I just read some allegations that sound too fishy to believe. First the facts:

In Ohio, Houssaiky and Abulhassan were stopped by sheriff’s deputies for a traffic violation Aug. 8, then arrested after the deputies found 12 cell phones, $11,000 cash, airplane passenger lists and information on airport security checkpoints in their car, authorities said. Prosecutors have not provided details about the passenger lists. Houssaiky’s mother, Nada Houssaiky, said Tuesday the information was training notes from her job as an airport passenger service agent at Detroit Metro Airport.
The two men acknowledged buying about 600 phones in recent months at stores in southeast Ohio, according to authorities. Investigators said they sold the phones to someone in Dearborn, a Detroit suburb.
The remaining charges stem from allegations that the two men initially gave deputies different names than appeared on their IDs. The men also initially said they were buying phones for a relative’s construction business, then changed the story when deputies asked for contact information, Washington County Prosecutor James Schneider said.
Within days of the Ohio arrests, three Palestinian-American men from Texas were charged in Michigan after nearly 1,000 cell phones were found in a van they were driving. In the Michigan case, the FBI said Monday that it had no indication that the men had any ties to known terrorist groups.

Notice the details here:

• Houssaiky and Abulhassan were stopped by sheriff’s deputies for a traffic violation Aug. 8;
• Houssaiky and Abulhassan were arrested after the deputies found 12 cell phones, $11,000 cash, airplane passenger lists and information on airport security checkpoints in their car;
• Houssaiky and Abulhassan acknowledged buying about 600 phones in recent months at stores in southeast Ohio;
• Houssaiky and Abulhassan “initially gave deputies different names than appeared on their IDs”; and
• Houssaiky and Abulhassan “changed the story when deputies asked for contact information” after telling deputies that they were buying the phones for “for a relative’s construction business”.

We also know that the three men arrested in Michigan (a) were from Texas and (b) bought a significant number of their phones in Wisconsin.

That’s the strangest string of lies I’ve heard in ages. Law enforcement did what I would’ve expected them to do. Their actions are perfectly justified in my opinion. But our friends from CAIR don’t think so. Here’s what they’re concerned about:

Muslim American groups call such arrests a rush to judgment that reflects increased targeting of Arab Americans since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The number of reported incidents of harassment, violence and other forms of discrimination against American Muslims has soared in recent years, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR.

This isn’t harassment, people. The Michigan duo were arrested for a traffic violation. The reason why other charges were filed was because they showed a consciousness of guilt, first by lying about who they were buying the throwaway phones for, then for giving the police names that didn’t match their ID’s. Does CAIR think that we should just ignore these things because they’re Arab Americans and chalk it up to a string of unfortunate circumstances?

CAIR’s statement about “harassment, violence and other forms of discrimination against American Muslims” has nothing to do with this case but it fits with their unending pattern of voicing their ‘concerns’ about civil rights when Muslims commit crimes. Shame on them for that.

What’s worse is that their statement isn’t the most offensive defense of these actions. That ‘award’ goes to the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, who said:

“This is a very alarming trend and we have every right to be concerned. If local police departments become the experts in terrorism and national security matters, they can just make an allegation that can ruin people’s lives, simply because of ethnicity and national origin.”

If the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee wants to be concerned, they can have at it but I won’t lose a minute of sleep over it. When people are first arrested for a traffic violation, not for their heritage, then lie to the police several times, then have a big wad of cash and “airplane passenger lists and information on airport security checkpoints in their car”, I’d say that the detectives had better be alarmed.

If the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee wants to be concerned, they can be concerned that Muslims are committing crimes that cast suspicion on their motives.

I’d be worried if the detectives weren’t concerned.

Technorati: Cell phones, Mackinac, CAIR, Civil Rights, Discrimination

Cross-post at LetFreedomRingBlog

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1. Bush was right, we are in a war with radical-Islamic-Fascists who want to rule the whole earth under their religion of Jihad.

   I support mass-cell-phone-purchase profiling. Send this message up to Washington.

   Comment by tfanger — August 17, 2006 @ 12:03 pm