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Homegrown terror and the return of McCarthyism

Posted: March 9, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Domestic terrorism | Tags: , , |24 Comments

A day before Rep. King’s “radical Islam” hearings, a white supremacist is arrested for the attempted MLK Day bombing in Spokane, Washington.

From the Spokesman-Review — “Suspect in MLK bomb tied to racist movement“:

Kevin Harpham in a 1990 Kettle Falls yearbook photo. (Courtesy Photo/The Spokesman-Review)

An ex-soldier with ties to the white supremacist movement has been taken into custody in connection with the planting of a backpack bomb along the planned route of the Martin Luther King Jr. march in downtown Spokane, authorities have confirmed.

Kevin William Harpham, 36, of Colville, could face life imprisonment on charges of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and possession of an unregistered explosive device, according to documents on file in U.S. District Court. An initial court appearance is scheduled for this afternoon.

Harpham was arrested this morning during a raid at his home at 1088 Cannon Way near Addy, Wash., by dozens of federal agents who had been assembling in Spokane during the past few days.

More details from the Southern Poverty Law Center:

Harpham was a member of the neo-Nazi National Alliance in late 2004. It was not known when Harpham joined or if he was still a member. The National Alliance was one of the most prominent hate groups in America for decades, but has fallen on hard times since the 2002 death of its founder, William Pierce. Pierce is the author of The Turner Diaries, a race war novel often referred to as the Bible of the radical right.

Our research indicates that Harpham was apparently in the military in 1996-97, when records suggest he was part of the 1st Battalion, 37th Field Artillery Regiment at Fort Lewis, Wash. The SPLC reported in 2006 that Fort Lewis was one of several military installations with a concentration of secret extremist members.

Zaid Jilani at ThinkProgress also has a related piece up that is a must-read — “As King Targets Muslims, There Have Been Almost Twice As Many Plots Since 9/11 From Non-Muslim Terrorist“:

Yet as a January 2011 terrorism statistics report — compiled using publicly available data from the FBI and other crime agencies — from the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) shows, terrorism by Muslim Americans has only accounted for a minority of terror plots since 9/11. Since the attacks on the Twin Towers and Pentagon, Muslims have been involved in 45 domestic terrorist plots. Meanwhile, non-Muslims have been involved in 80 terrorist plots.

In fact, right-wing extremist and white supremacist attacks plots alone outnumber plots by Muslims, with both groups being involved in 63 terror plots, 18 more plots than Muslim Americans have been involved in. Here is a breakdown of attacks by group, along with a few examples of plots by some of these groups:

Anti-Government/Anti-Tax Extremists: There have been 36 plots by right-wing extremists since 9/11. These attacks include Joseph Stack’s suicide attack on a Texas IRS building and Joshua Cartwright, who became enraged after the election of Barack Obama and “believed that the US Government was conspiring against him.”

KKK/NeoNazi/White Supremacist: There have been 27 plots by white supremacists since 9/11. These attacks include a 2004 letter bombing of the Arizona Office of Diversity and Dialogue that injured three employees.

Unknown/Miscellaneous: There were five attacks that federal crime officials did not categorize.

Christian Extremists/Anti-Abortion: There were three attacks by anti-abortion extremists and Christian extremists. The killing of abortion provider George Tiller is the most prominent of these attacks.

Black Supremacist Cults: There were two plots by black supremacist cults.

Jewish Extremists: There were two plots by Jewish extremists. The most prominent of these was a plot by Robert Goldstein to attack a local Islamic center with home made C4 and other explosives.

Extreme Anti-Immigrant: There were two plots by anti-immigrant extremists. One of these was the attack by Shawn Forde, who murdered a Queens deli clerk and was motivated by racist and anti-immigrant feelings.

Anti-Jewish: There was one plot by an anti-Semitic extremist. Norman Leboon made anti-Semitic threats against Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA).

Anarchist: There was a single plot by an anarchist. Joseph D. Konopka “wreaked havoc in 13 counties by setting fires, disrupting radio and television broadcasts, disabling an air traffic control system, selling counterfeit software, and damaging the computer system of an Internet service provider.”

So why (and that’s a rhetorical why) on earth are our public officials wasting time on the following…

Preview of tomorrow’s “hearings” from the Washington Post’s Michelle Boorstein:

After weeks of speculation and controversy, Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) released Monday night the names of witnesses for his first House hearing on domestic radicalization among American Muslims.

