Posts Tagged: Threats


22
Dec 10

Three Iraqi cities cancel Christmas festivities after new jihad threats

Jihad Grinch steals Christmas for Iraqi Christians. “There will be only small Mass in one church in Basra without any signs of joy or decoration and under the protection of Iraqi security forces. We are fully aware of al-Qaida threats.”

“3 Iraqi cities cancel Christmas festivities,” by Yahya Barzanji and Sameer N. Yacoub for Associated Press, December 22 (thanks to JCB):

KIRKUK, Iraq – Iraqi Christians on Wednesday called off Christmas festivities in three cities across the country as al-Qaida insurgents threatened more attacks on a beleaguered community still terrified from a bloody siege on a Baghdad church.

Church officials in the northern cities of Kirkuk and Mosul along with the southern city of Basra said they will not put up Christmas decorations, have canceled evening Mass and urged worshippers to refrain from decorating their homes. Even an appearance by Santa Claus has been called off.

“Nobody can ignore the threats of al-Qaida against Iraqi Christians,” said Chaldean Archbishop Louis Sako in Kirkuk. “We cannot find a single source of joy that makes us celebrate. The situation of the Christians is bleak.”

Christians across Iraq have been living in fear since a Baghdad church attack in October that left 68 people dead. Days later insurgents targeted Christian homes and neighborhoods across the capital with a series of bombs.

An al-Qaida front group that claimed responsibility for the church siege vowed at the time to carry out a reign of terror against Christians.

The Islamic State of Iraq renewed its threats in a message posted late Tuesday on a website frequented by Islamic extremists….

Christians in Iraq’s second-largest city of Basra, 340 miles (550 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad decided to cancel all celebrations. Saad Matti, a Christian legislator on the Basra provincial council, said the decision was made out of respect for the victims of the Our Lady of Salvation church siege and because of the al-Qaida threats.

“There will be only small Mass in one church in Basra without any signs of joy or decoration and under the protection of Iraqi security forces,” he said. “We are fully aware of al-Qaida threats.”

Jihad Watch


16
Dec 10

Threats to Economic Freedom in Belize?

Although Belize has made some progress on its Index of Economic Freedom score in the past few years, recent actions by the government of Prime Minister Dean Barrow and the supermajority his United Democratic Party enjoys in Parliament may have put that progress at risk. Belize is increasingly wracked by violent crime, while its high […]
The Foundry: Conservative Policy News.


14
Dec 10

FBI rushes to investigate veiled email threat to Cincinnati mosque, ignores open threats to anti-jihadists

There is no excuse for threats of violence sent through emails to people with whom one disagrees. It is noteworthy, however, that there have been no arrests and no FBI investigation of these emailed death threats and others like them that I have received, although I have contacted the FBI repeatedly and do so whenever a new death threat comes in. Yet the Cincinnati mosque email is not even as clear a threat as these below, and the FBI is all over it. Why the double standard?

“Robert Spencer has his right to speech. But someday he will slip up, he will visit a place that doesn’t honor such infidel ‘rights.’ And what a day they will have with him. You’ve heard of head cheese and blood pudding? See, modern hip Muslims like me like to be look different than everybody else in Western society. And we don’t like to believe Islam has any real enemies left. But Robert Spencer, well, he will see the sacred text come to life…’fuel the fires of hell…’ only when they are done with him. Peace and Love.” — September 29, 2010

“Robert Spencer the Second, born on February 27, 1962, is a hairy man who…currently lives on [specific street] in [specific city] with [specific relatives]…” — July 28, 2010, from Greenbelt, Maryland

“Killing of this man is a model… SPENCER-Model..Spencer himself deserves the same? he should be sloughtered like that man. Silencing the EVIL.” — April 4, 2010

