Imam Umar Defense

To:  US Attorney, Southern Dist. of New York

We, the undersigned, demand an end to government harassment of Imam Umar and his family. Imam Umar has been subjected to lies published in the Wall Street Journal and in other newspapers claiming that he made statements supporting the 9/11 terrorists, which he strongly denies. As a result, along with the campaign against him waged by New York Governor Pataki and Senator Schumer, Imam Umar has lost jobs and his access to the prisons where he worked for 25 years as a Muslim chaplain. Recently, the harassment of Imam Umar and his family escalated; his home in Bethlehem, New York and his apartment in the Bronx were raided by New York City police, the ATF, and the FBI. He is now on trial because the police found an unregistered shot gun in his Bronx apartment. For this minor offense, the federal government set bail at $100,000.
We feel that the harassment of Imam Umar and his family is one example of the general harassment of the Muslim community in the United States. This harassment reflects an ongoing attempt to create an atmosphere of fear to gain support for our government’s attacks on civil liberties as the drive for war continues. We believe that Imam Umar’s real crime is that he is Black, Muslim, and an outspoken critic of US government policy.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Imam Umar Defense Petition to US Attorney, Southern Dist. of New York was created by Bethlehem Neighbors for Peace and written by Joe Lombardo (jlombard@nycap.rr.com).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.

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