On December 13, 2015, terrorists targeted religious minority Shiite Muslims with a bomb, which has killed and wounded scores of people at the Landa Bazar in the Tal Adda area of Parachinar, in Kurram Agency, Pakistan. The Parachinar market bomb blasting was believed to be a remote controlled and detonated bomb, so that the terrorist could escape. The police and ambulances were on the scene, trying to cordon off and control the area, and a bomb squad was investigating the bombing.
In a video posted online after the terrorist attack, smoke and flames could be seen coming out of a white vehicle, which looked some type of van or bus. Another video showed the chaos of the aftermath of the attack.
Video posted online showed flames and smoke coming out of a vehicle (Source: FB/Parachinar.Greenlands)
Pakistan television showed debris, clothing, and wounded throughout the market after the bombing, with the surviving market goers fleeing the area. The bodies of those killed and injured were taken to Agency Headquarters Hospital, according to reports.
Terrorist attack on Shiite Muslims at Landa Bazar in the Tal Adda area of Parachinar, in Kurram Agency, Pakistan (Source: Twitter)
The market is predominantly Shiite, and so the victims are overwhelming Shiite Muslims. At 1 PM local time, Waqt News and The Nation News reported that there were 23 dead and 60 injured. That death toll was expected to rise, as at least 10 of the injured were critically injured.
Terrorist attack on Shiite Muslims at Landa Bazar in the Tal Adda area of Parachinar, in Kurram Agency, Pakistan (Source: Twitter)
On Twitter, people in the area shared their knowledge of the attack.
One stated: “There was no security in market of #Parachinar at the time of blast. Political Administration need to change! ” Another referred to the terrorist attack as “Car Bomb explosion Hits #Shiite majority area #Parachinar #Pakistan.
23 martyred. Over 50 wounded. #ShiaGenocide. ”
While at the moment of this posting, no specific terrorist group has claimed this attack, Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) urges the Pakistan people and people of the world to remember this is the price of the world’s continuing silence and weakness in challenging the ideologies of extremism that believe such attacks on religious minority Shiites are sickeningly “justified.”
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) urges the Pakistan people and people of all faiths and identity groups to recognize that such religious persecution of minorities and associated violence of terrorist affects all people. It is also another reminder of how such extremist terrorists, who claim to be acting on their view of “Islam,” attack and murder other Muslims, and we have seen again and again, in Pakistan and around the world.
The FBI and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Department is investigating an arson attack, believed to be a terrorist fire bomb, which was set off on Friday December 11, 2015 at noon local time at the Islamic Society of Coachella Valley mosque, in California. The fire bomb damaged the front of the mosque’s lobby. No one was injured.
On December 12, 2015, KESQ News reported on that “Riverside County Sheriff’s Department says a person of interest” was being held in association with the attack on the mosque. The sheriff’s department called the fire bomb an intentional act, and was being investigated as a hate crime.
KESQ News reported: “Riverside County Jail Records show 23-year-old Carl James Dial Jr., was booked into the Indio jail at 1.46 a.m for several felony charges including arson and a hate crime. Dial is listed as a white male, from Palm Desert.”
On December 12, the New York Times reported: “Congregants at the Islamic Society of Coachella Valley had started arriving for 1 p.m. prayers when they heard a ‘loud boom’ shortly after noon, Reymundo Nour, the mosque’s acting imam, said. Soon, the front of the mosque erupted into flames. More than a dozen firefighters arrived within minutes and contained the fire to the lobby, although there was smoke damage throughout the building, officials said. No one was injured.” Details are limited on this incident. Other reports suggested there was a significant number of Yemeni-American worshipers going to the mosque.
Congressman Dr. Raul Ruiz released the following statements:
After the attack: “I am deeply concerned about the Islamic Society of the Coachella Valley Mosque going up in flames. I call for a thorough investigation to this arson as a possible hate crime and to bring the perpetrators to justice. I will continue to closely monitor the fire, the possible criminal investigation, and the safety of the members of the mosque. Our faith in humanity will not be intimidated and we stand together against any form violence towards the innocent.”
During the investigation: “One suspect is in custody. The investigation is ongoing. I have been on the phone with federal and local law enforcement agencies and faith leaders to ensure peace and security for the innocent. I’m very thankful for the rapid and professional manner the ATF, FBI, Sherrif’s Department, and Cal Fire have responded and investigated the arson attack as a possible hate crime.”
AP reported that: “John Dial told NBC News he saw his son carrying a backpack on Friday and he assumed he was going to class at a local college. He said his son struggled socially. ‘He was caught up in social media. Social media has produced people like my son, without person-to-person contact,’ the father said. ‘I believe he was lacking in social skills.’ ”
Another relative of the man arrested for the terrorist attack stated on Facebook: “I am not trying to defend him…I know his actions were reprehensible .But he, in no way, ever mentioned or even gave off the impression that he would do something like this. He was disturbed and depressed. There are no words to describe how sorry we are that this happened.” “He is ill. He needs help. And I’m not saying this because “hes white”. Im saying this because I’ve seen it. He desperately needs mental help.”
