Posted on 12/07/2001 5:44:28 AM PST by brewcrew
UW-Madison police will not question foreigners
10:44 PM 12/06/01
Andy Hall Wisconsin State Journal
UW-Madison police on Thursday joined a handful of law-enforcement agencies across the country that are refusing to assist the U.S. Justice Department in questioning 5,000 foreigners about the Sept. 11 terrorism attacks.
A local Islamic leader praised the university police for showing sensitivity to foreign residents, but law-enforcement officials in Madison and Milwaukee said other federal, state and local agencies will press ahead with interviews of about 130 Wisconsin residents named on a Justice Department list.
"The purpose of the project is to, in a very non-threatening, non-controversial manner, contact the people who are on the list we received from the Department of Justice," said Grant Johnson, interim U.S. attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, which includes Madison. Investigators will request interviews, but "if they say no, we'll thank them and leave. If they say they want an attorney, we'll say fine ... have your attorney call ... and we'll set it up."
Asked to react to UW-Madison's decision, Johnson said, "I certainly don't have any qualms about that whatsoever." It's not necessary for university police to participate, he said.
In a carefully worded statement, UW-Madison Chancellor John Wiley announced that the university's police department "has declined to participate in arranging and conducting interviews for the U.S. Attorney's Office with a number of Dane County residents, including UW-Madison international students."
Wiley said the university always has, and will, cooperate with investigations of "suspected criminal activity."
"But university officials, including me, believe the criteria to select individuals for interviews ... is broadly based and appears to consist of people who are not suspected of any crimes or suspicious activities," he wrote, echoing language from a Nov. 27 announcement that University of Michigan police also will refrain from the interviews.
UW-Madison police, Wiley said, will remain active on an anti-terrorism task force headed by the U.S. Attorney's Office that includes federal, state and local agencies.
In an interview, Wiley said he doesn't object to other members of the task force interviewing foreigners. "I do have an objection to our police doing it," he said.
One concern, Wiley said, is that although the interviews are described as voluntary, people who decline to be interviewed could face coercion from law-enforcement agencies.
Earlier in the week, Madison police Chief Richard Williams said his department will work with federal officials, if requested, but he does have concerns about the process. "It's religious and racial profiling," Williams said. "They're being looked at because of their race, religion and culture ... The test will be to define some behavior beyond the fact that they're Muslims from a certain country."
Other police agencies declining to take part in the interviews include those in San Mateo and San Jose in California and Portland and Corvallis in Oregon, the Associated Press reported.
Salih Erschen, outreach coordinator for the Islamic Community of the Madison Area, said the estimated 2,500 to 3,000 Muslims in Dane County will appreciate the UW-Madison Police's decision.
"I think it's a noble thing that the police (are) going to stay away, the UW police at least, because a lot of the people that might be questioned, at least in Madison, would probably be UW students," Erschen said.
He described the local Islamic population as "amazingly beautiful, wonderful people ... very much concerned and enveloped in their career and their studies. For the most part what you see in Madison is Muslims who are very devoted to research and getting a higher degree, a lot of doctors, engineers."
Despite federal officials' vows that the interviews are voluntary, Erschen said, "in the end they know it's going to cause hardship in the hearts of these people, no matter what."
Johnson, the interim U.S. Attorney, said the interviews are "an investigative technique that's used every day. If you have a bank robbery and there's a blue car involved, you're going to go out and ... interview everybody who owns a blue car."
He added, "There's absolutely no pressure being applied whatsoever."
Some people may not realize they possess valuable information, said Johnson, who added that about 100 people in his jurisdiction are being sought for questioning. "If you get one or two good pieces of information out of the entire 5,000 interviews, it's worth it."
In addition, about 30 people in the Milwaukee area are being sought.
Francie Wendelborn, media liaison for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Wisconsin's Eastern District in Milwaukee, said the interviews are directed at men who entered the United States after Jan. 1, 2000, from an unspecified list of countries where the al-Qaida terror network has operated.
