By Steve Neavling

The FBI and Department of Homeland Security are warning of potential violence spreading to the U.S. following a satirical movie mocking the Prophet Mohammed, ABC News reports.

The Joint Intelligence Bulletin warned that “the risk of violence could increase both at home and abroad as the film continues to gain attention.”

The warning comes a few days after an attack on a U.S. consulate in Libya killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and four others.

While there are no specific threats, U.S. officials said violent extremists hope to exploit Muslim anger over the film, ABC News reported.

Steve Neavling

The FBI is joining an investigation into an alleged terrorist threat in Nashville, News Channel 5 reports.

Amal Abdullahi, 29, was arrested last week on allegations she made terrorist threats to coworkers at CEVA Logistics, saying she was prepared to be a martyr for Allah and that nonbelievers should die, News Channel 5 reported.

According to interviews with coworkers, Abdullahi said nonbelievers should die and soon the country will be predominately Muslim.

After the company asked for charges to be filed, Abdullahi was jailed on a $50,000 bond, according to New Channel 5.

Stories of Other Interest

•  Czech Police to Get FBI Help in Fighting Corruption, Computer Crimes
• Feds: Florida Dumping Disable Kids in Nursing Homes for Elderly
• FBI: Infant Abductions Becoming ‘Violent Trend’
• Ceremony Planned for New Border Patrol Complex in Washington Peninsula

Steve Neavling

A federal judge rejected a lawsuit against the FBI that alleges the agency unlawfully spied on Orange County Muslims in California, the Los Angeles Times reports.

U.S. District Court Judge Cormac Carney wrote that “the state secrets privilege may unfortunately mean the sacrifice of individual liberties for the sake of national security.”

Carney said the intelligence in the case would compromise national security, if revealed, the LA Times reported.

Still, the judge said the suit can proceed against the individual FBI agents.

Orange County Muslims brought the lawsuit after they said they were targeted for illegally spying.

Steve Neavling

Concerned about copycat attacks, the Department of Homeland Security is urging suburban mosques to be extra vigilant for suspicious people, the Daily Herald reports.

The call comes in response to the weekend shootings at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin that killed six people and the arson of a mosque in Joplin, Mo. on Monday.

Some faith-based communities are hiring retired police for security, the Daily Herald reported.

“I don’t know if there’s any link between the two incidents,” said Dr. Mohammed Zaher Sahloul, chairman of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago. “Muslim and Sikh, and faith communities in general should be more vigilant and they should take precautions in identifying any suspicious individuals. Always when you have incidents like this, especially when you have a heightened atmosphere of Islamophobia, there is a concern of copycats.”

Steve Neavling

A Texas man was indicted by a federal grand jury late last week on charges he violated the civil rights of Muslims when he threatened to blow up the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro in Tennessee, according to DNJ.com.

Javier Alan Correa, 24, is accused of leaving an expletive-laced voice mail at the mosque, threatening to blow up the building with a bomb.

Correa faces 10 years in prison on one count of intentionally obstructing by threat of force the free exercise of religious beliefs and one count of using an instrument of interstate commerce to communicate a threat to destroy a building by means of an explosive device.

According to authorities, Correa left the message, “On Sept. 11, 2011, there’s going to be a bomb in the building.”

IRVINE, Calif. — Craig Monteilh says he did not balk when his FBI handlers gave him the OK to have sex with the Muslim women his undercover operation was targeting. Nor, at the time, did he shy away from recording their pillow talk.

“They said, if it would enhance the intelligence, go ahead and have sex. So I did,” Monteilh told the Guardian as he described his year as a confidential FBI informant sent on a secret mission to infiltrate southern Californian mosques.

It is an astonishing admission that goes that goes to the heart of the intelligence surveillance of Muslim communities in America in the years after 9/11. While police and FBI leaders have insisted they are acting to defend America from a terrorist attack, civil liberties groups have insisted they have repeatedly gone too far and treated an entire religious group as suspicious.

To read the full story click here.

OTHER STORIES OF INTEREST

• Supreme Court Will Hear Appeal  About Immunity for Secret Service Agents at Cheney Event (AP)
• Consequences for Security as NYPD-FBI Rift Widens (AP)
• Time to Reset Police-Muslim Relations (Huffpost)
• Rocker Ted Nugent Bashes Atty. Gen. Holder (Newsmax)
• ATF Offers More Info on Monroe Car Bombing (Brandenton.com)

By Allan Lengel

Anti-terrorism training materials used by the FBI could be changing.

The Religion News Service reports that the FBI said it is willing to consider a proposal from a coalition of Muslim and interfaith groups to create a committee to review materials.

The FBI recently removed some materials from training after they were found to be incorrect or Islamophobic, the news service reported.

To read more click here.

By Danny Fenster

It will always be a line hard to draw, between protecting the nation from another terrorist attack and reaching too far in the name of preemption. The American Civil Liberties Union sees the latter, though, and on Thursday said the FBI is using extensive community outreach among Muslims to gather intelligence secretively and illegally, reports  Jerry Markon of the Washington Post.

FBI agents in California illegally recorded information about individual’s political and religious affiliations while attending mosque gatherings and other events in Muslim communities, the ACLU says, citing internal bureau documents, according to the Post. FBI officials deny the allegations.

Some of the files the ACLU cites show FBI agents working with local communities to fight drugs and crimes. But others show agents recording Social Security numbers and other personal information, noting their political affiliations in at least one incident. The information seems to be used for follow-up investigations, but heavy redactions make it tough to come to firm conclusions, according to the Post.

To read more click here.