“THIS IS AN OPEN THREAT TO YOU AND YOUR ORGANIZATION TO STAY AWAY FROM MUSLIMS AND ISLAM IF YOU KNOW WHAT IS GOOD FOR YOU. YOU SON OF A BITCH . YOUR MOTHER WAS A C**K-SUCKING WHORE . IF YOU GOT THE GUTS AND BALLS PRINT THIS ON YOUR WEB SITE AND TELL PEOPLE THAT YOU ARE BEING THREATENED. U FILTHY C**K-SUCKER HAVE A NICE DAY” — December 8, 2009

“Yes. Yes..We finally reached out him. Ka’ab Binu Ashraf has been traced. He will be soon found. Will this be like VAN-Goooordhd. I am not sure. Allah Knows.. But Spencer you will pay the price…Just wait to pay the price.” — September 28, 2009

“Robert….It was really good I found you in a local supermarket. and I followed you.. so i know your address now..tell you fool followers you are going to be deceased very soon… any one taking your seat and getting killed? I am sure most of your followers are cheeky cowards.” — September 28, 2009

“Do me a favor Spencer and put this as a blog post like you do to all those threatening mails. Be careful, I am very near to you. I located you and I know you have little security around you. I am coming to slit your throat with a bland knife.. and it will pain a lot.. since you misled a lot of people and became a fitnah on earth.. it is a duty of a good muslim to kill you! go report this to FBI or CIA..And don’t worry, I won’t attack you unguarded.. but i will surely kill you in the most easy manner possible because I don’t like to slaughter human beings.. Die and go to hell.. for sure..and yea I have a new name for you…Robert ‘hawknoseinhell’ spencer.” — September 28, 2009

I’ve received many, many others. Here is just one more, a classic from a few years back:

“YOu are the most f**king person I have ever seen. Enrooted in islamic hatred, you think your personal statements on Prophet Muhammed will be deemed appropriate. Motherf**ker, I am coming to kill you. I will hack the head off your face and i will kill your family. Wait for your doom. From A mujahid” — October 2, 2006

“FBI investigating mosque threat,” by Dan Horn for the Cincinnati Enquirer, December 14 (thanks to Andrew):

The FBI is investigating a threatening e-mail sent to a Clifton mosque that was the target of a pipe bomb attack almost five years ago.

FBI officials say they have no evidence the e-mail is connected to the previous attack, but they are taking no chances.

“That’s certainly something we will investigate,” said FBI spokesman Mike Brooks.
The e-mail was sent Saturday from an anonymous Yahoo account to the Islamic Association of Cincinnati, which oversees the mosque.

“You should know that you are not wanted in Cincinnati,” the e-mail states. “We don’t want you here. Mohammad is a joke. Go back to your desert. Beware. We may just declare jihad on you.”

Officials with the [Hamas-linked] Council on American-Islamic Relations said that although the e-mail does not contain a direct threat, it is a concern because of the previous attack on the mosque and because of growing animosity toward Muslims in the decade since the 9/11 attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C.

“I don’t want to blow this out of proportion, but we don’t want to dismiss it and assume it’s nothing,” said Karen Dabdoub, executive director of [Hamas-linked] CAIR in Cincinnati. “You just don’t know.”…

Indeed you don’t — especially given the fact that Hamas-linked CAIR and other Muslims have not hesitated to stoop even to fabricating “hate crimes,” including attacks on mosques. CAIR and other groups like it want and need hate crimes against Muslims, because they can use them for political points and as weapons to intimidate people into remaining silent about the jihad threat.

So what happened in Cincinnati is anybody’s guess. And it’s good that the FBI is on it. I just wish that the FBI were as proactive and energetic in investigating the many death threats that anti-jihadists such as Pamela Geller and I have received as they are when they rush to investigate allegations of threats against mosques and Muslims.

Jihad Watch


13
Dec 10

Virginia: Muslim arrested after making bomb threats on Facebook

Yet more Facebook jihad. “Facebook chats alert authorities to Va. man’s bomb threats,” by Emily Babay for the Washington Examiner, December 12 (thanks to Patrick):

An Arlington man is accused of threatening to set off bombs around D.C., including in the Metro system, but was caught through messages he sent on Facebook before a plot was developed.