The six witnesses who will speak Thursday before the Homeland Security Committee come from a range of backgrounds. They include:

— a father and an uncle of young American Muslims whose faith turned radical and violent. One young man was killed in Africa; the other went on a shooting spree on a military base and is in prison.

— an Arizona internist and Muslim who believes Islamic leaders in this country need to speak out more aggressively for reforms of the Koran and be less defensive.

— Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca, who was called by the minority Democrats on the committee and has spoken often in recent weeks about his cooperative relationship with Muslim Americans.

— Two congressmen coming from very different perspectives. Minnesota Democrat Keith Ellison, Congress’s first elected Muslim, will likely bring reams of data about Muslim cooperation and will criticize the idea of a hearing focused on one faith group. Virginia Republican Frank Wolf currently oversees the budget of the FBI and the Justice Department through his work on a House subcommittee.

Extremism, fundamentalism, violence, and domestic terrorism are real problems. Having hearings that scapegoat minorities in this country doesn’t solve those problems. It only puts more fuel on the fire.

Stacyx (aka SecretaryClintonBlog) put up a great rant last week about Rep. King reviving “The Ghost of McCarthy”:

The irony of Peter King calling these hearings is rich indeed given he is a long time supporter of the Irish Republican Army– a group most of the world considers a terrorist group until they agreed to demilitarize. I guess whether one is a terrorist depends on a) the color of their skin, b) their religion and c) whether one personally identifies with the group doing the terrorizing. I think we can all see the problem with that- one person’s terrorist is another person’s freedom fighter- just ask Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni, whose parents were Irgun terrorists but whom she describes as “freedom fighters.”

[…]

It’s interesting that the only form of violent extremism Rep. King is concerned with is Muslim in nature- I guess bombing abortion clinics, murdering women’s health providers and violence directed at the federal government doesn’t count? Interesting, that.

Of course, none of this helps Obama and Secretary Clinton reach out to the Muslim world at a critical time. The Arab world is changing- in a very positive way- and what does the GOP do? Focus on the negative and provide a great propaganda opportunity for people like Al Qaeda and Hamas. It could hurt our already damaged reputation in the Muslim world. And then of course, there is the simple fact that such intolerance and overgeneralizing about an entire group of people is just un-American.

I think we can weed out potentially violent extremists in our midst without putting an entire religion on trial.

I agree — and I think putting an entire religion on trial is, among other things, another distraction away from the economy and jobs and a tool of division to keep people from demanding people be put before profit.

24 Comments on “Homegrown terror and the return of McCarthyism”

  1. dakinikat's avatar dakinikat says:
    March 9, 2011 at 8:27 pm

    Thanks for taking this on! It’s amazing to me how some congressman will always use xenophobia for political purposes. Too bad we never learn from history.

  2. minkoffminx's avatar Minkoff Minx says:
    March 9, 2011 at 9:03 pm

    Rep. Peter King’s hearing on American Muslims a ‘very personal’ quest – latimes.com

    Reporting from Washington and New York
    For Rep. Peter T. King, Sept. 11 was personal. It was personal, he says, for everyone in his Long Island district, which was home to dozens of the police, firefighters and financial workers who died at the World Trade Center.

    This is a cheap trick to use the tragedy of September 11th.

    • Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)'s avatar Wonk the Vote says:
      March 9, 2011 at 9:23 pm

      If it’s so personal, he shouldn’t add insult to the injury of 9-11 by turning the tragedy into a chance to demonstrate exactly the kind of US backward mentality toward Muslims that the terrorist extremists in the Middle East then can easily use as propaganda to convert people to their sick agenda and keep them locked in it.

  3. Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)'s avatar Wonk the Vote says:
    March 9, 2011 at 10:01 pm

    In response to Zaid Jilani’s pointing out that Non-Muslims have been responsible for more domestic terrorism, rightwingers are whining that Muslims only represent .08% of the population.

    Are rightwingers suggesting that rightwing extremists, anti-abortion bombers and killers, skinheads, etc. represent some large percentage in comparison to that? They are totally missing. the. damn. point.

  4. boogieman7167's avatar boogieman7167 says:
    March 9, 2011 at 10:19 pm

    its the politics of fear

    • boogieman7167's avatar boogieman7167 says:
      March 9, 2011 at 10:26 pm

      i think this is amied at his base those other groups dont scare the CR@P our of
      his base

      • boogieman7167's avatar boogieman7167 says:
        March 9, 2011 at 10:30 pm

        corrcetion-i think this is amied at his base those other groups dont scare the CR@P out of
        his base

      • Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)'s avatar Wonk the Vote says:
        March 9, 2011 at 10:33 pm

        …which says a lot about his base.

