Category Archives: FBI

Dallas Sniper: Micah Johnson

Posted on by

micah johnson, micah x johnson, micah xavier johnson, micah x johnson dallas

 Micah X. Johnson seen in a photo uploaded to Facebook by his sister. (Facebook)

ABC: The suspected gunman in an attack on police officers in Dallas — which left five cops dead and seven injured — had bomb-making materials, ballistic vests and rifles in his house, police said.
The news from police came as police pieced together the background on the suspect, 25-year-old Micah Xavier Johnson, in the ambush-style shooting Thursday night.
Detectives are also analyzing information in a “personal journal of combat tactics” they recovered, Dallas police said.
Johnson, who was killed by police when they detonated a bomb delivered by robot, served as a U.S. Army reservist until April 2015. He was trained and served in the Army Reserve as a carpentry and masonry specialist, defense officials said.
Johnson, a private first class, was deployed to Afghanistan from November 2013 to July 2014, according to his service record.
Police said Johnson had no criminal history. Police said “others have identified him as a loner.”

Police said in a statement that Johnson’s Facebook account: “included the following names and information: Fahed Hassen, Richard GRIFFIN aka Professor Griff, GRIFFIN embraces a radical form of Afrocentrism, and GRIFFIN wrote a book A Warriors Tapestry.”

******

Excellent work by:   Heavy: A gunman “upset about Black Lives Matter” and “recent police shootings” who opened fire Thursday night in Dallas in an attack on police officers has been identified as Micah X. Johnson, the Los Angeles Times and CBS News report.

Five police officers were killed and seven were wounded, officials said. Two civilians were also wounded in the shootings. Johnson, 25, was killed when a police robot detonated a bomb near him following a standoff that lasted several hours, Police Chief David Brown said Friday at a press conference.

“The suspect said he was upset with white people and wanted to kill white people, especially white officers,” Brown said.

It is not clear if there were any other gunmen, or whether other people taken into custody by police were involved in the shooting. Police initially said two snipers positioned themselves in triangulated locations to fire on officers from elevated positions.

The gunfire began just before 9 p.m. while a peaceful rally was held by the Black Lives Matter organization in response to recent controversial police killings of black men in Louisiana and Minnesota. The officers were fired upon by a gunman with a sniper rifle in an elevated position at times during the incident, officials said.

The gunman was then cornered in El Centro College in downtown Dallas.

Little is known about the gunman so far, and this post will be updated as more information is released. Here’s what we know so far about the suspected shooter and the tragic incident:

Warning: Some of the videos below may contain graphic content.

1. The Suspect Told Police He Was Not Affiliated With Any Groups & He ‘Did This Alone’

micah johnson, micah x johnson, micah xavier johnson, micah x johnson dallas

Micah Xavier Johnson. (Facebook)

After the shootings in downtown Dallas, the gunman, identified as Micah Xavier Johnson, 25, holed himself up inside the El Centro College building in the downtown area of the city, Dallas Police Chief David Brown said at a press conference.

He told police he was “not affiliated with any groups,” and he said he “did this alone,” the chief said.

Sources told the Los Angeles Times that Johnson has no ties to terror groups and no known criminal history. He has lived in the Dallas area and has family members living in Mesquite, Texas, east of Dallas, the newspaper reports, citing federal law enforcement sources.

A black SUV was found at the scene registered to Delphene Johnson, who is Micah Johnson’s mother according to Facebook posts and public records, NBC Dallas-Fort Worth reports. Live helicopter video from the news station showed police at her home in Mesquite.

The suspect told police he was a U.S. Army Veteran, CBS News reports.

micah johnson, micah x johnson, micah xavier johnson, micah x johnson dallas

Micah X. Johnson seen in a photo uploaded to Facebook by his sister. (Facebook)

Johnson told police negotiators the “end is coming” and said he wanted to “kill more” officers, according to Brown.

