Posted on 06/11/2005 7:51:22 AM PDT by Grampa Dave
NVC cops tell FBI of suspicious police exam Two arrested after Lodi man ducked out of academy test; no clear link to on-going terrorist probe Saturday, June 11, 2005
By MARSHA DORGAN Register Staff Writer
As an investigation of possible terrorist activity unfolds in Lodi, law enforcement officials in Napa acknowledge that in April they contacted federal authorities after arresting a Lodi resident who suspiciously ducked out of a Napa Valley College Police Academy exam and had someone else take his place.
Zakariya Ali, 21, of Lodi showed up April 2 to take the entrance exam at NVC Police Academy, according to NVC campus Police Chief Ken Arnold.
During the test, Ali excused himself to use the restroom. While he was gone, Melissa Chambers, 26, of Brooklyn, took his place in the classroom and began taking the test, Arnold said.
"Mr. Ali apparently brought her along with him and paid her to take the test for him," he said.
A test proctor noticed a different person was sitting in Ali's seat and notified college police.
Ali and Chambers were arrested.
At first Ali said he had a New York address, Arnold said. But investigators learned his true address was Washington Street in Lodi.
That location is near the residence of Hamid Hayat, 22, who -- along with his father, Umer Hayat, 47 -- has been charged with lying to federal investigators about attending a terrorist camp in 2003 and 2004.
The FBI isn't saying just how the men came to their attention, how far the connections extend and exactly what kind of attacks -- if any -- they were plotting.
John Cauthen, FBI spokesman, told the Register on Friday he had not been notified about the Napa incident.
"When we get specific leads, we don't get back to the reporting party," Cauthen said. "But I can tell you that we follow every lead we get. No stone goes unturned. We don't make statements to the media about the investigation."
Cauthen said the federal probe "has been going on for several years."
Said NVC's Arnold: "It is odd that a Lodi address came out at the same time this terrorist information is coming out. We turned this information over to the FBI. But we don't know if there is any direct connection."
Booked for conspiracy
After the incident with the police exam, Ali and Chambers were arrested on suspicion of felony conspiracy. Chambers was also booked on a felony forgery charge.
College police forwarded the cases to the Napa County District Attorney's Office, requesting criminal complaints be filed.
Prosecutors asked NVC police for additional information, Napa County Chief Deputy District Attorney Mark Boessenecker said Friday. "We are expecting to file charges soon."
The district attorney typically has 48 hours, or until the next available court day, to file a complaint before releasing an arrestee. Since this did not happen in Ali and Chambers' cases, they were released from custody.
If and when charges are filed, arrest warrants will be issued for the pair, Boessenecker said.
Boessenecker said he did not know Ali or Chambers' whereabouts.
During an interview following his arrest, Ali told investigators he was living in New York and was calling around to different police academies, Arnold said. "He said he called Napa Valley Police Academy out of the blue. He said since he had family in Lodi, he picked Napa. We don't know for sure why he picked Napa."
The case in Lodi
Umer Hayat said his son was drawn to jihadist training camps in his early teenage years while attending a madrassah, or religious school, in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, according to an FBI affidavit.
The elder Hayat is alleged to have paid for his son to attend an al-Qaida training camp in Pakistan in 2003 and 2004. Father and son are charged only with lying to federal investigators.
Meanwhile, differences in copies of the affidavit released in Washington, D.C., and Sacramento raised questions among lawyers for both men.
The early version of the affidavit released in Washington said Hamid Hayat chose to carry out his "jihadi mission" in the United States and that potential targets included "hospitals and large food stores." The reference to the targets was dropped in a later version of the affidavit filed in federal court in Sacramento.
Hamid Hayat's attorney, Wazhma Mojaddidi, said that revision "strikes us as an odd turnabout."
Umer Hayat's attorney, Johnny Griffin III, said he was irritated that the government made public the references to hospitals and supermarkets, and then filed something different with the court. Griffin also said that whether the men had appropriate legal representation during their interrogations "may very well be an issue down the road."
Cauthen described the changes in the affidavits as routine. Authorities said they had no indication of specific plans or timetables for an attack.
"There is no specific information about hospitals and food stores," he said. "They didn't stand out above other sectors of the infrastructure."
The investigation also led to the detention on immigration complaints of two Islamic religious leaders, or imams, and one leader's son. Neither Cauthen nor a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement would reveal specifics of the alleged visa violations.
One of the imams, Mohammad Adil Khan, is scheduled for a July 1 hearing in San Francisco on three administrative charges: being inadmissible at the time of entry, violating the status or condition of his entry and fraud or misrepresentation.
According to the Sacramento Bee, Khan's son, Mohammad Hassan Adil, is scheduled to appear in immigration court in San Francisco July 29. The other imam, Shabbir Ahmed, is scheduled for a June 24 immigration hearing.
Cauthen said the Lodi investigation was not triggered by an internal rift within Lodi's Pakistani community, as some members of the community had suggested.
The Hayats and the imams are on opposite sides of a struggle between Pakistani factions in and around Lodi: The Hayats are aligned with a faction supporting more traditional Islamic values; the imams with another group seeking greater cooperation and understanding from the larger community. There are about 2,500 Pakistanis, some with family roots in Lodi stretching back decades, in the agricultural region about 30 miles south of Sacramento.
Adil Khan was trying to start an Islamic center but has been sued by the Lodi Muslim Mosque, which claims he improperly transferred mosque property.
"It may well be that some of this is gamesmanship," said attorney Gary Nelson, who represents Khan in the civil lawsuit. "But we are talking about the FBI and INS, and they don't do this lightly. At least I hope they don't."
Cauthen wouldn't say what triggered the terrorism probe. FBI officials have said they are investigating numerous people in the Lodi area who may have connections to al-Qaida and who received training abroad.
