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Terrorism Tag

As the U.S. disengages from Latin America as part of President Obama’s broader policy of reducing American presence in the world, Iran is moving in fill parts of that geopolitical vacuum, says a report published by Washington D.C. based Center for a Secure Free Society (SFS). The report used documents and legal wiretaps related to the circumstance surrounding the death of Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman who died of a bullet shot on January 19, 2015, a day before he was going to testify before Argentina’s Congress about Buenos Aires Jewish community center bombing carried out by Iranian terrorists. The report cited by the Wall Street Journal shows how the death of Argentine prosecutor “paved the way for [Iran] to move into a new phase of its information and intelligence operations in Latin America.” WSJ concluded that unfettered access for international financial system and assets worth $150 billion given to Iran as the result of Obama-Kerry Nuclear Deal “will increase Iran’s penetration of the Western Hemisphere.” The revelation comes just days after a senior Israeli diplomat in New Delhi warned of a concrete threat of Iran-sponsored terrorism targeting Israelis in India and abroad. In February 2012, Iranian terrorists carried out a bomb attack targeting Israeli mission in New Delhi.

Earlier this year, the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs released a report on the so-called Knife Uprising (Intifada), The Knife and the Message: The Roots of the New Palestinian Uprising (pdf. version here). The report explored various aspects behind the Palestinian violence, which included shooting and car rammings, among other tactics, with a focus on knife stabbings. Children and young adults were both the target of incitement, and predictably therefore, the main participants in violence. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qqyyM2R5Ms Here is an excerpt from the Executive Summary:

The FBI kept in Omar Mateen's pledge to the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) in the 911 transcript, but omitted the terrorist group's name. Mateen called 911 before he murdered 49 people at Pulse, a popular gay club in Orlando, FL. From the FBI news release:
Orlando Police Dispatcher (OD) Shooter (OM) OD: Emergency 911, this is being recorded. OM: In the name of God the Merciful, the beneficial [in Arabic] OD: What? OM: Praise be to God, and prayers as well as peace be upon the prophet of God [in Arabic]. I let you know, I’m in Orlando and I did the shootings. OD: What’s your name? OM: My name is I pledge of allegiance to [omitted]. OD: Ok, What’s your name? OM: I pledge allegiance to [omitted] may God protect him [in Arabic], on behalf of [omitted]. OD: Alright, where are you at? OM: In Orlando. OD: Where in Orlando? [End of call.]

I opposed the confirmation of Loretta Lynch to be Attorney General because her confirmation hearing testimony led me to believe that she would be too political in her handling of the job, just as Eric Holder had been. On the Sunday morning shows today Lynch demonstrated, once again, a troubling politicization of the function of the Department of Justice. Lynch announced that the audio of the 911 calls from Orlando terrorist Omar Mateen will not be released, and the transcripts will remove the portion where he pledged allegiance to ISIS. Real Clear Politics reports, Lynch: "Partial Transcript" Of Orlando 911 Calls Will Have References To Islamic Terrorism RemovedShare Video:

Despite of the evil that overrides the headlines, there is still good in this world. Meet Greg Zanis, a man from Illinois who built and delivered 49 white, wooden crosses for the victims of the Orlando terrorist attack. ABC News reported:
Greg Zanis built 49 wooden crosses then drove 1,200 miles from Illinois to Florida to place them outside the Orlando Health Medical Center. "My message today is love your brother, love your neighbor. Don’t judge ‘em." Zanis says he plans to pass along the messages people write on the crosses to the victims’ families.