      • boogieman7167's avatar boogieman7167 says:
        March 9, 2011 at 10:49 pm

        yes it dose wonk says alot about The GOP?teapart base. two words that strike fear into the GOP/tea party base Muslims & socialist they will tag one of those to words or both . to any policy bill or person. that they dont agree with or want ou
        out of office dosen’t have to be true all that matters is the his base belives it and fear it.

  5. Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)'s avatar Wonk the Vote says:
    March 9, 2011 at 10:55 pm

    Democracy Now:

    Muslim Group Criticizes “Radicalization” Hearings

    New York Republican Rep. Peter King is set to open a controversial hearing Thursday on the radicalization of the American Muslim community. Critics have described the hearings as a modern-day form of McCarthyism designed to stoke fear against American Muslims. King has refused calls to broaden the hearing to examine right-wing militias or any non-Muslim groups. Ahead of the hearing’s first day, Nihad Awad of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said King is scapegoating Muslims.

    Nihad Awad: “This kind of hearing serves to stigmatize the American Muslim community in the same way many people were stigmatized under the McCarthy senator who singled out people. And we’re just looking at a repeat by some people who’s in authority and abusing that authority, targeting a minority who might be unpopular because of propaganda and stereotypes and because of the political turmoil in the Muslim world. He knows that the Muslim community can be singled out, and I think he’s just exploiting this in an ugly fashion.”

  6. bostonboomer's avatar bostonboomer says:
    March 9, 2011 at 11:54 pm

    Let’s also keep in mind that most of the supposed attacks planned by “muslims” were actually instigated by FBI agents who provided plans, weapons, vehicles, etc. And when actual terrorists have been caught, as in the Times Sq. incident, muslims have been the ones to contact authorities.

    • Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)'s avatar Wonk the Vote says:
      March 10, 2011 at 12:05 am

      Yes, and also that a Duke study last month said Muslim American involvement in terrorism has actually gone down.

      From the Zaid Jilani/ThinkProgress link:

      Given the fact that non-Muslim terrorists account for almost twice as many plots as Muslim terrorists in the United States since 9/11, King’s justification that he is targeting Muslims because they represent the primary threat seems hollow. Additionally, King’s hearings come at a time when Muslim American terrorism and involvement in extremism has actually plummeted in the past couple years, according to a Duke University study put out last month. Moreover, nearly 4 in 10 Al-Qaida related plots in the United States have been broken up thanks to intelligence provided by the Muslim community themselves and 70 percent of recent terror plots in the United States have been foiled by help from Muslim Americans.

  7. Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)'s avatar Wonk the Vote says:
    March 10, 2011 at 6:23 am

    Peter King’s star witness is “Glenn Beck’s favorite Muslim”:

    http://www.tnr.com/node/85023

    During our conversation I was surprised by how often I found myself nodding at what Jasser had to say. He explained that he believed that liberty was essential to true faith: “I as a Muslim can believe that I shouldn’t drink alcohol, which I never have, but I don’t want a law against it. … Faith is abrogated when government coerces anything in the name of faith. It’s no longer faith.” He also emphasized the importance of speaking candidly about religion: “You have to have an environment where people feel comfortable to talk about religious issues without worrying about offending anybody. And they’re gonna make some mistakes.” And, despite his oft-stated fears about the Muslim Brotherhood, he was unequivocally supportive of the uprisings in Egypt. “What’s great about these demonstrations in Egypt is that Arabs and Muslims are taking responsibility for their own problems. … That’s really what my work has been about.”

    That Jasser is a hardliner on his pet topic was clear, however. In his view, even the Bush administration had been too weak on the problem of Islamism. I asked Jasser why he targets CAIR, since the organization has repeatedly condemned violence and terrorism. “I’ve never said that CAIR condones violence or is a violent organization, like al Qaeda,” Jasser answered. “But the issue is, will they condemn the goals of those organizations, the platforms of these organizations, which is to build an Islamic state and put into effect Islamic law?” (I later spoke to CAIR’s communications director Ibrahim Hooper about Jasser’s allegations. “With these people, nothing we would do would satisfy them, literally,” Hooper said. “We are the first to defend the Establishment Clause and every other amendment in the Constitution.”)