Awais Younis, who also goes by Sundullah “Sunny” Ghilzai as well as Mohhanmed Khan, was charged in federal court in Alexandria with making threatening communications.

Younis, who was born in Afghanistan, used Facebook to threaten to set off explosives, according to an affidavit for his arrest by Joseph Lesinski, a special agent with the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force.

Authorities were tipped off to Younis by an unidentified person who corresponded with him on the social networking site, court documents say.

The documents say Younis described how to build a pipe bomb and advocated placing bombs on the third and fifth cars of Metro trains because they “had the highest number of commuters on them and he could place pipe bombs in these locations and would not be noticed.”

Younis also said he could put a bomb under a sewer head in Georgetown at rush hour “to produce the greatest number of casualties,” the affidavit says.

Using Facebook’s chat feature, Younis told the person who alerted authorities that “you should be nervous,” and “you want a reason to complain out [sic] me and my people. i will give you a reason.”…

Jihad Watch


11
Dec 10

Sweden: Suicide bomber injures two after news agency receives email threats over Motoons

Barbarism in the form of attempted murder for a cartoon comes to Sweden: “Our actions will speak for themselves, as long as you do not end your war against Islam and humiliation of the Prophet and your stupid support for the pig Vilks.”

Eurabia Update: The jihad bomber screamed “Allahu akbar” before setting off his bomb. “Blasts linked to Afghanistan kill one in Stockholm,” by Mia Shanley for Reuters, December 11 (thanks to PRCS):

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Two explosions killed a man and injured two people in a busy shopping area in Stockholm on Saturday evening after an email sent to a news agency threatened retaliation for Sweden’s military presence in Afghanistan.

Police spokesman Kjell Lindgren said it was possible that the dead man had blown himself up, but this had not been confirmed by investigators. Swedish media reported that he had killed himself with a bomb.

Lindgren said police were also investigating whether other, unexploded bombs were on the scene.

The Swedish news agency TT said it had received an email warning 10 minutes before the blasts, which took place either side of 5 p.m. (12 p.m. EST), with a threat to Sweden and its people.

It said the threat was linked to Sweden’s contribution to the U.S.-led NATO force in Afghanistan, where it has 500 soldiers, mainly in the north.

TT said the warning, which was also sent to Sweden’s Security Police (SAPO), also referred to caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad by the Swedish artist Lars Vilks.

The email had sound files in Swedish and Arabic.

“Our actions will speak for themselves, as long as you do not end your war against Islam and humiliation of the Prophet and your stupid support for the pig Vilks,” TT quoted a man as saying in one of the recordings.

Vilks depicted the Prophet with the body of a dog in a cartoon in 2007. Most Muslims consider any depiction of the founder of Islam as offensive….

Police spokeswoman Petra Sjolander said the first explosion had been in a car containing gas cylinders. The dead man was found at the site of the second blast about 300 meters away.

“It looked as if the man had carried something that exploded in his stomach,” Pascal, a trained medic, was quoted as saying on the DN.se website. “I removed a Palestinian scarf from his face to free up the airways, but it was too late ….

Jihad Watch


8
Dec 10

Libyan Threats Led To British Release of Lockerbie Bomber

It was the worst terrorist attack in Britain’s history, the deadliest assault on U.S. civilians until 9/11 and a political powder keg that roiled governments around the world. And via the latest WikiLeaks release we are finding out the real reason why the only man convicted for the attack was freed from a Scottish Prison sixteen months ago.

On Dec. 21, 1988, a bomb exploded in the forward cargo hold of Pan Am Flight 103, a jetliner flying from London to New York. Within less than a minute, the Boeing 747 splintered into thousands of pieces and fell 31,000 feet, smashing down in the village of Lockerbie, Scotland. The impact killed 11 villagers and destroyed 21 homes. None of the 259 people on board the aircraft survived.

