Interim Report on the Investigation of Jamaat ul-Fuqra

 
The Politics of CP and the Northeast Intelligence Network have teamed up to produce a report on the headquarters of Jamaat ul-Fuqra near Hancock, NY, and its front organization, “The Muslims of America”. CP has done his homework and Douglas J. Hagmann has done the legwork to produce this impressive compendium of surveillance evidence and background information.

The full report (in pdf format) is here.

The report includes a history of JF, covering territory that is well-known to regular Gates of Vienna readers. It reviews the history of JF and its founder, Sheikh Gilani, going into detail on the background of its violent adherents and their criminal activities here in the USA.

The account of the surveillance of the rural New York compound reminds me of our nearby Red House version, but on a much larger scale. The guard house, armed sentries, and nervous neighbors seem all too familiar.

Surveillance was conducted using a variety of methods and from various locations. It is important to note that there appears to be men who are designated to provide “security” for the compound. One male was posted inside the guard shack at the primary entrance, while others, walking in pairs and each armed with at least one rifle, appeared to watch the open perimeters of the encampment. The men were not in any type of uniform and except for the sentry inside of the guard shack, were not readily visible from any public vantage position.

At intermittent times during the covert surveillance, investigators observed numerous Black males, all appearing to range in age from 18-40, walking throughout the compound. At least two of these individuals were armed with rifles.

But this was the most chilling piece of information:

Men of Middle Eastern origin appear to be “frequent guests” of the encampment, many attired in traditional Islamic attire. Some appear to stay at the encampment for 3-4 days or longer. During periods of these visits, activity and security at the compound is noticeably heightened.

People who live nearby are understandably frightened. No one in a marked law enforcement vehicle, or wearing a recognizable law enforcement uniform, has ever been observed entering the compound.

If I lived nearby, I’d be nervous, too.

As one resident said, “We see children – small children run around over there when they should be in school. We hear bursts of gunfire all of the time, and we know that there is military like training going on there. Those people are armed and dangerous. We get nothing but menacing looks from the people who go in and out of the camp, and sometime they yell at us to mind our own business when we are just driving by. We don’t even dare to slow down when we drive by. They own this mountain and they know it, and there is nothing we can do about it but move, and we can’t even do that. Who wants to buy property next to that?”

See earlier Gates of Vienna posts (parts one, two, and three) for more information on the Jamaat ul-Fuqra compound in Red House, Virginia.

And for thorough investigative reporting, go to The Politics of CP and just keep scrolling.