The idea that the relentlessly clueless, willfully ignorant Obamoid FBI would be persecuting this man out of “Islamophobia” is ludicrous. We can only hope that the feds don’t decide that it is too “Islamophobic” to continue watching him closely.
“Extremist Imam Tests F.B.I. and the Limits of the Law,” by Scott Shane and Adam Goldman, New York Times, September 30, 2016 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):
WASHINGTON — For more than a decade, Suleiman Anwar Bengharsa has served as a Muslim cleric in Maryland, working as a prison chaplain and as an imam at mosques in Annapolis and outside Baltimore. He gave a two-week course in 2011 on Islamic teachings on marriage at the Islamic Society of Baltimore, where President Obama made a much-publicized visit this year.
But in the last two years, Imam Bengharsa’s public pronouncements have taken a dark turn. On Facebook, he has openly endorsed the Islamic State, posted gruesome videos showing ISIS fighters beheading and burning alive their enemies and praised terrorist attacks overseas. The “Islamic Jurisprudence Center” website he set up last year has condemned American mosques as un-Islamic and declared that homosexual acts should be punished by death.
That is not all. An affidavit filed in federal court by the F.B.I. says that Imam Bengharsa, 59, supplied $1,300 in June 2015 to a Detroit man who used it to expand his arsenal of firearms and grenades. The man, Sebastian Gregerson, 29, a Muslim convert who sometimes calls himself Abdurrahaman Bin Mikaayl, was arrested in late July and indicted on explosives charges.
Nearly a year ago, in fact, the F.B.I. said in a court filing — accidentally and temporarily made public in an online database — that agents suspected the two men were plotting terrorism. “Based on the totality of the aforementioned information and evidence, there is reason to believe that Bengharsa and Gregerson are engaged in discussions and preparations for some violent act on behalf of” the Islamic State, an agent wrote.
Yet Imam Bengharsa has not been arrested or charged. It appears that the authorities do not have clear evidence that he has broken the law. His inflammatory statements are protected by the First Amendment, and agents appear to have no proof that he knew Mr. Gregerson planned to buy illegal explosives. In his checkbook, next to the notation for the $1,300 check, Imam Bengharsa wrote “zakat,” or charity, the documents show.
The case poses in a striking way the dilemma for the F.B.I. in deciding when constitutionally protected speech crosses into inciting violence or conspiring to commit a terrorist act.
The bureau was sharply criticized for not acting more aggressively on prior warnings about the men who carried out attacks in Orlando, Fla., in June and in New York and New Jersey last month. And in early August, the F.B.I. arrested a transit police officer from Fairfax, Va., after watching him for six years before charging him with providing support to the Islamic State. It was another case that raised questions — even among agents — about why the F.B.I. and federal prosecutors waited so long to act, potentially putting the public at risk.
In testimony before Congress this week, the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, said the challenge for F.B.I. agents was determining when someone has crossed the line from speech to criminal activity. “It’s even protected speech to say I’m a fan of the Islamic State so-called,” Mr. Comey said.
When the suspect is a cleric, like Imam Bengharsa, the matter is especially delicate.
“It’s very possible that he’s never crossed the legal threshold,” said Seamus Hughes, deputy director of the Program on Extremism at George Washington University, who has closely followed the imam’s story. But Mr. Hughes called the situation “perplexing and concerning.” The imam “can take his supporters right up to the line. It’s like a making a cake and not putting in the final ingredient. It’s winks and nods all the way.”
Imam Bengharsa appears to have plenty of money. Court records say he received $902,710 in wire transfers in 2014 and 2015, possibly an inheritance. He told The Detroit News that he often helped needy people like Mr. Gregerson. “If that individual turns around and wants to use that money for something else that’s illegal, the person who gave the money cannot be held responsible,” Imam Bengharsa said. “It’s pathetic if they are making those connections. If that’s what this country has become, I’d rather be in jail.”
The documents say he transferred money three times to an unnamed person in Yemen.
Investigators are also exploring contacts between Imam Bengharsa and other people suspected of extremism or terrorism. One is Yusuf Wehelie, 25, a Virginia man arrested in July and charged with weapons possession, which would be illegal because he has a previous felony conviction for burglary.
