Posted on 02/25/2008 3:01:17 PM PST by Sammy67
By Nicole Harris, nharris@qconline.com
ROCK ISLAND - Police continue to investigate a report of suspicious activity at St. Pius X Church.
Rev. Mike Schaab sent a letter home to parents of Jordan Catholic School students Wednesday warning about "several men of apparently Middle Eastern origin" visiting a Feb. 16 Mass who allegedly took photographs inside the church and its exterior.
Parishioners contacted police with the license plate of one of the cars driven by the men, but Capt. Scott Harris said tracing the plate has been unsuccessful.
The plate numbers ran by police have turned up no record, but officers are checking different variations and sequences which may lead back to the green Ford reported by parishioners, he said.
Capt. Harris said additional patrols were provided during the past weekend church services. They have also contacted the Statewide Intelligence Terrorism Center which will record the matter and provide feedback if there are similar incidents reported in the state.
He said this does not mean the suspicious activity was related to terrorism, it is simply an investigative tool used to record incidents and provide data for comparison.
Both Capt. Harris and Rev. Schaab emphasized these efforts are precautionary.
"... I ask all parishioners of St. Pius X Church and parents of students at Jordan Catholic School to be alert rather than simply alarmed," Rev. Schaab wrote in
(Excerpt) Read more at qconline.com ...
“tracing the plate has been unsuccessful.”
This seems unlikely if the transcription was correct.
masking tape can turn a D to a B (for example) and work just fine unless the observer is able to get up close.
Not saying that’s the case, but it is not an uncommon trick.
10 little freepers!
thanks 4 the tip
Ping
Eyes and ears.
Nothing to see here, just tourists.
interesting..........
If these middle eastern bastards ever hurt our children this country should expel them all before the week is over.
Here is the UPDATE to the February 22, 2008 article posted on this thread.
QUOTE:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1963607/posts?page=1088#1088
UPDATE:
http://qconline.com/archives/qco/display.php?id=375937
“Pastor: St. Pius incident a simple misunderstanding”
Posted online: February 23, 2008 11:43 PM
Print publication date: 02/24/2008
By Joel Donofrio, jdonofrio@qconline.com
ARTICLE SNIPPET: “An incident at St. Pius X Catholic Church in Rock Island that prompted a warning letter and a brief investigation by police was nothing more than a misunderstanding, the parish pastor said.
Several unknown men who were seen last weekend inside and outside the church actually were a resident who is new to the area and some of his friends, said the Rev. Michael Schaab.”
ARTICLE SNIPPET: “After learning of newspaper reports regarding the incident, the new resident -– who is Catholic and a native of India –- visited Rev. Schaab Saturday morning to explain the situation.
The man, his wife and their 3-year-old child recently moved to the Quad-Cities after he took a job here, Rev. Schaab said. Because the man’s father recently had died, he had friends visiting him who wished to attend church with him, the pastor added.
“The family has been coming to Mass but hadn’t registered at our parish yet. That’s why we didn’t know them,” Rev. Schaab said. “It was simply a misunderstanding.”
Rev. Schaab said he did not ask the man whether he or any of his friends took photographs before, during or after Mass.”
1,088 posted on 02/24/2008 7:36:17 PM PST by Cindy
This follows a familiar pattern - Middle Eastern men behave in ways which - although harmless in and of themselves - are bound to arouse suspicions. This will enable them to come back later on with threats of lawsuits, demands for reparations, and publicity designed to discourage people from reporting suspicious behavior.
Wyoming plates are no longer embossed, so a substitute image could be printed on a PC and pasted over the real one.
Since the plate is flat, it could not be detected even closeup. If it were pasted just at the corners, or was on label paper, it could be removed easily.
Where is Rock Island?
Illinois
Please. After 9-11 we didn’t expel anyone. Hell, we still haven’t even sealed the borders.
from http://nymag.com/news/articles/wtc/1year/numbers.htm
“Estimated number of children who lost a parent: 3,051”
Off hand, I’d saying killing a parent would qualify as huring a child. We’ve pushed back with the WOT and as soon as the Libs get the white house even that response will be considered done.
I’ve heard of that, and I’ve seen police software that spins out “possibles” based on obscurations and misdirections, too, and you weed out the very unlikelies. Whatever, the police say the tag was not traceable.
Thanks for posting, that seems a happier conclusion than unknown people casing the place.
You’re welcome, DBrow.
I always appreciate follow up to suspicious incident articles, too.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.