikers Island to stop fanatics before they can indoctrinate others.
{snip}
Original article
Email
Patrice O’Shaughnessy
at poshaughnessy@nydailynews.com .
(Posted on May 28, 2009)
Comments
This couldn’t be news to many - the Black Muslim movement has been turning traditional Black Baptist and Pentecostal Holiness Blacks into radical Black Muslims since the late ’60s. There has been a pause, I suppose, and a new vigor in the likely modified movement, that is all. But at least in the past, when Whites become Muslims, they become benign Sufi Muslims. Today, however, there will likely be some exception to that as well, since many Whites have grown up on rap and hip-hop cultures.
I have heard a theory that, at first, the effort to proselytize Islam among black American prisoners was Libyan financed. Anyone can back this up or refute it?
Usually, prison Islam is ignored when the prison doors open. Most who keep their Arabic names taken in prison only do so to conceal debts, previous warrants, or other rocks on their “English” given name.
What I’m about to say seems a little sacrelidge to some of you, but I’m not convinced yet about this “Bronx Synagogue Plot.” The whole thing relies on an “FBI informant” (read: agent provocateur), and those are about as credible as a Zimbabwe trillionaire. They sometimes winding up provoking things in order to give law enforcement a “score.” For instance, I will go to my grave convinced that JFK and LBJ ordered many of the civil rights atrocities of the 1960s (including the 16th Street Baptist Church thing in 1963), in order to create the “problem” that Hegel-like needed the “solution” of civil rights and voting rights acts. We do know for sure that in the matter of the Birmingham church thing, that the supposed “sheet” group was egged on by FBI “informants,” the FBI being closely controlled by the President.
This Bronx Synagogue thing just might be for real. If it is, then it proves the folly of moving GITMO enemy terrorists to American prisons. They’d become instant heroes among many of the black inmates.
To Question Diversity:
We should all be skeptical in cases like this. You may recall the trial of the black and Haitian muslims from Miami who were acuitted last year after an FBI informant accused them of plotting to blow up the Sears Tower.
The informant apparently came up with the idea and egged them on- the illiterate Haitians had never even heard of the Sears Tower. This could very well be a repeat.
I always thought the whole black prison conversion was started by the Nation of Islam in the 60’s. They heavily recruited prison inmates.
Course in the 80’s the leader went orthodox Muslim (instead of radical black nationalist) and so now the membership is pretty small, but back in the day it was very active.
“What I’m about to say seems a little sacrelidge to some of you, but I’m not convinced yet about this “Bronx Synagogue Plot.” The whole thing relies on an “FBI informant” (read: agent provocateur), and those are about as credible as a Zimbabwe trillionaire. “
I agree with question diversity. This kind of thing happens several times a year in Los Angeles, always about 6 weeks before the ADL fundraisers come around.
I’ve read several articles from both sides. It sure sounds like entrapment to me. The provacatuer spent at least 2 years planning the supposed bombing. All the materials were supplied by the FBI. The FBI made the bomb. And of course Riverdale is a very wealthy area, no sense wasting time fundraising in middle class areas
They’d become instant heroes among many of the black inmates.
Absolutely true: and relative to the post of those stOOpid blacks in the Bronx and bombing the Synagogue being provacateurs!!! if it brings heat on to the black muslims, let’s do it.
Why is anyone surprised? Under guise of “religion” they preach hatred for Jews, Christians, and Whites. They should be placed in solitary for the duration of their prison stay.
Why do convicts convicted of heinous crimes and in prison have access to the internet? why do they have cable TV? Those things are also available at the HOLIDAY Inn and HILTON hotels, but WHY in prisons? I’ve been in jail, I never had those things and I did not come out a better convict, I came out wanting to never go inside again, and I haven’t.
Madison Grant:
You are referring to the so called “Liberty City Six.” I saw right through that one. These were low level street thugs, who deserved to be in prison for low level street thuggery. There is no way that they could have the genuine will, desire, access to resources, intelligence, patience, coordination with international terrorist groups, etc. to end the life of the Sears Tower. The FBI sent in some loudmouth to mouth off, get these dumber than rocks Haitians and other blacks to agree, and boom, grand jury time.
All the while, the FBI counted it as an “anti-terrorism” victory. Methinks they were scared to budget cuts, and needed to do something to keep the money flowing.
I am disappointed that Robert Spencer at Jihad Watch can’t see what we all see.
Margaret:
A couple of months ago, I read on the blog of the Mayor of St. Louis (being as I now don’t live in St. Louis, it’s one of my ways of keeping up with the city), that the ADL and other groups were going to have an anti-hate rally in a big city park on a given Saturday. It didn’t give a reason, but a little later I read on KSDK-5 the NBC affil. in St. Louis website that a supposed group of so-called “bent crossers” were going to rally on the grounds of the St. Louis Arch, and that the ADL thing in a city park was a “response.” It didn’t take too long for me to guess that these “bent crossers” were either people the ADL hired to mouth off, or FBI “informants” that were told to go spout frightening right-wing rhetoric so that the FBI’s pals, the ADL and SPLC, can raise money.
The day after both events happened, I watched a KSDK streaming video report. It was even worse than I thought, because the “bent cross” “people” came off sounding reasonable and (dare I say) Jared Taylorish. That was further proof in my mind that these were fakes and ADL hires, because I am, or I’d like to think I am, plugged into the right wing gossip line as much as anyone. I know the way that people who consider themselves “bent crossers” think and act and speak, their word choices, their catch phrases, their intended sound bytes. These people on the Arch Grounds sounded nothing like that. The ADL just wanted to smear legitimate and erudite racialism on the part of whites.
It would be interesting to see how many white converts there are oposed to the number of black converts. Anyone want to guess?
When I was in federal prison, I met only one white convert to Islam. He was a retarded fellow on whom I hung the nickname “Mr. Potato Head”. He said he was in for selling crack, but nobody is going to front drugs to a “mentally-challenged” individual, so we all thought it was really some sort of child sex thing.
The guy who converted him was from Pakistan and a real jerk.