Mr. Wehelie first came to public attention in 2010, when he and his brother, Yahya Wehelie, both American citizens, were temporarily detained in Cairo and prevented by the F.B.I. from flying home. American officials said such delays were sometimes necessary to assess whether a person posed a security threat. The American Civil Liberties Union and the Council on American-Islamic Relations protested that the rights of such travelers were being violated.
At Yusuf Wehelie’s detention hearing in July, the authorities said he had told undercover agents that he supported the Islamic State and that if he couldn’t join it overseas, he would attack a military recruiting center, possibly using explosives. (Mr. Wehelie’s lawyer, Nina Ginsberg, said that in later recorded conversations, he disavowed those statements and later stopped replying to the undercover agents.)
In Baltimore, another young man named Maalik Alim Jones was arrested late last year and charged with joining a terrorist group in Africa. Imam Bengharsa had preached on occasion at a Baltimore mosque Mr. Jones attended, but it is not clear that they knew each other.
The F.B.I. has been closely watching the imam for months, law enforcement officials say. A spokesman for the bureau declined to comment.
The authorities are concerned that Imam Bengharsa, who claims an impressive list of scholarly credentials, may be spreading the Islamic State message that violence can be justified against perceived enemies of the faith. In view of the payment to Mr. Gregerson, they also fear he may be financing other supporters of the Islamic State. The F.B.I. has said in court that he is under investigation for conspiring and providing material support to the Islamic State….

Jaladhi says
Ship him back to wherever he came from. He has no right to be in the country with his traitorous activities!!
Alexius Comnenus says
Amen!! He should be deported immediately. Hillary will give him a job in DC. Mark my word down.
All those who vote for this lying bitch do not have sanity in their heads. They are simply traitors of the American nation.
Jaladhi says
That’s the problem – we don’t know how many traitors are here!1
El Cid says
It is not possible for him to be spreading terrorist messages or to be engaged in terrorism.
The President said so. (sarcasm intended)
eur says
Islam is a Religion like other…….. JAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJA
Alexius Comnenus says
That’s a bullshit, just trying not to be political correct.
eur says
i was trying to be ironic ;-). Islam is not a religion.
eur says
Muslims soon force us to start talking about issues like relationship vassal lord, slave master .. we do not know how to defend our values, our moral… and that will be our death as a culture.
Havoc says
The Constitution is not a suicide pact, people!
jewdog says
Of course the accusations against this guy aren’t “McCarthyism” – nobody’s accusing him of being a Communist…
Marty says
Few people see McCarthy as a likable character. I certainly don’t
However, in the deluge of self righteous lefty thesbians
& media liberals, one point gets overlooked.
McCarthy’s views were correct, even understated.
There were two Soviet spies in the US cabinet.
Respectively ministers for Labour & Agriculture, if my memory
is correct.
McCarthy didn’t spot them.
Wellington says
I would add to your comment, Marty, that all those who have gotten upset over McCarthy, would they have if you simply change Communists and Communist sympathizers he went after to Nazis and Nazi sympathizers, my point being that a left-wing totalitarian ideology like Marxism gets a pass from many but a right-wing totalitarian ideology like Nazism doesn’t. But neither should.
To this day Fidel Castro, a serial killer on a national scale, is still the darling of Hollywood elites and other elites, but Augusto Pinochet of Chile remains reviled by these same elites even though he was responsible for far less deaths than Castro has been and he most definitely didn’t ruin the Chilean economy, unlike Castro who has created an economic hellhole in Cuba.
My comment here is not meant as an exculpation of McCarthy, whose methods were sometimes over the top, nor of Pinochet, who most certainly didn’t act as humanely as he could have, but rather to indicate the huge double standard that exists by which left-wing excess gets a pass often times while right-excess never does. But neither should.
KABOOOOYou need a refresher OOOOOOOOOOOM says
You need a major refresher on the evils of Communism/Socialism and its penetration of the American Government pre-, during and post WW2. The FDR regime times to be specific. Following is a list of names that will serve thee well to research.
Harry Hopkins
Alger Hiss
Kravchenko…acyually, forget the list and read Diana West’s American Betrayal…its all there.
McCarthy was an American hero.
Under Barry Soetoro (aka BH Obama) and fellow travelers Valerie Jarrett, Jeh Johnson, Loretta Lynch, Eric Holder and many other traitors we are witnesses to a repeat show – ‘cept today its the Muzz Brotherhood and islam.