The ISIS-inspired terror attack in Florida has impacted the entire nation. From the American political outback called California, one of the most unexpected responses came from West Hollywood. The community woke up to find images of posters of "Gay Pride" flag (designed with a new, conservative twist) plastered along the streets.
Stickers and posters featuring a rainbow-colored version of the Gadsden flag and the hashtag #ShootBack were raising eyebrows in West Hollywood on Thursday morning in the wake of the massacre at a gay nightclub in Florida. The signage was affixed to electric boxes, light poles, trash cans and other fixtures near West Hollywood City Hall, the Pacific Design Center and along Santa Monica Boulevard. Several were hung near the Abbey Food & Bar, a well-known gay lounge. The posters featured a coiled, striking rattlesnake, similar to the yellow Gadsden flag that reads “Don’t Tread On Me” and often is used by the Tea Party movement. The West Hollywood signs were rainbow-colored, like the gay pride flag.
Welcome to the Tea Party, home of constitutionally inspired activism since 2009!

Orlando terrorist Omar Mateen "quit-claimed" his house to his brother-in-law with his wife Noor Salman as a witness in April. Initial reports showed $10 for consideration of the house, but a closer look at the document shows it at $100. https://twitter.com/davereaboi/status/743803321954275329 Did Mateen's family know more about his plans than they let on? The FBI has already toyed with the idea of charging his wife since she never told law enforcement of his desire to commit a terrorist attack on American soil. A quitclaim deed allows a grantor to transfer interest in a property to the grantee. The deed is quite common in divorce cases. It is an active transfer, which means he transferred the property on that day to his brother-in-law Mustafa Abasin and sister Sabrina Abasin.

CNNMoney spoke with the person who has hacked Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) accounts with porn and gay pride. WauchulaGhost started the campaign a month ago with only pornography, but added gay pride after Omar Mateen killed 49 people at Pulse, a gay club in Orlando, FL. He said:
"There was a few of us... that discovered a vulnerability," he told CNNMoney. "We thought, 'Hey let's go start taking their accounts ... and humiliating them.'" --- "You had all those innocent lives lost," he told CNNMoney. "I just felt there's something I could do against the Islamic State to defend those people."

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) has blamed due process as the reason why the government cannot pass more gun control. From The Washington Examiner:
"The problem we have, and really the firewall we have right now, is due process. It's all due process," he said Thursday on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "We can all say we want the same thing," he continued, "but how do we get there?"
I wonder if he gets that THIS is why our awesome Founding Fathers put in the Fifth Amendment.

New developments keep popping up with the terrorist attack in Orlando, FL, that left 49 dead and over 50 injured. This is what we know so far. Leslie wrote a post with the names of the victims and some stories about them. Our thoughts and prayers stay with them and their families during this hard time. We also wish a speedy recovery to the injured. Omar Mateen murdered those 49 people at Pulse, a popular gay club, as he pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL). The terrorist group has taken advantage of this and used his image in their latest recruitment ad, but no evidence exists that that Mateen ever communicated with the group. Officials discovered that Mateen watched numerous ISIS beheadings online. One official told CNN that the terrorist "consumed a hell of a lot of jihadist propaganda." He even wrote on Facebook about his allegiance to ISIS during his attack:
“I pledge my alliance to (ISIS leader) abu bakr al Baghdadi..may Allah accept me,” Mateen wrote in one post early Sunday morning. “The real muslims will never accept the filthy ways of the west” …“You kill innocent women and children by doing us airstrikes..now taste the Islamic state vengeance.”

In another banner moment for the University of Missouri, student race activists hijacked a vigil for the victims of the Orlando terror attack this week. The College Fix reported:
WATCH: Mizzou race activist hijacks Orlando vigil as gay community rebukes her A vigil Monday planned by several University of Missouri student organizations was supposed to honor victims of Sunday morning’s deadly shooting rampage in a popular gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla. It turned into a blame session against Mizzou’s LGBTQ community for not being intersectional enough. Latino activists, including a Mizzou official, scolded the mostly white gathering for ignoring racial issues. That led one attendee to fume on Facebook that the organizers had invented a “race issue” out of a “homophobic attack” by gunman Omar Mateen.

