The Minneapolis officer who was seen on video kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a handcuffed black man who died in custody after pleading that he could not breathe, has been arrested and charged with murder.

Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said Derek Chauvin was charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter.

A British man was sentenced to life in prison on Friday over a plot to kill Prime Minister Theresa May by first detonating an explosive device to get into her Downing Street office and then using a knife or a gun to attack her.

Naa’imur Rahman, 21, of north London, planned to detonate an improvised explosive device at the heavily guarded gates of Downing Street and gain access to May’s office in the ensuing chaos and assassinate her, according to police.

He was convicted last month of preparing to commit acts of terrorism and at London’s Old Bailey court on Friday was given a life prison and will serve 30 years behind bars.

“Rahman’s target was the prime minister but he had no qualms about killing innocent bystanders in the process of reaching her,” said Dean Haydon, the UK’s Senior National Coordinator for Counter Terrorism.

“At one point he told a covert counter terrorism officer that even if he could not reach the Prime Minister, he just wanted to strike fear into people.”

As he put the plot together, Rahman believed he was corresponding online with members of the Islamic State (IS) militant group. However, he was actually talking to undercover officers from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Britain’s MI5 domestic spy agency.

He was arrested last November shortly after unwittingly meeting an undercover police officer and collecting what he believed was a homemade bomb but was in fact a harmless replica.

After his conviction in July, police said Rahman had been in contact with an uncle who had travelled to Syria and joined IS and who had encouraged his nephew to carry out attacks in Britain.

Rahman had been planning to carry out the attack for two years but his resolve was hardened when he heard that his uncle had been killed in a drone attack.

Britain is on its second highest threat level with an attack considered highly likely. Last year, there were four deadly attacks and the head of MI5 said in May that a further 12 Islamist plots had been foiled since the first of these in March 2017.

Earlier this month, a man was charged with attempted murder after a car careered into people and a barrier at London’s parliament, with police saying the incident was being treated as an act of terrorism.

A Faith Matters investigation has uncovered social media accounts sharing ‘new’ photos of Tanveer Ahmed allegedly taken inside Barlinnie Prison.

Tanveer Ahmed is serving a life sentence for stabbing Ahmadi shopkeeper Asad Shah in Glasgow in March. He claimed that Shah had ‘disrespected’ Islam due to his claim of prophethood.

The recent photos of Ahmed appeared on both Facebook and Instagram in October. It emerged last month that audio clips apparently from Ahmed’s prison phone calls were posted online. In total, five separate audio clips have appeared on social media sites since May.

On October 10, a ‘new’ photo of Ahmed emerged. The individual who uploaded the photo captioned it in Urdu: “Mr Ghazi Tanveer al-Hussaini in the jail. May Allah always keep him happy.”
A second photo allegedly taken inside prison shows Tanveer Ahmed stood next to an unknown individual on October 23. The caption reads: “After the killing of fake claimant of prophet-hood,  he is sitting in jail like a lion. Latest photo of Ghazi Tanveer Ahmed in the jail”.

Ghazi is an Arabic term used to honour Muslim warriors who were victorious in battle against  the opponents of Islam. The page ‘Ghazi Tanveer Ahmed  Qadiri’ gained 7,000  ‘likes’ before Facebook removed it.

Our latest report warns of a growing personality cult around Tanveer Ahmed. His supporters glorify him as an ‘authentic’ defender of the Islamic faith. They also view him as continuing the work of Mumtaz Qadri – who murdered Pakistani politician Salman Taseer in 2011. Qadri was then hung for his crimes earlier this year.

Faith Matters has previously written to HMP Barlinnie and Police Scotland urging an immediate investigation.

Few would have known Nahed Hatter who had written on Islamist violence and narratives for decades. A writer who had left Jordan for the Lebanon for his views, he had returned to his country only to be murdered this morning for a cartoon that he had posted on his Facebook page.