Police said after several hours of negotiating and shooting at the officers, the suspect was killed by a bomb-wielding robot.

“We tried to negotiate for several hours, negotiations broke down, we had an exchange of gunfire with the suspect,” Brown said. “We saw no other option but to use our bomb-robot and place a device on its extension for it to detonate where the suspect was. Other options would have exposed our officers to grave danger. The suspect is a result of detonating the bomb.”

The suspect did not shoot himself, despite reports, Brown said.

“He wanted to kill officers, and he expressed killing white people, he expressed killing white officers,” Brown said. “He expressed anger for Black Lives Matter. None of that makes sense, none of that is a legitimate reason to do harm to anyone, so the rest of it would just be speculating on what his motivations were. We just know what he said to our negotiators.”

Dallas Police Headquarters Shooting: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

An armored vehicle shot at officers and the Dallas Police headquarters early Saturday morning before leading police on a chase and into a standoff.

Click here to read more

2. He Claimed There Were ‘Bombs All Over Downtown Dallas’ During Negotiations With Police

While he was barricaded in the hotel, the suspect told police there were bombs planted “all over” downtown Dallas, the city’s police chief said at a press conference.

Police have not said if any bombs or suspicious items have been found.

“He said we will eventually find the IEDs,” Police Chief David Brown said at a press conference.

The shooting came a year and a month after a man angry at police opened fire on the Dallas Police headquarters. He fired several shots at the building, but no one was injured. The man, James Boulware, was driving an armored van and was later chased down by police. He was killed during a standoff.

Boulware also claimed he had planted bombs in downtown Dallas.

Dallas Police Officers Shot: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

Snipers shot 12 Dallas police officers – killing 5 – at a Black Lives Matter protest Thursday night. Suspect said he wanted to kill white people, chief said. GRAPHIC VIDEO

Click here to read more

3. Police Are Still Searching Until they Determine There Are No Outstanding Suspects, the Chief Said

Police are still trying to determine how many gunmen were involved in the attack. Chief David Brown said they will continuing searching and investigating until they can be sure no one is on the loose.

Brown said they want to ensure “that everyone associated with this tragic is brought to justice. … We won’t expand on any further on what other suspects we have interviewed or looked at or their status until we get further into this investigation and get closer to a conclusion of who are all involved.”

Brown said, “I’m not going to be satisfied until we turn over every stone. … We’re not satisfied that we’ve exhausted every lead. And we’re not going to be satisfied until every lead is exhausted. So if there is someone out there that was associated with this, we will find you and we will prosecute you and we will bring you to justice.”

Police previously said two people were spotted getting into a Mercedes into downtown Dallas carrying camouflage duffle bags, the police chief said. The car was spotted by police and stopped on the highway. The people in the car were taken into custody. The chief said a woman was also arrested near El Centro College.

Police are not sure if any of those three people who are in custody are connected to the shooting.

One man who was marching during the protest, Mark Hughes, was incorrectly identified by police as a “person of interest” in the shooting, and his photo was distributed on Twitter by the department. Hughes was open carrying a rifle, which is legal in Texas, to exercise his Second Amendment rights, but he turned over the gun to a police officer after the shooting began so he would not be mistaken as a suspect. That moment was caught on video.

The man later turned himself in to police after his photo was distributed across social media and on national television. He was released after being questioned.

Alton Sterling: Top 10 Facts You Need to Know

A 37-year-old Baton Rouge, Louisiana, man was fatally shot by police in an incident caught on video by a witness that has sparked protests in the city.

Click here to read more

4. The Slain Officers Include 4 From the Dallas PD & 1 From the City’s Transit Authority Police

Four of the officers killed are from the Dallas Police Department. The fifth victim, Officer David Thompson, worked for the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) authority’s police department.

A second victim was identified by family members as Dallas Officer Patrick Zamarripa.

The other officers have not yet been identified publicly and Dallas Police Chief David Brown said they are working to notify families of the victims.