On August 21, 2009 Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi, the only man convicted of the terrorist attack, was released from the Prison where he had been serving a life sentence. Because he supposedly had less than three months to live, he had been sent home to Libya to die. Under pressure from Great Britain, Scottish courts were forced to show more mercy to al-Megrahi than he showed to the 270 people he killed.


Almost a year and a half later, the mass murderer is still alive,  according to the doctor who originally said he had three months to live the Lockerbie murderer may be around for up to ten more years and we are finally finding out the real reason the al-Megrahi was released.

According to State Department cables released by WikiLeaks, Great Britain released the mass murderer because of threats to its interests around the world, by the Libyan government, and despite all of the objections Obama made after the monster was sent back to Libya the United States knew exactly what was going on.

A cable sent in October 2008 said that Britain at the time was “in an awkward position” and “between a rock and a hard place”. The London charge d’affaires, Richard LeBaron, wrote, “The Libyans have told HMG [Her Majesty’s Government] flat out that there will be ‘enormous repercussions’ for the UK-Libya bilateral relationship if Megrahi’s early release is not handled properly.”

Another cable written in January, shows that the United States knew that British citizens would be in danger if al-Megrahi wasn’t released.

They do not anticipate that GOL [Government of Libya] officials will pursue another application for bail, and said they had no information from the FCO to suggest that al-Megrahi’s application for compassionate release, which was denied in November, would be re-submitted in light of his deteriorating medical condition. U.K. Emboffs began consulting with us in December about deliberations concerning their security posture and tripwires for action should al-Megrahi die in Scottish prison. Consistent with information reported reftel, GOL officials have warned U.K. Emboffs in demarches here that the consequences for the U.K.-Libya bilateral relationship would be “dire” were al-Megrahi to die in Scottish prison. Specific threats have included the immediate cessation of all U.K. commercial activity in Libya, a diminishment or severing of political ties and demonstrations against official U.K. facilities. GOL officials also implied, but did not directly state, that the welfare of U.K. diplomats and citizens in Libya would be at risk.

Later in the same cable it says:

The failure of Switzerland and Libya to resolve the dispute prompted by the arrest of Muammar al-Qadhafi’s son, Hannibal, last July has convinced U.K. Emboffs that the consequences if al-Megrahi were to die in prison or if the transfer under the PTA were denied would be harsh, immediate and not easily remedied

It also shows that the nascent Obama administration decided to stay quiet about the eventual release.

If the USG publicly opposes al-Megrahi’s release – or is perceived to be complicit in a decision that results in al-Megrahi remaining in prison – the U.S. Embassy and private Americans in Libya could face similar consequences.

And we also knew that Megrahi was going to live longer than than the publicly stated three months.

A cable said: “Megrahi could have as long as five years to live but the average life expectancy of someone of his age with his condition is 18 months to two years. Doctors are not sure where he is on the time scale.”The Libyans have not yet made a formal application for compassionate release … but HMG believes that the Scottish may be inclined to grant the request, when it comes, based on conversations between … Alex Salmond and UK justice secretary Jack Straw. Although the general practice is to grant compassionate release within three months of end of life, this is not codified in the law, so the release, if granted, could occur sooner.”

 It seems that the release of the Lockerbie Killer is as much a failure of US policy as it is of British policy.  Great Britain allowed itself to be bullied and threatened into releasing a mass murderer. But the United States knew exactly what was happening, made no attempt to help its British ally withstand the threats from Tripoli and after it all went down, acted with surprise and anger. Perhaps it was the lack of experience of the Obama Administration, or maybe it was the start of Obama’s move away from the US’s European allies, but either way it does show that the Obama Administration cannot be trusted.