Wellington says
No, I don’t need a refresher on the evils of Marxism. I fully understand how iniquitous it is. Doctrines like determinism, dialectical materialism, the labor value theory and the theory of alienation (of course you know about all these, don’t you?) are a prescription for the ending of liberty, economic stagnation and often pure genocide.
As for McCarthy, he essentially closed the barn door after the cows got out. By the time McCarthy gave his opening speech about Communism in West Virginia in 1950, the Truman Administration had very effectively weeded out Communist sympathizers. That’s not to say McCarthy was wrong in general, but his methods and some of the people he went after simply went beyond the Pale. You do know he actually accused George Marshall of Communist sympathies which infuriated Dwight Eisenhower and which is why, in private, Eisenhower read McCarthy the riot act during his 1952 Presidential campaign.
I am aware of Hiss (who was clearly guilty) et al. You don’t need to tell me I need to learn more here. I taught American history for a third of a century and I am quite well versed in what McCarty did right and what he did wrong. Your turn if you care.
KABOOOoOOOOOOOOOOOM says
Dude. All acolades to your esteemed Ivory Tower education and educational instruments. However, yu are behind the wheel (join the real world; recognize your antiquated educational contributions to the belief systems of modern American youth).
Upon repeat: read American Betrayal by Diana West; join us modern realists.
Generally I respect your contributions here.
Wellington says
Twice now you have sought to push your points at my expense. Your 12:41 A.M. post asserted that I am not aware of the evils of Communism/Socialism. But I am, most definitely I am, as my 12:11 P,M. post above clearly indicated (and really, off the top of your head, could you convey to anyone the details of Marx’s dialectical materialism, his deterministic view of history, or what the theory of alienation means?) Then in your 3:15 P.M. post you implied I am some kind of Ivory Tower sort of person, replete with my being “behind the wheel,” not yet having joined the real world, blah, blah, blah, which is about as far from the truth as one could be——but you have nonetheless managed to go into said metaphorical land.
And yes, I am aware of Diana West’s work you cited but her work does NOTHING to disprove my assertions to you, including about McCarthy. I see you did not address my mentioning Eisenhower’s private rebuke of McCarthy during his 1952 Presidential campaign. Gee, why is that? Or were you not aware that while Eisenhower, while extending approbation to McCarthy’s goals, very much disapproved of his methods? Want to take McCarthy over Eisenhower here? Give it a shot if you feel so inclined. I would be most interested in your “argument.”
Finally, I would recommend you read what just about the greatest living historian had to say about McCarthy. I here refer to Paul Johnson and his master work, Modern Times.
You will find his insightful assessment of McCarthy on pages 459-461 of this highly laudable tome. But let me quote just one or two passages from this assessment of Johnson’s. Here they are: “Eisenhower rightly perceived that the Korean War and the uncertainty surrounding cease-fire negotiations were the source of the frustration and fear upon which McCarthyism played.” The other being: “With considerable cunning and in great secrecy he {Eisenhower} directed his friends in the Senate to censure McCarthy…..”
Now, if you wish to take McCarthy’s side over Eisenhower’s here, I would be most interested in your “argument.” But please don’t begin a third time by telling me I am deficient in some way. Just make your damn argument.
Your turn if you care.
le mouron rouge says
Wellington/Marty,
See my comment on October 4, 2016 @ 1:17AM
Off Topic, this is a refreshing article: http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/10/why_a_wellread_woman_with_an_earned_doctorate_will_vote_for_trump.html
Wellington says
Thanks for that link, le mouron rouge, to the article by Janice Crouse. It was a good read.
le mouron rouge says
And this- http://www.aim.org/aim-column/communists-mobilize-for-hillary-clinton/
J-pal says
…interesting point is his view on: The “Islamic Jurisprudence Center” website he set up last year has condemned American mosques as un-Islamic and declared that homosexual acts should be punished by death..
How about child abuse in Pakistan… or acid attacks on women in Iran, India and elsewhere – to “…keep the honor of the family…”, etc. I am sure he will be overwhelmed by his task to correct errors in those countries…
eur says
i was trying to be ironic ;-). Islam is not a religion.
Kiel says
Get this opulent tablecloth fool out in one way or the other.