One wounded officer has been identified as DART Officer Misty McBride. She is expected to survive.

“Some of the bravest men and women you ever want to be associated with,” Brown said about the Dallas and DART police officers who responded to the shooting. “You see video footage after video footage of them running toward gunfire from an elevated position with no chance to protect themselves. And to put themselves in harms way to make sure citizens can get to a place of security.”

“So please join me in applauding these brave men and women who do this job under great scrutiny, under great vulnerability. Who literally risk their lives to protect our democracy. We don’t feel much support most days, let’s not make today most days. Please, we need your support to be able to protect you from men like these who carried out this tragic, tragic event. Pray for these families,” Brown said.

Officer Brent Thompson: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

Officer Brent Thompson, the first slain officer shot in Dallas identified, had trained Iraqi and Afghan police. He was 43, and a DART officer.

Click here to read more

WATCH: Video Shows Dallas Gunman Shooting Officer [GRAPHIC]

A graphic video obtained by KDFW-TV shows a gunman opening fire on a police officer in Dallas Thursday night., shooting him in the back. Watch it here.

Click here to read more

5. Police Took Part in the Planning of the Peaceful Rally & March, the Chief Says

The shootings came during a peaceful rally and march in response to two controversial police shootings of black men that occurred this week. The rally began at 7 p.m. and was set to end at 9 p.m. The shooting occurred just before 9 p.m.

Alton Sterling was fatally shot by two officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on Tuesday. A day later, Philando Castile was killed by police during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights, Minnesota. Parts of both shootings were caught on videos that spread quickly across social media. Investigations into both those shootings are ongoing and no officers have been charged.

Dallas Police Chief David Brown said he and others in the police department participated in the planning of the rally.

Officers were posing for pictures with marchers and the mood was peaceful and light, officials said.

Note the armband:  The red, black, and green Pan-African flag designed by the UNIA in 1920.

The Pan-African flag — also known as the UNIA flag, Afro-American flag and Black Liberation Flag — is a tri-color flag consisting of three equal horizontal bands of (from top down) red, black and green. The Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL) formally adopted it on August 13, 1920 in Article 39 of the Declaration of the Rights of the Negro Peoples of the World,[1] during its month-long convention at Madison Square Garden in New York City.[2][3] Variations of the flag can and have been used in various countries and territories in Africa and the Americas to represent Pan-Africanist ideologies. Several Pan-African organizations and movements have often employed the emblematic tri-color scheme in various contexts.

Media preview

 

 

 

 

 

The Triangulated Terror Attack in Dallas

Posted on by

Update: BREAKING: Dallas mayor tells CBS that 12 police officers and two civilians were shot during sniper attack. The dead shooter (sniper) was killed by a police robot with an explosive.

The deadliest day for law enforcement since 9/11 and now the biggest crime scene is law enforcement history. 3 are in custody.

Reuters: Police described Thursday night’s ambush as carefully planned and executed.

Dallas Police Chief David Brown said the shooters, some in elevated positions, used sniper rifles to fire at the officers in what appeared to be a coordinated attack.

“(They were) working together with rifles, triangulating at elevated positions in different points in the downtown area where the march ended up going,” Brown told a news conference, adding a civilian was also wounded.

****

 

Meanwhile, there is Islamic State following Dallas:

Jihadi Telegram Channel Finds Inspiration in Dallas Sniper Attack on Police

Western Jihadist Forum Digest
Last Updated: July 8, 2016

sniperrifle

A jihadi Telegram channel found inspiration in the sniper attack in Dallas, Texas, in which five police officers were killed, suggesting Muslim fighters carry out similar shootings, and that online jihadists instigate black men against the U.S. government.

WFAA: Early Thursday evening, protesters gathered to speak out and march after videos emerged this week of two officer-involved shootings that led to the deaths of Alton Sterling, 37, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Philando Castile, 32, in Falcon Heights, Minnesota.