YID With LID


7
Dec 10

Russian Duma Threats Race Should Not DeterDue Diligence on New START

Boris Gryzlov, Speaker of Russia’s State Duma, the lower house of parliament, said on Saturday that if the U.S. Senate moves to amend the text of New START, a strategic offensive arms treaty between the two countries, the Duma will also be ready to make amendments to the text of the treaty. Gryzlov could also be referring to reservations or understandings attached to the instrument of ratification, just as Senate Foreign Relations Committee did. This comes atop the Duma’s International Affairs Committee delay last month to consider the legislation that would authorize the ratification of New START by the full Duma.

The Duma’s actions raise questions the Obama Administration should answer before the Senate considers the treaty. What remains unclear are the commitments the Obama Administration negotiators made to the Russians that apparently Duma members feel may not be honored. The most significant example is the potential limitations on ballistic missile defense options contained in the Preamble, the body, the protocol, and annexes of New START.

These limitations were recognized by treaty supporters when the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted to report New START to the full Senate on September 16. The committee adopted a resolution of ratification that includes conditions, an understanding, and declarations that were designed to protect the U.S. missile defense options against limitations imposed by the treaty.

These amendments must be significantly strengthened to avoid misinterpretations regarding the U.S. ability to develop and deploy all options for missile defense, including space-based defenses.

Also of great concern are reports of a secret side agreement that would supposedly restrict the U.S. ability to pursue a robust missile defense. It is clear that the Senate needs full access to the New START negotiating record to determine what U.S. negotiators stated during negotiations with the Russians relating to the Defense Technical Cooperation Agreement talks. The Senate needs to get to the bottom of the confusion created by today’s fact sheet from the State Department and the earlier U.S. unilateral statement regarding missile defenses. This is impossible to do in the current lame duck Senate because of the lack of time. Moreover, no major treaties were ever ratified by in lame duck session.

In addition, Russian leaders appear to be using the good old Cold War approach of intimidation to force the U.S. Senate to act. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin reiterated the threat of a renewed arms race if the Senate does not ratify New START in an interview with Larry King last Wednesday. This challenge comes in the midst of Moscow denying reports that it moved its nuclear weapons closer to NATO borders because of the threat it perceives from U.S. and NATO missile defense plans.

Russian intimidating rhetoric and action should not have an effect on Senatorial deliberations on New START. It is imperative that the Obama Administration make all U.S. and Russian commitments under New START transparent to the U.S. Senate. Negotiating records should be released, and the Senate should be allowed time to review them carefully. Finally, the Senate should allow itself to take time for diligence inherent in its constitutional role. The safety and security of the American people demand just that.

The Foundry: Conservative Policy News.


6
Dec 10

Bolton: The real danger is Obama’s ambivalence to world threats and WikiLeaks

Former UN Ambassador John Bolton does not refute the danger of WikiLeaks to America’s national security.

However, he reminds all of us that the real danger to America is President Obama and his nonchalant attitude when it comes to national security.

More troubling than WikiLeaks’ latest revelation of US secrets, however, is the Obama administration’s weak, wrong-headed and erratic response.

Liberty Pundits Blog


5
Dec 10

Wikileaks Readies “Insurance” Document Dump In Wake Of Shutdown Threats

In the face of international pressure and a pending, though unrelated, Interpol arrest warrant, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has readied what some are calling a poison

Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, has circulated across the internet an encrypted “poison pill” cache of uncensored documents suspected to include files on BP and Guantanamo Bay.

One of the files identified this weekend by The Sunday Times — called the “insurance” file — has been downloaded from the WikiLeaks website by tens of thousands of supporters, from America to Australia.

Assange warns that any government that tries to curtail his activities risks triggering a new deluge of state and commercial secrets.

The military papers on Guantanamo Bay, yet to be published, have been supplied by Bradley Manning, Assange’s primary source until his arrest in May. Other documents that Assange is confirmed to possess include an aerial video of a U.S. airstrike in Afghanistan that killed civilians, BP files and Bank of America documents.

One of the key files available for download — named insurance.aes256 — appears to be encrypted with a 256-digit key. Experts said last week it was virtually unbreakable.

