NYU Law School Study: Manufacturing the "Homegrown Threat"

25 May 2011

By El-Hajj Mauri' Saalakhan

Assalaamu Alaikum (Greetings of Peace):

New York University Law School is reportedly the second oldest independent law school in the United States. It's motto, "LEARN LAW. TAKE ACTION," is at the heart of a special report released by the law school's Center for Human Rights and Global Justice (CHRGJ) initiative.

The report titled, "Targeted and Entrapped: Manufacturing the 'Homegrown Threat' in the United States," is garnering a lot of attention, and for good reason. I consider it A MUST READ!
see: CHRGJ Report - Targeted and Entrapped: Manufacturing the "Homegrown Threat" in the United States

As can be seen from the following links, the report has received a fair amount of media attention (the FBI and NYPD have also responded):

http://www.wnyc.org/articles/wnyc-news/2011/may/23/nyu-report-challenges-use-informants-terror-cases/

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-muslim-report-20110519,0,6896387.story

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2011/05/shahawar_matin.php


SEE ALSO:

CHRGJ Briefing Paper cited in Jadaliyya, "Entrapment and Racialization: The 'Homegrown' Canard"
May 18, 2011- A new report out today from New York University School of Law's Center for Human Rights and Global Justice (CHRGJ) describes how American counterterrorism efforts have singled out Muslim Americans by "sending paid, trained informants into mosques and Muslim communities." The report finds that more than 200 people have been prosecuted in terrorism-related cases – cases which have been proudly trumpeted as hallmarks of a successful counterterrorism program. Recently, however, questions about police entrapment have become more urgent. CHRGJ speaks with former FBI agents, lawmakers, and advocacy organizations who all worry that the police are creating their own "homegrown" terrorism plots, "foiling" them for the cameras, and sending Muslim Americans to prison. This report arrives at a very timely moment, as a controversy over a "sting" operation like those described in the report is unfolding right now...

Recently Mr. Islamophobe himself, the one and only (or so we wish) Steven Emerson has found it necessary (or opportunistic) to weigh in on the report. Mr. Emerson has written a response titled, "NYU's Superficial Entrapment Study," which begins as follows:
A new report from New York University's law school exaggerates the government's role in "manufacturing" evidence to support the claim of a rise in homegrown terrorism while also relying on a series of flawed and biased reports from groups hostile to law enforcement's counterterrorism efforts, an analysis by the Investigative Project on Terrorism shows.

The report, "Targeted and Entrapped: Manufacturing the 'Homegrown Threat' in the United States," was released May 18 by the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, a division of the NYU School of Law. It contends that federal and local law enforcement agencies are unfairly targeting Muslims without any evidence they are involved in unlawful behavior. In some cases, the report contends, the government has used paid informants who unfairly trapped defendants into participating in terror plots.
To read his response in its entirety (if you think you have the stomach for it) go to the following link:

http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/pub_detail.asp?id=9708
A couple of our friends in Albany (NY) - with the Muslim Solidarity Network and Project SALAM -had the following to say about Mr. Emerson's [un]learned opinion on the subject:

"The article was written by Steve Emerson--a documented Islamaphobe, so the reader should stop right there...and I like his unshakable belief in those "objective sources" that he does not name...we assume he means the media...and so another dead stop. And because the courts upheld the convictions, that is his proof that the government (and he) is right and the report is wrong...any grad student in Research 101 would see the fallacy of this kind of pseudo-scholarship."

- Jeanne Finley
"Ah, and it was written by Steve Emerson, who was Evan Kohlmann's mentor, but who was so out there, and had so many problematic connections, that the government didn't even want to use him as an expert witness (and apparently he was mad that Islamophobic Rep. King didn't want him as a witness either)."

- Kathy Manley


Check it out for yourself. The full CHRGJ report can be found at: http://chrgj.org/#targetedPR Again, I personally consider it a MUST READ!

In the struggle for peace thru justice

 

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