The night began with protesters gathering at a downtown Dallas park and then marching through the streets. It ended abruptly when shots were fired, striking at least 11 officers, killing five.

8:59p Just before 9 p.m., police report shots fired.

9:05p Video captures gunshots ringing out. Officers yell “active shooter” around area of San Jacinto and Griffin streets.

9:40p Two officers reported down.

9:41p Police clear out the Bank of America building, the tallest skyscraper in Dallas.

10:23p DART police reports four officers shot, including one dead. The deceased officer was later identified as Ofc. Brent Thompson, 43. The update brought the total number of officers shot to six.

10:29p Chief David Brown reports 10 officers were shot by two snipers. He says three of those officers have died.

10:44p Dallas police and ATF officers expand their perimeter as their search for the suspects continue.

10:52p Dallas police release image of a person they call a suspect on their Twitter page. Chief David Brown also tweets about the man, calling him a person of interest, not a suspect. The man is later identified as Mark Hughes, who’s brother recorded video declaring his brother’s innocence. He’s later released by police.

10:53p Authorities raise number of officers shot to 11.

11:10p Shots fired in El Centro parking garage in downtown Dallas; SWAT team corners suspect

11:13p Dallas police announce fourth officer dies.

11:27p Police say that they’ve taken a female suspect into custody after a shootout at the El Centro College. Second suspect still at scene.

11:47p Police departments across the nation, including Houston and Seattle, report they’ve begun pairing up officers as a precaution.

11:55p Police announce the large police presence on I-35 was in connection to a suspicious incident in which police say they followed a vehicle

1:15a Students and staff still inside El Centro College as it remains in lockdown as standoff continues nearby. 

1:35a A police flash bang goes off at scene of standoff.

1:47a Fifth officer reported dead.

2:05a Officers line up outside 7-Eleven to stop looting

3:06a Suspect dead after standoff with police in garage. Authorities haven’t revealed how the suspect died.

To POTUS/FBI: Hillary was not Sloppy, She was Calculated

Posted on by

Media preview

If you think the FBI Director Comey’s press conference about Hillary’s server/email system was bad, well his responses to questions before the emergency session of the Oversight Committee was profoundly epic in a full criminal indictment of Hillary and her actions.

There is a schedule where Attorney General, Loretta Lynch is to testify before the same committee next week. Additionally, it was noted that the FBI wont comment if it is investigating the Clinton Foundation.

It came out too that once a lifelong registered Republican, Comey is no longer. Of particular note, during the Saturday session with 6 agents of the FBI, Hillary was not under oath and Director Comey did not participate.

Directly after the question and answer session with James Comey, the hearing continued with Charles McCullough, he is the Intelligence Community (ODNI) Inspector General and with Steve Linik, Inspector General.

Snippets for your review:

Comey Testifies Clinton Email Claims ‘not true’ at Heated Hill Hearing

FNC: FBI Director James Comey testified Thursday that Hillary Clinton’s claims — some made under oath — about her use of a private email server were “not true,” fueling Republican questions about whether in doing so she committed a felony.

Comey was asked about such claims, which she also made publicly, in a pointed exchange with Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C.

“That’s not true. … There was classified material emailed,” Comey said.

On her claim that she used one device, Comey also said, “She used multiple devices.” More here from FNC

Here is an amazing 6 minute exchange:

Comey: Clinton showed classified intel to people with no security clearance

WashingtonExaminer: FBI Director James Comey said Thursday that Hillary Clinton’s personal server network exposed classified information to people who did not have the security clearances to access that material.

“There’s no doubt that uncleared people had access to the server,” Comey said during a congressional hearing.

While he did not provide an exact number of individuals, he said between two and 10 people with no authority to handle classified information were able to look at classified documents on Clinton’s server.

The exposure occurred when personal attorneys for Clinton were tasked with sifting through the former secretary of state’s emails to select the records that Clinton would turn over to the State Department.