In some sense this isn’t news because the “insurance” file has been available online since July. Nonetheless, with the pressure on Wikileaks increasing in the wake of the last document dump, it could be a preview of coming attractions.




Outside the Beltway


26
Nov 10

John Bolton on North Korean threats: Whatever

Escalation.


A reminder from the ‘Stache that this morning’s saber-rattling about the U.S. naval exercises planned for Sunday is much ado about nothing — provided that we don’t end up appeasing them by canceling the exercises or moving them to another location. There’s no way they’ll be canceled; as explained previously, The One can’t afford to […]

Read this post »

Hot Air » Top Picks


22
Nov 10

TMZ: Bristol Palin getting death threats, DWTS ramps up security

It’s come to this.


This is now the national equivalent of a brawl breaking out in the stands at a Little League T-ball game because Joey’s dad thinks he was safe and Billy’s dad says he was out. Except instead of headlocks and punches, there’s fake anthrax and professional security involved. Are we sure this is still a “liberals […]

Read this post »

Hot Air » Top Picks


8
Nov 10

Openly Gay Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson To Retire Over Death Threats

Saying he is tired of the incessant death threats rained down from God’s Gentle People™ , openly gay Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson is retiring.

“The fact is, the last seven years have taken their toll on me, my family and you,” Robinson wrote in a message posted on the diocese website. “Death threats, and the now-worldwide controversy surrounding your election of me as bishop have been a constant strain, not just on me, but on my beloved husband, Mark, who has faithfully stood with me every minute of the last seven years.” Robinson was openly gay when he was elected bishop in 2003, but it aroused such passions that he wore a bullet-proof vest to his consecration. His ordination as bishop — the first of an openly gay priest in any Christian denomination — so divided the church that its General Convention in 2006 called a moratorium on “any candidate to the episcopate whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church.”

Joe. My. God.


5
Nov 10

Obama’s security dog named “Khan,” Muslims outraged, issue threats, demand apology

“To name a dog a Muslim name by US security agencies is to deliberately incite the Muslim community.” So if Islamic supremacist idiots start rioting and killing people over this, it will be America’s fault, you see. “Obama’s security dog named ‘Khan’: Muslims irked,” from Rediff, November 5 (thanks to all who sent this in):

Muslims in Mumbai are up in arms against a United States military sniffer dog allegedly with name tag of ‘Khan’ that has landed in the city as part of President Barack Obama security arrangements.

On Tuesday, the German Shepherd arrived in the Mumbai airport from a Hercules C130 transport plane. The German Shepherd allegedly had a tag around its neck which read ‘MWD Khan.’ MWD stands for Military Working Dog. Khan is alleged to be the name of the dog.

Angry Muslims in the city and the state are threatening to protest this ‘insult’ to the community.

The issue became a rage when a tabloid had reported the incident and quoted veteran actor Raza Murad objecting to the dog being named ‘Khan.’

Though noted lyricist Javed Akhtar had been quoted to ignore the issue and focus on welcoming the VIP guest.

Maharashtra Samajwadi Party leader MLA Abu Asim Azmi also threatened to undertake a protest. He said that the US deliberately wants to incite the Muslims through such acts and the party would stage a protest on the issue.

Prominent Muslim religious heads have expressed anger and dismay on the information of a US dog being named ‘Khan.’ Maulana Syed Athar Ali said that it is a known fact that Muslims detest pigs and dogs.

Except when they angrily accuse non-Muslims who point this out of being “Islamophobes,” so as to confuse the kuffar further.

“To name a dog a Muslim name by US security agencies is to deliberately incite the Muslim community. We would be meeting soon and devise a strategy to protest and seek apology from the US,” said Maulana Athar Ali.

And I am sure one will be forthcoming.

Jihad Watch


2
Nov 10

The changing threats to Israel (Giora Eiland)

Zvi pointed to a must-read article in the Jerusalem Post (originally in the JCPA) by Maj.-Gen. (res.) Giora Eiland, who knows a thing or two about security.

