Man Charged With Threatening To Kill Rep. Eric Cantor (Norman LeBoon

The U.S. Attorney in Philadelphia released this statement today. The text of an accompanying affidavit is also below.

PHILADELPHIA - Today, a two-count complaint and warrant was filed charging Norman Leboon with threatening to kill United States Congressman Eric Cantor and his family, and threatening to kill Congressman Eric Cantor, who is an official of the United States, announced United States Attorney Michael L. Levy and FBI Special Agent in Charge Jan Fedarcyk. As set forth in the affidavit to the complaint and warrant, in or about late March, 2010, Leboon created and then transmitted a YouTube video to Google over the internet, in which he threatened to kill Congressman Cantor and his family. No harm came to the Congressman or his family as a result of Leboon's threats.

"The Department of Justice takes threats against government officials seriously, especially threats to kill or injure others," said Levy. "Whether the reason for the threat is personal or political, threats are not protected by the First Amendment and are crimes."

If convicted of all the charges, the defendant faces a maximum possible sentence of 15 years imprisonment, 3 years supervised release, a fine up to $500,000, and a $200 special assessment.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Philadelphia Police Department, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert K. Reed.

He likes the Quran and the show Farscape. Here's his review of some version of the Quran:

This is the most beautiful rendition of the Quran in the English language that I have come across so far. There are two broad approaches that one can take with the Quran or any other relgious text for that matter. Either one can try to translate it verbatim or interpret it in light of what one believes to be its core message. Asad has done well to take the latter path. Of course much of Asad's inspiration comes from the modernist Muslim reformer Muhammad 'abduh, as a result of which we have a more tolerant, more spiritual and more meaningful Quran than the one that seems to inspire violence, exclusivity and intolerance in Muslim communities throughout the world. As an example of how Asad's interpretation ennobles and broadens the Quranic terminology consider his tranformation of 'fear of God', one of the most frequently recurring phrarses of the Quran, into 'consciousness of God.' Thus a muslim is one who is not just a 'God fearing' individual, but a 'God conscious' individual. But then this is just one instance of how Asad's interpretaion scores against mere translations. I have left out one star because although Asad's interpretation of the Quran is worthy of praise I still think that it falls far short of the real reform that must eventually take place in the Islamic community which would require enlightened Muslims to challenge core beliefs of prevailing Islamic thought such as the acceptance of Islam as a perfect religion, and of Muhammad being the last prophet etc. It is only then that the world will be graced with an interpretation of the Quran which is truly universal and all-embracing in its nature. A second objection that I have is with two assertions of Asad that I find hard to agree with. The first is his claim that the Quran is based on reason. To substantiate this claim Asad cites the absence of the 'supernatural' or the 'miraculous' in either the content or the context of the Quran. But just because a religious text lacks such conent does not mean that it appeals to reason. The Quran is based on faith and there is nothing rational or logical or scientific about its message. Its aim is to increase, bolster and make firm mans faith in God, not to prove logically something that is in its very nature beyond the ken of reason, logic and scientific thought. The other postion of Asad that I disagree with is his objection to Asceticism. Asad, like many other Muslims, seems to harbor the attitude that the Quran and Islam are somehow opposed to the concept of Asceticism. Having studied various spiritual traditions in the world I cannot accept that a universal, humanistic and non-sectarian Quran can oppose the worldwide phenomenon (so strongly evident in the Christian and the Hindu traditions) of certain exceptional individuals willing to caste aside the world for the sake of their sincere love for the Divine. Certainly the Quran does not enjoin external asceticism, but at the same time there is no doubt in my mind that the Quran's central message is one of inner asceticism, the surrender of all one is and all one has (or thinks she/he has) to the Supreme Lord. To assert that the Holy Text of Islam is somehow antagonstic towards asceticism not only distorts the truth but also creates a climate in which genuine mystics and ascetics may be persecuted in the name of God and religion. But on the whole this is an interpretation of the Quran that I would heartily recommend to Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

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