FBI ends up offending Muslims at outreach workshop
#1
A Saturday outreach event between representatives from Seattle police, the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office was meant to improve their relationship with the Muslim, Arab, East African and Sikh communities in the Seattle area, but it ended up offending participants instead: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/lo...op11m.html

Excerpt: "FBI agents participating in an outreach workshop Saturday hoped to improve their relationship with Seattle's Muslim, Arab, East African and Sikh communities, but ended up offending some participants.

About 20 community leaders attended the workshop at North Seattle Community College, which featured presentations by the FBI, Seattle police and the U.S. Attorney's Office. The event was aimed at improving communication and building trust between law enforcement and communities that feel targeted and profiled by authorities.

...the event grew confrontational during the FBI's presentation, which community members complained was too focused on Islamic terrorist groups. Then, the agents showed a PowerPoint slide about state-sponsored terrorism that included a photograph of a man many in the audience believed was a Shia Islamic leader based on his clothes. Several people in the audience asked whether it was Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, a political and religious leader who led the 1979 Iranian Revolution and died in 1989.

The photo was small, and the two FBI agents giving the presentation said they didn't know who it was. That offended members of the audience even more, and one of them compared it to calling the pope a terrorist or serving pork to Muslims.

Afterward, event organizer Amin Odeh said he'd have to do "damage control" to try to explain to the community what happened.

"I was ready to walk out, but this is exactly why we need to do things like this," he said. "Maybe in their eyes they're small things, but to the community they're huge things."

Turnout to the event was small. Distrust of law enforcement is so fierce that some Muslims refused to attend, said Jeff Siddiqui, a Pakistani-American and Lynnwood real-estate agent who is a member of American Muslims of Puget Sound.

"Most Muslims are not coming because they feel that the door is closed to them, so why would they come to a PR class?" he said.

...A Police Department detective at the meeting weighed in on the FBI's presentation, explaining that whoever was in the photograph, "The community is tired of seeing their images represented" in presentations about terrorism.

The FBI presentation was led by Seattle agents Brenda Wilson and Daniel Guerrero. They wouldn't comment to the media afterward, but during a question-and-answer session they told community leaders they welcomed their feedback.

Guerrero said the reason the FBI came to the meeting was to hear from community members. He acknowledged the FBI is "an agency of people" and is therefore imperfect.

"First of all, the FBI does not profile," he said. "We don't target because of religion. We don't target because of race. We don't care about that. We care about protecting America."

Many attendees said they have had bad experiences with the FBI, so the agent's denial that profiling ever occurs undermined the rest of the conversation.

"When you say you don't profile — and our reality is you do — you negate everything else you say," Siddiqui told them."
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#2
Quote:"First of all, the FBI does not profile," he said. "We don't target because of religion. We don't target because of race."

I don't believe that for one second. I have to call BS.

Quote:"When you say you don't profile — and our reality is you do — you negate everything else you say," Siddiqui told them."

I agree. They have to be honest about it or they lose all credibility.
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#3
They probably all mad at us now and going to blow something up.
Why can't the FBI be more careful when dealing with the Muslims?
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#4
It's been a good many years aince J. Edgar Hoover had Flight 51 flown into the side of the hill, above The Mason Home in Hayward. But, I still think The FBI would still be happy to kill a Black for being uppity. They're just that way. Because, being that way smooths their path. Racism is a plus in "Better Circles".
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#5
Good post Ponder and welcome to the Fourth Reich.

This is not unlike the SS telling the Jews that they are not being racially profiled and these nice ghettoes are actually for their own good and protection.
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#6
(09-13-2011, 09:30 AM)Leonard Wrote: Good post Ponder and welcome to the Fourth Reich.

This is not unlike the SS telling the Jews that they are not being racially profiled and these nice ghettoes are actually for their own good and protection.

So what that there were misunderstandings, the truth is that Law enforcement was trying to reach out and you compare this to Hitler???
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#7
If they won't eat the carnitas, send them packing. We have freaks ebough of our own stripe.
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#8
Time for the FBI to have a senstivity training.
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#9
The Muslims and them Xtian Identity folks are a good match. And, we could just send the agents back to Salt Lake City.
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#10
I have no idea what the problem is....every opportunity I get I always offer them part of my Spam sandwich, inquire about their wife or wives, and ask them were they related to OBL!

I think I'm being as charitable and understanding as I can.

If I wanted to be a racist, which I'm not for the record, I would have worn my Grand Cyclops uniform.
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#11
(09-13-2011, 09:24 PM)Vis4V Wrote: I have no idea what the problem is....every opportunity I get I always offer them part of my Spam sandwich, inquire about their wife or wives, and ask them were they related to OBL!

I think I'm being as charitable and understanding as I can.

If I wanted to be a racist, which I'm not for the record, I would have worn my Grand Cyclops uniform.
Weird you say that as I had a dream about Cyclops in the Middle East.

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#12
Io get a Muslim to talk. Don't bother butchering his daughters, before his eyes. That won't affect them. To get a Muslim's attention, you have to butcher one of his sons (From The CIA Torture Manual). And, no, I'm not lying. You can buy the book.
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