August West says
During the investigation of Ms Clinton’s email all I can recall hearing from the various pundits/talking heads in the various conservative news outlets was how professional and non partisan FBI Director James B. Comey.
Well it looks like those pundits were wrong: He stinks.
The FBI continues to do next to nothing to proactively identify and stop potential Jihadists.
Even the NYT has figured this out and is reporting on it. The NYT, however, will *NOT* change their general reporting on the Islamic threat based on this article (or any other).
What is happening here is the normalization and enablement of the 1400 year old Jihad within the much younger United States. Comey appears to have joined the many other world leaders who have said – get used to it terrorism is a fact of life. Recall, Obama says that you have a bigger chance of being killed as a result of slipping in your bathtub than from terrorism.
Kepha says
Absolutely. A serious problem with the Democratic Party in the age of the O and Shrillary Shroooooooooooo is that all government agencies are politicized for the sake of Democratic clients. The weaponizing of the IRS, for example, was given a pass in the age of O, but was the first line on articles of impeachment drawn up against Nixon (and to avoid facing them, he resigned). The chief reason why Shrillary Shroooooooo isn’t indicted is because James Comey is a political hack. This is nauseating.
ElderlyZionist says
I wonder whether the authorities are using Imam Bengharsa as a honeybucket to attract terrorist flies, letting him walk around and make phone calls, and seeing who associates with him. Like the British did with Adhem Choudary for so many years. It’s elementary police/security technique.
Kepha says
Hope you’re right, elderly Zionist. But I think this FBI and DoJ are just too compromised.
mortimer says
Every police officer, detective and secret agent needs to understand that part of ZAKAT (Islamic charity) goes to finance JIHAD WARFARE AGAINST DISBELIEVERS.
51% of Islam’s foundational source texts are devoted to the subject of JIHAD AND KAFIRS, so that means Islam is PRIMARILY a POLITICAL SYSTEM of world governance through conquest. The political goal of Islam is to subjugate all non-Muslims through JIHAD WARFARE…whether through diplomacy and bribery or militarily.
Jihad need not be military, but it eventually becomes so at the level of Islamic dictatorship…the only truly Islamic governmental system.
Wellington says
Succinct and very well said, mortimer.
Jay Boo says
Can one truly catch more flies with (honey) than vinegar?
It is a very good thing that Obama went to (Baltimore) to praise Muslims after the San Bernardino massacre rather than California to console with the non-Muslim victims families. He in his wisdom must have realized that Baltimore was a tinderbox full of Muslims about to ignite with fury if Obama did not immediately visit to appease and tell them how wonderful and peaceful they were before they could be temped to go on a rampage to show that East Coast Muslims can out do the West Coast La La Land Muslims in the Islamic blood bath orgy to honor Muhammad. But soon after San Bernardino, a Florida Muslim said “What about me, why am I not appeased?” and went on a killing spree out of jealousy of West Coast Muzzies attempting to out kill the East.
If only Obama had visited Orlando as well.
Alexius Comnenus says
I count the days until this one leaves the WH. What a degenerated nation of morons who have no idea what freedom means and what islam is.
Kepha says
Unfortunately, we probably have the dozen-times detestable Shrillary Shroooooooooooo following the O into the White House.
Moshe says
The United States is strengthened by its diversity. Our Constitution protects speech, especially in the context of religion, that makes others uncomfortable. Hillary understands this. And so should we all.
We demonstrate our commitment to victory in the war on terrorism by highlighting the openness of our society to freedom of speech, with the exception of hate speech. President Obama has highlighted this principle in his historic speech in Cairo at the beginning of his Administration and in his recent (and equally historic) speech to celebrate Eid.
Hillary has a deep understanding of Islam and its moderate branches. This counts for much. Indeed, Sec. Clinton understands how the appointment of a Muslim American to be Secretary of State or Secretary of Defense would transform the war on terror. We can only pray.
Tony46 says
This is not plain sedition?..planned and executed?
Or I am in another century….
Beagle says
Supporting IS is solicitation of and incitement to genocide thus constituting a crime against humanity under the 1948 Convention. I have wondered now for two years plus why the world’s governments are systematically, comprehensively and willfully ignoring this.
Angemon says
And people wonder why criminals convert to islam while serving their time…
SAKOVKT says
Yes, it is “McCarthyism” in the very sense of Project Venona having proved that McCarthy was right, all along.