The post initially was made around early August leading to charges being laid against Nahed Hattar based on insulting religious identity. Hattar subsequently deleted the post and was summoned to attend court to explain his actions. The initial post is listed below and mocked the world of IS or Daesh and implies that they make up what suits their worldly needs and that they have made themselves judges over God, who is drawn as the bearded man in the background. The cartoon and the work of Hattar was focussed on challenging Islamist narratives and the writer, who lived in a Muslim majority country, distinguished this line from the vast and overwhelming majority of Muslims who seek to worship and lead their lives in peace.

Nahed Hattar was murdered on the steps of a Jordanian court today. The perpetrator shot Hattar on multiple occassions and graphics highlighted the senseless murder through postings on Facebook.

The killing has shocked Jordan and highlights how sensitive issues are regarding faith and how delineating between Islamist narratives and Muslims has become deadly work.

Charges

The State prosecutor has charged the perpetrator with 3 charges. These include, wilfull premeditated murder, a terrorist act leading to the death of a person and carrying and possessing a firearm without a license. The case has also been referred to the State Security Court.

According to a source close to the investigation, the killer, who worked as an engineer at the Ministry of Education, said during the interrogation ‘he had planned to commit the crime for some time. He did not know or hear of the writer, Hatter, till he re- published his cartoons on his Facebook page.’ The perpetrator then searched through websites and he became aware of the court date where Hatter had been summoned to attend.

The source said the offender confessed to the crime, adding that the killer had bought a gun a week beforehand. This morning he walked on foot to his office towards the Palace of Justice in Abdali – Amman. According to a confession, the killer remained in wait for the writer for almost an hour, and after seeing Hatter with his friends he followed him onto the back stairs where he fired several times hitting Hatter in the neck and arm.

The source also noted that the killer stated that he was,

“convinced that Hatter offended God and should be killed and that anyone who offends God should be killed.”

The brutal killing of Imam Jalal Uddin, a 71 year old respected Imam in Rochdale, by Mohammed Hussain Syeedy throws up an element that is part and parcel of Salafist Jihadist ideology.

Such ideology has been seen to drive the destruction of Muslim shrines in Afghanistan, Timbuktu, Egypt, Iraq and Syria. Shrines, taweez (or worn amulets with Qur’anic inscriptions used to ward off evil) and bowls in which water has been prayed upon for protection of the believer, all represent the spiritual side of Islam, mainly associated with Sufi influences and where spirituality and belief in unseen protections through Allah (God), make up the practices.

Much of this practice has sat side by side with belief in the Qur’an and the Hadith and has come from Islamic interpretations and from a desire for the practical from the spiritual. It has continued in some Muslim communities and through the work of people like the late Imam Uddin. From pirs (holy spiritual men), through to Imams, this work with people suffering mental health or emotional problems continued and with people who just wanted to feel additional spiritual protections. Many continue to visit such pirs or holy spiritual leaders today and this practice, will no doubt continue.

What Does This Murder Highlight?

Yet, this case highlights what many of us have known. That Wahabbism and Salafist ideology has been active in framing such practices as shirk, as though they are practices that are not of Islam but of the pre-Islamic era, known as the jahilliyah or the period of ‘ignorance of the divine’. A trajectory of this thought that has become part of the actions of groups like Daesh or the so-called Islamic State has meant that people who are influenced by IS propaganda will also take up such thinking. This means that practices such as taweez or the use of prayer bowls will be seen as heretical. Shrines or places where Muslims congregate to give prayers to long dead holy men, will also be seen in the eyes of those influenced by Wahabbism and Salafism, as being un-Islamic and subject to destruction.

Yet, we have also seen the systematic destruction of Islamic historical sites by the Wahabbi Saudi Government and which have been documented. This is driven by an ideology that believes that such sites may become places of worship and which therefore seeks to obliterate them and use the sites for other projects. Such is the systematic destruction of Islamic history in the hands of those driven by such ideology. Yet, globally, Muslims have not spoken out against the wholesale destruction of such sites.