There was a stunning moment on today's Morning Joe, when Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson was stumped when asked a simple question. With all the brouhaha over gun control in the wake of the Orlando massacre, what law could have stopped Omar Mateen? It was, of all people, Sam Stein of the Huffington Post who asked the killer question. Stein pointed out that Mateen was not on the no-fly or terrorist watch list, and had passed a background check. "So what is the actual legislative response" that would have stopped the Orlando attack? Johnson resorted to claiming that Congress had "a lot of ideas," but could not name one that would have made a difference. He also repeatedly recited the new mantra: gun control is a matter of homeland security. Bottom line: the Dem clamor for gun control is a political stunt. It's about increasing vote totals, not public safety.

In the wake of the Orlando attack, we have seen the revival of an old debate in which Obama and the left refuse to name this enemy. Either they can't even say the word "terrorist," or they can't use any modifier that implies that Islam has anything to do with it. After a large and deadly attack such as the one in Orlando, where it was clear almost immediately that the perpetrator was an Islamic (or Islamicist, or radical Islamic) terrorist, it is glaringly apparent that Obama is refusing to call the attack what it is. And this is a weakness that Donald Trump is determined to exploit, and rightly so. Does it matter what we call perpetrators such as Omar Mateen? Obviously, both Obama and Trump---coming from opposite sides of the question---agree on the fact that it does matter, or this rhetorical battle wouldn't be going on. By using the words he uses, Trump wants to signal his resolve to oppose Islamic terrorism, as well as opposition to PC leftist language. What does Obama want to signal? Deference to the Muslim community, emphasis on his underlying policy goal of increased gun control, and minimization of the hugely increased threat from ISIS that occurred on his watch while he poo-pooed it.

The Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) has released a video called "Orlando Attack" that celebrates Omar Mateen and the murder of 49 people at Pulse in Orlando, FL. Mateen called 911 and pledged allegiance to the terrorist group before he opened fire at the popular gay club. ISIS praised the terrorist:
"One of Islamic State's lions, set out to restore the glory of the Ummah and avenge the death of Muslims. He shook the head of kufr America, terrorized it and shed its blood. He is Omar Mateen."

Sources have told NBC News that Omar Mateen's wife may face charges because she knew he wanted to carry out a terrorist attack and never told authorities. Noor Zahi Salman told the FBI that Mateen "assured her he was simply going to see friends, although she believed he was actually planning to unleash terror at the Pulse nightclub." She once drove him to the club, a one to two hour drive from their home in St. Lucie, "to scope it out." She also went with him to buy "ammunition and a holster." But now, though, officials have no evidence that she "ever called police to warn them that she believed Mateen was planning an attack."

June is normally a time of joyous celebration, especially since many young people are graduating from high school or college and beginning the next phase of their lives. However, our country is in deepest mourning, for it has lost 49 of these promising, beautiful young men and women to terror. The youngest, Akyra Murray (18), was celebrating her high school graduation with her cousin and a friend Saturday night when ISIS-inspired gunman Omar Mateen struck. LI #56 b Akyra Murray
Murray's mother, Natalie Murray, said she received a text message from her daughter around 2am, saying she had been shot and to come pick her up.

When the Newtown school shooting took place, I was making the long car trek from Ithaca to Rhode Island. And so it was as reports came out on Sunday about the Orlando Pulse gay night club terror attack. As with the Newtown shooting, for the first several hours I had to rely on AM radio coverage -- when it was available. Since then, because I've been attending to family health matters, I have not had a lot of time to focus on the developments or write about it. Thanks to other Legal Insurrection authors for staying on top of the news reports and analysis. Most of what I've learned has been from headlines and Twitter, which are basically the same thing. So I don't want to jump to conclusions, or presume anything. If I have any of the facts wrong, please let me know. I want to get this right. Here's what happened, from what I can tell:

Equality Florida's GoFundMe campaign has raised more than $3 million to help the victims and families from the pulse gay club massacre. Over 69,000 people have contributed, including a $100,000 donation from the company:
"We are beyond moved by the support from all corners of the world and all walks of life," Equality Florida wrote. "We do not know the total costs for the victims of this horrific hate crime, therefore are working to raise as much as possible and disperse the funds as fast as possible."