Friday, June 01, 2007

Fox News Visits Jamaat ul-Fuqra in Red House

The Muslims of AmericaThe Muslims of America have finally made it to the MSM!

Fox News is running a story today about a visit by reporter Catherine Herridge to those rusty trailers and rutted dirt tracks just off Rolling Hill Road near Red House, Virginia. She even mentions Jamaat ul-Fuqra in her report.

We’re still waiting on a video of the story, but we do have an audio tape. D.K. Shideler — a volunteer from CVF who also blogs at DK Republic — has made a transcription for us:
- - - - - - - - - -
Anchor: Just this week an American member of al-Qaeda warned of future attacks which could be worse than September 11th. Most would assume that terrorists are training overseas, but authorities are watching a suspicious compound which is right here in the United States. Catherine Herridge joins me from Washington DC with the scoop. Good afternoon, Catherine.

Catherine Herridge: Yeah… Thanks Martha.

The compound in Red House, Virginia is one of several communities across the country that’s linked to a group called Muslims of America, among certain rural areas. Most of the people who live there are African American Muslims, or converts to Islam, and they say they’ve chosen to live in these remote regions because they want to live in peace and practice their religion.

The compound in Red House is about 44 acres, 22 trailer homes, with about 100 people living there at any given time. Two men on the compound told Fox that there are Muslims from all over the US as well as Mexico, Puerto Rico and Europe. They say their spiritual leader, or imam, lives in Lahore, Pakistan. They identify him as Sheikh Mubarak Gilani.

The sheikh received a lot of attention back in 2002 when Wall Street Journal Reporter Daniel Pearl was abducted. Pearl was reportedly on his way to see Gilani when he was taken. That said, Gilani and his group, identified as law enforcement as Jamaat ul-Fuqra, deny any involvement in Pearl’s death, or other acts of violence.

There are also suspected links between Jamaat ul-Fuqra and convicted shoe bomber Richard Reed, and the DC Sniper Jon Allen Muhammad. According to a federal law enforcement fact sheet obtained by Fox, members of Jamaat ul-Fuqra are suspected in 10 unsolved assassinations and 17 bombings since 1980.

A Muslim man describing himself as the group’s mayor said they have no connection to Jamaat ul-Fuqra, quote, “We don’t know who that is.” They also told Fox that they are non-violent, and their guns are for hunting, not for target practice.

That said, federal law enforcement sources are confirming to Fox that the group is on their radar.

Martha.

Anchor: Very interesting Catherine thank you very much.

Catherine Herridge: You’re welcome…

Regular readers have seen our earlier reports on Jamaat ul-Fuqra. Scroll down and look on our left sidebar for links if you haven’t seen them before.

It’s nice to see all of Martin’s and CP’s hard work validated in a national news outlet.

We’ve come a long way, baby.


Hat tip: DR.


Update: Thanks to commenter iknitifrogiknitagain, we have corrected the spelling of the Fox correspondent’s last name. That’s what we get for relying on audio!

3 comments:

History Snark said...

So should we congratulate them on their "Scoop"?

Of course, everyone knows that Fox is right-wing news for Fascists, right? So it can't be true...

Eric said...

I caught this segment on FNC earlier this afternoon, and was wondering when you'd post something on it.

I wonder how many of our fellow Virginians sat up today and said "holy crap!".

Precious said...

Before you believe everything you read talk to a local resident. I live 1/2 mile from Sheikh Jilani lane and I have never had a problem with these people. I sell them goats and help them with farming. It seems to me that they are only here to escape the fast life of the city. I have never heard any gun shots or any type of violence from them. Several of their people got arrested but that's just normal for any group of people. You have your good and your bad.

Just for future reference: Dont believe everything your read or see. Deception creates fear!