This case therefore raises for us all, a red flag. The fact that intra-Muslim hatred and extremism has taken this form means that it may be an indicator of extremist rhetoric. This may not be the case in the vast and overwhelming majority of issues and cases and Salafists should not all be seen as potential extremists or terrorists. That would be disastrous and would be anti-Muslim in nature – where a whole section of Muslims are tarred with the same brush. However, where we should all be concerned is where threats and abuse are openly meted out by individuals against other Muslims suggesting that they are un-Islamic because they believe in taweez or other spiritual practices. If such threats continue and are sustained, at the very least, this should be a red flag for civil society, law enforcement and other agencies.

Imam Jalal Uddin’s death should not be in vain and if his murder can save others, then let us learn from it and not just put it down to another case involving extremism. We cannot simply brush it off like that.

A 49-year-old Oklahoma woman has been charged with first-degree murder on suspicion of killing her daughter whom she thought was possessed by the devil by jamming a crucifix down her throat and beating her, court records released on Tuesday showed.

Juanita Gomez was booked last week in the death of Geneva Gomez, whose body was found in an Oklahoma City home with a large cross on her chest, a probable cause affidavit said.

Local media said the daughter was 33 years old.

No lawyer was listed for Gomez in online jail records.

Police said Gomez confessed to the crime, telling officers she forced a crucifix and religious medallion down her daughter’s throat until blood came out.

“Juanita saw her daughter die and then placed her body in the shape of a cross,” the affidavit said.

Gomez was being held without bond at the Oklahoma County jail.

An Israeli man convicted of murdering a Palestinian teenager in Jerusalem, a crime that helped trigger the 2014 Gaza war, was sentenced on Tuesday to life in prison.

Jerusalem District Court sentenced Yosef Haim Ben-David, who organised the killing of 16-year-old Mohammed Abu Khudair, to life, which in Israel usually means around 25 years, and an additional 20 years for other counts, to be served consecutively.

Two Jewish youths who helped Ben-David abduct the teen, who was bludgeoned, strangled and burned alive, were sentenced in February, one to life imprisonment and the other to 21 years.

All three defendants had confessed and said the July 2, 2014, murder was revenge for the killing days earlier of three Israeli youths by the Hamas Islamist group in the occupied West Bank.

Ben-David, 30, had lodged an insanity plea that held up his formal conviction and sentencing. After receiving psychological assessments, the court ruled he “fully understood his actions” and found him guilty last month.

Abu Khudair’s killing raised tensions, and a seven-week Israeli offensive against the Hamas-run Gaza Strip began on July 8, 2014, after cross-border Palestinian rocket attacks and an Israeli roundup of suspected militants in the West Bank.

Suspected Islamist militants hacked to death a leading Bangladeshi gay rights activist employed by the U.S. embassy and a friend in an apartment in Bangladesh’s capital on Monday, police said.

The killings took place two days after a university professor was slain in similar fashion on Saturday in an attack claimed by Islamic State.

Five or six assailants went to the apartment of Xulhaz Mannan, 35, an editor of Rupban, Bangladesh’s first magazine for gay, bisexual and transgender people, and attacked him and a friend with sharp weapons, Dhaka city police spokesman Maruf Hossain Sordar said.

They entered the apartment disguised as couriers, he said, quoting witnesses.

The assailants also wounded a security guard. Witnesses said the attackers shouted “Allahu Akbar” (“God is greatest)” as they fled the scene.

Mannan was employed by the U.S. embassy, working for the U.S. Agency for International Development, the State Depertment in Washington said.

State Department spokesman John Kirby said the United States was “outraged” by the “barbaric attack.” He called Mannan, “a beloved member of our embassy family and a courageous advocate for LGBTI rights – human rights, actually.”

“LGBTI” stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual and intersex.

A spokesman for the White House’s National Security Council, Ned Price, said the United States strongly urged the Bangladeshi government to ensure the perpetrators were brought to justice.

Other attacks took place in the country on Monday, but it was not immediately clear whether those assaults were carried out by Islamist militants.

Two men on a motorcycle shot dead a former prison guard in front of Kashimpur jail, on the outskirts of Dhaka, said Khandakar Rezaul Hasan, chief of the local police station.