“Did Hillary Clinton give non-cleared people access to classified information?” asked Rep. Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House Oversight Committee.

“Yes,” Comey said.

*****

Chaffetz: We Will Refer Hillary Clinton to the FBI for Perjury

Breitbart: Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), chair of the House Committee on Government Oversight and Reform, told FBI director James Comey during his testimony on Thursday morning that the committee would refer former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for investigation for perjury, given that she lied under oath before the House Select Committee on Benghazi in October.

“You’ll have one,” Chaffetz said, within “a few hours,” after Comey testified that the FBI would need a referral for Congress before investigating.

As Breitbart News detailed earlier this week, Clinton lied under oath to Congress in at least three ways: first, by stating that she had turned over “all my work related emails” from her private email server to the government; second, by insisting there was “nothing marked classified on my e-mails”; and third, by telling the committee that her attorneys “went through every single e-mail.” FBI director James Comey’s statement Tuesday suggested that none of those sworn statements were true.

Bill introduced to take away Hillary Clinton’s security clearance

KRDO: WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Cory Gardner (R-CO) and Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-TX) are introducing a bill to revoke Hillary Clinton’s security clearance, as well as the security clearances of Clinton’s colleagues at the State Department.

The bill is called the Taking Responsibility Using Secured Technologies (TRUST) Act of 2016.

This comes after the FBI investigation into Clinton’s use of a private email server during her time as Secretary of State.

This week, FBI Director James Comey announced that he is not recommending any charges in the case.

“The FBI’s investigation into Secretary Clinton’s personal e-mail server confirmed what Americans across the country already know: Secretary Clinton recklessly accessed classified information on an insecure system – establishing a vulnerable and highly desirable target for foreign hackers,” said Gardner. “If the FBI won’t recommend action based on its findings, Congress will. At the very least, Secretary Clinton should not have access to classified information and our bill makes sure of it.”

Lastly:

 

 

Willful Blindness and DHS Policy CVE Grant Program

Posted on by

Philip B. Haney, a founding member, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Customs & Border Protection (CBP) and author of the must-read book See Something, Say Nothing

Last week I testified before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight, Agency Action, Federal Rights and Federal Courts at a hearing entitled, “Willful Blindness: Consequences of Agency Efforts To Deemphasize Radical Islam in Combating Terrorism.”

Philip Haney/Breitbart: I am a recently retired Customs & Border Protection (CBP) agent. I was named a Founding Member of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) at its inception on March 01, 2003. During my 12 years serving inside DHS under two administrations, I witnessed a series of events which ultimately prompted me to become a whistleblower, releasing critical documents to Members of Congress as I felt necessary to comply with my oath to the Constitution.

First, in January of 2008, I received what is now known as the “Words Matter Memo,” which was circulated internally by the Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL) division of DHS. The full title of the document was “Terminology to Define the Terrorists: Recommendations from American Muslims,” and it read in part:

 [T]he experts counseled caution in using terms such as, “jihadist,” “Islamic terrorist,” “Islamist,” and “holy warrior” as grandiose descriptions.

Collapsing all terrorist organizations into a single enemy feeds the narrative that al-Qaeda represents Muslims worldwide.

We should not concede the terrorists’ claim that they are legitimate adherents of Islam. Therefore, when using the word [Islamic], it may be strategic to emphasize that many so-called “Islamic” terrorist groups twist and exploit the tenets of Islam to justify violence and to serve their own selfish political aims.

Regarding jihad, even if it is accurate to reference the term (putting aside polemics on its true nature), it may not be strategic because it glamorizes terrorism, imbues terrorists with religious authority they do not have, and damages relations with Muslims around the globe.

I submitted a seven-point response listing serious substantive concerns about this memo, but received no response.

On November 24, 2008, a decision came down in the Holy Land Foundation (HLF) trial, the largest terror financing case in American history. During that trial, the federal government had established that a number of organizations were appropriately named as unindicted co-conspirators along with HLF, including the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), and the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT).