The link to Lodi isn't surprising, said Nick Boone, who retired from the FBI in Los Angeles in 2000 after spending most of his 31 years fighting terrorism.
"I found numerous, numerous connections to that area," as did other agents, Boone said. "That entire region, all of the area around there, became a very big area of Arab settlement," with accompanying connections to Islamic regions overseas.
The sequence that led to the arrests and detentions began May 29, when Hamid Hayat was trying to return to the U.S. but was identified in mid-flight as being on the federal "no-fly" list. His plane was diverted to Japan, where Hayat was interviewed by the FBI and denied any connection to terrorism.
He was allowed to fly to California, but was interviewed again last weekend. He and his father were charged after he flunked a lie detector test and then admitted attending the training camp, the affidavit said.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Chambers is already dead, I'll bet!
Dan Ackroyd and Chevy Chase in Spy's Like Us....there is a scene where they cheat outrageously on an exam.
"plus the ones CAIR and the Saudi petrol graft have bought..
How how does this scandal reach?
I assume you mean how deep. I'm afraid if we really knew, there would be a lot of sleepless night and loud cries to rid this nation of them. The Saudis probably control most of the Rats, Rinos and a few Repubies in Congress.
(The Muslim American Society's Goals) I wrote about the Muslim American Society in "The Islamic States of America?" and how it seeks to replace the Constitution with the Koran. Daveed Gartenstein-Ross takes this further today in "MAS's Muslim Brotherhood Problem," where he looks closely at the MAS Minnesota website and notes that it calls on members to fulfill their "duties as outlined in the Message of the Teachings by Imam [Hasan] Al-Banna." Gartenstein-Ross then takes a look at The Message of the Teachings and finds that it instructs Muslims that they must work on reforming their government
so that it may become a truly Islamic government. … By Islamic government I mean a government whose officers are Muslims who perform the obligatory duties of Islam, who do not make public their disobedience, and who enforce the rules and teachings of Islam.
Comment: Those of us who watch the growth of radical Islam in the United States tend to focus on the noisy organizations like CAIR, MPAC, and ISNA. The Muslim American Society, which claims 53 chapters and 10,000 members, tends to go about its work quietly; it is none the less dangerous – and perhaps more so – for that. (May 25, 2005) Permalink
Thanks for the info.
Please freepmail me when you blog this and any new threads on this Lodi mess on Free Republic.
Thanks again.
I was wondering what good it would do jihadists to infiltrate the NVCC police force. What does this allow them access to? Grades? Student textbook lockers? If it was about "blending in," they'd just blend in as students.
You've got to be kidding me. There's more security taking a Microsoft MCP, or a Cisco test than for a police test?
That's scary, I hope we are prepared, I think I'll just stay home under the bed for a few years, LOL.
Saudi Arabia Forging Ties with India
The royal family of Saudi Arabia is hedging its bets with the United States, making deals with Russia, China, and now India: Aiyar Keen to Take Indo-Saudi Ties to New Levels.
NEW DELHI, 27 March 2005 — Saudi Arabia has come to recognize India as a significant power and begun to take the country seriously, according to Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar, who begins a three-day landmark visit to the Kingdom tomorrow.
Crediting Saudi Arabia with taking the initiative to put Indo-Saudi relations on firmer ground, Aiyar said: “I have received signals from Saudi Arabia that they regard us as a significant power. I have been happy to reciprocate.”
“Why do they (Saudi Arabia) take us so seriously?”
Choosing to answer his own question, Aiyar highlighted the increasing importance of India’s requirements for oil. He said: “India is a significant importer of petroleum. We are going to become more so. Saudi Arabia recognizes this fact.”
In an exclusive interview with Arab News, Aiyar expressed optimism that Indo-Saudi ties would touch a new high in the coming days when Crown Prince Abdullah visits India. “He has accepted the invitation to visit India,” Aiyar said. The dates need to be finalized.
There appears to be no apprehension on the part of any of these countries that Saudi Arabia is committed—seriously committed, for the long haul—to the spread of Wahhabism around the world.
"Chambers is already dead, I'll bet!"
Like that TN DMV traitor who gave licenses to the Islamos before 9/11. She was dead in a flash when fingers started to point at her.
ping , and , I sure don't like the part , "don't know their whereabouts" , BTW , let's see where Chambers address in Brooklyn leads ,... our LEOs are playing catch-up-football while the ACLU creeps obstruct and divert attention
The academy provides potential police officers for cities, counties and the CHP throughout the state.
We know several young men and women who were graduated, who are now police officers, deputies or with the CHP.
This is what makes this dangerous.
Thanks!
The State Department Exam scene reminded me of this thread.
If Chambers isn't dead or permanently missing, I will be surprised.
The young Jihadist could be hidden in any Jihad in America community.
Folks, I'm out of here for the rest of the day.
I pick up tomorrow afternoon or on Monday.
Please post your comments and keep the thread alive.
I'm sure that this happened in other communities.
Would ,b>REALLY</b> like to know who posted the bond and conditions applicable? I'd be watching the Bail outfit to see if they are having trouble with their business, getting capital for other ventures, etc. Watch them like a hawk, obviously they have no scruples. This smells of "terrorism waiting to break out" (legal side of a sleeper cell IMHO).
>>If they infiltrate our police, I will have no choice but to say I can trust no muslim.<<
Would you explain why you do not believe they haven't already infiltrated every law enforcement agency in America?
Born in the US, educated in the US. Fed up that Muslims haven't yet taken over a world rulers. What is to keep them from infiltrating every law enforcement agency in America?
Calif. Radical Mooslim Ping....the a$$holes are plotting...
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