Fox in the Hen House: Allowing Terrorists to Re-enter Prisons

Hundreds of inmates convicted of terrorism have been allowed back in prisons — to speak to inmates as so-called “religious volunteers,” according to recent studies. And the result?

Predictable. These religious teachers are then able of radicalizing inmates and training them in the Islamic jihadi way.

Virginia, especially, is guilty of allowing this practice to continue.

From the Investigative Project:

“Edwin Lorenzo Lemmons, also known as Asad al Salaam, is an employee of the Muslim Chaplain Services of Virginia. He is licensed in the state as an Islamic clergyman authorized to perform marriages and other religious ceremonies. He has been issued a statewide pass to enter any VADOC [Virginia Department of Corrections] facility and speak with inmates. He is currently teaching a class in Arabic for inmates. He is also an ex-offender. While that in itself is not unusual, many ex-offenders, in a desire to give back and help others in similar situations, have successfully done so. This particular ex-offender, Edwin Lorenzo Lemmons, (FBI # 939113RA3), is quite unique.

“Lemmons’ criminal history began in a small rural community in upstate New York. His parents had sent him there from Chicago in hopes of protecting him from the scourge of gang violence and drugs. His first arrest occurred when he was a teenager, and for the next two years he amassed charges ranging from DUI to Burglary, Assault, and finally, Robbery. The last charge resulted in his being sentenced to a term of 2-4 years in a New York State prison. Upon his entrance to a Reception and Classification facility in April of 1996, he declared his religion as Christian. A few months later, after meeting with several inmates of Middle Eastern descent, one, a former Colonel in the Yemeni army and the other, a member of Hamas, Mr. Lemmons informed his counselor that he was changing his religious affiliation to Islam. Following that development, he began to attend Arabic classes taught by another inmate in the Cayuga Correctional Facility. The inmate teacher’s name was Abdel Nasser Zaben.

“Abdel Zaben, a Palestinian, was born in Jordan in 1969. He illegally entered the United States in 1990, arrested by the NYPD in 1993 for Kidnapping and Robbery, and sentenced to 18 years in prison. Zaben was also the target of an investigation by the Joint Terrorism Task Force who had received confidential information that he had sworn allegiance to Osama bin Laden and was recruiting disenfranchised inmates to his group for training and to fight in the Jihad. At the time he first met with Edwin Lemmons, Zaben worked as a clerk for the prison’s Islamic Chaplain . For the next two years he tutored Lemmons in both Arabic and the Koran. When the time for Lemmons’ release from prison drew near, inmate Zaben provided him with names and contact information of individuals in the Middle East who would assist Lemmons in his travel and studies.

“Following his release, in the fall of 1998, Lemmons had his parole supervision transferred to Florida, and enrolled in the Islamic Center of Gainesville. In March 2000, Lemmons made his first trip overseas to the Middle East. Upon his return from Jordan through New York’s JFK Airport and then on to Gainesville, Florida, he approached the president of the Islamic center and asked about fighting in the jihad overseas. The then-president, Mohamed Bahmaid, in an interview with members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force, stated that he tried to discourage Lemmons from any future overseas travel. Lemmons did not heed his advice. Four months later Lemmons made another trip overseas, this time to Egypt. He stayed for three months and while there, according to a reliable source who knew both Lemmons and Zaben, he received “underground tactical training.”

“Later, while under surveillance by the JTTF, Lemmons was observed at a firing range in Melbourne, Florida with two other individuals, firing AK 47’s and SKS assault rifles. They were practicing tactical maneuvers known as “cover & concealment.” In addition, authorities received credible information from a reliable source that described Lemmons as someone with extremist Islamic views similar to that of the Taliban. Lemmons himself admitted to extremist views in a recorded conversation with inmate Abdel Zaben. The majority of Lemmon’s conversations with Zaben were in Arabic and required the use of government translators. The translators often remarked as to the skill and scholarly approach to the language that Lemmons had acquired. That development caused concern with investigators in June 2003 when monitoring a conversation between Lemmons and Zaben. Lemmons kept saying over and over to Zaben that he needed to learn how to say “Big Truck” in Arabic. He was fluent in Arabic and knew precisely how to say those words. Why was he repeating the phrase, “Big Truck”? Investigators believed this was a coded message about a possible future attack that Lemmons was to be involved with.

“That is why on September 6, 2003, members of the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force arrested Lemmons in the Orlando airport as he returned from yet another trip to the Middle East. He was charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. But this was no ordinary gun case. This was the result of a joint investigation dubbed “Operation Hades” which included investigators from my Office, the NYPD, the NYSP, and the JTTF. The goal of the investigation was to determine the level of Islamic radicalization in the prison system both here and abroad and also to identify and neutralize any radicalizing influences.

Lemmons was only one of the many radicals we uncovered.”

Lemmons was handed a 27 months sentence. He was released in May of 2006. And he continued to keep contact with extreme individuals in the Middle East, like Abdel Zaben.

So it’s particularly egregious that he’s allowed back into the prison system, under guise of teaching religion.