Specifically, the judge ruled that federal prosecutors had “produced ample evidence to establish the associations of CAIR, ISNA and NAIT with HLF… and with Hamas.” In addition, the judge ruled that that these organizations had direct links to the Muslim Brotherhood, one of the oldest and largest Islamic fundamentalist organizations in the world, founded in 1928 in Egypt to reestablish the Caliphate, whose motto includes “Jihad is our way, and death in the service of Allah is the loftiest of our wishes.”

I made note of the decision, and explored links between these groups and potential extremist and terrorist activity. But on October 15, 2009, I was ordered by DHS to ‘modify’ linking information in about 820 subject records in the Treasury Enforcement Communications System, or “TECS records” to remove ‘unauthorized references to terrorism.’ I was further ordered not to input any more Memoranda of Information Received, or MOIRs, to create no more TECS records, and to do no further research on the topics I was exploring.

On November 5, 2009, at Ft. Hood, Texas, Nidal Hasan shot and killed 13 people, including one who was pregnant, and wounded 32 others, while calling out “Allahu akbar!” meaning “God is great” in Arabic.

Hassan was a U.S. Army major who had exchanged emails with leading al Qaeda figure Anwar Awlaki – which the FBI had seen and decided not to take action – in which he asked whether those attacking fellow U.S. soldiers were martyrs. He had also given a presentation to Army doctors discussing Islam and suicide bombers during which he argued Muslims should be allowed to leave the armed forces as conscientious objectors to avoid “adverse events.” The Pentagon refused for five years to grant victims Purple Hearts, designating the attack “workplace violence.”

On January 27-28, 2010 an ‘Inaugural Meeting’ occurred between American Muslim leaders and DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano, hosted by DHS CRCL. The Inaugural Meeting created controversy because it included a number of Islamic fundamentalist individuals and organizations.

For instance, the meeting included at least one organization that was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 2008 HLF Trial and established to have associations with the now-shuttered HLF and with Hamas, namely ISNA. According to the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT), the group’s representative who attended the meeting, Ingrid Mattson, has “an established pattern of minimizing the nature of extremist forms of Islam and rationalizing the actions of Islamist terrorist movements.” Another invited group, the Muslim American Society (MAS), was actually formed as the United States chapter of the Muslim Brotherhood in 1993.

Likewise, in the Spring of 2010, the Administration convened the Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) Working Group under the authority of the Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC), again raising questions because of those named to it.

They included Omar Alomari, who once wrote that jihad was “the benign pursuit of personal betterment. It may be applied to physical conflict for Muslims, but only in the arena of Muslims defending themselves when attacked or when attempting to overthrow oppression and occupation,” asserting further that “”Jihad as a holy war is a European invention, spread in the West”; Mohamed Elibiary, who has asserted that it was “inevitable that [the] ‘Caliphate’ returns” and ultimately was let go from the HSAC amid charges he misused classified documents; and Dahlia Mogahed, who has decried “lethal cocktail of liberty and capitalism” and holds that “Islamic terrorism’ is really a contradiction in terms” to mainstream Muslims “because terrorism is not Islamic by definition.”

So by the Spring of 2010, we had come to the point that a CBP Officer was literally removing information connecting the dots on individuals with ties to known terror-linked groups from TECS, while the Administration was bringing the same individuals into positions of influence, to help create and implement our counter-terror policy, in the context of actual terror attacks taking place.

On August 30, 2011, the DHS Chief Council approved a project I initiated looking into Islamic fundamentalist group Tablighi Jamaat (TJ). On November 15, 2011, I began a temporary duty assignment at the National Targeting Center (NTC). A short time later, I was assigned to the Advanced Targeting Team, where I worked exclusively on the TJ Project, which was quickly upgraded to a global-level case.