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) stands in support of our universal human rights for all, and we stand in defiance against those, including terrorist and hate groups, which seek to attack such universal human rights, dignity, and security for all.
On December 11, 2015, another man linked to the Minneapolis, Minnesota area American ISIS gang, Khaalid Adam Abdulkadir, was arrested today for making Twitter threats to kill Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents after an American ISIS terror suspect Abdirizak Mohamed Warsame was arrested on December 10.
Khaalid Adam Abdulkadir made threats on Twitter to kill FBI agents, if American ISIS terror suspects were not released from custody. Reports state a detention hearing was scheduled for December 16. He will be held by U.S. Marshals until that court date.
The complaint also alleges Abdulkadir was in touch with two other former Minneapolis men who authorities say have become online recruiters. According to direct messages Twitter provided to investigators, Abdulkadir asked a man who goes by the name Mujahid Miski for advice on how to get to Syria.
All people are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) stands in support of our universal human rights for all, and we stand in defiance against those, including terrorist and hate groups, which seek to attack such universal human rights, dignity, and security for all.
Of all the wonderful things, we can and should say about the 67th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the image of the United Nations’ Geneva, Switzerland, Palais de l’Europe guarded by security men with sub-machine guns describes just how much work is ahead of us in promoting universal human rights. But I know how we got to this sorry state of affairs. It began with deciding that we could compromise again and again on defending our Universal Human Rights.
Much of the world has been in active war for the past 14 years. But we saw the violence of war within nations and the regional wars dramatically overflow across their borders on September 11, 2001. The “answer” to the September 11 attacks was focused on tactics only of security measures and war. The tactics of security measures resulted in an ever increasing net of security, until people could no longer tolerate it. The tactics of war, unfortunately, was primarily more war and violence, with the predictable result of escalating violence, with occasional changes in the war fronts.
But while the world war has ebbed and flowed, we have made little progress on the human rights challenges of defying extremism. Highly educated and powerful people decided that they would not learn the lessons of human rights from history, but decided instead to make their own rules by trying to stop the violence of extremists by appeasing them. However, the idea of “appeasing” extremists NEVER WORKS. NEVER. We know it. We have seen it through history; we have countless examples of this. But as the years went by, the argument for appeasement just became too popular, and the view that we should struggle to challenge anti-human rights views became just too much work for many. It was easier just to find a way to “get along” with anti-human rights forces, no matter who or where they were persecuting others.
If you think about it, it is understandable to some extent. Most people don’t want to be in a state of conflict. It is exhausting. It is painful. It is expensive. Then people ask themselves, what do they really have to show for all of the effort? Perhaps it is better just to be a little blind and deaf, and just “get along” already. After all, some will tell us, that “we can’t change the world.”
But weariness and weakness only fuels the resolve of extremists, who believe (rightly for some) that if they only persevere, the champions of human rights and equality will get tired and give up. Too many powerful individuals simply decided that giving up wasn’t such a bad idea, and that we should pretend that we don’t know that appeasement is wrong.
This failure was clearly obvious to me in 2008, when I was daily assisting counterterrorism professionals, who believed the answer to terrorism was to empower “non-violent” extremists. They thought we could “tolerate” extremism, as long as we could keep it from getting “violent.” In 2008, I declared to counterterrorism and foreign policy professionals that such an idea that we could make “deals” with extremists was absurd. Some believed we could use diplomatic strategies of (ironically called) “smart power” to “engage” with extremists, and somehow by tolerating (and legitimizing) their cause, we could “talk them out” of extremism, or at least make them less violent – to US anyways. Some “professionals” didn’t like that I found appeasement to be absurd. Some in the British government were unhappy with me. Some in the U.S. government were unhappy. But they were then, and they are today – WRONG. Appeasement of extremists always fails. We know this. We have seen this again and again in history.
But the view that we could appease extremists was viewed as a solution to violence and war. The so-called “solution” was that extremists could come up with their own ideas of “democracy” and their own views on “human rights,” because after all if we urged extremists to accept standard views on “democracy” and “human rights,” that would mean we were “cultural imperialists.”
It is simply nonsense. We know it, too.
Now, the foreign policy and counterterrorism professionals don’t want to hear this. They want to say it is perfectly fine for everyone to have their own version of democracy, or human rights, or freedom. They believe that “equality” is a dirty word. Instead of equality, we need to believe in RELATIVISM. So if someone has a version of democracy, that is un-democratic, well, that should be fine, because democracy is not really one type of democracy, it should be relative to every person, every group, every extremist view, and every culture, so no one is offended. The same holds for “human rights.”
The results of relativism are that you have (incredibly) nations like the Communist Chinese Party (CCP) stating that they are great supporters of “human rights,” when they put political prisoners in concentration camps, force women to have abortions (while one major U.S. political candidate actually claimed they provide better maternity care), deny democracy, and deny religious freedom. But that won’t stop people talking about the CCP’s commitment to “human rights.” Because after all, the “professionals” argue, we can’t OFFEND the Communist Chinese government!
