• Why Jihad Watch?
  • About Robert Spencer and Staff Writers
  • FAQ
  • Books
  • Muhammad
  • Islam 101
  • Privacy

Jihad Watch

Exposing the role that Islamic jihad theology and ideology play in the modern global conflicts

Imam admits Orlando jihad mass murderer prayed in mosque four days before massacre

Oct 1, 2016 6:44 am By Robert Spencer

“At first, Elagha said, he didn’t release the video clips but changed his mind after the recent stabbings in Minnesota and bombings in New Jersey and New York, and because of the backlash against American Muslims.”

This doesn’t make any sense. “The recent stabbings in Minnesota and bombings in New Jersey and New York” were jihad attacks, but AP doesn’t tell us that, and instead juxtaposes them with “the backlash against American Muslims.” The uninformed reader might get the impression that they were part of that alleged backlash, rather than attacks perpetrated by Islamic jihadis.

In any case, why those jihad attacks would have moved Elagha to release the video of Mateen in the mosque is completely unclear. Elagha says: “We’re not associated with this terrorist. We’re not associated with this murderer.” That, presumably, is why he covered up this video footage up to now: he didn’t want to give the impression that Mateen, who acted explicitly in the name of Islam and jihad, was authentically a Muslim. But releasing the footage would reinforce the impression that Mateen was an observant Muslim. So why did he do so?

What’s more, Elagha’s adding that he released it because of “the backlash against American Muslims” makes this whole episode even curiouser. This supposed “backlash,” which seldom, if ever, genuinely materializes, consists of racist redneck yahoos brutalizing innocent Muslims because of jihad attacks. We’re constantly told that all Muslims are being blamed for the crimes of a few — which also rarely, if ever, actually happens. Yet if Elagha wants to guard against that, why is he releasing video that only strengthens the association of Mateen with Islam and Muslims in general?

There is clearly more to this story than we are being told, or that the Associated Press has any curiosity about. AP doesn’t even care to tell us the name of the mosque in question.

Meanwhile, this revelation only reinforces what I have noted for years: that mosques are not putting jihadis out, or making it clear that they are unwelcome, or, for the most part, reporting them to authorities when they learn of what they’re doing. (There is no indication in this case that anyone at this mosque knew what Mateen was planning, but it bears investigation, rather than simply taking Elagha at his word.)

More below.

helmi-elagha

More on this story. “Imam: Pulse Shooter Prayed at Mosque 4 Days Before Attack,” Associated Press, September 29, 2016:

An imam has released video footage of Orlando nightclub shooter Omar Mateen praying in a central Florida mosque four days before the attack that killed 49 people and injured 53 others on June 12.

Imam Helmi Elagha told reporters Wednesday that he was unaware that Mateen had visited the mosque until FBI investigators contacted him a couple of days after the June 12 shooting at Pulse nightclub.

The imam showed reporters a grainy, freeze-frame image of a man he identified as Mateen walking into the mosque about 10:30 p.m. on June 8. He said Mateen “kept his head down” and went to a corner, where he prayed for about 10 minutes. He says he doesn’t believe anyone exchanged words with him.

“I’m just thinking, ‘How are you praying? … You were contemplating killing people in a couple of days,'” Elagha, executive director of the American Muslim Leadership Council, said at a news conference.

Mateen stopped at the mosque, which is located in a tourist strip not far from Walt Disney World, during Ramadan, which is Islam’s holy month. His wife and child were with him, but they entered the building from a different entrance, Elagha said.

He doesn’t seem to have mentioned that his wife was required to enter from a different entrance. But she was.

It’s common for tourists to stop in at the mosque, Elagha said, adding that the FBI told him it was the only time Mateen visited.

How does the FBI know that? It’s an interesting question. Officially, they’re not conducting surveillance in mosques. Officially, Islam is a religion of peace, and they have no reason to conduct surveillance in mosques. Are they now inadvertently admitting that this is not always the way things work out in practice? Or did they have Mateen himself under surveillance — surveillance so inefficient as to allow him to murder 49 people in the name of Islam and jihad?

At first, Elagha said, he didn’t release the video clips but changed his mind after the recent stabbings in Minnesota and bombings in New Jersey and New York, and because of the backlash against American Muslims.

“We’re not associated with this terrorist,” he said of Mateen. “We’re not associated with this murderer.”…

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Follow me on Facebook

Filed Under: American jihadis, Featured, Jihad in the U.S., journalistic bias, mosques, willful ignorance Tagged With: American Muslim Leadership Council, Associated Press, Helmi Elagha, Omar Mateen


Learn more about RevenueStripe...

