Displaying posts categorized under

HOMELAND SECURITY

Indiana ISIS Bride Charged With Terror Support By Patrick Poole

https://pjmedia.com/homeland-security/indiana-isis-bride-charged-with-terror-support/

An Indiana woman who traveled with her husband to live in the Islamic State capital of Raqqa, Syria was charged last week by the Justice Department for material support for terrorism.

The indictment claims Samantha Elhassani acquired tactical gear for known ISIS terrorists and provided other related support for the terror groups.

As I reported here at PJ Media, her 10-year-old son was featured in an ISIS propaganda video that threatened President Donald Trump and warned of domestic terror attacks. The video also showed a young Yazidi boy from Iraq who was held hostage by her family.

Elhassani’s attorney claims she was tricked by her husband to moving to Raqqa in 2014. Her husband, Moussa Elhassani, was reportedly killed in a drone strike last year.

Last Thursday, the Justice Department announced the material terror support charges against Elhassani:

The indictment alleges that from the fall of 2014 through summer of 2015, Elhassani provided material support and resources to ISIS knowing that the organization was a designated terrorist organization, and knowing that the organization has engaged in and was engaging in terrorist activity and terrorism. Elhassani, is also charged with aiding and abetting two individuals in providing themselves as personnel to ISIS.

In New Mexico, Terrorists Sign Themselves Out of Pretrial Detention The creepy no-cash-bail movement frees a Muslim terrorist cell. Matthew Vadum

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/271135/new-mexico-terrorists-sign-themselves-out-pretrial-matthew-vadum

A potentially catastrophic soft-on-crime reform enacted in New Mexico and now threatening to spread to other states has outraged national security advocates by allowing the alleged leaders of a Muslim terrorist training compound to be granted bail by a Democrat judge.

Excessive bail requirements have long been forbidden by the Eighth Amendment (1791) to the U.S. Constitution. But the no-cash-bail movement that made the recent release of these Islamic militants possible is a subset of the treacherous anti-incarceration movement that’s been sweeping the nation. Changes to New Mexico’s bail laws were approved by voters in 2016. Similar changes are being considering in New Jersey and California. San Francisco already lets accused rapists and kidnappers out on bail.

In a nutshell, leftists like Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), joined by more than a few conservatives and Republicans such as Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, is arguing that the very idea of bail itself is unfair because poor defendants are going to have more trouble raising cash to get released from jail pending trial than wealthier defendants. Whether or not they are actually guilty of the crimes they are charged with, keeping poor people in pretrial detention is somehow unjust, left-wingers claim. Among the notable leftist groups backing this attack on the institution of bail are the ACLU, the ACORN successor group known as Texas Organizing Project, Color of Change, and Black Lives Matter.

Here is a quick recap of what just happened in New Mexico.

Somali Refugees Busted in Tucson Immigration fraud is at the heart of a terror case . . . again.

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/271095/somali-refugees-busted-tucson-michael-cutler
Once again, immigration fraud has compromised U.S. national security. Fortunately, this time, the discovery was made before a deadly terror attack.

The issue of immigration fraud was the focus of both an extensive article and a booklet I wrote on the topic, Immigration Fraud, Lies That Kill.

This time an alien couple stands accused of fraud when they entered the United States as refugees, and then applied for legal immigrant status, but they hid their ties to Al-Shabab, an Islamic militant group operating primarily in Somalia who itself has links to al-Qaeda.

The case we will examine today, less than one month before the 17th anniversary of the terror attacks of 9/11, was brought to fruition by the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) as a result of the diligent work of the FBI and a division of ICE known as HSI (Homeland Security Investigations).

As you read my commentary think about the globalists – particularly the leaders of the Democratic Party who refuse to work with ICE, creating “Sanctuary Cities” and “Sanctuary States” and are now demanding that ICE be utterly and totally dismantled.

Emerging Tech Impacting The Security Industry Chuck Brooks

https://www.forbes.com/sites/cognitiveworld/2018/08/22/emerging-tech-impacting-the-security-industry/#61e28aa5429a

Emerging technologies are already impacting how we live and work. They’re also changing how we approach, plan, and integrate security operations. With the advent of artificial intelligence, robotics, quantum computing, the Internet of Things, augmented reality, materials science, 3-D printing, and data analytics, the security industry is being transformed.

Certainly, we are living in an era where innovation, agility and imagination are all essential in order to keep pace with the exponential technological transformation taking place. For security, both physical and cyber, the equation is the same catalyzing many new potential applications for emerging technologies.