    What about all his appearances on FOX with hosts like Beck and Hannity, who stoke hysteria? (Sample Beck comment: “In Pakistan, 90 percent of women—wives—are beaten. We see a culture here in our own country … up in the Minneapolis area.”) “I go wherever I’m—I was on MSNBC last week. I’ve never turned them down,” Jasser said. “Listen, I’m not going to defend the entire program. It’s like me being quoted in The New York Times and being expected to defend the entire newspaper. I defend what I say. So what I tell Muslims is, ‘If I’ve been on Beck’s program, what did I say during my four minutes that upset you?’”

    • Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)'s avatar Wonk the Vote says:
      March 10, 2011 at 6:28 am

      Another good passage:

      Surely, I suggested, it matters where you deliver your message. There’s a cost to going on Glenn Beck or Hannity or appearing in a fringe documentary that depicts a plurality of Muslims as stealth jihadists. “They [Beck and Hannity] may say things outside and in other places that I disagree with,” Jasser said. “But, on the other hand, those are millions and millions of Americans that I think are positively impacted by seeing a Muslim who loves his faith. That gives them a narrative that switches them away from thinking every Muslim is a problem and if they look into what I’m doing they’ll say, ‘Wow here’s a solution.’”

      In the end, I got the sense that Jasser’s appearances on Fox aren’t really addressed to Muslims or even most Fox viewers. They’re aimed at red-state skeptics—perhaps Americans like those Jasser served with in the Navy. In interviews, Jasser’s standard technique is to reassure the questioner that his points are valid but then to push back slightly. For instance, when a Fox interviewer expressed concerns about Islamists benefitting from the overthrow of Mubarak, Jasser replied: “You know, listen, Eric, I know where you are coming from. I devoted my life to fighting political Islam and the ideology of theocracy. But this change has to happen.”

      This is a tough game to play. To those on the left, Jasser wants to deliver a wake-up message that danger is afoot. To those on the right, Jasser wants to say that Islam is perfectly compatible with modernity and mainstream American life. In short, he wants to stress that Islamism is a more serious threat than we think and a less serious threat than we think. Not surprisingly, the nuances of such a message come through with less than perfect clarity on Glenn Beck.

      Glenn Beckistan really isn’t the place for nuance.

  8. Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)'s avatar Wonk the Vote says:
    March 10, 2011 at 7:50 am

    Peter King’s McCarthyesque trial hasn’t even taken place yet and it has already had a negative impact and created an environment of fear.

    BBC:

    Real lives

    Not far from Passaic County, about 70,000 Muslims live in Long Island, New York. At Friday prayers at one mosque, it is so busy one can hardly move.

    Once again, people here are talking about the hearings. The director of the Islamic Center of Long Island, Habeeb Ahmed, says they are already having a negative impact on people in his community.

    “This is going to affect real lives. As it is, we’re having a lot of problems,” he says.

    Ladies who wear hijab, they don’t go alone to do shopping, kids are being picked on in school, some neighbours are giving you dirty looks… why [should lawmakers] have a hearing exclusively for Muslims? You should really have a hearing for all the terrorism, all the problems in the country, not just Muslims alone.”

    • minkoffminx's avatar Minkoff Minx says:
      March 10, 2011 at 8:40 am

      Yup, I agree about having the hearings on all forms of terrorism. If you are going to have a hearing on this…don’t just single out Muslims…

      • Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)'s avatar Wonk the Vote says:
        March 10, 2011 at 8:46 am

        I saw some rightwinger blogger claiming that we do have hearings on all forms of domestic terrorism. Uh… I’ve only been alive for the last few decades so maybe I missed those! I haven’t seen a big congressional hearing on anti-abortion clinic terrorists. Have you?

  9. Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)'s avatar Wonk the Vote says:
    March 10, 2011 at 8:23 am

    A Sikh perspective on the King hearings

    by Rajdeep Singh

    Rajdeep Singh is Director of Law and Policy at The Sikh Coalition

    Imagine losing a job, a happy childhood, or even a loved one in the United States because people cannot tolerate the way you look. And imagine the insensitivity of a congressional hearing on the extent of radicalization among American Christians, in light of the fact that many domestic extremists call themselves Christian.

    Does this sound far-fetched?

    Last Friday, two elderly Sikh friends took their last walk together on a suburban sidewalk near Sacramento, California. Late that afternoon, both of them were gunned down. Surinder Singh (aged 65) died on the spot, and Gurmej Singh (aged 78) sustained critical injuries to his chest.

