This is ominous: a free citizen being harassed by the West Virginia State Police over her concerns about a mosque with ties to the Hamas-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). This shows how successfully such groups have manipulated government and law enforcement officials with their spurious claims of being victims of “racism” and “Islamophobia.” These Fusion Centers are extremely insidious. The Trump Administration needs to act to protect patriotic American citizens, and close them.
“Deep state attacks: Gov’t ‘Fusion Centers’ spying on patriots concerned about Islam,” by Leo Hohmann, March 6, 2018 (thanks to M.S.):
Brenda Arthur received an unexpected visit on March 8 that, one week later, leaves her feeling more than a little uneasy.
At her door that day was an officer with the West Virginia State Police. He wanted to know about her involvement in a Freedom of Information request regarding a local mosque.
Arthur, who will turn 67 this summer, serves as leader of the West Virginia chapter of ACT For America, whose mission is to educate Americans about the advancement of Islamic principles in Western societies.
As a Jewish American, she was concerned about a major expansion of the Islamic Association of West Virginia in her hometown of South Charleston. This mosque has hosted an openly anti-Semitic preacher in the past, and so she went to city hall in late January to have a look at its construction permits and site plans, something that is within the right of every American citizen under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act and state open-records laws.
She had no idea that this perfectly legal activity, performed every day by citizen watchdogs across the U.S., would prompt a visit from the state police.
Arthur was not available to answer the door when Sgt. R.C. Workman came knocking, but Workman left his business card with a hand-written note on the back:
“Brenda, please contact me at: 304-573-6190.”
Workman’s unit is part of the West Virginia Intelligence Exchange, a secretive outfit that works closely with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s “intelligence fusion center” in West Virginia.
All 50 states have at least one DHS fusion center, and the story of Brenda Arthur lends credence to the views of civil libertarians that these centers, whatever their stated purpose, have been weaponized against law-abiding American citizens.
Fusion centers were established a few years after the 9/11 terror attacks by the George W. Bush administration and expanded under Barack Obama.
The West Virginia Fusion Center website says its mission is to “Embrace proactive intelligence efforts. Those efforts are key to inhibiting criminal networks, whether those groups are terrorists, drug-related groups, organized crime, or other criminal enterprises.”
Fusion centers work with “non-traditional sources,” including corporate America, to build threat assessments on people.
But what is it about Brenda Arthur that could garner the attention of this specialized police unit? She seems like an unlikely candidate to be involved in terrorism or organized crime.
Arthur is a senior citizen who’s never broken a law in her life. She is a professional insurance broker, a great-aunt to six children, one of whom she helps with financial support for a private education at a Montessori school.
But fusion centers know no boundaries, including the U.S. Constitution, says constitutional attorney and civil liberties advocate John Whitehead.
“The word mosque, it’s key words like that. If you don’t like mosques, they’re gonna be after you, they’re watching you, because everything is determined by algorithms,” said Whitehead, founder of the Charlottesville, Va.-based Rutherford Institute.
Being an “activist” also draws the attention of the fusion centers, he said.
‘Do not talk to them’
Whitehead has strict advice for any law-abiding citizen who is approached by law enforcement asking questions about their personal activities.
“If they come to your door, do not talk to them. If they call you on the phone, do not talk to them.”
Whitehead said the intimidation tactics used by fusion centers are similar to the East German Stasi and other secret-police agencies.
“They’re copying the tactics of former totalitarian regimes and the slightest mistake can get you in trouble,” he said. “That’s why you shouldn’t talk to them. The threat assessments are very dangerous. Don’t talk to them. Call someone like us, let us issue one of our letters and that usually shuts them up, and also puts them on record.”
“Once you’re in their system,” Whitehead added, “you cannot get out.”
Blindsided
Arthur was typical in that she was caught off guard by the visit.
“So I called him at the number he gave me and asked ‘what’s this about?’”
Sgt. Workman did not beat around the bush.
“We came by your house and wanted to talk to you.”
“Yes sir, what about?” Arthur asked.
“It’s about that FOIA request you made about the building plans for the mosque,” he told her.
It did not immediately dawn on her that she was actually not the one whose name was on the Freedom of Information Act request.
“I hadn’t filed it, a friend of mine did. Within seconds it occurred to me, but I didn’t want the other lady to be brought into it so I just acknowledged it and said ‘you know I file a lot of FIOAs, I filed one with the Health and Human Resources, with the auditor’s office, with Bureau for Medical Services, and more.”
“Yes, but those FOIAs are within the normal course of things,” said the stern voice on the other end of the phone line.
Why is it that this particular request, for information on a mosque project, was considered abnormal? And who decides what is NORMAL in a search of public-record documents?
