IS THE DANGER RIGHT IN FRONT OF OUR EYES?
by Sharon Rondeau
(Apr. 23, 2013) — On Monday, The Post & Email contacted the office of Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, who was shown in a video from May 2010 accepting a $50,000 check from a controversial imam to be used for Islamic “sensitivity instruction” toward Islam for public officials, including police officers.
We asked if the video’s narrator accurately depicting the events of that day.
Following the explosions at the Boston Marathon which killed three people and injured approximately 264, an imam from one of two Boston-area mosques was invited to speak at the interfaith service held last Thursday, but Patrick replaced him, apparently unbeknownst to the imam, Suhaib Webb.
The two Boston mosques are “both owned by the ISB Board of Trustees but managed by two different organizations.” One is located in Roxbury, while the other is in Cambridge.
The Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center is operated by the Muslim American Society, which is reported to be “the overt arm of the Muslim Brotherhood.”
Another group involved in Patrick’s visit to the mosque nearly two years ago is Islamic Relief, which reportedly has indirect ties to Hamas and Al Qaeda through the Muslim Brotherhood.
Both Patrick and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino attended the grand opening of the mosque at 100 Malcolm X Boulevard in Roxbury Crossing in 2009. Menino had sold the land to the Islamic Center’s developers “at a greatly reduced price.”
The Cambridge mosque was attended by the bombing suspects, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Late last week, there was some confusion as to which mosque the brothers had attended.
Tamerlan was killed in the early hours of Friday after a shootout with police and the murder of a police officer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He was reportedly becoming more radical in his practice of Islam, causing a rift between family members and himself during a visit to Russia last w=year. His internet postings, some of which have been removed since his death, depicted examples of radical Islam.
After Patrick’s meeting with the imam and acceptance of the money, gubernatorial challenger Tim Cahill described him as “pandering to the Muslim community by meeting with its leaders and supporting their requests.”
A former state treasurer, Cahill advised:
Gov. Patrick should stop playing politics with terrorism and focus on protecting all the citizens of this commonwealth.
While on Monday The Post & Email was advised that our questions were sent to someone who would respond, we have received no reply as of publication time.
A funeral mass for eight-year-old Martin Richard, who was killed by one of the explosives set off by the Tsarnaev brothers, was held today. The young boy had made a poster, the photo of which has gone viral on the web, which said, “No more hurting people. Peace.”
Funerals for the MIT officer and the two women who were killed have also been held.
The surviving suspect has reportedly told investigators that he and his elder brother killed and maimed Americans because of a “religious motive.”
Patrick has stated that he will not seek reelection next year.