But the “professionals” really like “relativism” because you can’t measure it. They can use relativism to twist words like “human rights” into any politically convenient argument they want, and never be wrong. Most of all, they can never be accountable, and certainly NEVER be RESPONSIBLE.
That is WHY is, in 2009 I founded “Responsible for Equality And Liberty.” Because our commitment to universal human rights cannot be left to the “professionals” who are only worried about no one actually being held “responsible” for anything. Political powers find the idea of real “responsibility” repugnant – they would argue if we hold nations, groups, and people “responsible,” then maybe we would have to also be “responsible,” and they believe we can’t do that. To the “professionals,” being responsible is a “bad” thing. “Responsibility” threatens their power, their political influence, and their careers.
Furthermore, the professionals will tell us, if we are not “relativists” on human rights, maybe we are secretly “bigots,” or “racists,” or some other foul accusation. After all, how “dare” we ask people to stop torturing, murdering, persecuting, or oppressing others?
The professionals would then ask, what gives us the RIGHT to question the actions of others?
The answer is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, signed by the nations of the world on December 10, 1948.
THAT is what gives us the RIGHT.
On December 10, 1948, in the shadow of the Holocaust and the Axis powers’ mass murders, organized terrorism, concentration camps, persecution, and world war, the people of world decided we aren’t going to take this insanity and depravity anymore.
On December 10, the United Nations of the world decided we would create a code of UNIVERSAL human rights that every person of every identity group in every nation of the world has – the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). It uses the words “ALL,” it demands “EQUAL RIGHTS,” and it calls for such universal human rights for “all peoples and all nations” – including “equal rights of men and women.” It speaks in detail to all of the UNIVERSAL human rights that we have: for freedom of speech, for freedom of religion and conscience, for life, for liberty, for the right to vote, for security, for dignity, for asylum, for freedom of movement, for justice, for education, for peaceful assembly, and for general welfare in a democratic society.
You won’t see the words: “but,” “except,” “not for,” or “relativism” – anywhere in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Please look. Be certain for yourself. You need understand for yourself the human rights, the liberty, and yes, the EQUALITY, that the powers of the politically elite and the oppressors of the world don’t want us all to have around the world.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights – gives us the “right” to demand such universal rights, security, and dignity for ALL PEOPLE. Not some people. Not for those people when it is convenient. Not relative to the views of extremists or those we are afraid of offending. Not just for people we like or people like us. No, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is for ALL PEOPLE.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights gives us the authority and the responsibility not just to ask, but also to demand, that every one of our brothers and sisters in human is given the same human rights everywhere in the world, no matter what extremist group, not matter what tyranny, not matter what political force of oppression or denial may claim. We have the code of the nations of the world which we can demand a basic standard and consistent level of human rights for all people – no matter the anti-human rights forces might claim.
ISIS Terrorist Group – An Enemy of Humanity, Human Rights, Dignity, Security – for people of Every Nation, Race, Sex, Religion, Ethnic Group, and Political View (Responsible for Equality And Liberty – R.E.A.L.)
Among its most important statements, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states:
— “Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,”
— “Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,”
— “Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,”
— “Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations,”
— “Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,”
— “Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in co-operation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms,”
— “Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge,”
“Now, Therefore THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.”
Human Rights Day – Remembering the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)
But the political powers of the world have decided they only support the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, when it is convenient, or when no one will actually hold them RESPONSIBLE for it.
That has to change. Because when we give up on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we end up with violence, death, and oppression, running out of control around the world, and we can’t even begin to stop it. Because there will never be enough law enforcement, enough security measures, enough weapons of war and soldiers, until WE AGREE that EVERYONE DESERVES and is RESPONSIBLE for defending our universal human rights.
We can’t stop extremism when we teach our children that human rights only matter to people we like, or when it is convenient. Our children are looking for leadership, and our political leaders are giving them weak and cowardly relativist excuses. Our children see right through such nonsense. They are looking for answers. We have answers, but our political leaders have decided it would be too much trouble to actually be RESPONSIBLE for the truths that we hold self-evident.
Our political leaders have decided that it would be too difficult to actually work to acknowledge and defend our international code of universal human rights for ALL people.
So we, the people, have to DO something else. We are not going to get out of this mess with the leadership of our politicians, who base their lives and their view of the world on meaningless relativism.
We, the people of the world, in our different nations, need to take a stand – TOGETHER. We need to decide and make a commitment that we will be united in standing by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights for ALL people.
We, the people of the world, in our different nations, need to take a stand that we will work together to defend these universal human rights, and defy the forces of extremism and anti-human rights, no matter when, how, or where, they appear.
We must be CONSISTENT on our universal human rights for ALL. We cannot believe they only apply to some people. The relativist politicians will argue that only certain rights matter for some people, but we have tell our fellow human beings that this is wrong.