On March 15, 2012, seven lawyers and three senior executive service (SES) administrators met with management personnel at the NTC to express concern for our focus on TJ, because it is not a designated terrorist group, and therefore the project might be “discriminating” against its members because they are Muslim. On June-July, 2012, the TJ Initiative was ‘taken in another direction,’ (i.e. shut down). The Administration took this action despite the fact that [1] in nine months, we had conducted 1,200 law enforcement actions, [2] I was formally commended for finding 300 individuals with possible connections to terrorism, and [3] 25% of the individuals in Guantanamo Bay had known links to Tablighi Jamaat.

On August 22, 2012, The Institute of Islamic Education (IIE) case that today links both the Darul Uloom Al-Islamiya mosque attended by Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, the San Bernardino shooters, and the Fort Pierce mosque attended by Omar Mateen, the Orlando shooter, was entered into TECS. But once again, on September 21, 2012, all 67 records in the IIE case were completely deleted (not just ‘modified’) from TECS.

On September 21, 2014, I was relieved of my service weapon, all access to TECS and other programs was suspended, my Secret Clearance was revoked, and I was sequestered for the last 11 months of my career with no assigned duties.

On December 2, 2015, the San Bernardino shootings occurred, and I immediately linked the mosque in San Bernardino to the IIE case (with the 67 deleted records), and to the Tablighi Jamaat case (which was shut down).

On June 09, 2016, the Homeland Security Advisory Council Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) Subcommittee issued an Interim Report and Recommendations. The report recommended in part using American English instead of religious, legal and cultural terms like “jihad,” “sharia,” “takfir” or “umma.”

On June 12, 2016, the shootings in Orlando occurred, and I linked Omar Mateen’s mosque in Fort Pierce, FL to the IIE & TJ case. And on June 19, 2016, Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced that her Department of Justice would release redacted 9-11 call transcripts for Mr. Mateen.

The threat of Islamic terrorism does not just come from a network of armed organizations such as Hamas and ISIS, who are operating ‘over there’ in the Middle East. In fact, branches of the same global network have been established here in America, and they are operating in plain sight, at least to those of us who have been charged with the duty of protecting our country from threats, both foreign and domestic.

The threat we face today, which continues growing despite the willful blindness of those who insist on pretending otherwise, is not “violent extremism,” “terrorism,” or even “Jihad” alone, but rather, the historical and universally recognized Islamic strategic goal of implementing Shariah law everywhere in the world, so that no other form of government (including the U.S. Constitution) is able to oppose its influence over the lives of those who must either submit to its authority, become second-class citizens, or perish.

Ignoring that reality has arguably cost at least the lives of those in Ft. Hood, San Bernardino and Orlando, and will cost many, many more if it is allowed to continue.

FY 2016 Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) Grant Program

Department of Homeland Security: In December, 2015, Congress passed the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2016 (Public Law 114-113). Sec. 543 of the Act and the accompanying Joint Explanatory Statement provided $10 million for a “countering violent extremism (CVE) initiative to help states and local communities prepare for, prevent, and respond to emergent threats from violent extremism.”

The Department of Homeland Security issued a notice of funding opportunity on July 6, 2016 announcing the new Countering Violent Extremism Grant Program, the first federal grant funding available to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and institutions of higher education to carry out countering violent extremism programs.

These new grants will provide state, local and tribal partners and community groups—religious groups, mental health and social service providers, educators and other NGOs—with the ability to build prevention programs that address the root causes of violent extremism and deter individuals who may already be radicalizing to violence.

This initiative builds on Secretary Johnson’s September 2015 announcement of the creation of the Office for Community Partnerships. This Office has worked to take the Department’s CVE mission to the next level and find innovative ways to support local communities and address the evolving threat environment. This grant program supports that line of effort.

For an overview of the program and eligibility, please consult this Fact Sheet.

Interested applicants can view the Notice of Funding Opportunity and begin the application process.

Frequently Asked Questions can be found here.

