Muslim Pair in 'Virginia Jihad' Sentenced

Atlanta Journal-Constitution / AP ^ | 4/9/04 | MATTHEW BARAKAT

[Valin]

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP)--Two American Muslims accused of training for holy war against the United States by waging paintball battles in the Virginia woods were sentenced Friday to 15 years or more in prison.

Randall Todd Royer, 31, and Ibrahim al-Hamdi, 26, were among nine men who either pleaded guilty or were convicted of charges related to their participation in what prosecutors called a ``Virginia jihad network.'' Two others were acquitted on all counts.

The group used paintball games in 2000 and 2001 as military training in preparation for holy war against nations deemed hostile to Islam, prosecutors say. After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, several members went to Pakistan with the goal of joining the Taliban and fighting U.S. troops.

No members of the conspiracy ever actually joined the Taliban.

Royer, a former spokesman for the Muslim American Society, admitted helping members of the conspiracy join the militant Pakistani group Lashkar-e-Taiba in the days after the Sept. 11 attacks.

He pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting use of a firearm in a crime of violence and aiding and abetting the carrying of an explosive during commission of a felony. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Al-Hamdi admitted training with Lashkar in Pakistan in 2000 to enhance his ability to join in holy war in Chechnya and other spots where Muslims were waging jihad.

He pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm in relation to a crime of violence and to carrying an explosive in the commission of a felony. He received 15 years.

Three members of the group who were convicted at trial will be sentenced in June. They face maximum life sentences.

[MEG33]

This is a start.

[Riley]

Most of the paintball games that I've been in were a far cry from anything resembling military training. I know some folks take it seriously, but it often is just two mobs blazing away at each other.

[Valin]

Royer, a former spokesman for the Muslim American Society

His life is about to get...interesting.

[Darksheare]

Yes, just what we were talking about!
These guys need to be put in some deep dark dank hole and forgotten about for a few days.

Paintball is fun, why did these clowns have to go and do that to a great form of entertainment?
(Where else can you hunt down your friends and shoot them, and in doing so, paint them BRIGHT GREEN?)

[Land_of_Lincoln_John]

This is much bigger. Randall is part of CAIR: Last July, however, a member of CAIR's national staff, Randall Todd "Ismail" Royer, was among 11 men indicted for conspiring to train on American soil for a "violent jihad." Muslim group sues critic for $1.35 million Website calls CAIR terrorist-backer seeking Islamist regime in U.S.

Randall Royer, Courtesy of Anti-CAIR-net.org

[Valin]

WHAT! CAIR associated with terrorists! I'm shocked SHOCKED I say.

Media Alert--For Immediate Release - March 2, 1999
http://www.islamicsupremecouncil.org/bin/site/wrappers/default.asp?pane_2=content-extremism_inamerica030399
National Muslim Organizations Incite Modern Day Lynch Mob

CAIR’s false allegations create hysteria amongst American Muslims. Death threats, harassment and acts of discrimination ensue

"One of the most duplicitous and effective tactics to destroy a person, which is common in the Washington political jungle, is to take a person’s statements, reverse the meaning, and then attack the person for what they want him to say in order to destroy him."- former government official, ISCA Supporter

(Washington, DC)—In an attempt to censor the viewpoints of moderate Muslims living in America, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in concert with six other "American" Muslim organizations have unified to stifle the First Amendment rights of Shaykh Hisham Kabbani, chairman of the Islamic Supreme Council of America (ISCA), and have instigated a modern day Muslim lynch mob.

On February 25, 1999, seven Muslim organizations (see end of release), issued a statement condemning the discussion by Shaykh Kabbani at a State Department Open Forum on Islamic extremism and demanded that he issue an apology and retraction. They deliberately distorted the words and took phrases out of context from the speech, knowing it would incite furor and hatred towards the council and its chairman. In response, many emotionally-charged individuals have issued threatening statements to Shaykh Kabbani and his council members. The following are excerpts from a few of the written responses received thus far, illustrating the very actions the scholar warned against in his address:

"YOU ARE ALL ISRAELI AGENTS. WE WILL DESTROY YOU. DIE IN HELL. Beware of your actions….The Anti-Kabbani Coordinating Council is in the process of being formed…." – Irfan Handoo, Kansas City, student and member of ISNA
I CAN'T BELIEVE THE STATEMENTS IN CAIR..!!! Stay away from the next ISNA or any other Islamic conference!!! If not you will walk away limping if not worse. I swear by Allah..!

"I WANT TO SEE YOU DEAD…lets just say it’s a result of the recent tide of something that you have such a genuine fear of that you must warn your friends…[about] the extremist students…the last one you’ll ever see" – unsigned but copied to students of the Organization of Arab Students, University of Maryland-College Park

[BroncosFan]

LeT ping. But, hey, they "never actually joined the Taliban," so that makes it all okay. Sheesh, some people think Osama is sitting in a cave handing out secret decoder rings and cool code names like Blofeld.

[Land_of_Lincoln_John]

Nothing on CAIR's web site about Randall Todd Royer's upcoming change of address. I'm sure they'll post something by the time I finish typing this. (sarcasm)

[Valin]

"never actually joined the Taliban,"

And Himmler never actually KILLED any Jews.

[Valin]

I wonder what Grover Norquist has to say?