If the enemies of human rights can work together, build coalitions, spread violence, attack and kill people the world over, why can’t the defenders of human rights work together around the world, build our own coalitions, spread peace, reject extremist views, and call for equality of human rights and dignity the world over?
We can. We must. Our unity in universal human rights is the best hope we have today. We CAN change the world, just like the United States of America and so many other nations have changed. We can make change for all of our brothers and sisters in humanity.
We do not have to surrender to relativism. We do not have to give in to defeat and despair.
We can make another CHOICE.
On this Human Rights Day, and every day, we can CHOOSE to be Responsible for Equality and Liberty.
R.E.A.L.’s Orange Ribbon Campaign for Equality And Liberty
On December 10, 2015, the U.S. Department of Justice reports that American ISIS recruit Nader Saadeh from Rutherford, New Jersey, has confessed to conspiring to support the ISIS terrorist organization. The FBI has also reported that: “Nader Saadeh said that ISIL’s execution of a captured Jordanian Air Force pilot by burning him alive and the murders of several staff members of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris earlier this year were justified.” He sought to recruit an army of American ISIS terrorists.IBD reported: “Perhaps most chilling, the radicalization of the Saadeh boys appears to have had the blessing of their Jordanian father, who had been deported from the U.S. along with Saadeh’s mother after “sustaining criminal convictions.” The FBI says the father advised one of his sons to ‘delete everything off his phone’ to avoid federal authorities detecting their plans.”
A former resident of Bergen County, New Jersey, today admitted that he conspired to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a designated foreign terrorist organization, announced Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman of the District of New Jersey and Special Agent in Charge Richard M. Frankel of the FBI’s Newark Division.
Nader Saadeh, 20, a former resident of Rutherford, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton of the District of New Jersey in Newark to an information charging him with one count of conspiring with others to provide material support to ISIL. He remains detained without bail.
“Nader Saadeh conspired with others, including his brother, to travel to Syria to join ISIL,” said Assistant Attorney General Carlin. “Counterterrorism is the National Security Division’s highest priority and we will continue to hold accountable those who seek to provide material support to designated foreign terrorist organizations.”
“Nader Saadeh is the last of the three defendants charged in the District of New Jersey in this case to admit his role in trying to provide material support to a known terrorist organization,” said U.S. Attorney Fishman. “ISIL is intent on threatening the safety of Americans here and abroad, and we and our law enforcement partners are just as intent on stopping them.”
“Today in the District Court of New Jersey Nader Saadeh admitted he conspired to provide material to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL),” said Special Agent in Charge Frankel. “He is one of three New Jersey men who conspired to travel overseas to join ISIL but were stopped by the outstanding work of the Newark FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force. I ask the citizens of New Jersey to remain vigilant and contact the FBI if they see or hear something suspicious.”
A former resident of Bergen County, New Jersey, was arrested this morning for allegedly conspiring and attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a designated foreign terrorist organization.
The announcement was made by Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman of the District of New Jersey and Special Agent in Charge Richard M. Frankel of the FBI’s Newark, New Jersey, Division.
Nader Saadeh, 20, a former resident of Rutherford, New Jersey, is charged by complaint with conspiring with other individuals in New Jersey and New York to provide material support to ISIL and with attempting to provide material support to ISIL. He is scheduled to appear at 1:30 p.m. EDT before U.S. Magistrate Judge Cathy L. Waldor of the District of New Jersey.
According to documents filed in this case:
The FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) have been investigating a group of individuals from New York and New Jersey who have allegedly conspired to provide material support to ISIL. Nader Saadeh lived in Rutherford until leaving the country on May 5, 2015, allegedly to join ISIL. Nader Saadeh’s brother, Alaa Saadeh, was a resident of West New York, New Jersey, until he was arrested on June 29, 2015, and charged with conspiring to provide material support to ISIL, aiding and abetting an attempt to provide material support to ISIL and witness tampering. Samuel Rahamin Topaz was a resident of Fort Lee, New Jersey, until he was arrested on June 17, 2015, and charged with conspiring to provide material support to ISIL. Conspirator 1 (CC-1) was a Queens, New York, resident until he was arrested in New York on June 13, 2015, on terrorism charges.
Between 2012 and 2013, Nader Saadeh sent CC-1 electronic messages expressing his hatred for the United States and desire to form a small army that would include their friends. On July 1, 2014, the day ISIL’s leader declared an Islamic caliphate in Syria and Iraq, Nader Saadeh posted images of ISIL’s flag and the flag of the Islamic caliphate on his Facebook page.
According to an informant who was close to him for years, by April 2015, Nader Saadeh had become a radicalized supporter of ISIL who was preparing to travel overseas with other individuals. In addition, Nader Saadeh said that ISIL’s execution of a captured Jordanian Air Force pilot by burning him alive and the murders of several staff members of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris earlier this year were justified.