Some of the applied verticals in homeland security where I personally see emerging technologies are making an impact include:

Counter terrorism and law enforcement informatics via predictive analytics and artificial intelligence
Real-time horizon scanning and data mining for threats and information sharing
Automated cybersecurity and information assurance
Enhanced Surveillance (chemical and bio detection sensors, cameras, drones, facial recognition, license plate readers)
Simulation and augmented reality technologies for training and modeling
New non-lethal technologies such as: acoustics systems, chemicalsmarkers, communications systems, entanglement systems, optical devices, non-penetrating projectiles and munitions
Safety and security equipment (including bullet and bomb proof) made with lighter and stronger materials
Advanced forensics enabled by enhanced computing capabilities (including future quantum computing)
Interoperable communications, soon to be bolstered by 5G for First Responders
Situational awareness capabilities via GPS for disaster response and crisis response scenarios
Biometrics: assured identity security screening solutions by bio-signature: (every aspect of your physiology can be used as a bio-signature. Measure unique heart/pulse rates, electrocardiogram sensor, blood oximetry, skin temperature)
Robotic Policing (already happening in Dubai!)

US Iranian Spies Targeted Synagogue for Terror Daniel Greenfield

https://www.frontpagemag.com/point/271106/us-iranian-spies-targeted-jewish-synagogue-terror-daniel-greenfield

Iran is an Islamic terror state. And its espionage looks a lot more like terrorism.

Two Iranian men were indicted on Monday for allegedly spying for Tehran in the United States, including conducting surveillance at a Jewish facility and gathering information on backers of the Iranian opposition group known as Mujahideen-e Khalq, or MEK, the Justice Department said.

Ahmadreza Mohammadi-Doostdar, 38, a dual US-Iranian citizen, and Majid Ghorbani, 59, an Iranian citizen and resident of California, were charged in the indictment with acting on behalf of Iran by conducting the surveillance, the Justice Department said in a statement.

The surveillance had some interesting targets.

Doostdar and Ghorbani are alleged to have acted on behalf of Iran, including by conducting surveillance of political opponents and engaging in other activities that could put Americans at risk,” said Assistant Attorney-General for National Security John Demers. “With their arrest and these charges, we are seeking to hold the defendants accountable.”

Ghorbani attended an MEK rally in New York on September 20, 2017, to protest the current Iranian government, taking photographs of the participants, which he later passed on to Doostdar, who paid him about $2,000.

The Justice Department said Doostdar conducted surveillance in July 2017 of an ultra-Orthodox Jewish facility in Chicago, the Rohr Chabad House, including photographing its security features.

Illegal Immigrant Charged in Murder of 20-Year-Old Iowa Student By Jack Crowe

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/illegal-immigrant-charged-in-mollie-tibbetts-murder/

An illegal immigrant has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of a 20-year-old University of Iowa student, officials announced on Tuesday.

The body of Mollie Tibbetts, who disappeared after going for a jog on July 18, was located in a cornfield on Tuesday, according to Rick Rahn, special agent in charge at the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

“Our hearts go out to the Tibbetts family and to the Brooklyn community. It is a loss for all of us,” Poweshiek County Sheriff Tom Kriegel said in a news release.

Authorities believe the suspect, 24-year-old Cristhian Bahena Rivera, has lived in the area for four to seven years and immigrated from Mexico. Based on surveillance-camera footage, police determined he followed Tibbetts during her jog before abducting her.

It remains unclear exactly how Rivera killed Tibbetts, but an autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday and should provide more detailed information.

Democrats’ Attack on ICE Agents is Working Why more terrorism is inevitable. Michael Cutler

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/271034/democrats-attack-ice-agents-working-michael-cutler
Open-Borders/Immigration Anarchist “journalists” and politicians howl virtually every time an ICE agent arrests an illegal alien, who is, in fact, violating our immigration laws.

Their high-profile positions cover them while deceiving the American people – with their carefully crafted narratives designed to tug on the heartstrings of millions of trusting people. But Americans are coming to understand how they have been lied to and manipulated.

This realization explains why Donald Trump is now President Trump.

However, die-hard globalist politicians, Democrats, in particular, refuse to acknowledge that President Trump won the election and they deny that he won by promising the American people secure borders and national sovereignty were behind his victory.

Rather than listening to American citizens to meet their demands and expectations about immigration, these globalists have publicly descended into madness, concocting a “Russian collusion” narrative to de-legitimize the election. What’s worse, these globalists demonize supporters of any commonsense immigration law enforcement.