Comments

  1. Moses says

    Oct 1, 2016 at 6:59 am

    Bit the mainstream media will always cover up and portray the terrorist as a victim.

    • Jay Boo says

      Oct 1, 2016 at 7:12 am

      Anything but Islam.
      Another case mental illness or a secret closet homosexual because he stalked his victims location. Since Obama has been in office, terrorism by Muslims has been redefined on a daily basis.

      Burn a Koran or oppose Muslim infiltration.
      Obo will declare that terrorism.

      • Shane says

        Oct 2, 2016 at 11:04 am

        What’s the fuss? This guy was just a good muslim carrying out the penalty for homosexuality; expect many more attacks like this against the infidels, apostates, blasphemers, and homosexuals from members of the religion of jihad.

  2. sahani says

    Oct 1, 2016 at 7:12 am

    ALL masjid are center of islamic jihad education . local mulla is their commander , he is able to fool the local police and govt by showing he is a preacher while he is creating islamic force to kill infidel.

  3. Sam says

    Oct 1, 2016 at 7:39 am

    This Muslim is shocked as all other cult members of Islam right?

  4. Paul Clark says

    Oct 1, 2016 at 8:50 am

    Associated Press will never tell the complete story. The overwhelming majority of the AP journalist staff are liberal. (If you want to classify them as journalist. I usually consider them to be liberal propagandist.) The organization is very liberal. They are rarely objective and they rarely search for or publish the entire truth. Most of time they focus their time, money and staff on stories that cause harm to conservative positions. These are example of the people that Trumps identifies as Hillary’s billionaire Cronies. They will do anything to help or support her get elected, including as a simple thing as not identifying a mosque that accepts and protects jihadists.

    • Jerry says

      Oct 1, 2016 at 10:34 am

      We have the same problem with the media in “little Mogadishu,” a.k.a Minneapolis. They can’t lie big enough for islam and the muslims that bring that dangerous filth into our state. WCCO in Minneapolis has blocked my comments on You Tube and has done their share of puff pieces for islam and muslims. On September 11th, of all days, they did a propagandist piece that stated how they–muslims–are concerned about potential backlash during their eid celebrations which was due to fall one day after 9/11. What an insult to the victims of islamic jihad, to portray muslims as “victims” on a 9/11 anniversary. And the notion that America’s muslims have reason to fear on a religious holiday is beyond ludicrous. The “report” goes on to say that “police are on board” with these concerns and that “private security will also be used.” This is just one more example of WCCO’s willful misuse of facts for distorting the larger reality. And the reality is, we “infidels” are the true victims in all this, it’s muslim and their nurturing participation in islam’s doctrine of hate who are provoking terror, not we who speak against it.

      They spit on our murdered dead by martyring the people and religion that caused their deaths.

      It truly is a war and the media has allied themselves with the enemy. We need to “out” these traitors and neuter their destructive effects with the shameful truth. Their dance with the devil is unacceptable when it means the murder of our people and the loss of our freedoms. They have made themselves friends and allies of the enemy and they should be treated as such.

      • Jerry says

        Oct 1, 2016 at 11:58 am

        There’s probably 10,000 communities in America with media outlets like WCCO. Here’s their insulting propaganda for islam. You can all see it for what it is, an appeal to fear and a fallacious use of the facts to portray muslims as victims at the expense of life saving truth. It’s a Hitleresque tactic for quashing our legitimate concerns and valid arguments in defense of human rights from islamic fascism. And don’t forget, they did this on the latest anniversary of 9/11, an obvious attempt to spin the violence of that horrible day into a reason to feel bad for islam and muslims. Honestly, I don’t know how these people can live with themselves, to be so callous and deviant against our own people. The victims’ families must feel rage over this betrayal.

        • Jerry says

          Oct 1, 2016 at 11:59 am

          Well so much for showing you the video. But my truthful message still stands.

      • gravenimage says

        Oct 1, 2016 at 8:40 pm

        Jerry, I don’t understand your claim that the MSM is “martyring” Muslims and Islam? Instead, they regularly whitewash that foul creed.