During the investigation, the FBI obtained computer files showing that Nader Saadeh viewed ISIL propaganda videos and researched the availability of flights to Turkey, which borders Syria, where ISIL claims to control territory. The FBI also obtained electronic messages sent to Nader Saadeh on April 21, 2015, by family members living overseas, including his mother, who pleaded for him not to join ISIL.
On May 5, 2015, Nader Saadeh traveled overseas via John F. Kennedy International Airport, allegedly in order to join ISIL. On his way to the airport, while accompanied by Alaa Saadeh and CC-1, he said that he, Alaa Saadeh, CC-1 and Topaz had plans to reunite overseas within a few weeks.
On the day of his arrest, Topaz told the FBI that he agreed with Nader Saadeh, CC-1 and Alaa Saadeh to travel to join ISIL. In addition, Alaa Saadeh told the FBI in a post-arrest interview that he, Nader Saadeh and Topaz all watched ISIL propaganda videos together and discussed going overseas to join ISIL. Alaa Saadeh also stated that the night before Nader Saadeh left for Jordan, CC-1 provided Nader Saadeh with the name and number of an ISIL contact near the Turkey/Syria border who would facilitate his travel to ISIL-controlled territory.
Each count in the complaint carries a maximum of potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
An American ISIS recruit from Akron, Ohio, Terrence J. McNeil, has been indicted for soliciting the murder of U.S. military personnel and posting specific personal information on and photographs of 100 U.S. service members to assist in targeting them for terrorist attacks in the United States, specifically calling for the beheading of such Americans.
American ISIS terror plotter McNeil claimed it was his religious duty to promote murder, stating: “O Brothers in America, know that the jihad against the crusaders is not limited to the lands of the Khilafah, it is a world-wide jihad and their war is not just a war against the Islamic State, it is a war against Islam…Know that it is wajib (translated to “necessary”) for you to kill these kuffar! and now we have made it easy for you by giving you addresses, all you need to do is take the final step, so what are you waiting for? Kill them in their own lands, behead them in their own homes, stab them to death as they walk their streets thinking that they are safe…”
On December, 8, 2015, the FBI reported that:
A six-count indictment was filed today charging an Akron, Ohio, man for soliciting the murder of members of the U.S. military.
Terrence J. McNeil, 25, was indicted on three counts of solicitation of a crime of violence and three counts of threatening military personnel. He was arrested on Nov. 12, 2015, on federal charges that he solicited the murder of members of the U.S. military.
The charge was announced by Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin, U.S. Attorney Steven M. Dettelbach of the Northern District of Ohio and Special Agent in Charge Stephen D. Anthony of the FBI’s Cleveland Division.
“According to the indictment, Terrence McNeil solicited the murder of members of our military by disseminating ISIL’s violent rhetoric, circulating detailed U.S. military personnel information and explicitly calling for the killing of American service members in their homes and communities,” said Assistant Attorney General Carlin. “ISIL and its followers continue to use social media in an attempt to incite violence around the world, including in the United States. The National Security Division’s highest priority is counterterrorism and we will use all of our tools to disrupt threats and acts of violence against our military members and their families.”
On November 15, 2015, the FBI reported that:
An Akron, Ohio, man was arrested today on federal charges that he solicited the murder of members of the U.S. military.
Terrence J. McNeil, 25, appeared in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Ohio after being charged with one count of solicitation of a crime of violence.
The charge was announced by Assistant Attorney General John P. Carlin, U.S. Attorney Steven M. Dettelbach of the Northern District of Ohio and Special Agent in Charge Stephen D. Anthony of the FBI’s Cleveland Division.
“According to the allegations in the complaint, Terrence McNeil solicited the murder of members of our military by disseminating ISIL’s violent rhetoric, circulating detailed U.S. military personnel information, and explicitly calling for the killing of American service members in their homes and communities,” said Assistant Attorney General Carlin. “ISIL and its followers continue to use social media in an attempt to incite violence around the world, including in the United States. The National Security Division’s highest priority is counterterrorism and we will use all of our tools to disrupt threats and acts of violence against our military members and their families.”
“As this nation honors our veterans, we must make clear that we will not tolerate threats of violence against our service members,’ said U.S. Attorney Dettelbach. “This defendant is charged with urging harm to our men and women in uniform and will now answer for those threats.”
“While we aggressively defend First Amendment rights, the individual arrested went far beyond free speech by reposting names and addresses of 100 U.S. service members, all with the intent to have them killed,” said Special Agent in Charge Anthony. “We will remain vigilant in our efforts to stop those who wish to support these despicable acts.”
According to an affidavit filed in the case:
McNeil professed his support on social media on numerous occasions for the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL), a designated foreign terrorist organization.
On or about Sept. 24, 2015, using a Tumblr account, McNeil reblogged a file with the banner “Islamic State Hacking Division,” followed by “Target: United States Military” and “Leak: Addresses of 100 U.S. Military Personnel.”