    Many in the Sikh American community are wondering whether these men were targeted because of their turbans, the religious signifiers of Sikh identity. Although the overwhelming majority of Americans who wear turbans are Sikhs, many (if not most) Americans are ignorant about this elementary fact, and are ignorantly prone to associate Sikhs with a handful of turban-clad criminals, who live in faraway lands and call themselves Muslim–the way some members of the Ku Klux Klan call themselves Christian.

    Anytime a fanatical tirade or terrorist attack is launched against the United States–and anytime politicians and the mass media stoke sensational fears about the role of Islam in this regard–American Sikhs and Muslims alike pay a heavy price in the form of increased workplace discrimination, rampant school bullying, and even hate crimes. You would think that Americans would not have to endure so much trouble just to enjoy religious freedom.

    By vilifying the entire Muslim American community in both the letter and spirit of his upcoming hearings, Congressman Peter King and his supporters could make life palpably worse for Sikhs and Muslims in this country, and give needless propaganda points to terrorists, in ways that fatally undermine homeland security.

    As a Sikh, I reject these hearings; they are a broadside (and cheap shot) against an overwhelmingly peaceful religious community and a waste of my taxpayer dollars.

    Thank you, Rajdeep Singh.

    My grandmother came from a Sikh family, and the ignorance out there is astounding.

    Incidentally…in South Asia, this kind of otherizing along religious lines is commonly referred to as communalism– Communalism is a tool to keep people divided, distracted, and deluded into voting for corrupt politicians.

    I hope Peter King’s constituents reject this stunt and it backfires on him somehow.

  10. Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)'s avatar Wonk the Vote says:
    March 10, 2011 at 8:30 am

    via Foreign Policy

    Peter King’s Witch Hunt — BY SUHAIL A. KHAN:

    But even with this pernicious cast of characters, King himself may be the greatest threat to a fact-based discussion of the status of the Muslim community in the United States. With no apparent evidence or study, he has stated that as many as 85 percent of American mosques are controlled by “radical imams,” that there are “too many mosques in this country,” and — incredibly — that Muslims are “an enemy living amongst us.”

    It really feels like we’re going way way backward in time. This is so surreal and primitive.

  11. Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)'s avatar Wonk the Vote says:
    March 10, 2011 at 12:03 pm

    Here’s a Live Blog on the King’s “beware of Muslims” hearings from Wapo 2chambers blog… click on the links to go to the updates:

    12:15 p.m. Update — ” It’s like trying to treat cancer without saying the word”

    11:45 a.m. Update – “Where are the uncooperative Muslims?”

    11:15 a.m. Update – “Something is wrong with the Muslim leadership in Nashville”

    10:45 a.m. Update – Keith Ellison sobs while delivering testimony

    10:15 a.m. Update – Opening statements

    9:45 a.m. Update — The hearing begins

    9:30 a.m. Update — “Pluralism or Perish”

    9 a.m. Update — “The most absurd moment in American history”

    • Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)'s avatar Wonk the Vote says:
      March 10, 2011 at 12:34 pm

      Ok on the latest update Jackie Speier (D-CA) seems to have done some righteous ranting…

      (which led to what the Wapo bloggers call one of the “few outburts” of the hearing so far)…

      She called the hearings “grossly incompetent.”

      Some other quotes

      “We are seeing a very skewed discussion. While I think these anecdotes are interesting, I don’t believe these are experts.” (this got some boos)

      “I’m no more prepared to speak about the pedophilia in the Catholic church because I am a practicing Roman Catholic… And I think we do need to have experts come here to speak on homegrown terrorism in this country.”

      And, LA County sheriff Lee Baca, apparently caused the room to gasp with this:

      “If the FBI has any charges against CAIR, let the FBI bring them. You have facts, and you have a crime. Deal with it. We don’t play around with criminals in my world. If CAIR is a ‘criminal organization,’ prosecute them and bring them to trial.”

      More at the link:

      http://voices.washingtonpost.com/2chambers/2011/03/the_peter_king_hearings_on_rad.html#speier

    • dakinikat's avatar dakinikat says:
      March 10, 2011 at 12:55 pm

      Thx for this!

    • Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)'s avatar Wonk the Vote says:
      March 10, 2011 at 3:22 pm

      2 pm update has a great one from Houston-area congressman… Rep Gene Green (D-Texas)!

      You have not suffered a cross-burning,” Green said to Marino as Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), the committee chairman, banged his gavel several times, demanding order.

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