July 03, 2006

FBI Raids Pittsburgh Mosque

Apparently, the FBI raided a mosque in Pittsburgh on Friday:

FBI agents yesterday raided a North Side residence known to many in the neighborhood and the Pittsburgh Islamic community as both an Islamic school and mosque.

The agency would say only that the search was in connection with a "criminal investigation" and wouldn't elaborate.

The raid began around noon when authorities shut down the intersection of Boyle and Hemlock streets, residents said. The activity centered around a three-story green house located in the 1300 block of Boyle Street. It is home to the Sankore Institute and Light of Age Mosque, which doubles as a school for people seeking to learn the Koran and Islamic religious teachings.

Oddly, this does not appear on any of the national wire services or media outlets. Even the normal outrage one would expect to hear whenever the FBI executes a warrant at a place of worship has not materialized. The P-G has no follow-up in today's edition, and no one else appears to have noticed this one report. Even the ACLU, when asked for comment in the article yesterday, only said that any search of a religious site would cause concern but that it would be premature to comment further on the specifics.

Pittsburgh seems an unlikely place for a terrorist conspiracy, but then again so did Toronto. Whatever happened in Pittsburgh the FBI and the DoJ have kept under their hats. Unlike Miami, where news coverage started shortly after the raid began, no news coverage has aired and no statements from the FBI have been forthcoming other than the one requested by the P-G.

Interesting. And a bit unsettling. Did anyone get arrested, and if not, was the raid a mistake?

A spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan had no comment, but several sources indicated that agents were searching for Larry M. Williams, who is wanted by federal authorities in Utah for possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney in Salt Lake City confirmed that officials there had informed authorities in Pittsburgh because they know Williams has ties to Allegheny County.

It is not known why the FBI searched the mosque for Williams.

The use of a robot and sniffing dogs indicates the FBI thought they were dealing with explosives and, perhaps, booby-traps. While there's no word the men taken away have been charged with anything, nor should we forget they are presumed innocent until proven guilty, this raid serves as a reminder of the danger we face from home-grown terrorists and the vigilance that's necessary. As the recent arrests in Canada and the 7/7 terrorist attacks in London show, the threat of radical Islam is not just a foreign one.