The file type is a .gif file, which allows multiple still images to be looped in one file, with a timed delay between each image. The text of the first file reads “O Brothers in America, know that the jihad against the crusaders is not limited to the lands of the Khilafah, it is a world-wide jihad and their war is not just a war against the Islamic State, it is a war against Islam…Know that it is wajib (translated to “necessary”) for you to kill these kuffar! and now we have made it easy for you by giving you addresses, all you need to do is take the final step, so what are you waiting for? Kill them in their own lands, behead them in their own homes, stab them to death as they walk their streets thinking that they are safe…”
The file then loops several dozen photographs, purportedly of U.S. military personnel, along with their respective name, address and military branch.
The final image looped is a picture of a handgun and a knife with text that reads “…and kill them wherever you find them…”
A charge is not evidence of guilt. It is the government’s burden to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt, and a defendant is presumed innocent until that time.
The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force in Cleveland. This case is being prosecuted by U.S. Attorney’s Office
American ISIS terrorist Jonas Edmonds planned to be dressed as a U.S. Army soldier when he attacked the United States.
The U.S. Department of Justice reported on December 10, 2015 that American ISIS terrorist Jonas Edmonds, from Aurora, Illinois, pleaded guilty” to federal charges involving conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization in the Middle East. According to the plea agreement, Jonas Edmonds intended to carry out an act of terrorism in the United States after Hasan Edmonds had departed for the Middle East. Specifically, in March 2015, the cousins devised a plan for Jonas Edmonds to carry out an armed attack at the U.S. Army National Guard base in Joliet, Illinois, during which time Hasan Edmonds was a member of the Army National Guard and had been training at the Joliet installation. According to the plea agreement, the plan called for Hasan Edmonds to provide military uniforms for Jonas Edmonds to wear during the attack, as well as a list of officers for Jonas Edmonds to kill.”
Jonas Edmonds and his cousin, Army National Guard Specialist Hasan Edmonds, were recruited by the ISIS terrorist organization to commit acts of terror.
As previously reported, “Jonas Edmonds asked the FBI undercover employee to assist in the attack and explained that they would use Hasan Edmonds’ uniforms and the information he supplied about how to access the installation and target officers for attack.”
As the New Yorker also reported on their case, Jonas Edmonds wrote “about ‘bring[ing] the pain to them here,’ maximizing ‘damage and mayhem,’ and ‘something like the brother in Paris did.’ ”
Illinois: American ISIS Terror Recruit Jason Edwards Pleaded Guilty on December 10, 2015 to U.S. Terrorist Plot
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Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) stands in support of our universal human rights for all, and we stand in defiance against those, including terrorist and hate groups, which seek to attack such universal human rights, dignity, and security for all.
While we must challenge and defy extremist groups, we must also not let them hold our identity groups hostage with their hate and violence.
In America:
— Number of White Americans: 196,817,552
How many white supremacist terrorists do we actually face?
A very small percentage of this.
The importance is that majority which respects human rights, security, and dignity must be willing to challenge the small minority of extremists.
— Number of Muslim Americans: 2,770,000
How many extremists terrorists claiming to represent a type of “radical Islam” do we actually face?
Again, a very small percentage of this.
The importance is that majority which respects human rights, security, and dignity must be willing to challenge the small minority of extremists.
While these are 2010 demographic figures, the precise demographic number is not the point.
Furthermore, I use these two identity groups as examples. One can pick any identity groups and come to the same results.
The point remains that we succeed in challenging anti-human rights extremism, when the majority asserts their will and undertakes the responsibility to identity and stop the actions of that percentage of extremists who seek to spread hatred and violence.
But we need to be consistent on this. Consistency in challenging anti-human rights extremists, especially those that promote violence, is necessary for all groups.
When we decide it is too much work, that is when terrorists succeed.
Their “secret plans” are never as secret as they think.
We see something. We need to be willing to challenge those who promote violence against our fellow human beings.
We need to be consistently and annoyingly Responsible for Equality And Liberty.
As I once stated in a human rights speech at Freedom Plaza, “compassion begins with passion.” You cannot show that you truly care about our shared universal human rights, if you cannot show your feelings and passion for your fellow human beings and their challenges. If you are passionate about human rights, then you cannot be “patient” as you watch your brothers and sisters in humanity being persecuted, oppressed, attacked, and murdered.
There is a time and a place for equanimity, patience, and a reserved manner, and there is also a time and a place for a passionate defense of the rights, dignity, and security for our fellow human beings. There is a time when we must provide leadership on the truths we hold self-evident for all.
Our real leaders understand this, because they understand what is at stake by those who deny and attack our shared universal human rights. Our real leaders are not necessarily institutional, political, government leaders or administrators in our nations. We must make certain the voices of real leaders of human rights, dignity, and security are heard, amidst the passive voices that will invariably shrug their shoulders at the challenges to our shared human rights.
Let us be clear – the enemies of our shared universal human rights are never inconsequential to the security of the world. The enemies of our shared universal human rights are always an insidious cancer to the human race whose growth must be aggressively blocked and whose threat must be removed.
Some also believe that our passion for human rights should only apply for selected identity groups that we care about. Universal human rights are universal. The most fundamental value in our shared universal human rights is Equality. This is the truly shared common cause around which we must rally.