        • Jerry says

          Oct 1, 2016 at 9:43 pm

          Def of martyr: a person who pretends to suffer or who exaggerates suffering in order to get praise or sympathy

          I’m saying that the media martyrs islam and muslims by portraying muslims’ claim of persecution as a real world condition. But it’s not, it’s a fabulous distortion of reality to garner sympathy for muslims, and by doing so they insult the true victims and their families who should be granted our sympathy. In recent years countless thousands have been murdered by terrorist acts by muslims, while muslims rarely if ever suffer more than an intelligent rebuttal or a scarf pull. Practically the whole world in fact is bending over backward to accommodate muslims’ self-imposed suffering and grant them every possible aid. To portray muslims as persecuted victims in light of these facts is an obfuscation to hide the truth of muslims’ culpability for the crimes their people commit to satisfy islam’s violent commands. But the media’s attempt to hide the truth only serves to highlight the unscrupulous methods the left employs on behalf of muslims and their fascist cult. We won’t be deceived.

    • j_not_a says

      Oct 2, 2016 at 7:35 pm

      Funny that this smallish mosk produced two jihadist “martyrs”. One could be passed off as an anomaly, by them, of course, not by my way of thinking. But two. But it doesn’t take a Sherlock to figure out there’s something very sinister going on in that house of worshit.

  5. Jerry says

    Oct 1, 2016 at 9:12 am

    So the trail of blood leads right back to the mosque. Is anyone in here surprised?

    • underbed cat says

      Oct 1, 2016 at 3:24 pm

      No not surprised since it leads back to doctrine housed at location.

    • Angemon says

      Oct 1, 2016 at 6:15 pm

      I’d be surprised if it were otherwise.

      • gravenimage says

        Oct 1, 2016 at 8:44 pm

        So true.

  6. Walter Sieruk says

    Oct 1, 2016 at 10:46 am

    First , the decks need to be cleared. This message in not meant to be insensitive or make light of that Islamic mass murder of the jihadist /Muslim , who way indeed a malicious Muslim terrorist. of all those people in that Orlando nightclub.This “joke” is meant to make a point about the extreme difference between the very worst Christian reaction by a specific type of Christian to a “gay” person and the very worst Muslim reaction to a “gay” person by a specific type of Muslim.

    There is something to the semi-joke about the different t kind of negative kind of behavior of a Fundamentalist Baptist Christian male and the kind of behavior of a Fundamentalist Salafist Muslim male when they encounter, at different times, a homosexual man. For when a Fundamentalist Baptist Christian man meets a “gay” man, that type of Christian will say many very ignorant things to him and as a result of those ignorant things said that “gay” man will end up with a headache. In contrast, when a Fundamentalist Salafist Muslim man encounters a homosexual man, that type of Muslim will cut that “gay” man’s head off.

    • gravenimage says

      Oct 1, 2016 at 8:47 pm

      Yes–it is like comparing the fringe Westboro Baptist Church picketing the funeral of a gay person to Muslims murdering him. Not only is this not mainstream Christianity, but even at its worst it simply does not compare to Muslim savagery.

  7. Walter Sieruk says

    Oct 1, 2016 at 10:53 am

    Some apologists for Islam have made the claims that denied that the terrorist shooter and mass murderer of Orlando was a real Muslim because it was said that he might have had “homosexual tendencies.” Likewise, some people have even said that the 9/11 hijackers were not actual Muslims because two of them, maybe, attended a strip joint during the night of September 10, 2001. All such claims aren’t taking into account that according to Islam if a jihad –minded Muslim dies in a jihad suicide/homicide attack, which they call a “martyrdom operation,” then all his sins are wiped clean and he will then enter into paradise. These meaning all his sins, whatever those sins are. Including , homosexual tendencies are wiped out by becoming a “martyr.”. In conclusion, that jihadist terrorist mass murder in the city in Orlando was a real Muslim terrorist.

    • gravenimage says

      Oct 1, 2016 at 9:12 pm

      The whole thing about Mateen having “gay tendencies” seems to be based on the testimony of a single individual. Far more likely, he was just at Pulse to scope out his target.

  8. Jack Diamond says

    Oct 1, 2016 at 12:55 pm

    Helmi is a regular on the Islamophobia circuit. He is a director of the American Muslim Youth Leadership Council, which has invited the likes of Siraj Wahhaj to speak. In his capacity with the AMYLC, in 2015, the Imam was accused of repeatedly molesting a 15-year old girl. The charges were eventually dropped. The Imam came to us by way of Saudi Arabia.

    http://www.frontpagemag.com/point/253112/imam-who-complained-american-misconceptions-about-daniel-greenfield

    When Muslims say they fear backlash, they may imply they fear violence or being rounded up in camps, what they really mean are articles like these, words and thought-crimes which “wound their religious feelings.” In Islam, these are enough to constitute “oppression” and “persecution” of Muslims and “war against Islam.” These are the hate-crimes.

