The US Department of Justice said it is launching a national pilot program in a number of cities to try and detect American extremists interested in joining terrorist organizations and fighting in countries like Syria and Iraq.
US Attorney General Eric Holder said
in a video message Monday that the program is designed to bring
together community representatives, public safety officials,
religious leaders, and US attorneys to “improve local
engagement ... counter violent extremism ... and – ultimately –
to build a broad network of community partnerships to keep our
nation safe.”
According to Holder, the department is teaming up with the White
House, the Department of Homeland Security and the National
Counterterrorism Center for the purpose.
“Today, few threats are more urgent than the threat posed by
violent extremism,” Holder said in the video posted on the
Justice Department’s website. “And with the emergence of groups
like ISIL [ISIS/The Islamic State], and the knowledge that some
Americans are attempting to travel to countries like Syria and
Iraq to take part in ongoing conflicts, the Justice Department is
responding appropriately.”
Which cities will participate in the program was not shared by
the Justice Department, nor were details of how widespread the
problem of recruitment is.
Earlier this month, Matt Olsen of the National Counterterrorism
Center told The Guardian that fewer than 100
Americans have traveled to Syria to fight alongside various rebel
factions and the splinter ISIS group, and a Defense Department
spokesman estimated that the Islamic State counts perhaps a dozen
Americans in its ranks.
Last week, a 19-year-old Colorado woman “pleaded guilty to
trying to help the Islamic State group,” the Associated
Press reported. According to the report, the woman’s plea deal “requires
her to give authorities information about other Americans with
the same intentions.”
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“Already, since 2012, our U.S. Attorneys have held or
attended more than 1,700 engagement-related events or meetings to
enhance trust and facilitate communication in their neighborhoods
and districts. This innovative new pilot initiative will build on
that important work,” said Holder.
“And the White House will be hosting a Countering Violent
Extremism summit in October to highlight these and other domestic
and international efforts. Ultimately, the pilot programs will
enable us to develop more effective – and more inclusive – ways
to help build the more just, secure, and free society that all
Americans deserve,” he added.
American-Muslim Civil rights groups spoke out when it was
revealed the FBI and local police departments such as the NYPD
were carrying out surveillance on, monitoring and entrapping
their communities since 9/11. They say Islam itself is seen by
these agencies as a threat to US national security.
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“Given the lack of any substantive responses from this
administration about the FBI’s surveillance and infiltration of
Muslim communities, and the lack of concern for civil liberties,
many will wonder whether this is another opportunity to covertly
collect intelligence,” Fahd Ahmed, director of the DRUM -
South Asian Organizing Center, told RT America.
A series of stories published by the AP and based on confidential
NYPD documents previously revealed how the department sought to
infiltrate dozens of mosques and Muslim student groups in New
York and elsewhere. The leaks became the basis of several
lawsuits seeking an end to unlawful surveillance.