Free Republic

Last month FrontPageMag.com published my article, Hometown Jihad, concerning my return to my hometown, Hilliard, Ohio, following a decade-long absence, only to find that one of my new neighbors was none other than Salah Sultan, a well-known international terror apologist and anti-Semite, and that he was a regular speaker at the local Islamic school here in Hilliard, Sunrise Academy. When the article came out, I harbored no illusions that I would be offered the key to the city, have a public school named in my honor, or be invited to be grand marshal of the July 4th parade for the...

The U.S. Department of Justice raided and the Treasury Department froze the assets Sunday of an Ohio-based Muslim charity whose founder was once an official with a defunct Muslim charity in Bridgeview, the department said. No charges were filed Sunday against Khaled Smaili, the founder of KindHearts of Toledo, but the charity's assets were frozen pending further investigation into claims that the group gave money to Hamas, an Islamic organization that the U.S. considers a terrorist group, the department said. In January, Hamas won a majority of seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council. "KindHearts is the progeny of Holy Land...

CLEVELAND A federal grand jury has indicted three Ohio men on charges of planning attacks on U.S. military personnel in Iraq, according to an indictment. The three men, who all lived in Toledo within the last year, were arrested over the weekend, said Assistant U.S. Attorney David Bauer in Toledo. The indictment was unsealed Monday. They were to be arraigned in federal courts in Cleveland and Toledo on Tuesday afternoon. The suspects recruited others to train for a violent holy war against the United States and its allies in Iraq, the indictment said. The group traveled together to a shooting...

Three charged in conspiracy against US troops Tue Feb 21, 2006 4:09 PM ET By Deborah Charles WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal grand jury in Ohio indicted three men with plotting to kill people overseas, including U.S. troops in Iraq, and one was charged with threatening President George W. Bush, court documents showed on Tuesday. The indictment said the three men -- Mohammad Zaki Amawi, 26, Marwan Othman el-Hindi, 42, and Wassim Mazloum, 24 -- were part of a conspiracy that began in November 2004. "It was part of the conspiracy that one or more conspirators would recruit others to...

I-270 Shootings: Public's Assistance Still Needed Authorities Want To Open Dialogue With Person, Persons Involved COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Investigators looking into a series of shootings on Interstate 270 said Friday that they would like to open dialogue with the person or persons responsible for at least 10 shootings along that stretch of road. One of the shootings led to the death of a 62-year-old woman Tuesday. Franklin County Sheriff's Office Chief Steve Martin said that the shootings were not accidental, but intentional. Ballistics tests revealed that Tuesday's shooting was "positively linked" to at least one other shooting case and "investigators...

ne of Al Qaeda's first assignments for Iyman Faris, the Ohio truck driver named last month in a terrorist plot to destroy the Brooklyn Bridge, was to visit a travel agency while he was in Pakistan in late 2001 to have some old airline tickets reissued, federal investigators say.Because the tickets were not in his name, Mr. Faris needed an explanation to validate his request. Investigators say he used one that other Qaeda recruits have relied on to disguise their intentions: he pretended to be a member of Tablighi Jamaat, a fraternity of traveling Muslim preachers that is well known...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- An Ohio trucker has admitted to helping plan al Qaeda attacks in the United States after meeting terror chief Osama bin Laden at an Afghanistan terror training camp. Iyman Faris, 34, checked out the chances of destroying a New York bridge and tried to buy equipment for proposed al Qaeda attacks while appearing to be a law-abiding trucker, according to documents unsealed Thursday in the U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia. Faris pleaded guilty May 1 to providing material support to al Qaeda and to conspiring to do so, according to the documents. The charges together carry...

<p>There are reports that four men from the Middle East who are being held in the Tri-State may have issued threats at an Ohio Air Force Base.</p> <p>The men -- Sanjar Yormuhamdov, Sayfitdin Mulloer, Kahranan Pultov, and Zohirjon Zahidon -- are from Uzbekistan, a former Soviet bloc nation. They were arrested Friday in Fairborn, Ohio, near the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, WLWT Eyewitness News 5 reported.</p>

<p>CINCINNATI -- A local money-laundering operation that allegedly shipped millions of dollars to the Middle East has been stopped with the arrest of the group's alleged ringleader and more than 20 other people, officials announced Thursday.</p> <p>Omran Saleh (pictured, below) was among 23 people arrested, most of whom are of Palestinian descent, Thursday, WLWT Eyewitness News 5's Brian Hamrick reported.</p>

AKRON, Ohio - The leader of Ohio’s largest mosque has been stripped of his citizenship as punishment for a terrorism-related conviction but can’t be deported until a federal court hears his appeal, which could take 18 months. Imam Fawaz Damra had his citizenship revoked Thursday by U.S. District Judge James S. Gwin for being found guilty of lying about connections to terrorist groups when he applied in 1994 to become a citizen. Gwin on Monday sentenced the Palestinian-born Damra to two months in prison and four months of home detention. He said Damra, who remained free on bond, could start...