"We're trying to learn more about their world," Wendelborn said. "And we need their help."
A Justice Department press guide, she said, contains this suggested response to questions about the propriety of the interviews:
"We have allowed these individuals to enter our country to visit, to study, to do business, and we expect them to cooperate and help us by providing any information they may have. This is what we would expect of a neighbor who has witnessed a crime in his neighborhood. We all have a responsibility to help prevent future acts of terrorism."
Scratch shooter - Yep, internment camps are a great idea.
good herb - first of all, I'm sure I don't even have to ask which "herb" is good in your world. Second - I can't get over "it." "It's" part of who I am. The only reason the UW cops won't cooperate is that it's not considered PC in their circles. They most certainly wouldn't want to offend anyone.
Well, I am deeply offended by the outrageous attack on this country and its principles. But the UW cops don't care if I'm offended. They just cannot be seen as offending those groups who make a living out of daring others to offend them.
Like it or not, this ship is turning around, and our country is being taken back. You need to get over it.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- December 5, 2001
Contact: Sylvia Warner (202) 225-4872
STATEMENT
Rogers: E. Lansing Police Should Assist FBI With InterviewsCongressman Urges Leaders to Reconsider Refusal to Participate
U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-MI, issued the following statement today following news reports that East Lansing, Michigan, city police will not cooperate with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in interviews of 37 men the U.S. Department of Justice hopes might have information about the September 11 terrorist attacks on America. Rogers, a former FBI special agent, called on the city council and police department to reconsider its decision.
"More than 6,000 innocent Americans lost their lives on September 11, and now thousands of American and Allied military personnel are deployed in dangerous places, putting themselves at risk in a war that came to us, we did not seek it out. These 37 men are not suspects. Interviewing them is an effort to determine if they may know something that could be helpful in protecting America and our citizens.
"We know that terrorists and terrorist organizations target members of Middle Eastern and Muslim communities for intimidation to force support. Other approaches include scams in which individuals are led to believe they are helping out a charitable effort. Mafia groups have used the same tactics in the U.S. for decades.
"After discussing the request for help with the Police Chief, I understand that the East Lansing City Council and Police Department have good intentions, but the results of this decision may be disastrous. I find that alarming and would urge the city leadership to reconsider. Cooperation is critical at a time when our nation is at risk."
I love it! FReepers are the cleverest, funniest people I know!!
g
So, it appears as though the liberal intelligentsia has made its way into more than one law enforcement organization.
Be sure you let your sons and daughters know that most - not all - cops are heroes.
That's because he got stoned after the first post and couldn't remember why he was sitting in front of his computer.
HA!!
Really?
Of course, you *must've* meant characterS, eh?
...*like* Bugs Bunny.
Excuse me, Milwaukee and it's 305 felons voting illegally and its 3400 voters who gave the wrong address when they registered at the polls helped in those defeats, unfortunately. Oh, yes. Throw the Attorney General, Doyle, and the Milwaukee District Attorney, McCann, who won't prosecute election violations, into that mix as another reason why we can never change anything around here.
From this point foward, no Federal relief money for terrorist acts (or other for that matter) against this campus. Bottom line, they want to stand on their own, do it.
I don't have a problem with your solution in general, but in practicality, it's my state income and property tax dollars that support this place that calls itself an institution of "high"er learning. In other words, UW-Madison standing on its own means them doing so with some of my money in their pockets. I hope the only solution isn't that I have to move if I don't like it.
"More overuse of the 'commie' characterization"
It's not overuse, the characterization is quite accurate. The progressives in Madistan are socialists intent on forcing the rest to conform to their authoritarian program. The only freeodm you promote and allow is in choices of what decadent debaucheries to indulge in, and on what immoral socialist to pick as authoritarian ruler. Your use of the words freedom, choice, diversity are only used in a con, to deceive folks. Your ideas hated, because they force filth and ruin on everyone.
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