    “The mosques are our barracks…” About time that was taken seriously.

    • Jerry says

      Oct 1, 2016 at 1:33 pm

      “…what they really mean are articles like these, words and thought-crimes which “wound their religious feelings.” In Islam, these are enough to constitute “oppression” and “persecution” of Muslims and “war against Islam.” These are the hate-crimes.

      I had to repost that accurate and insightful part of your comment, it’s worth reading twice. Of course you’re correct about that, oppression to muslims is when we attempt to deny them the ability to oppress us. If we defend ourselves from their fascist hate then we are abusing their self-proclaimed right to dominate us. I don’t feel at all bad about not sympathizing with their POV.

    • gravenimage says

      Oct 1, 2016 at 10:08 pm

      Thanks for the background, Jack. Here’s more on Imam Helmi Elagha:

      “Local imams, police agencies pledge solidarity in fighting terror, hate”

      http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-american-muslim-law-enforcement-20151216-story.html

      This was right after the Jihad massacre at the Holiday party in San Bernardino. The meretricious Imam Elagha said: “Whether it’s the shooting in California or the rise of hate crimes and rhetoric against American Muslims, I believe that we all share one common threat, which is terror and hate,” said Imam Helmi Elagha, who coordinated the discussion at the American Muslim Leadership Council headquarters in Kissimmee.

      What grotesque false moral equivalence–as if speaking out against Jihad terror is the same as Jihad murder.

      Even more grotesquely, this was during a meeting with police on the topic of “prevent[ing] radicalization within their congregations”. Was Omar Mateen already ‘worshipping’ at this Mosque?

      One of the other Imams–another weasely creep–has this to say:

      “We are committed 100 percent to working with law enforcement to hunt down any suspicious individuals who mean harm to our country, to our local Central Florida community,” Musri said.

      Notice that he is not really opposing Jihad here–just anyone who would “harm [his Muslim] community”.

      Of course, no one is going to call Elagha on his supposedly acting to deal with “extremism” at his Mosque, and then spawning the Jihadist responsible for the worst mass shooting in American history.

  9. Mark Spahn (West Seneca, NY) says

    Oct 1, 2016 at 3:02 pm

    Hey, wait as minute. So there is a video of someone praying for 10 minutes in a “corner” of a mosque. Who is conducting this surveillance in mosques? Who owns the videotape? And why does the video clip not accompany the AP report? What-all is being videotaped in this mosque, and why? How much videotaped footage of Muslims in mosques has been accumulated, and who keeps it and watches these videos? Is this surveillance a protection against infidels praying in mosques, after which fumigation will have to be carried out to clean away their najisity?

    • linnte says

      Oct 2, 2016 at 3:35 am

      I was also wondering about the video. It seems Mosques video the inside. Well ain’t that just peachy! I hope our adept(sarc) FBI take note if this and use it to their benefit in other Mosques, which probably have video systems too, if a Jihadi is known to frequent that Mosque.

  10. abad says

    Oct 1, 2016 at 4:22 pm

    These Imams are as worthless as they come.

    And really – what makes non-Muslims think these whackadoodle Imams will excommunicate/disfellowship (NO such concept in Islam by the way) Jihadis like Mateen?

    Meanwhile my less-than-precious convert-to-Islam college professor thinks all gays should be thrown off the roofs of buildings and/or decapitated. And he is a member of a terrorist-supporting Mosque in Tucson, AZ.

  11. Thomas says

    Oct 1, 2016 at 5:08 pm

    Islam is a lie; so what do you expect?

    Deception is a core principal.

    We are dealing with the dark side of the force here, let there be no doubt…

  12. gravenimage says

    Oct 1, 2016 at 8:33 pm

    Imam admits Orlando jihad mass murderer prayed in mosque four days before massacre
    …………………………….

    Why does Imam Helmi Elagha think admitting this will ward off “Islamophobia”–i.e., Infidels realizing that pious Muslims wage violent Jihad on the basis of the texts and tenets of Islam? Who the hell knows?

    Whatever the motivation, this is *very* telling.

    More:

    “I’m just thinking, ‘How are you praying? … You were contemplating killing people in a couple of days,’” Elagha, executive director of the American Muslim Leadership Council, said at a news conference.
    …………………………….

    What Imam Helmi Elagha does not admit is that there is nothing so Islamic as asking for the blessing of Allah in waging violent Jihad–except in the actual act of slaughtering Infidels, of course.