Here is the synopsis from JCPA (which, by the way, is one of the great things about all JCPA articles – the fact that they put the important points as bullet items):

How do we resolve the dilemma of a peace agreement that includes handing over the Golan Heights to the Syrians, while facing the fact that Israel cannot be defended without the Golan Heights? The way around this was supposed to be the inclusion in any peace agreement of specific security arrangements. Yet this approach was based on a number of assumptions, all of them misguided.

Events over the past ten years have also revealed a marked change in the types of threats to be expected from a Palestinian state or from the existing Palestinian entity. This involves a switch to three types of weaponry that all fundamentally contradict the guidelines discussed for security arrangements.

Rockets and missiles positioned throughout the West Bank would easily cover the entire State of Israel. Advanced anti-aircraft missiles would be capable of shooting down not only large passenger aircraft flying into Ben-Gurion International Airport, but also helicopters and even fighter planes. Anti-tank missiles that are highly effective up to a range of 5 km. can easily cover not only strategic positions such as Israel’s north-south Highway 6, but well beyond.

The common denominator among all of these is the ease of smuggling and clandestine manufacture, as is taking place today in Gaza. No monitoring system that may be established will be able to prevent this. Only effective control of the Jordan Valley along the Israeli-Jordanian border can prevent the smuggling of these types of weapons.

In addition, if Israel were to withdraw to the 1949 armistice lines, then the area to the east of the Israel-Palestine border would be home not only to the Palestinian Authority, but to other potential enemies too, including Hizbullah and Syria. This means that in determining security arrangements in the West Bank, the approach must be broader, beyond Israel’s needs vis-à-vis only the Palestinians.

Seriously, read the whole thing.

Elder of Ziyon


29
Oct 10

Woman Receives Death Threats Days After Beck Targets Her On His Show

The League of Women Voters has filed complaints with police in Evanston, IL and the FBI saying that one of their officials has been targeted death threats relating to a candidates debate she moderated last week. Kathy Tate-Bradish was a volunteer moderator at the October 21 debate in the state’s 8th District and sparked conservative outrage when she expressed what was perceived as “lukewarm” support for reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

Just as the debate was about to begin, an audience member asked Tate-Bradish whether the pledge would be recited. When she “explained the pledge was not scheduled to begin the event, almost all in the crowd of more than 300 stood and enthusiastically recited it anyway.” Tate-Bradish recited the pledge as well, but told the crowd afterwards that the Pledge is not typically recited at candidate debates moderated by the League.

Within a few days, Tate-Bradish went from an unknown local League official to a right-wing villain, thanks to Fox News host Glenn Beck, who devoted a significant portion of his October 25 show to attacking her personally:

BECK: We wanted to look at the moderator, Kathy Tate-Bradish, from the League of Women Voters. Oh, she sounds so neutral and everything. I mean, she’s even neutral on the Pledge, apparently — just a typical woman voter trying to get the truth out. No, not so much — not so much.

She is on fire for Obama. She is a big-time Obama supporter. In fact, so much so, she’s part of his Organizing for America arm. Hmm. She’s even hosted campaign event in her home in 2007, part of her post on OFA’s, Organizing for America Web site, “Hope Action Change.”

Watch it:

The FBI told the Arlington Heights Daily Herald that Tate-Bradish’ complaint has been received and is receiving due consideration.” League of Women Voters Illinois Executive Director Jan Czarnik, who filed the complaint, told the FBI that Tate-Bradish had been “turned into a cause celebre by Glenn Beck and Fox News.” Czarnik provided the FBI death threats posted on the Internet against Tate-Bradish, and “reported menacing posts on Fox News Channel’s Facebook page and Beck’s website, The Blaze.”

Joel Cheatwood, an executive who oversees Beck’s show, issued a statement yesterday saying, “We’re not going to comment on something that’s hypothetical as we have not heard about this complaint.”

For more on right-wing violence, see yesterday’s Progress Report.

ThinkProgress


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