So we must also be equally passionate in our human rights defiance to anti-human rights extremists, who believe they can threaten, bully, and commit violence against others in denial of their human rights, because they believe they have superior rights over others. The enemies of our shared universal human rights despise the word “equality.” It is their primary objection to our common cause of shared human rights.
Equality is truly the keystone of the human rights struggle, which holds all of the other causes together as one struggle. The importance of equality in our human rights is forgotten by the apathetic, when they believe we do not need to passionately challenge all of the enemies of human rights.
Equality.
In the United States of America, we have been blessed with a history that this is not merely just another word in our language.
Equality.
It is so much more than just another word. It is a desperate whisper. It is a cry against injustice. It is a prayer. It is call to action. It is a shout of defiance. But whatever it may mean to you, to people in America and around the world, Equality is not just another word. Equality is not something we could dispassionately care less about, because it applies to all of us – everywhere – just like our shared universal human rights.
To those who have seen brothers and sisters of every identity stand together in a common cause of our shared universal human rights, they know that without Equality, we cannot have Liberty. They know without Equality and Liberty, we cannot have shared universal human rights.
Of all of our shared universal human rights, Equality is what anti-human rights extremists want to steal away from humanity. As it is the keystone of our shared universal human rights, so it is also the common target of the extremist enemies of human rights. The enemies of human rights don’t simply dislike equality; they hate Equality. They seek to destroy Equality and subjugate people of various identity groups, based on their race, their religion, their nationality, or other identity, and force them to submit to a tyranny.
So when we passionately challenge the enemies of our shared human rights and Equality, we must be prepared to defy all such enemies. Most importantly, we must never allow our passion in defying such enemies of human rights to allow us to become tyrants ourselves. We must always remember our struggle for human rights is for shared human rights for all of humanity.
To those who do not view anti-human rights extremists as a threat to passionately oppose, often they decide that they can choose that only some anti-human rights extremists matter, and that other enemies of human rights do not. This is not a support for our shared universal human rights. We must passionately reject all enemies of human rights, as the common cause of the human race.
In addition, there are also those who believe that people around the world have no choice but to live under a tyranny of those who seek their total submission and denial of their universal human rights. They believe they should surrender to what they believe will not change, and that the best thing to do is simply make the best of the current circumstances. They also believe that it is not worth giving much attention to anti-human extremist groups, because they believe eventually such groups will fail of their own overreaching ambitions, without much reaction by free people.
The people of the world may wonder how some free people can be so dispassionately calculated and cold-hearted about enemies of human rights, especially American free people. America brings a history both of natural defiance against anti-human rights oppression, as well as a deep-seated desire by its immigrants to “start anew” somewhere else and get a “fresh start” at life, and release concerns about “the old world.” Especially between foreign wars, Americans often resort back to a policy of “isolationism” as a response to great sacrifices. Passion is exhausting.
But when we come back to the keystone of human rights — Equality, we then have a different message to those who would watch the oppression of and violence against our fellow human beings with detachment and equanimity.
America did not defeat the tyrants that oppressed them by a dispassionate hope that eventually someday things would change on their own. They stated: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” In America, the weary, the detached, and the dispassionate may find comfort in isolationism from the world and from our societal responsibilities, but we can never be Americans without a zealous commitment to the most important of the truths we hold self-evident — EQUALITY.
Equality is the great motivating force to remind the American people, who and what they are, and why in the great words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
In the exhaustion of the difficult efforts for human rights, it is easy to get discouraged and weary. It is easy to lose hope for change. But I have been blessed in my lifetime with the opportunity to see great things happen. I have been blessed to live in a time in the United States of America, where I have seen American change from a nation where public racial segregation and oppression was openly tolerated in some place to where we have come to an African-American president elected twice. This is what I have seen with my eyes and experienced in my own short lifetime. The struggle for our shared human rights, especially for our sisters in America, is still truly an ongoing battle which is far, far, far from being won. But I can tell you a fact, not an opinion. CHANGE IS POSSIBLE. We CAN positively change the world in support of our shared universal human rights. It is not just wishful thinking. It can be done.
We have seen such human rights CHANGE. I urge the world to remember this history and to act to find ways to promote such change in challenging the current enemies of human rights and equality.
But we did NOT achieve CHANGE by being passive and unconcerned about the actions of anti-human rights extremists. We did not achieve change through dispassionate equanimity to the anti-human rights extremists who sought to subjugate others. We did not change the thinking of a generation by quietly expecting the extremist enemies of human rights would just go away by themselves, and relinquish their stranglehold on the human rights, dignity, and security of the oppressed.
We did not achieve any victories of change by making excuses for and rationalizing away the actions and the ideology of the enemies of human rights.
In achieving the victories of change, we did not retreat to isolationism from human rights. We did not shrug our shoulders at the abuses of the extremists. To the victims of such extremists, we did not only extend our sympathies and prayers, but we also extended our protection as well as our passionate outrage and defiance against the extremist enemies of human rights.