Large Gathering Prays With Convicted Imam Friday June 18, 2004 11:46 PM By M.R. KROPKO Associated Press Writer PARMA, Ohio (AP) - The leader of Ohio's largest mosque encouraged worshippers Friday to keep the faith in times of stress, a day after he was convicted of gaining U.S. citizenship by concealing past associations with terrorist organizations. Fawaz Damra, 41, did not discuss his trial or conviction, but spoke of the Quran's teachings about justice and faith, members of the mosque said following the closed service. Deem Alawan, a member of the Islamic Center of Cleveland, said nearly 1,500 people prayed...

AKRON -- The leader of Ohio's largest mosque was found guilty of lying to become a U.S. Citizen on Thursday. Imam Fawaz Mohammed Damra left the courthouse with his wife by his side and surrounded by dozens of supporters. Damra is free for now but that could change when he returns for his sentencing September 9th. A jury of eight women and four men say the religious cleric lied to become a citizen a decade ago. Damra stayed still as the verdict was read. Now he faces the possibility of losing his citizenship, being deported and possibly imprisoned.

AKRON, Ohio (AP) - Testimony in the trial of an Islamic cleric accused of lying on his application for U.S. citizenship ended Wednesday after federal prosecutors showed video footage of the defendant raising money for a suspected terrorist group. Fawaz Damra, the Palestinian-born imam of the Islamic Center of Cleveland, is charged with lying about his connections to terrorist organizations when he applied for citizenship in 1994. Damra, 41, has pleaded innocent. If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to five years in prison, stripped of his citizenship and deported. Jurors watched a 1991 video of Damra speaking at...

Bin Laden cannot be named in Damra trial Judge fears mention would inflame jurors Tuesday, June 15, 2004 John Caniglia Plain Dealer Reporter A federal judge, fearing the mention of Osama bin Laden would prejudice jurors, barred prosecutors from bringing up the terrorist's name during imam Fawaz Damra's trial, which begins today in Akron. Damra, the leader of the Islamic Center of Cleveland, is accused of concealing his ties to terrorism on immigration forms in 1994. If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to five years in prison and deported. U.S. District Judge James Gwin's decision helped Damra, 41,...

Investigators Look Into Finances Of Local Muslim Cleric Damra Faces Charges Of Tax Evasion, Money Laundering, Mail Fraud UPDATED: 7:12 AM EDT May 13, 2004 CLEVELAND -- A local Muslim cleric accused of hiding terrorist ties now has federal investigators looking into his finances. Federal prosecutors are checking the financial records of Fawaz Mohammed Damra, 41. It could lead to charges of tax evasion, money laundering, and mail and wire fraud, NewsChannel5 reported. Damra, the leader of the Islamic Center of Cleveland, is also accused of concealing terrorist ties on his U.S. citizenship application. Prosecutors revealed the financial investigation while...

Muslims in Cleveland have, by calling for the removal of Fawaz Damra, demonstrated that they have had enough of the politicization of their faith, and deserve the support of all Americans. Their action may mark a necessary turning point in our country's recent history. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- An historic series of events is taking place in the largely-hidden world of Islam in America, and in a place many people would consider unlikely: Cleveland, Ohio. The incidents in question involve Imam Fawaz Damra, 41, a Palestinian-born religious officer of the Islamic Center of Cleveland -- described as the biggest mosque in...

Imam Fawaz Damra helped lay the groundwork for an organization that ultimately merged into al-Qaida in the late 1980s. He was an unindicted co-conspirator of the terrorists who bombed the World Trade Center in 1993. And he passionately raised money for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which killed dozens of Jews in Israel during the 1990s. Yet Damra, spiritual leader to thousands of Muslims in Northeast Ohio, seemed to fly comfortably beneath the radar of U.S. terror investigators - until Tuesday. FBI agents swooped in on the Palestinian cleric at his Strongsville home, arresting him on a relatively minor - and...

CLEVELAND -- A federal judge made a decision today involving convicted Islamic leader Imam Fawaz Damra's U.S. citizenship.Judge James Gwin ordered that Damra's citizenship be revoked, with the understanding from the government that he will not be detained while pending appeal.Damra was sentenced Monday to two months in federal prison and four months of house arrest for lying about his connections to terrorist groups when he applied for U.S. citizenship.Damra is expected to begin serving his sentence after the Muslim holiday of Ramadan ends in November.Damra is the leader of Ohio's largest mosque, the Islamic Center of Cleveland in Parma.

Washington- Cleveland Islamic leader Fawaz Damra has been linked to a Florida man who was indicted yesterday as the leader of an alleged terrorist group responsi ble for more than 100 deaths in the Middle East. A 50-count federal indict ment accuses Sami Amin Al- Arian, 45, a University of South Florida engineering professor, and seven other al leged Palestin ian Islamic Ji had members of criminal racketeering, money laundering, conspiring to kill and maim people abroad, extortion, visa fraud, perjury and other charges. The defendants all face life in prison if they're convicted. "We will bring justice to the...

An Ohio mosque leader may be leaving the country earlier than expected.NewsChannel5 learned that Imam Fawaz Damra's appeal was dropped in the Court of Appeals.That means his citizenship remains revoked and the deportation process could begin soon. A judge revoked his citizenship in September 2004.A jury convicted Damra last year for lying about connections to terrorist organizations on his application for U.S. Citizenship.The 42-year-old spent two months in prison and four months under house arrest.Damra is the leader of Ohio's largest mosque, the Islamic Center of Cleveland, in Parma.