Kate’s Law Blocked by Senate Democrats

Posted on by

Unfortunately Senator Toomey’s sanctuary city bill (S.3100) failed to receive the 60 votes needed to invoke cloture and move forward with debate. From 2015:

The Stop Sanctuary Policies Act, a Republican-backed bill that would withhold some federal funding from so-called “sanctuary cities,” failed to reach the 60 votes necessary to advance beyond a test vote.

“Sanctuary cities,” like Philadelphia, ignore “U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) requests to detain any undocumented immigrant arrested by local law enforcement, claiming the aggressive use of detainers prevents immigrants from reporting crimes to police.

Such policies came under scrutiny in July, when an undocumented immigrant and convicted felon allegedly murdered a woman in San Francisco. Congressional Republicans rallied around the case, passing a similar bill in the House of Representatives, while President Barack Obama vowed to veto such legislation. More here.

Senate Dems block sanctuary city, ‘Kate’s Law’ bills

WashingtonExaminer: Senate lawmakers on Wednesday blocked legislation aimed at stopping violent crimes committed by illegal immigrants.

The “Stop Dangerous Sanctuary Cities Act” would revoke federal grants provided to so-called sanctuary cities that refuse to comply with Homeland Security requests to detain illegal immigrants. The bill is meant to put pressure on those cities to cooperate with the federal government on these issues.

The bill is one of the legislative reactions to the death of Kate Steinle, who was killed on a San Francisco pier by an illegal immigrant. After her death, city officials defended their decision not to cooperate with federal authorities on deporting illegal immigrants.

While Republicans say those sorts of incidents show the government needs to put more pressure on sanctuary cities to follow federal guidance, Democrats disagree, and they helped scuttle the bill in the Senate. Republicans needed 60 votes to let the bill advance in a 53-44 vote.

Democrats have said the bill is anti-immigrant and would hurt local communities. Civil rights groups have lobbied Democrats to oppose the bills, arguing they would damage the ability of police to build trust with immigrant communities.

Democrats also blocked a second related bill, the “Stop Illegal Reentry Act,” which would require mandatory minimum sentences standards for those who have been deported and then come back into the United States illegally and are convicted of an aggravated felony.

The bill is named after Steinle, and was introduced by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.

“Congress must prevent cities from harboring illegal aliens, and it must hold this administration accountable for its failure, if not its outright refusal, to enforce federal immigration laws and ensure the safety and security of the American people,” Cruz said.

But Democrats disagreed, and again shut down the bill in a procedural vote that failed to get 60 votes, 55-42.

*****

In part from USAToday: Republicans said they were trying to save lives, invoking the one-year anniversary of the shooting of 32-year-old Kate Steinle, who was killed as she walked along a San Francisco pier with her father in July 2015. Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, has been charged with Steinle’s murder.

The case sparked national outrage when it was revealed that Sanchez had been deported five times for multiple felonies and was released from a San Francisco County Jail without being turned over to federal immigration authorities.

“The shooter should never have been on the pier that day,” Toomey said.

San Francisco and more than 300 other cities, counties and states have policies against keeping undocumented immigrants in custody for federal agents unless agents have a court order or warrant. Police in cities with large immigrant populations say they cannot convince residents to trust them if police are viewed as immigration agents who will help deport them if they come forward to report crimes.

Toomey’s bill would have barred local governments with sanctuary policies from receiving community development block grants, which are used to create jobs, provide housing to low-income and moderate-income families, and help communities recover from natural disasters.

“Senator Toomey’s bill…aims to prevent more families from experiencing the heartache that Kate Steinle’s family has been forced to endure,” said Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said Republicans have been candid about the need for Toomey to have a vote on his “message amendment” to help his re-election campaign.

“So this is a political tactic,” Durbin said. “Senator Toomey’s bill will not pass, but it gives him something to talk about when he goes home and something perhaps to give a speech about at the Republican (National) Convention.” More from USAToday