Posted on 10/08/2001 10:02:23 AM PDT by Plutarch
Transcription of California Report from KQED, San Francisco, CA. September 19, 2001
SCHAFER: From KQED Public Radio in San Francisco, this is the California Report, I’m Scott Schafer.
Just ahead, tracking terrorist activity in California…
Federal authorities are holding a San Diego resident suspected of helping two of the terrorists in last weeks attacks. The man was allegedly associated with two of the men who hijacked the American Airlines flight that crashed into the Pentagon. The L.A. Times meanwhile reports that dozens of subpoenas have been issued by a Federal Grand Jury in Los Angeles in connection with the With the use of Boeing flight stimulators. And investigators are also questioning another foreign national in and LA County for possible terrorist links. While this all comes in the wake of comments by Senator Dianne Feinstein that terrorists groups do operate in California. These kinds of activities are tracked by the Center for Non-proliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. Jason Pate, Manager of the Center’s terrorism project, says the notion of terrorist cells in California is not exactly new. Similar reports surfaced last year after the bombing of the “USS Cole.
PATE: In Fall of 2000, there were reports that a member of the Egyptian-Islamic Jihad had established some sort of cell or base of operations in Santa Clara. It is not clear why Santa Clara was chosen, and this person, who is linked to the Egyptian-Islamic Jihad, is a close associate of Osama Bin Laden. So, that’s the link. There is no information available among open sources, and that’s all we work with here at the Monterey Institute. As far as what exactly that cell was designed to do, what exactly its operations were for, or who exactly was involved with that.
SCHAFER: Taking a step back, what do we know about terrorist activity in California? How much is there and where does it seem to be centered?
PATE: All 50 states have active hate groups, militia groups and fundamentalist Christian groups, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which is a non-profit organization based in Montgomery, Alabama that tracks that type of activity. There are at least 29 active hate groups in California, and at least 23 active patriot or militia organizations in the state.
SCHAFER: And how carefully do the law enforcement agencies track those?
PATE: As carefully as they can, but the problem with law enforcement investigations of the groups in this country, it is not illegal to hold extremist or non-mainstream views. They’re protected by the First Amendment. So, law enforcement can only investigate, or launch an investigation, if there is clear evidence that a crime is being been committed or is about to be committed.
SCHAFER: Is there anything about California that makes us either uniquely positioned to successfully root out this kind of activity or that makes us particularly vulnerable to it.
PATE: In a way we are simply one of 50 states and not any more or less vulnerable than the rest of the country. At the same time, with such a huge population center, I think we will really to focus on the possibility future attacks are going to be targeting places where there could be mass casualties and certainly there are many places in California that are going to have large groups of people gathering together. It’s a very high profile state; there are a lot of symbols in California of America. The Golden Gate Bridge or Hollywood. Things we traditionally think about and associate with the United States, in the same way that we associate the World Trade Center or the Pentagon or the White House with the U.S. So, it is impossible to predict accurately where, when or how the next attack would come, we can only look backwards and try to extrapolate from the record.
SCHAFER: Jason Pate, Manager of the Terrorism Project at the Center for Non-Proliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies, thanks a lot.
Mr. Plutarch, thanks for your email dated October third.
I understand your concern that some Fundamentalist Christian groups were mentioned along comments about hate groups. Jason Pate is a Senior Research Associate at The Center for Nonproliferation Studies, specializing in tracking hate crimes and threats. We interviewed Pate because of his expertise in following hate groups. As a news organization, it seems valid to present the comments of someone with such expertise. As journalists, we are not agreeing or disagreeing with his comments but merely presenting them as information.
I believe that Pate was referring to the fact that some people associated with public acts of violence, such as the bombing of abortion clinics, have identified themselves as Fundamentalist Christians. It is this group of people that organizations such as the Center for NonProliferation Studies is tracking. I don't believe Mr. Pate was referring to most Christians or Fundamentalist Christians. Just like many other groups, there are extremists that choose to use the same labels. I appreciate your concern and agree that we all need to be very careful with our choice of words and the labels we use. Thanks for writing.
Andrea Kissack
Sr. Producer, The California Report
[I had to send away via snail mail for the tape and then transcribe it]
Plutarch--
This morning we aired an interview with Jason Pate of the Center for Non-Proliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. Mr. Pate discussed terrorist cells in California -- there was absolutely no mention of Christian and patriotic organizations being a threat to public safety, I assure you.
The California Report has run already, therefore the only way to hear it again would be to order a tape or CD.
Please let me know if you have any further questions.
The California Report
Dear California Report
I am trying to figure out if I heard an interviewee correctly on this morning’s California Report. I thought I heard Christian and patriotic organizations portrayed as a threat to public safety. I would like to find out today if I was mistaken. On the web site it appears that the California Report has already run on its network, is there another way to hear it?
Plutarch
As I read in another thread this AM, democracy means you can be just as irrational as you want.
The problem with that theory is that people read this stuff and take it as gospel.
[The real problem is that in today's America it is easy to equate Christianity with evil because Christians seldom hit back - it is impossible to equate Islam with evil because, well, it just wouldn't be right considering the dogmatic value place on diversity.]
Would it?
KQED is the vilest bucket of anti-American, anti-Christian vomit that exists anywhere in this world.
Their audience is 'Red Barbara' Lee's core constituency.
They have a companion Marxist radio station, KPFA, that also fills the Kalifornia air with anti-American, anti-Christian crap.
You are liable to hear most any kind of disinfo from that gang.
Petition Congress to DEFUND N.P.R. !!!
Dees' sister is one of the organisers of the Million Mom March. It must run in the family.
I would be willing to bet that more hate America/Americans organizations have donated money to the SPLC than to any so called militia! These clowns spend more time worrying about blacks being killed by KKKers than the real killings each weekend of black on black violence from the black gang bangers. This organization needs White Arians or what ever and KKKers to raise money, get funds from the Feds and other scams.
I believe that they were the main misleaders re all of the black churches burning due to evil white males a few years ago, some how they slid away with getting hell they should have gotten!
KQED radio and tv are run and managed by hate America/Americans in the lovely city of San Francisco. It depends on donations and grants to push its venom like this with a little liberal culture. We stopped contributing to them in 1977!
I would believe OBL before I believed anything from KQED or the Southern Poverty Law Center. Hell, I would believe Clintoon before I believed anything from these two left wing extremist organizations dependent on bs like this to raise money and to scam it from our governments!
Jason Pate is a Senior Research Associate and Manager of the Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Terrorism Project for the Chemical and Biological Weapons Nonproliferation Program , at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS), at the Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS). A certified Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), his primary interest is law enforcement/first responder response to and emergency planning for terrorist incidents. His research focuses on understanding motivations and patterns of behavior associated with terrorism involving weapons of mass destruction, the militia and Christian Identity phenomenon in the United States, and the causes of violence.
jpate@miis.edu
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