A teacher was hacked to death in the southwestern district of Kustia, police said.

The Muslim-majority nation of 160 million people has seen a surge in violent attacks over the past few months in which liberal activists, members of minority Muslim sects and other religious groups have been targeted.

Five secular bloggers and a publisher have been hacked to death in Bangladesh since February 2015.

A group affiliated with al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the killing of a liberal Bangladeshi blogger this month.

Islamic State has also claimed responsibility for the killings of two foreigners and attacks on mosques and Christian priests in Bangladesh since September.

The government has denied that Islamic State or al Qaeda groups have a presence in the country and said homegrown Islamist radicals are behind the attacks.

At least five militants have been killed in shootouts since November as security forces have stepped up a crackdown on Islamist militants looking to establish a Muslim state based on sharia, or Islamic religious law.

The man accused of murdering the Glasgow shopkeeper, Asad Shah, has made a statement in court through his solicitors. He stated that he carried out the killing because Mr Shah had, according to him, “disrespected” Islam.

The accused, Mr Tanveer Ahmed from Bradford, issued the statement and suggested that Mr Shah was targeted because he thought of himself as a Prophet. This, according to the Mr Ahmed, meant that he has disrespected Islam and his statement denied that the murder was based on any comments that the deceased had regarding Easter and Christianity.

Mr Shah was found outside his shop and had suffered serious head injuries in the Shawlands area of Glasgow. His death led to an outpouring of grief from all communities and to condolences from a range of communities in the City.

Statement Made by John Rafferty, Mr Ahmed’s Lawyer

“My client Mr Tanveer Ahmed has specifically instructed me that today, 6 April 2016, to issue this statement to the press, the statement is in the words of my client.

“This all happened for one reason and no other issues and no other intentions.

“Asad Shah disrespected the messenger of Islam the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him. Mr Shah claimed to be a Prophet.

“When 1400 years ago the Prophet of Islam Muhammad peace be upon him has clearly said that ‘I am the final messenger of Allah there is no more prophets or messengers from God Allah after me.

“‘I am leaving you the final Quran. There is no changes. It is the final book of Allah and this is the final completion of Islam. There is no more changes to it and no one has the right to claim to be a Prophet or to change the Quran or change Islam.’

“It is mentioned in the Quran that there is no doubt in this book no one has the right to disrespect the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him and no one has the right to disrespect the Prophet of Islam Muhammad Peace be upon him.

“If I had not done this others would and there would have been more killing and violence in the world.

“I wish to make it clear that the incident was nothing at all to do with Christianity or any other religious beliefs even although I am a follower of the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him I also love and respect Jesus Christ.”

The killing of Asad Shah in Glasgow which has been widely reported on was shocking and has left a deep impact on communities in Glasgow. Since the case is with prosecutors, we cannot go into further details, suffice as to say that intra-Muslim sectarian hate has for far too long, been brushed off as being ‘internal disagreements’ within Muslim communities and where anti-Shia and anti-Ahmaddiya rhetoric has been allowed to fester without being challenged.  Whilst people have the right to disagree on issues of theology and on core elements of it, creating the mood music by dehumanising one group or another through language should set off alarm bells for those who care about community integration and community relations.

Yet, we have seen time and time again, Ahmaddiya’s being regarded as being less than animals and some commentators within Muslim communities have made similar remarks on social media. Such dehumanization is unacceptable as are threats to minority communities.

The murder of Asad Shah may well be a turning point on intra-Muslim hatred and which we also record in Tell MAMA. If there is anything positive that comes out from this appalling murder, it is that behaviours change so that open hatred against certain groups within Muslim communities stops. As we have said before, people can disagree on theological elements and sometimes these discussions can be heated and passionate, since faith touches the core of some people. However, when it turns into the dehumanization of individuals and when terms are used which put at risk the lives of members of a certain community, then a line has been crossed.

The post Killing of Asad Shah is a Wake Up Call on Promotion of Sectarian Hatred appeared first on TELL MAMA.