She explained that she is an upstanding citizen activist and member ACT For America.
“I explained we are an organization with 750,000 members, we support the Constitution, American liberty, American values, and we fight terrorism and the concepts of Sharia law, which are antithetical to the U.S. Constitution.”
In the course of the 10-minute phone conversation, Arthur did a lot of explaining.
She explained that she was perusing the website of the local mosque when she came across a photo that caught her attention. It was of a man standing in the middle of the mosque speaking to the congregation. That man was Nihad Awad, executive director of Council on American-Islamic Relations or CAIR.
“He’s a terrorist supporter, he finances terror, and is part of a terrorist-tied organization,” Arthur told the sergeant.
That prompted Sgt. Workman to hint at the real reason for his inquiry.
“Well, we have a good relationship with that mosque and when he came here they notified us he was coming,” he told Arthur.
That sparked something in Arthur’s memory.
When she and a friend had gone to city hall on Jan. 31 to inspect the documents, the city manager and another city official stood over their shoulders the entire time. They made a point of telling the two women, “We have a good relationship with the mosque.”
Who’s the snitch?
The West Virginia Fusion Center’s website encourages Americans to report “suspicious activity” by filing a SAR or Suspicious Activity Report on a fellow resident.
A SAR is defined as “the sharing of information concerning activity, incident, or behavior that the reporting individual considers to be outside of normal parameters,” the website states.
Inquiring about a mosque was not NORMAL activity. Arthur had been flagged for suspicious activity, probably by a city official who has a good relationship with the mosque, or someone at the mosque itself.
In West Virginia, the fusion center operates under the supervision of the West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety [DMAPS].
I called DMAPS Tuesday and asked what could possibly be suspicious about a 66-year-old insurance broker with no criminal record going to city hall and inspecting public-record documents.
Lawrence Messina, director of communications for West Virginia DMAPS, said he would ask that question of his superiors and get back with me.
He sent the following email at 2:09 p.m. on March 13:
“I have consulted with my colleagues here at the Office of the Secretary as well as with the W.Va. Intelligence Fusion Center and the W.Va. State Police (the latter is also part of this department). We decline to comment on this matter.”
Arthur, as a Jewish American, has every reason to be concerned that an anti-Semite like Awad would be invited to speak in her community. He is a supporter of Hamas, which is on the U.S. State Department’s list of designated foreign terrorist organizations, and he rejects the right of Israel to exist. [See Discover the Networks for documentation of Awad’s long history of radical statements, activities and affiliations.]….
Alarmed Pig Farmer says
Reality is gone, it has been retired. Not just the facts of a particular thing, but also the factual reality that we have free speech. Make the particular facts seem bad enough, and free speech can be retired too.
The police have been solidly on the side with Moslems, just to make sure they are not made to suffer discrimination. A state cop shows up at your house asking about a FOIA request you submitted. But the federal police, the FBI features even better pro-Moslem credentials. Remember back in 2001 when the FBI investigated the anthrax letters being mailed to politicians. The CIA knew that two of Osama’s guys were injured operating an anthrax production lab up in the hills of Afghanistan and went to the local hospital to be treated. The CIA also knew that Moslems in America were shopping for crop duster airplanes. Even with that, the FBI found that they found “no direct link to organized terrorism” related to the anthrax letters that had been mailed.
At that time the Director of the FBI was Robt. Mueller. These days the same genius is deciding on the validity of the 2016 presidential election in his criminal investigation into a supposed crime for which no evidence exists that the crime, treason, was committed.
Like I said, reality is retired now. Be careful what you say.
Ray Jarman says
Alarmed, Are you trying to say that the truth no longer matters? Mueller and Comey (both were casted as members of the Republican Party) were also the ones who persecuted Scooter Libby for a crime that he did not commit in the Valerie Plame outing as it was Richard Armitage and besides, Robert Novak stated that everyone in Washington new she was supposedly undercover. They used the same tactic that they are now using against Gen. Flynn and others who have committed no crimes by claiming they lied to the FBI.
Brian hoff says
Have it ever occurred in your bigot mind thar muslin is than farmer thab have thab perfect right to buy than corp dusring plane.
Rob Crawford says
I interpret “we have a good relation” with the mosque to mean they get big fat campaign donations from it.
Joe says
Police officers don’t run for office. They probably get sex, money, and drugs from the mosque. It is an old Mafia tactic.
Mark Spahn (West Seneca, NY) says
John Whitehead of the Rutherford Institute has some good advice about what to do when the DHS (Department for Helping Sharia) comes calling: “If they come to your door, do not talk to them. If they call you on the phone, do not talk to them.”
