by: Bob Unruh
Bloggers beware. And those who use email, too. And those on Facebook. And Twitter. And anyone else using social media: Diss a Muslim and the Department of Justice will be on your case with the full weight of federal law.
The Obama administration, which is launching a series of Muslim Outreach Summits so that Islamists can tell federal officials how they better can serve that community, says it also is holding educational outreaches to let people know that Internet postings that violate civil rights are subject to federal prosecution.
Bill Killian, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee, is scheduled to appear at an event sponsored by the American Muslim Advisory Council of Tennessee next week, and will “provide input on how civil rights can be violated by those who post inflammatory documents targeted at Muslims on social media,” according to a report in the Tullahoma News in Tennessee.
“This is an educational effort with civil rights laws as they play into freedom of religion and exercising freedom of religion,” he said. “This is also to inform the public what federal laws are in effect and what the consequences are.”
He said everyone needs to understand that Internet postings that violate civil rights are subject to federal jurisdiction.
After all, he said, while some Muslims may blow up buildings, hijack airliners and kill thousands, there are terrorists of other religions, too.
“[Oklahoma City bombers] Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols were both Christians as was the guy who shot up the Sikh temple [in Wisconsin],” Killian claimed.
The federal strategy immediately made the “Corruption Chronicles” feature assembled by officials at Judicial Watch, the corruption-fighting activists in Washington.
“In its latest effort to protect followers of Islam in the U.S. the Obama Justice Department warns against using social media to spread information considered inflammatory against Muslims, threatening that it could constitute a violation of civil rights,” the organization said.
Judicial Watch noted that the Obama administration already has reached out to personally reassure Muslims that the DOJ is protecting them. In that unprecedented move, Attorney General Eric Holder assured a San Francisco-based group called Muslim Advocates, which urges members not to cooperate with federal investigations, that he is grateful to have Muslims with which to partner. The Obama administration also has hired a special Homeland Security adviser, Mohamed Elibiary, who openly supports an Islamist theologian who condemns U.S. prosecutions of terrorists, Judicial Watch said.
And the president has ordered the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to focus on Muslim diplomacy and officials with Homeland Security covertly have met with extremist Arab, Muslim and Sikh groups to talk about national security matters.
The State Department lent its weight by sending anti-America imam Feisal Abdul Rauf on a trip to the Middle East for outreach to Muslims.
Explained Judicial Watch, “Over the years, the Obama administration has embarked on a fervent crusade to befriend Muslims by creating a variety of outreach programs at a number of key federal agencies.”
Tullahoma News said Killian wants to let people know about Muslim culture and civil rights laws.
“We want to inform everybody about what the law is, but more importantly, we want to provide what the law means to Muslims, Hindus and every other religion in the country.
“It’s why we came here in the first place,” he continued. “In England, they were using Christianity to further their power in government. That’s why the First Amendment is there.”
WND had reported just a day earlier on the “Muslim Outreach Summits.”
WND initially discovered documents referring to the Muslim summits while examining a U.S. Department of Education procurement of data-gathering and report-writing services.
The services are specific to information being assembled by the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, or WHIAAPI, which Obama created via executive order in 2009.
Upon closer inspection, however, WND learned that the Education Department explicitly will direct the selected contractor to chronicle findings and recommendations gleaned from the Muslim Outreach Summits.
The White House views this year’s venues as an extension of a previous outreach to “new immigrants and refugees – some of the most underserved in the AAPI community,” according to a document titled “WHIAAPI 2013 Faith-Based and Community Engagement.”
Complementing the prior effort will be the three “regional convenings,” tentatively scheduled June 15 in Chicago, June 22 in San Francisco and June 29 in New York City.
“These cities are main AAPI immigrant hubs and entry points for new immigrants/refugees,” according to a related document, “Questions Received from Vendors: Development and Preparation of the AAPI Annual Report to the President.”
“Each convening with [sic] include panel discussions/workshops with federal officials on key issues impacting the community and also an open-dialogue session to hear directly from the community about issues of concern.”
Sometime after the three Muslim Outreach Summits, the chosen contractor will develop and then present its summary report to the president and to newly appointed WHIAAPI commissioners.
The contracting action – the first of its kind since its inception in 2008 – will help lay the foundation for the initiative’s future work, the document says.
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