Again, from the Investigative Project:

“The question arises as to why the Muslim Chaplains Services of Virginia would hire someone holding such extremist views. Perhaps they were unaware of Lemmons’ background, or perhaps they share the same beliefs as Mr. Lemmons. The MCSVA is a non-profit organization incorporated in 2003 whose stated mission is “to serve incarcerated individuals, ex-offenders, and their families.” To accomplish that goal, MCSVA has received funding from various organizations including the Islamic Relief (IRUSA), an organization with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. Its former global affiliate and current partner organization Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW) was banned from operating in Israel on allegations the charity funneled funds to Hamas. Later the same year, the United Arab Emirates declared IRW to be a terrorist group.

“One of the MCSVA board members, Sa’ad El-Amin, pled guilty to Tax Fraud and sentenced to 37 months in a federal prison. Adding to this, MCSVA is now employing an individual who was radicalized in prison and has spoken of fighting and dying for jihad, namely Edwin Lorenzo Lemmons, also known as Asad al Salaam

“Allowing an individual with such radical Islamic views to meet, teach, and influence a particularly vulnerable group of society, incarcerated men and women, is in direct opposition to the FBI’s Correctional Intelligence Initiative which seeks to detect, deter, and disrupt the level of violent extremism and radicalization in correctional institutions. It specifically speaks of preventing un-vetted religious clergy and volunteers with extremist views from any interaction with inmates. The DOJ Inspector General’s Office has also spoken of this security concern. That inmates could be radicalized while incarcerated and then carry out terrorist attacks after release is a very real concern both here and in abroad.”

The Truth Must be Told

Your contribution supports independent journalism

Please take a moment to consider this. Now, more than ever, people are reading Geller Report for news they won't get anywhere else. But advertising revenues have all but disappeared. Google Adsense is the online advertising monopoly and they have banned us. Social media giants like Facebook and Twitter have blocked and shadow-banned our accounts. But we won't put up a paywall. Because never has the free world needed independent journalism more.

Everyone who reads our reporting knows the Geller Report covers the news the media won't. We cannot do our ground-breaking report without your support. We must continue to report on the global jihad and the left's war on freedom. Our readers’ contributions make that possible.

Geller Report's independent, investigative journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we believe our work is critical in the fight for freedom and because it is your fight, too.

Please contribute here.

or

Make a monthly commitment to support The Geller Report – choose the option that suits you best.

• $25.00 here
• $50.00 here
• $75.00 here
• $100.00 here
• $250.00 here

0 0 votes

Article Rating

8 Comments

Oldest

Newest Most Voted

Inline Feedbacks

View all comments

AR154U☑ᵀʳᵘᵐᵖ DEPLORABLE 2020

6 years ago

Hide in plain sight has worked for decades !!!
After all, authorities claim to be able NOT to do anything,.. until that person commits a crime ?!!
Spewing Jewish or Christian hatred isn’t a crime, in some areas of America,…. IT’S ENCOURAGED !!!

0

D

AlgorithmicAnalyst

6 years ago

Probably a deliberate strategy by the left.

0

Suresh

6 years ago

Reply to  AlgorithmicAnalyst

Maybe just ignorance and stupidity.

Left/liberal Loons want to bring in more of these savages and then act surprised at the increase in jihadi attacks, rapes, assaults.

Don’t be surprised when the Left/Liberals start honoring ISIS, hamas jihadis just the way Islamonazis in America are demanding Americans do http://bit.ly/2qvcHov

MSM will not talk about it ……nor will they be deported for insulting US military & supporting jihadis.

0

Marycpalmer

6 years ago

Reply to  Suresh

I get paid over $87 per hour working from home with 2 kids at home.On tuesday I got a great new Land Rover Range Rover from having earned $8752 this last four weeks.. Its the most-financialy rewarding I’ve had.. It sounds unbelievable but you wont forgive yourself if you don’t check it
!yc153d:
➽➽
➽➽➽➽ http://GoogleFinancialJobsCash153FinderBox/GetPay$97/Hour… ★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★:::::!yc153k…

0

Mahou Shoujo

6 years ago

The first thing to do is outlaw islam as treason and sedition, then start deporting all persons eligible as traitors to the nation. Those who stay, committing acts of islam, should be caught and treated as traitors,

0

Alleged Comment

6 years ago

Western prisons – a perfect BREEDING ground for Islam. Our laws were set up for Judeo/Christian values.

IT DOES NOT works for Islam. That a whole nutha story.

In fact, you will find nuth’n of yours will work for Islam because of this:

Gen 16:12 And he will be a wild man; his hand [will be] against every man, and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.

0

Tonya Parnell

6 years ago

All prisons are recruiting tools for those goat humpers

0

Public_Citizen

6 years ago

I have stated for several years that not just the practice of Islam needs to be prohibited in our prisons but that the posession of any Koran, Haddith, or other Islamist materials need to be classified as a breach of the contraband rules and treated accordingly.
Islam is a Blood/Death Cult. It isn’t a Legitimate Religion, all of the religious elements were purloined from pre-existing Legitimate Religious Sources.

0