Posted on 08/24/2010 12:41:42 PM PDT by James C. Bennett
WASHINGTON: An activist film-maker traveling in America to expose Islamic "terrorism" ran into trouble with American airport authorities on Friday after they found jihadist literature and brass knuckles in his baggage.
Authorities at Houston’s George Bush International Airport detained Vijay Kumar, 40, said to be Mumbai-based documentary maker, after his ‘suspicious behaviour" led them to search his bags.
While he was able to explain that the jihadist material and a manual for a handgun in his bags were part of ‘educational tools" he used for a lecture at a Hindu organisation on Islamic fundamentalism, he was at a loss to account for the brass knuckles, a prohibited item.
To compound matters, a baggage swab for explosive residues showed what later turned out to be a false positive.
On Monday, after Kumar spent the weekend in custody, a State District Judge lowered Kumar's bail from $50,000 to $5,000 on hearing that prosecutors were willing to drop other charges and let him plead to time served for unlawfully carrying a weapon in an airport.
Kumar’s attorney Roger Jain told TOI that the brass-knuckles were in his checked-in baggage and Kumar carried them because he was apprehensive about being attacked by fundamentalists. The whole episode was based on a misunderstanding and everything was expected to be cleared by Friday when Kumar will appear in court again after he was released on bail on Monday.
"I think that everybody realized that he is not a threat. He's a peaceful man," Jain’s associate Grant Scheiner told the local Houston Chronicle. "He was here to visit the Hindu Congress of America, to deliver a lecture. It was about an interfaith discussion between Hindus and Muslims about the harms of terrorism."
"A lot of times we tend to blame the government for not connecting the dots. In cases like this, when it appears that they overreacted, they were just being thorough and doing their job," Schiener added.
Have they found Harold yet?
I hope he is a Hindu man using it as material in a lecture about the dangers of radical ROPers.
Kumar seems to be the “Smith” in terms on names in India.
He’s already in Gitmo!................
Airport Weapon Arrest Reveals Jihadist Books
"An activist film-maker traveling in America to expose Islamic "terrorism" ran into trouble with American airport authorities on Friday after they found jihadist literature and brass knuckles in his baggage.
Authorities at Houston’s George Bush International Airport detained Vijay Kumar, 40, said to be Mumbai-based documentary maker, after his ‘suspicious behaviour" led them to search his bags.
While he was able to explain that the jihadist material and a manual for a handgun in his bags were part of ‘educational tools" he used for a lecture at a Hindu organisation on Islamic fundamentalism, he was at a loss to account for the brass knuckles, a prohibited item.
To compound matters, a baggage swab for explosive residues showed what later turned out to be a false positive."
That’s what the article says.
Thanks for the update. I kind of figured this guy was getting hosed.
TSA did its job here.
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/islamophobia/index?tab=articles
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Thanks for the update (however the article does have that certain non-journalistic opinion slant to it):
“Indian arrested with jihadi literature in US”
Chidanand Rajghatta, TNN, Aug 24, 2010, 09.45pm IST
SNIPPET: “WASHINGTON: An activist film-maker traveling in America to expose Islamic “terrorism” ran into trouble with American airport authorities on Friday after they found jihadist literature and brass knuckles in his baggage.
Authorities at Houston’s George Bush International Airport detained Vijay Kumar, 40, said to be Mumbai-based documentary maker, after his ‘suspicious behaviour” led them to search his bags.”
SNIPPET: “On Monday, after Kumar spent the weekend in custody, a State District Judge lowered Kumar’s bail from $50,000 to $5,000 on hearing that prosecutors were willing to drop other charges and let him plead to time served for unlawfully carrying a weapon in an airport.
Kumar’s attorney Roger Jain told TOI that the brass-knuckles were in his checked-in baggage...”
SNIPPET: “The US is going through another mild bout of Islamophobia following the controversy over building a mosque close to the 9/11 ground zero.”
Looks like Kumar will be going to Guantanamo Bay after all....
An activist film-maker traveling in America to expose Islamic "terrorism" ran into trouble with American airport authorities on Friday after they found jihadist literature and brass knuckles in his baggage.
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