After Attack In Canada, Congressman Calls For More Surveillance Of Muslims In America

Rep. Peter King, a New York Republican said that the U.S. security agencies should try to thwart attacks like the one that took place in the Canadian Parliament this week by increasing surveillance on Muslims – and not giving in to “political correctness.”

“We have to find out what’s happening on the ground in these Muslim communities — what the NYPD used to do, but those morons at the New York Times Editorial Board and the American Civil Liberties Union went after them,” King said in an interview with NewsMaxTV’s America’s Forum.

Peter King: Al Qaeda 'In Many Ways Stronger' Than Before 9/11

Rep. Peter King (R-NY) sounded the alarm on Sunday over what he described the serious and credible threat of new Al Qaeda terror attacks in the coming weeks.

The New York congressman, who was speaking on ABC's "This Week With George Stephanopoulos" about heightened terror alerts across the globe over the weekend, warned that "we have to be ready for everything."

Peter King Goes All 1798 on the Bill of Rights

New York Congressman Peter King, with his call for the prosecution of journalist Glenn Greenwald, recalls a long and dishonorable American tradition.

Never mind that, as The Washington Post notes, King is guilty of “willfully misquoting and misconstruing the many public comments made by both Greenwald and Edward Snowden.”

Rep. Peter King: Reporters Should Be Prosecuted For Publishing Leaked Classified Information

Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) said on CNN's "AC 360" Tuesday night that reporters should be prosecuted for publishing stories with leaked classified information.

After King explained why he believes the recent NSA leaks pose a grave threat to national security, host Anderson Cooper asked him if he thinks the reporters who break stories off of leaked information should be punished in some way.

Jameela Barnette Dead: Woman Who Allegedly Sent Pig's Foot To Peter King Killed By Police

An Atlanta woman who allegedly mailed threats to lawmakers was shot and killed by police during an altercation on Christmas Day.

Jameela Barnette, 53, was indicted earlier this year for her supposed involvement in the sending of malicious packages to two New York lawmakers.

Barnette was accused of mailing a pig's foot to the office of Rep. Peter King (R) in April. A note included in the package read "Kiss my black Muslim ass," and referred to King as a "Jew," even though he is Catholic. The incident came in the wake of King's hearings on Muslim "radicalization."

Barnette was also indicted for allegedly sending a fake weapon of mass destruction to the office of New York State Sen. Greg Ball in the form of a bottled liquid labeled "Zyklon B." The substance was eventually identified as perfume oil. The package also included a screed against Jews and Christians and a stuffed toy monkey with Stars of David fastened to it.

Peter King: Occupy Wall Street Protesters Are 'Losers'

GOP Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) had some choice words on Wednesday for Occupy Wall Street protesters.

In an interview on Bloomberg Television's "In The Loop," the Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee was asked if he had an obligation to hear out what the protesters are saying. He slammed the cause, pointing to crimes taking place within Occupy encampments.

"First of all, you try to listen to them and they make almost no sense," King said. "These are people who were living in dirt, these were people who were involved with drugs, there was violence, there was rape. You're talking about a small number of people -- you could probably get more people in a Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral on Sunday than you've got in Zuccotti Park."

King went on to criticize the direction of the movement, questioning the methods employed by the protesters.

"I mean, what is their position?" King asked. "They're mad that other people are making money? They're mad that there are no jobs in this country? Or not enough jobs? All of us believe that. We're trying to find a way to do it. You don't do it by living in dirt. You don't do it by carrying out rapes. You don't do it by carrying out anti-American slogans."

Sound and Fury, but Few Facts, at Rep. King's 'Prislam' Hearing

The idea behind this morning’s hearing by the House Homeland Security Committee is that America is endangered by an increasing number of violent jihadis who are being recruited to the cause in prison. The committee chairman, Representative Peter King, described it as a danger that “remains real and present, especially because of Al Qaeda's announced intention to intensify attacks within the United States.”

King’s hand-picked panel largely agreed. Patrick Dunleavy, the former deputy inspector general for the New York State Department of Corrections—who conveniently has a book coming out in the fall about “the shocking link between America’s prisons and terrorism”—described “sustained efforts [by Al Qaeda] to target inmates.”

The problem, however, is that there is no real problem. Bert Useem, a professor at Purdue University who was the lone panelist not sympathetic to King’s cause, noted that of the 1.6 million people currently incarcerated in the US prison system, there have been only twelve terrorism cases with some evidence that the offender became radicalized in prison. “If prison was a major cause of jihadi radicalization, you’d expect to see more,” he told the committee.

King and his panelists had their own evidence. They didn’t offer any pesky statistics, but rather florid descriptions of terrorists who, while incarcerated, turned violent under the influence of prison Islam—or “prislam,” as it came to be known during the hearing.

But even this anecdotal evidence falls apart under closer inspection. For example, King raised the case of James Cromitie, who will be sentenced tomorrow for his role in planning attacks on an Air National Guard Base in Newburgh, New York, and two synagogues in New York City.

According to King, Cromitie “was radicalized in a New York State prison.” He is “not alone,” King warned. But in fact, the government has made no claim that Cromitie nor any of his co-conspirators hatched their plot in prison, nor that their prison experience contributed to their crimes. Inmates and chaplains at the New York state prison where Cromitie was incarcerated said he did not take part in any of the Islamic prayer meetings.

Moreover, Cromitie’s lawyers have portrayed him as the victim of an altogether different kind of recruitment. They allege that a government informant paid Cromitie $250,000 to plan the terror attacks. When Cromitie expressed reluctance, the informant pressed on, according to court documents. “I told you…I can make $250,000, but you don’t want it, brother. What can I tell you?” he said.

King was equally dishonest when he invoked the case of Jose Padilla, who was convicted of trying to set off a radioactive bomb in the United States. King’s version of events, as described in his opening statement, is that Padilla “converted to Islam in a Florida jail,” and that “while on the inside, Padilla met a fellow inmate who led him to a radical mosque.”

In reality, the Broward County Sheriff said at the time there was no record of Padilla requesting to meet with an imam, attending Islamic classes, or requesting a name change while incarcerated there. A family friend told CNN that he converted to Islam after he married a Muslim woman in 1996 and moved to the Middle East.

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Source: The Nation 

Peter King Announces Second Round Of Muslim Radicalization Hearings

Representative Peter King (R-NY) has announced that the House Committee on Homeland Security will hold a second hearing on the "radicalization of the Muslim-American community" June 15.

"This radicalization hearing, like the one in March, will be a deliberate and thoughtful examination of an issue that is too important for our security to ignore," King said in a statement released on his official House website.

Titled “The Threat of Muslim-American Radicalization in U.S. Prisons”, this second hearing will focus on the relationship between current and former members of the American prison population and extremist groups.

According to King, "We have seen cases in which inmates have been radicalized at the hands of already locked-up terrorists or by extremist imam chaplains. We will focus on a number of the serious cases in which radicalized current and former inmates have planned and launched attacks or attempted to join overseas Islamic terrorist organizations."

The first round of hearings held in March sparked major protest from many Muslim-Americans and their allies who accused the Congressman of conducting a politically motivated witch-hunt intended to demonize the Muslim faith.

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Source: Huffington