Al Qaeda in the Big House, Part 1
Jonathan King
August 22, 2005
A joint federal-LAPD task force recently broke up a terror cell in Los Angeles included former inmates of the California State Prison, Sacramento (New Folsom) who were members of a group of Islamic extremists called the "Jamal Ul Islam Is Sabech" (JIS). Apparently the "gang" thrives at that institution.
Detailed plans outlining a series of attacks on National Guard armories, synagogues and other Jewish cultural centers were seized at the apartment of a former New Folsom boarder on active parole. A Pakistani national suspected of controlling the cell was also arrested. Radio newscasts I heard reported at least one of the arrested terrorists worked at a duty free shop at LAX.
Paul Sperry (Infiltration, 2005) documented how the Imam responsible for hiring and firing Muslim chaplains in the New York State prison system said the 9/11 hijackers were "martyrs" who died for the faith, not murderers. He added, "Even Muslims who say they are against terrorism secretly admire and applaud [the hijackers]."
Sperry also exposed the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) for allowing a group with strong ties to Islamic terrorists to takeover Muslim religious programs throughout the system.
As bad as New York and BOP supervision of Muslim religious programs appears to be, Sperry could at least identify the central office bureaucrats responsible for making them that way. Muslim chaplains in both systems were recruited, "vetted" and hired by managers at headquarters.
Not so in the reformed California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) where the hiring a Muslim chaplains is delegated to 33 wardens.
Even more troubling are the "qualifications" for prospective Imams. Instead of referrals from the national associations, the CDCR requires candidates to be:
"Currently in good standing with the American Muslim Community, verified and approved by the local resident Imam where the applicant attends as a member. All candidates must attach to their application a letter of certification of good standing issued by the local resident Imam."
So, any storefront Mosque --- like the one in Inglewood where three of the parolee-jihadists worshipped --- Imam can vouch for future CDCR chaplains. We have no central control of hiring and no standard for the wardens to use. In practice, the wardens further delegate the hiring decisions to the prison education managers who "supervise" Imams. In practice, chaplains of all faiths are loosely supervised at best.
Corcoran State Prison offers an example of just how lax prison managers can be when it comes to Imams. The management there allows mail addressed to the Muslim chaplain to be carried into the prison without first being processed in the mail room, thus circumventing security procedures. Prison officers have no idea what is in the chaplain's mail and packages.
Senior staff at the prison report that Corcoran's Imam has made statements in support of the Osama bin Laden and the 9/11 mass murders.
Roderick Hickman, California's corrections chief, announced that an investigation of the New Folsom Islamists was in progress. He was tight lipped otherwise.
CDCR has opened the flood gates to all manner of odd balls since Arnold Schwarzenegger set about "reforming" the prison system on the cheap. Nation of Islam racists have been invited in by Hickman and the Church of Scientology cult has been allowed to establish "programs" without meaningful CDCR supervision. Wardens throughout the state --- under extreme pressure from Hickman --- have welcomed unscreened community activists offering free programs of dubious value.
As this plays out Hickman should be asked four questions about the status of the JIS gang at New Folsom and elsewhere in CDCR:
1) What steps, if any, did he take prior to the arrests to control the Islamist hate group?
2) Was the JIS allowed to conduct their in-prison activities using the cover of sanctioned inmate activity groups?
3) Can he produce any officer safety bulletins CDCR issued concerning the JIS group?
4) How many JIS gang members have been removed from prison mainlines and given indeterminate Security Housing Unit terms since he became Secretary?
Given that a top state homeland security commented, "Nothing I have seen suggests there is a widespread al-Qaida recruitment movement within the prison system, but all you need is three or four to conduct an attack", we can assume Hickman and other senior CDCR appointees were caught unaware by the arrests yesterday.
Detailed plans outlining a series of attacks on National Guard armories, synagogues and other Jewish cultural centers were seized at the apartment of a former New Folsom boarder on active parole. A Pakistani national suspected of controlling the cell was also arrested. Radio newscasts I heard reported at least one of the arrested terrorists worked at a duty free shop at LAX.
Paul Sperry (Infiltration, 2005) documented how the Imam responsible for hiring and firing Muslim chaplains in the New York State prison system said the 9/11 hijackers were "martyrs" who died for the faith, not murderers. He added, "Even Muslims who say they are against terrorism secretly admire and applaud [the hijackers]."
Sperry also exposed the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) for allowing a group with strong ties to Islamic terrorists to takeover Muslim religious programs throughout the system.
As bad as New York and BOP supervision of Muslim religious programs appears to be, Sperry could at least identify the central office bureaucrats responsible for making them that way. Muslim chaplains in both systems were recruited, "vetted" and hired by managers at headquarters.
Not so in the reformed California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) where the hiring a Muslim chaplains is delegated to 33 wardens.
Even more troubling are the "qualifications" for prospective Imams. Instead of referrals from the national associations, the CDCR requires candidates to be:
"Currently in good standing with the American Muslim Community, verified and approved by the local resident Imam where the applicant attends as a member. All candidates must attach to their application a letter of certification of good standing issued by the local resident Imam."
So, any storefront Mosque --- like the one in Inglewood where three of the parolee-jihadists worshipped --- Imam can vouch for future CDCR chaplains. We have no central control of hiring and no standard for the wardens to use. In practice, the wardens further delegate the hiring decisions to the prison education managers who "supervise" Imams. In practice, chaplains of all faiths are loosely supervised at best.
Corcoran State Prison offers an example of just how lax prison managers can be when it comes to Imams. The management there allows mail addressed to the Muslim chaplain to be carried into the prison without first being processed in the mail room, thus circumventing security procedures. Prison officers have no idea what is in the chaplain's mail and packages.
Senior staff at the prison report that Corcoran's Imam has made statements in support of the Osama bin Laden and the 9/11 mass murders.
Roderick Hickman, California's corrections chief, announced that an investigation of the New Folsom Islamists was in progress. He was tight lipped otherwise.
CDCR has opened the flood gates to all manner of odd balls since Arnold Schwarzenegger set about "reforming" the prison system on the cheap. Nation of Islam racists have been invited in by Hickman and the Church of Scientology cult has been allowed to establish "programs" without meaningful CDCR supervision. Wardens throughout the state --- under extreme pressure from Hickman --- have welcomed unscreened community activists offering free programs of dubious value.
As this plays out Hickman should be asked four questions about the status of the JIS gang at New Folsom and elsewhere in CDCR:
1) What steps, if any, did he take prior to the arrests to control the Islamist hate group?
2) Was the JIS allowed to conduct their in-prison activities using the cover of sanctioned inmate activity groups?
3) Can he produce any officer safety bulletins CDCR issued concerning the JIS group?
4) How many JIS gang members have been removed from prison mainlines and given indeterminate Security Housing Unit terms since he became Secretary?
Given that a top state homeland security commented, "Nothing I have seen suggests there is a widespread al-Qaida recruitment movement within the prison system, but all you need is three or four to conduct an attack", we can assume Hickman and other senior CDCR appointees were caught unaware by the arrests yesterday.
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