“Allahu Akbar” Rules at Minnesota Vikings Stadium Super Eid “rally” features roster of scary speakers with Jihadist ties. Matthew Vadum

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/271112/allahu-akbar-rules-minnesota-vikings-stadium-matthew-vadum

As Islamic leaders with ties to terrorism addressed them, thousands of Muslims chanted the jihadist battle cry “Allahu Akbar” at taxpayer-funded U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis yesterday as part of a huge celebration of the Muslim festival of animal sacrifice known as Eid al-Adha.

One media estimate put the size of the crowd at 30,000.

“Allahu Akbar” is not an innocuous phrase. It is generally the last thing victims of Muslim terrorism around the world hear as their lives are cut short at the hands of groups like Islamic State or al-Qaeda. The phrase means “God is greater,” but there is more to it. It is a cheer that goes back to the still-celebrated Muslim slaughter of Jews at Khaybar in 628. It means the Muslim deity, Allah, is greater than the religions of those vanquished by Islam. It is an active, actionable threat to all non-Muslims, a belligerent statement of Islamic supremacy.

As Daniel Greenfield writes:

“Allahu Akbar” isn’t merely associated with terrorist attacks. It’s the reason for those attacks.

Muslims kill non-Muslims to prove that, “Allahu Akbar”: that Allah is greater [than] the religions of their victims.

“Allahu Akbar” is the motive for Islamic terrorism.

The organization putting on the event, Super Eid, previously said it hoped to attract 50,000 people to the morning event and to a celebration afterwards at a nearby park.

Clarity About Clearances By Angelo Codevilla

https://amgreatness.com/2018/08/21/clarity-about-clearances/

Last week, a dozen former directors and deputy directors of CIA in Democratic administrations (Robert Gates made the list bipartisan) chastised President Trump for removing their former colleague John Brennan’s security clearance. This week, another 150 lesser former officials, nearly all Democrats, joined in.

“Never before” they trumpeted, had they “seen the approval or removal of security clearances used as a political tool.”

On what planet?

It Isn’t a “Free Speech” Issue
The following are the cardinal facts about security clearances in the American legal system—unchallengeable and unchallenged—followed by an equally incontrovertible account of how President Trump has departed from the presidency’s management of security clearances—but in a way entirely opposite from that which his “deep state” detractors allege.

First, blow away the smoke. The former directors allege Trump’s removal of Brennan’s clearance had “nothing to do with who should and should not hold security clearances—and everything to do with an attempt to stifle free speech.”

Note well: while reasonable people may disagree about the basis on which security clearances should be granted or removed, it is wholly distinct from the question of who has the authority to do so. About that, no disagreement is possible. The president of the United States has the sole, unquestionable, unrestricted authority to grant and withhold security clearances. Conflating those questions with that of all citizens’ freedom of speech confuses the public and suggests dishonestly that certain people have a right to special access to secrets. Not so.

Dereliction of Leadership Imperils Military By Mike Berry

https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/08/army-chaplain-disciplined-for-following-rules-threat-to-religious-liberty/

An Army chaplain and his assistant may be disciplined for following his denomination’s rules while accommodating a same-sex couple.

In my 16 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, both on active duty and now in the reserve, I have had the privilege of serving with many fine officers. I know firsthand that the difference between life and death is often a matter of leadership. Whether in combat or in training, strong and decisive leadership inspires confidence, improves morale, and contributes to the ethos of professionalism that has made the U.S. military the finest fighting force in the world.

As director of military affairs for a religious-liberty law firm, I have recently observed a disturbing trend that, if left unchecked, threatens to weaken our military from within. What began as passive-aggressive political correctness has devolved into open hostility to religious liberty in the military. Recent disturbing events within the U.S. Army are a perfect example of both.

An Army investigator under the command of Major General Kurt Sonntag recommended that Army chaplain Scott Squires be found guilty of “dereliction of duty” for rescheduling a marriage retreat that Squires is prohibited from facilitating so that another chaplain could handle it. A same-sex couple had registered for the retreat, and Squires is endorsed by the Southern Baptist Convention’s North American Mission Board (NAMB), which prohibits its chaplains from conducting marriage-related events for same-sex couples. NAMB’s policy clearly states that “endorsed chaplains will not conduct or attend a wedding ceremony for any same-sex couple, bless such a union or perform counseling in support of such a union . . . nor offer any kind of relationship training or retreat, on or off a military installation.”