SWEPT UNDER THE PRAYER RUG?…PORTLAND ME DA’S OFFICE NOT TOLD OF MUSLIM TEEN’S BOMB
http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.7479/pub_detail.asp
Portland, Maine: DA’s Office Not Told of Teenager’s Bomb
September 27, 2010 – Gadi Adelman
Talk about things being ‘swept under the prayer rug’.
A fellow radio host of mine emailed me a story on Thursday night that I thought was a bit interesting, interesting because I had not seen or heard about it anywhere.
WCSH NBC Channel 6 out of Portland, Maine had posted the following story on their website Wednesday, September 22:
PORTLAND, ME (NEWS CENTER) — Police say there were no injuries or damage caused by a chemical bomb that went off in a parking lot near the Islamic Society of Portland.
The bomb went off in the lot between the Islamic Society and Back Bay Grill around 8:00 PM Tuesday night. Portland Police say Islamic elders came forward to tell them that a 13 year old from the Society was experimenting and was responsible for the bomb. Another bomb was also found undetonated.
Police say it’s unclear if charges will be filed against the teenagers.
That’s it? That was the whole story? A 13 year old sets off a bomb, police even state “another bomb was found undetonated.” It happened near the Islamic Society, the Islamic elders admitted the 13 year old was from the society and “it’s unclear if charges will be filed against the teenager?”
I’m sorry but I for one don’t want some ‘Junior Jihadi’ running around making chemical bombs anywhere and getting away with it by saying it was some “experiment” gone wrong.
I needed to find out what had happened to this ‘Junior Jihadi’ so I contacted the District Attorney’s office in Portland, Maine and what I found out scared me more than a teacher with a twitch in a suicide bomber class.
Friday morning I spoke to the head of the Juvenile Justice Division, Prosecution Team Leader, Assistant District Attorney, Christine Thibeault.
I asked Asst. D.A. Thibeault what was happening with the case of the bomb that went off outside the Islamic Society of Portland. Her answer was “what bomb?” My reaction, of course, was to repeat the question and her answer was “I have not even heard about it.”
What? Could this be real? How has the District Attorney’s office not yet even heard about it? So, I read the story to her right off the WCHS website. I asked her if it didn’t concern her that an Islamic teenager had set off a bomb and told her that the police even found a second bomb. She replied that “it concerns me anytime anyone sets off a bomb regardless of their ethnicity.”
Okay, good answer. I followed up with “given the current situation with the Ground Zero mosque and homegrown terror in this country does is not concern you that a teenager who is Muslim set off a bomb outside the Islamic Society and you have yet to hear about it?” Asst. D.A. Thibeault answered that question directly, “Yes it does and soon as we get off the phone I am calling the Portland Police Department to find out about it.”
That still didn’t sit well with me so I asked the Asst. D.A. what the procedure was for cases involving juveniles in Maine. She explained that “if it was the person’s first offense the police could choose to handle it informally with in their own community”. She promised to call me back after contacting the Portland PD and a few hours later she did.
When Thibeault called me back she informed me that she was now aware of the incident, but that the Detective in charge of the case was off until Monday, so she really could not give me any further information. She did explain to me that she now had the name of the ‘Junior Jihadi’ in question and that she had never heard of him. She also confirmed that it was only one individual that was involved and not “teenagers” as reported in the last line of the WCHS story.
Given the explanation that I received during our first conversation I asked “where do you draw the line of the ‘first offense’? Isn’t it a bit more serious when that first offense involves a bomb that can kill or damage property?” She did agree with that and said that she would contact me as soon as she had spoken with the detective in charge.
This is by no means the fault of Asst. D.A. Christine Thibeault. She sounded as concerned as I was and was as helpful as she could be, given that she was totally unaware of the incident. This all falls directly on the Portland P.D. for not notifying the D.A.’s office to begin with.
This incident took place on Tuesday September 21 and I spoke with the D.A.’s office on Friday the 24th, the Detective in charge is off until Monday the 27th and the D.A. was still unaware of it until my telephone call.
I don’t want to hear the Portland PD say that they were investigating and were planning on telling the D.A.’s office later, blah, blah, blah. Bull! This is something that should the Juvenile Justice Division of the D.A.’s office should have at the very least, been made aware of on Wednesday the 22nd even if an investigation were on going.
Now here’s where I am a bit lost, back in April of 2007 a student was suspended from the Lewiston Maine Middle School for putting a ham sandwich down on a table where a Muslim student was also sitting. It was referred to as a “hate crime”. Part of the story from the Renew America website stated:
The latest incident of “Muslim outrage” involves a middle-school student purportedly placing a ham sandwich wrapped in a baggie on a lunch table where Somali Muslim students sit. One 14 year-old unnamed Somali student is reported to have said: “At the school the next day, I didn’t feel safe. I felt like everybody was against me. Before I felt like I fit in, and everything was normal.” The ham-placing “offending student” has been suspended, the Maine middle school is calling the placing of the ham sandwich a “hate crime” and the local police are investigating the child. More charges against the child may be forthcoming. School Superintendent Leon Levesque said: “The school incident is being treated seriously as a hate incident!”
So, a ham sandwich is considered “a ‘hate Crime’ and the local police are investigating the child. More charges against the child may be forthcoming”, but an Islamic teenager sets off a bomb and “Police say it’s unclear if charges will be filed against the teenager”. Was the sandwich an exploding sandwich?
This is where we have come to in this country. I am tired of screaming about it week after week. Allah forbid we insult the Muslims in any way, shape or form, but charge the non-Muslim with a hate crime.
There is no telling what will happen with this ‘Junior Jihadi’, whether any charges will be filed and if so, if he will even be found guilty is anyone’s guess. But one thing is for sure here, had I not contacted the District Attorney’s office they would not have heard about it.
You can bet your Sharia Compliant local politicians that if that had been a non-Muslim 13 year old setting off a chemical bomb he would have been in cuffs and on every major network that night at 11pm. Oh, and of course, it would have been because his parents were Tea Partiers.
FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor Gadi Adelman is a freelance writer and lecturer on the history of terrorism and counterterrorism. He grew up in Israel, studying terrorism and Islam for 35 years after surviving a terrorist bomb in Jerusalem in which 7 children were killed. Since returning to the U. S., Gadi teaches and lectures to law enforcement agencies as well as high schools and colleges. He can be heard every Thursday night at 9PM est. on his own radio show “America Akbar” on Windows to Liberty Radio Network. He can be reached through his website http://Gadiadelman.com.
Comments are closed.