Where have we seen this advice before? Oh, yeah, now I remember:
https://creepingsharia.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/cair-image.jpg
I never noticed it before, but the doors say SLAM! Get it? !SLAM Those CAIR folks are so clever!
Roderick MacUalraig says
Deptartment of Helping Sharia. That’s good. Seems to be the case, too.
Lydia Church says
So instead of going after the terrorist organizations like they claim, they come after those opposing them and warning against the threats and dangers of terrorism? (Once again….)
AND, all of that because they have a ‘good relationship’ with these organizations.
Hmmm.
And this in the US.
Yup, it’s definitely getting worse.
In the end, the conspiracy theorists will take the prize for
ITYS awards.
“I Told You So!”
Lydia Church says
And by the way, another rebuttal to that crazy cook who was throwing false accusations at Christians the other day in all caps is the fact that real Christians helped the Jews escape the nazi fate, at the risk of their own lives and families, houses and livelihoods! But people only see what they want to see…. I am finding this out more by the day!
don vito says
The State police not acting stupidly? More like butt-ugly. Racist o’s legacy.
Indiana Tom says
The fusion process proactively seeks to identify perceived threats and stop them before they occur.
Sort of like the Minority Report. Pre-crime.
Being an “activist” also draws the attention of the fusion centers, he said.
I am sure that depends on what type of activist you are.
“They’re copying the tactics of former totalitarian regimes and the slightest mistake can get you in trouble,” he said. “That’s why you shouldn’t talk to them. The threat assessments are very dangerous.
I would say that it is advantageous to their careers to create enemies of the state.
“I have consulted with my colleagues here at the W.Va. Intelligence Fusion Center and We decline to comment on this matter.”
But of course, as we are a secret police state.
Indiana Tom says
“He’s a terrorist supporter, he finances terror, and is part of a terrorist-tied organization,” Arthur told the sergeant.
That prompted Sgt. Workman to hint at the reason for his inquiry.
“Well, we have a good relationship with that mosque,” he told Arthur.
Sort of says it all, doesn’t it?
Wellington says
Fusion Centers? Sounds like something Orwell would have invented.
But they’re real.
And I am angry. Not with Islam and Muslims. Oh yes, both are disgusting but I expect Islam and Muslims to be. My anger is with law enforcement which increasingly is aligning itself with the worst religion ever created by man. Have to wonder what the average West Virginia State policeman knows about Islam. Yeah, ponder that for a moment or two.
LeftisruiningCanada says
It also sounds like the room where the Borg take you to be assimilated into the collective.
Poor Jean Luc. But they did manage to unfuse him. Mostly. Our Borg tend to need defusing, which is quite different.
Stacy Girl says
Agree here. We expect the sharia lovers to run wild. We expect the police to “allow” peaceful protests. If there were a pink cat hat rally or antifa blocking streets, the police would stand down. Our rights cannot be mitigated by Barney Fife.
WPM says
Will the fusion center new uniforms have twin lighting bolts on their collars and all black matching shirts and pants? In days of old the local authorities had a close thing with the clan{money, power local leader either belonged or went alone with it for money and power} it seems they have fallen back on old habits .How many golden handshakes or suit cases of unmark bills went to the local leaders now have the” fusion center” to protect their racket. Keep watch on people who might make a little noise, keep some info on their daily lives to blackmail them if they do.
Guy Jones says
This is sickening. Echoes of Stalin’s Soviet Union and Germany under the National Socialists.
Law enforcement using their time and energy to harass and to intimidate a law-abiding citizen exercising her legal rights to scrutinize the subversive, supremacist, belligerent and totalitarian ideology of “Submission.”
This is easily the most nauseating news story I have read, this year. It is up to all Americans of conscience to resist these jackbooted tactics and attempts to normalize Islam and to protect it from much-deserved scrutiny, criticism and containment.
Roderick MacUalraig says
She has to call her congressman or woman, her Senators, and demand answers as to why she was bothered about it and who directed her to be bothered about it. Our employees, the government, don’t get to just say ‘we decline to answer.’
RK says
Omar Ahmad, Hamas-linked CAIR’s co-founder and longtime Board chairman, once said: “Islam isn’t in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant. The Koran, the Muslim book of scripture, should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on Earth.”
Hamas-linked CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper once said: “I wouldn’t want to create the impression that I wouldn’t like the government of the United States to be Islamic sometime in the future.” Meanwhile, according to a captured internal document, the Muslim Brotherhood (to which all the major Muslim groups in the US are linked) is dedicated in its own words to “eliminating and destroying Western civilization from within, and sabotaging its miserable house….so that it falls, and Allah’s religion is victorious over other religions.” Then there is the Washington, DC imam who wants to “establish an Islamic State of America by 2050.”