Press Release from Americans Against Hate:
Coral Springs, FL – Following the London suicide bombings that claimed the lives of 50-plus people, on Friday, July 8th, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) held a press
conference at the Islamic Center of Northeast Florida to “condemn” the attacks. Speaking at the press conference was the Special Agent in charge of the FBI’s Jacksonville, Florida office, Robert Cromwell.Since CAIR was created in 1994, the organization has had numerous officials associated with terrorist activity convicted by and/or deported from the United States. Prior to their [the charities’] closure by the United States government, CAIR was soliciting funds for terrorist charities intimately linked to HAMAS and Al-Qaeda. CAIR’s parent organization, the Islamic Association for Palestine – known to be a HAMAS front – recently lost a $156 million lawsuit for the murder of a young boy, David Boim, during a HAMAS terrorist operation that took place in Israel. CAIR’s Executive Director, himself, has publicly stated his support for HAMAS.
This was not the first time that Special Agent Cromwell had participated in a CAIR sponsored event. In December of 2004, CAIR held a diversity training workshop on Islam and the American Muslim community at the FBI’s Jacksonville Division All Employee Conference. According to CAIR’s website, CAIR’s Florida Communications Director (and the unofficial spokesman for Sami Al-Arian) Ahmed Bedier and CAIR’s National Chairman Parvez Ahmed were “recognized by FBI Jacksonville Special Agent in Charge Robert Cromwell for the diversity workshop.”
Joe Kaufman, Chairman of Americans Against Hate (AAH), stated, “We still don’t get it! How is it possible for our government to fight terrorism, when we have government officials partaking in events sponsored by groups that are connected to terrorism themselves? Diversity training and condemnations of terrorist attacks are exemplary initiatives. However, groups such as CAIR use these initiatives to take heat off their own troubled pasts. When government officials show up to these events, even if it’s done unintentionally, their presence acts to legitimize the organizations. We call on Special Agent Cromwell to never partake in a CAIR sponsored event again, no matter what the cause. CAIR is part of the terror support network, and it should be treated as such.”
Attending the July 8th event, as well, was Jacksonville Sheriff John
Rutherford…