To the enemies of human rights, we not only recognized and defended the rights of others, but also we challenged and rejected the wrongs that extremists applied to our fellow human beings. We did not defend those victimized by the enemies of our human rights through relativist surrender. We judged their actions based on a consistent application of our shared universal human rights for all. This judgment between right and wrong was passionately communicated in every aspect of our society: our leaders, media, schools, houses of worship, institutions, and public gatherings.
In the American national judgment on white supremacism, whether it was by the 100,000 American Union soldiers who died fighting to end it during the Civil War, or it was through the total war of ideas against white supremacism during what is known as the “Civil Rights era,” this judgment against extremists was not a racial attack on white Americans, but it was a total clarion call for change to reject the supremacist views of extremists. But we fearlessly judged what was right and wrong, based on our shared universal human rights for all. As the American people know all too well, that struggle never ends, and such passionate defiance against anti-human rights extremists must never be relaxed.
Most importantly, we were NOT patient, despite the endless pleas for “patience,” “understanding,” “culture,” and “incremental change,” which mostly apologists for white supremacists sought to spread as a countermessage in the “war of ideas” during the “Civil Rights era.” As Americans are all too painfully aware, when it comes to defying the extremist enemies of human rights, patience is not a virtue, but only allows anti-human rights persecution to find new ways and places to arise again and again.
This is the model that I have seen in my life which works to achieve CHANGE in human rights. It is a model that requires a passionate challenge to anti-human rights extremists that are given no excuse, no rationale, no justification, and no escape from the judgment of a society which stands for justice and equally shared universal human rights.
So too in today’s world, as the extremist enemies of human rights seek a total war on our equality, liberty, human rights, human dignity, and security, so we must call for a new clarion call of total defiance of the ideology and actions of today’s enemies of human rights. We must not allow the voices of relativism, defeatism, and cowardice to win the day. If we believe in our shared universal human rights, then we must take the stand that those that seek the destruction of such shared universal human rights bring a common cause to rally all of humanity.
To do so, we need to bring out the greatest agent of human rights to our common defense, the keystone of our shared human rights: EQUALITY. We must call for the EQUAL universal human rights for all people in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and we must defy those enemies of human rights, from any extremist ideology which seeks the persecution and oppression of our brothers and sisters in humanity. Of all of the ideas in the world, the one that the enemies of human rights can least tolerate and accept is equality of human rights. Therefore, such equality of human rights must be the spearhead of our campaign to defy and challenge the extremist causes.
To the extremist calls of terrorism, violence, and subjugation of our fellow human beings, let them know the enemies of human rights know that we will reject, defy, and condemn their ideologies of hatred and violence. As we approach the anniversary this week of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, let us passionately and defiantly make a statement to all of the anti-human rights extremist groups — we will not submit, and we will defend our EQUAL universal human rights for all.
We will be passionately Responsible for Equality and Liberty.
Dawn/AFP Report: California shooter studied at Al-Huda institute: teacher MULTAN: The woman who, with her husband, shot dead 14 people in California last week attended one of the most high-profile religious teaching centres for women in Pakistan, a teacher at the Al-Huda institute told AFP Monday.
Tashfeen Malik, 29, studied at the Al-Huda Institute in Multan, which admits middle-class women and also has offices in the US, the UAE, India and the UK, the teacher at the teaching centre who gave her name only as Muqadas said.
“It was a two-year course, but she did not finish it,” the teacher Muqadas said. “She was a good girl. I don’t know why she left and what happened to her.”
The teacher did not say when Malik studied at the Al-Huda institute, but fellow classmates at the Bahauddin Zakariya University said she had attended the institute after classes at the university, which she attended from 2007-2013.
Farhat Hashmi’s organisation, Al-Huda institute, has no known extremist links, though it has come under fire in the past from critics who say its ideology is extremist in nature.
Malik and her husband Syed Farook, 28, went on a killing spree at a social services centre in San Bernardino. Investigators suspect that Malik, who went to the United States (US) on a fiancee’s visa and spent extended periods of time in both Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, may have radicalised her husband.
The probe is trying to establish if she had contact with radicals in either country.
An administration official at the academy in Multan said he could neither confirm nor deny that Malik had studied there, and said he would discuss the issue with management.
“But we have nothing to do with it (the shooting) and are not responsible for our students’ personal acts,” he added.
One of Malik’s former classmates at the Bahauddin Zakariya University in Multan, where she studied pharmacology, told AFP she had attended the institute after classes, saying she “drastically changed” during her time there.
“Gradually she became more serious and strict,” said the student, requesting anonymity.
A second university student who also requested anonymity confirmed the account.
Pakistan has pledged to crack down on religious seminaries suspected of being breeding grounds for intolerance or even fostering extremism, with the country’s information minister Pervez Rashid terming them “universities of illiteracy and ignorance”. However the government’s efforts to rein in madrassas have prompted anger from many clerics.
