Free Republic

Nearly 30 children have gone missing in Cleveland in the first two weeks of May, in an “extraordinary” surge of disappearances in the area, officials said. Cleveland police said 27 kids have been reported missing between May 2 and May 16, as Newburgh Heights Police Chief John Majoy warns that the disappearances have reached unprecedented levels in 2023. “There’s always peaks and valleys with missing persons, but this year it seems like an extraordinary year,” Majoy, who serves as the board president of the Cleveland Missing nonprofit group, told Fox News. “For some reason, in 2023, we’ve seen a lot...

A Cleveland man has been arrested by police for allegedly trying to cause trains in the city to derail by jamming metal into tracks and rail lines. Joseph Findley, 43, has been arrested by the FBI on federal terrorist charges following a string of alleged attacks against railroad carriers on October 6. He is accused of placing railroad spikes onto the path of oncoming trains and wedging pieces of metal into a rail switch. During a test run for a CSX employee appreciation day, one train hit an obstruction on the track and temporarily derailed before the wheels dropped back...

Hamas has said it will execute hostages if Israel bombs residential areas with out warning. Now they have issued more demands for their release. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hamas wants US prisoners freed alongside those in Israel as part of a deal the terrorist group could make to release dozens of hostages taken to Gaza. An exiled Hamas leader in Lebanon, Ali Barakeh, said that the group would aim to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli and American prisons. He has been the group's leader in Lebanon for years and is in charge of coordinating other Palestinian groups there. Without...

CLEVELAND — Officials say a man has been arrested for an alleged plan to attack downtown Cleveland on July 4. FBI agents said Monday they began investigating the suspect, identified as Demetrius Nathaniel Pitts, back in 2017. Investigators say they received tips that Pitts, also known as Abdur Raheem Rahfeeq, had made statements in support of Al-Qaeda. Pitts, an American citizen with an extensive criminal background, also expressed a disdain for the U.S. military. Officials say Pitts spoke to undercover agents about the impact an explosion would have on Cleveland's upcoming July 4th parade. Anderson says the Pitts was arrested...

One of the five self-described anarchists arrested last week for attempting to blow up a local bridge signed the lease for a West Side warehouse where about a dozen members of the Occupy Cleveland group live. In a one-hour recording of a Friday evening general assembly meeting of the group posted on its website, occupy leaders expressed concern about Anthony Hayne's name being on the lease, which strengthens his link to the group.... "If this gets into the media, it would be a disaster."

  Kent man connected to al-Qaida, agent says 10/23/03Karen R. Long Plain Dealer Reporter York, Pa.- Using freshly declassified evidence, an Akron FBI agent testified yesterday that the bureau believes a Kent man is an al-Qaida operative as potentially lethal as the terrorists who flew the hijacked planes Sept. 11, 2001. Ashraf Al-Jailani, a Yemen- born geochemist arrested a year ago in Akron, sat mute as FBI Special Agent Roger Charnesky described him as an al-Qaida "first-stringer, highly educated, highly trained and highly motivated." Charnesky, his forehead glistening with perspiration, asserted that if Al-Jailani "is who the evidence suggests...

Why Al-Arian Walked By Debbie SchlusselFrontPageMagazine.com | December 9, 2005My friend, Michael Eisenstadt, dedicated his life, among other things, to seeing terrorist leader Sami Al-Arian face justice. In September, Mike, spokesman for Tampa's Jewish community, died of lung cancer. While his passing is a source of great sadness, I'm glad Mike didn't get to see Al-Arian's acquittal, Tuesday.It was a sad day in America, but not one that was unexpected. At least by me. Everyone predicted that the jury would throw the book at the man who was a founder of terrorist group Islamic Jihad, and ran its worldwide...

AKRON, Ohio (AP) - Testimony in the trial of an Islamic cleric accused of lying on his application for U.S. citizenship ended Wednesday after federal prosecutors showed video footage of the defendant raising money for a suspected terrorist group. Fawaz Damra, the Palestinian-born imam of the Islamic Center of Cleveland, is charged with lying about his connections to terrorist organizations when he applied for citizenship in 1994. Damra, 41, has pleaded innocent. If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to five years in prison, stripped of his citizenship and deported. Jurors watched a 1991 video of Damra speaking at...

The local San Diego FOX-6 Channel has just broken the story tonight that the San Diego Chapter of "Kind Hearts" Charity has also had it's finances frozen for having links to terrorist organizations. Two of the 9/11 hijackers were living and taking flying lessons here in San Diego.

DETROIT - A Cleveland imam convicted of hiding terrorist ties has agreed to leave the United States, ending his deportation case, his attorney and government officials said Thursday. The agreement allows Fawaz Damra to resettle in Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Sudan, Egypt or the Palestinian territories, said Greg Gagne, a spokesman for the Justice Department's Executive Office for Immigration Review. A judge has approved the agreement with the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which will decide his destination. Damra is still in federal custody, said Robert Birach, a Detroit lawyer who negotiated for him. He declined to discuss more...

CLEVELAND -- A federal judge made a decision today involving convicted Islamic leader Imam Fawaz Damra's U.S. citizenship.Judge James Gwin ordered that Damra's citizenship be revoked, with the understanding from the government that he will not be detained while pending appeal.Damra was sentenced Monday to two months in federal prison and four months of house arrest for lying about his connections to terrorist groups when he applied for U.S. citizenship.Damra is expected to begin serving his sentence after the Muslim holiday of Ramadan ends in November.Damra is the leader of Ohio's largest mosque, the Islamic Center of Cleveland in Parma.

Washington- Cleveland Islamic leader Fawaz Damra has been linked to a Florida man who was indicted yesterday as the leader of an alleged terrorist group responsi ble for more than 100 deaths in the Middle East. A 50-count federal indict ment accuses Sami Amin Al- Arian, 45, a University of South Florida engineering professor, and seven other al leged Palestin ian Islamic Ji had members of criminal racketeering, money laundering, conspiring to kill and maim people abroad, extortion, visa fraud, perjury and other charges. The defendants all face life in prison if they're convicted. "We will bring justice to the...

An Ohio mosque leader may be leaving the country earlier than expected.NewsChannel5 learned that Imam Fawaz Damra's appeal was dropped in the Court of Appeals.That means his citizenship remains revoked and the deportation process could begin soon. A judge revoked his citizenship in September 2004.A jury convicted Damra last year for lying about connections to terrorist organizations on his application for U.S. Citizenship.The 42-year-old spent two months in prison and four months under house arrest.Damra is the leader of Ohio's largest mosque, the Islamic Center of Cleveland, in Parma.