  13. Gea says

    Oct 2, 2016 at 6:04 am

    Memorisation of the hateful verses of Koran and Hadith and emulating criminal behaviours of Mohamed cause violent terrorist activities…thus Islam should be treated as Nazism and mosques as Nazi cells where new terrorists are created every day.

  14. dumbledoresarmy says

    Oct 2, 2016 at 9:27 am

    Mr Spencer observed, correctly, re the news ‘report’ under discussion, that “AP [Associated Press] doesn’t even care to tell us the name of the mosque in question.”

    However, I am sure that any American jihadwatchers with access to google and a good knowledge of local Florida geography – shoutout to native Floridans, here! – could work out what it is, within two or three guesses.

    We have three clues, all provided in the article.

    First, there is the name of the Imam – “Helmi El-Agha”.

    Second, we are given the following information about the location: 1/ it is a “central Florida mosque’ and 2/ it is “located in a tourist strip not far from Walt Disney World”.

    I just did a little quiet googling and discovered that there are eight mosques/ Islamic centres in what appears to be the relevant area. One is entitled “Masjid Al-Agha AMYL Centre” and is on “4990 W Irlo Bronson Highway”.

    Furthermore, Google supplied me with two news stories from 2015, concerning an imam named “Helmi Motasim Agha” aka Imam Abu Farah, who was arrested on a charge of having sexually molested a (Muslim) teenaged girl. The charge was deemed to have been fabricated and he got off.

    http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-helmi-agha-imam-abufarah-ice-20150327-story.html

    http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-imam-abufarah-charges-update-20151118-story.html

    And here is some really juicy stuff – “Agha, who moved to Central Florida about four years ago after living in Buffalo, N.Y., has spent time in a maximum-security prison before, records show. In the mid-1990s, Agha was convicted of first-degree robbery and sent to the Attica Correctional Facility. He was released in 2002.”

    Is this the same Helmi Al-Agha? It looks highly probable.

    NOT a very savoury character, if so.

    • j_not_a says

      Oct 2, 2016 at 7:40 pm

      Nice work. And very interesting.

FacebookYoutubeTwitterLog in

Subscribe to the Jihad Watch Daily Digest

You will receive a daily mailing containing links to the stories posted at Jihad Watch in the last 24 hours.
Enter your email address to subscribe.

Please wait...

Thank you for signing up!
If you are forwarding to a friend, please remove the unsubscribe buttons first, as they my accidentally click it.

Subscribe to all Jihad Watch posts

You will receive immediate notification.
Enter your email address to subscribe.
Note: This may be up to 15 emails a day.

Donate to JihadWatch
FrontPage Mag

Search Site

Translate

The Team

Robert Spencer in FrontPageMag
Robert Spencer in PJ Media

Articles at Jihad Watch by
Robert Spencer
Hugh Fitzgerald
Christine Douglass-Williams
Andrew Harrod
Jamie Glazov
Daniel Greenfield

Contact Us

Terror Attacks Since 9/11

Archives

  • 2020
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2019
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2018
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2017
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2016
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2015
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2014
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2013
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2012
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2011
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2010
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2009
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2008
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2007
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2006
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2005
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2004
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2003
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • March

All Categories

You Might Like

Learn more about RevenueStripe...

Recent Comments

  • Walter Sieruk on Iranian top dogs approve bill to end UN nuclear inspections, increase enrichment
  • Dude on Muslim cleric: ‘We welcomed the takeover of ISIS because they wanted to implement the Sharia’
  • Infidel on Uighur leader: ‘We’re actually quite worried’ about what Biden might let China get away with
  • Infidel on Uighur leader: ‘We’re actually quite worried’ about what Biden might let China get away with
  • Mojdeh on Audio: Robert Spencer on Muslim Brotherhood influence in a Biden/Harris administration

Popular Categories

dhimmitude Sharia Jihad in the U.S ISIS / Islamic State / ISIL Iran Free Speech

Robert Spencer FaceBook Page

Robert Spencer Twitter

Robert Spencer twitter

Robert Spencer YouTube Channel

Books by Robert Spencer

Jihad Watch® is a registered trademark of Robert Spencer in the United States and/or other countries - Site Developed and Managed by Free Speech Defense

Content copyright Jihad Watch, Jihad Watch claims no credit for any images posted on this site unless otherwise noted. Images on this blog are copyright to their respective owners. If there is an image appearing on this blog that belongs to you and you do not wish for it appear on this site, please E-mail with a link to said image and it will be promptly removed.

Our mailing address is: David Horowitz Freedom Center, P.O. Box 55089, Sherman Oaks, CA 91499-1964

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.