| FBI intimidates muslims from voting arizona Original Source Link: (May no longer be active) http://www.news14charlotte.com/content/local_news/?ArID=76481&SecID=2http://www.news14charlotte.com/content/local_news/?ArID=76481&SecID=2
Muslim group is leery of FBI interviews 10/12/2004 5:27 PM By: Annette Newell, News 14 Carolina
PINEVILLE, N.C. -- Representatives from the Islamic Center of Charlotte held a news conference Tuesday, saying the FBI could be trampling on the rights of American Muslims.
“The politics of fear are once again targeting the Muslim community,” said Jibril Hough, president of the Islamic Center.
The FBI has recently started questioning area Muslims in response to an alleged al Qaeda threat. Hough is skeptical.
“The timing must be questioned, and it seems to be politically motivated,” he said.
Hough said the Islamic Center wants to cooperate with the FBI, but he finds that hard to do when investigators will not reveal anything about who they are looking for, except that they are Muslim.
“We are concerned with the safety and security of America, but we must be just as vigilant in securing our civil liberties, defining acceptable treatment for Muslims and showing the true face of our religion,” Hough said.
The local FBI office did not immediately return a phone call Tuesday to News 14 Carolina.
Jim Grunquist, a criminal law specialist affiliated with the American Civil Liberties Union, has offered his services free of charge to area Muslims.
“You have the right not to talk to someone,” he said. “That's just a fundamental American right.”
Grunquist recommends that Muslims have an attorney at any interview.
“I've also suggested that people want to tape record or videotape the interview so that they have a record, because law enforcement generally will not do that,” he said.
Grunquist said he has talked to people after they have been interviewed, and that the FBI is just enforcing what it has been told to do. But he asks whether it is fair to question only Muslim suspects.
“When Timothy McVeigh bombed the Murrah building in Oklahoma City, white supremacists weren't rounded up in big numbers and talked to,” he said.
Ali Rashid, who heads up the local Islamic political party, said there is “an atmosphere of pure fear” in the Muslim community.
“Every time an orange alert takes place, we have to put three or four American flags around the places where we live,” he said.
Any Muslim interested in free legal services can call (704) 258-0304 for more information.
Web Journalist: Kyle Almond
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