Prior to that, Emma Goldman was among 249 foreigners deported in 1919 on grounds of inciting an Anarchist or Bolshevik evolution, among other crimes.
I guess that the problem, today, is that Anarchists are running things.
le mouron rouge says
SAKOVKT,
Good point.
M.Stanton Evans is one of the foremost experts on Joe McCarthy. His book, Blacklisted by History: The Untold Story of Senator Joe McCarthy tells a very different story about this man.
The old saying, “Truth is stranger than fiction” certainly applies to Joe McCarthy. Hollywood couldn’t produce a better conspiracy plot than what was perpetrated on McCarthy.
McCarthy was at a disadvantage from the outset, the Senate Committee that was established to investigate the allegations of Soviet Agents operating within the Government actually was formed to discredit McCarthy and per Mr. Evans can be traced to the White House and the President. They certainly succeeded in destroying this man.
My memory fails me, there was a Senator prior to McCarthy who also investigated the issue of Soviet Agents operating within the U.S. Government and he was also stonewalled, Joe McCarthy simply carried on the work of his predecessor.
Yes, you are correct, the Venona Project did in fact prove his accusations to be correct. If memory serves me correctly, not all of the intercepts have been translated, only God knows what information the “power elite” are still covering up.
And now, we are dealing with Islam and the “power elite” is once again in full denial. The “change agents” are working overtime to convince the American people that “Islam is a Religion of Peace.”
James Simpson in his book, “The Red-Green Axis” shows how the Communists and Muslims are working together to bring down the West and especially the U.S.A.
https://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Red_Green_Axis.pdf
Communism is not dead, they have never abandoned their goal of World domination, only the means to reaching that goal.
Further reading:
American Betrayal: The Secret Assault on Our Nation’s Character- Diana West
None Dare Call It Treason – John A. Stormer
Disinformation: Former Spy Chief Reveals Secret Strategies for Undermining Freedom, Attacking Religion, and Promoting Terrorism – Lt. Gen. Ion Mihai Pacepa
Red Horizons – Lt. Gen. Ion Mihai Pacepa
We are in the “information age” which is a blessing and a curse. The curse is trying to sort the Wheat from the Chaff.
The “bad guys” have perfected the art of “disinformation” which is even more effective in this sound bite society we live in.
Dustin Koellhoffer says
This is why Islam has no place in the civilized world.
c matt says
Guess he doesn’t know his history – McCarthy was actually proven right.
Lioness says
“On Facebook he openly endorsed ISIS”. He must be the darling of Facebook, Zuckerberg approves of every one if his words and he can spew his venom freely. Try to critisize the islamic state, and you are banned from FB. Zuckerberg is a young version of Soros, a stinking traitor.
Bill Shackelford says
It is little wonder that ISIS sees America as fertile ground for it’s tyranny; they have read the first sixteen words of our constitution’s First Amendment. That’s how the Imam is able to spew his primitive form of mind control. And because America is unable to extricate itself from otherworldly religion, it is forced to surrender it’s freedoms, one at a time. Islam is an enemy to freedom; and so, when it comes to the FIRST SIXTEEN WORDS OF THE FIRST AMENDMENT, is our Constitution.
Eugene Solot says
If we would declare a real war on all Islamic Terrorists groups even ones that are not known yet instead of the phony war we claim we are having with ISIS or
Al Qaeda then the FBI would have not excuse not to arrest this Imam or others in the past like Nidal Hassan and Mateem because they would be openly supporting the enemy and be traitors but unless we actually declare ware we cannot do that and every single death by terrorists who were on the FBI watch list is on the head of our government. The US Government is responsible for the deaths at the Pulse Nightclub because they will not officially declare war on the groups that Mateem supported and they knew he supported or enemies but since our government is too cowardly to declare war on every single Islamic Terrorist group blood is on their hands. Nidal Hassan openly broke his oath of office by holding the Koran which means Sharia Law above the US Constitution which means due process of law. Sharia law is the law of foreign governments and he should have been brought before a court martial instead of being promoted and there for the deaths in Fort Hood were not just his fault but his commanding officer who promoted him. truth is our government is aiding and abetting terrorist killers.
Robert McKenna says
Prison first, then throw the rotten muslim out ! And his family with him !