In any event, it's an AP report, which is fair game, so here goes:
Sniper Letter Linked to Movement
By Tim Molloy
Associated Press Writer
Saturday, October 26, 2002; 6:27 PMNEW YORK –– The letter left at the scene of a sniper shooting contains phrases often associated with a group that believes the black man is God and spreads its message through prison recruitment and popular hip-hop music.
An FBI spokeswoman declined to comment Saturday on whether authorities were looking into the possibility that the writer borrowed from the language of the Five Percent movement, which teaches that education and family are of central importance. It rejects drinking, drugs and fornication, as well as most accepted history, authority and religion.
The 39-year-old movement started as an offshoot of the Nation of Islam, but Five Percenters say they are not Muslims. The group teaches that black men are to be called "God" and black women "Earth," and that only five percent of the population is enlightened.
The letter found near a steakhouse in Ashland, Va., where one of the shootings occurred demanded police refer to the author as "God," and a tarot card left near a shooting outside a school declared, "I am God."
"I'm not saying he's a Five Percenter. I don't know that. Only that 'I am God' is something a Five Percenter might say," said Robert Walker, a private consultant based in Columbia, S.C., who helps police identify gangs. "All black men who are followers and members of the Five Percenters refer to themselves as God and will even refer to someone else who is a Five Percenter as a God also."
The letter also included the phrase "word is bond," also widely used by Five Percenters, who often call their movement the Nation of Gods and Earths.
The letter, which was reprinted in The Washington Post on Saturday, had five stars on the title page. Walker said the stars were similar to ones that symbolize children to followers of the movement.
A man who answered the phone at the Allah School in Mecca, the national headquarters of the movement, located in New York, said members of the group had no comment. He would not give his name.
FBI spokeswoman Debbie Weierman said she could not comment on an ongoing investigation.
Walker, a former prison security coordinator and Drug Enforcement Administration agent, stressed that most people involved in the movement have nothing to do with crime.
But prison officials in several states have censored the group's teachings despite complaints by inmate advocates that they are trampling on freedom of religion. Some prison systems have labeled all Five Percenters as gang members.
The Five Percent movement is so influential in hip-hop music that "word is bond" and other popular Five Percent phrases are ubiquitous in songs by such artists as Busta Rhymes, the Wu-Tang Clan and Brand Nubian.
John Allen Muhammad, who along with teenager John Lee Malvo was charged Friday in the six sniper slayings in Maryland, converted several years ago to Islam and changed his name from John Allan Williams.
Many Muslims have said that a follower of Islam would not say "I am God" because it would be sacrilegious.
Walker said Five Percenters often change their names, but usually pick from a list that does not include the word "Muhammad."
He also said Five Percenters typically end letters with the word, "peace," which group members mean as an abbreviation for "please elevate all children everywhere."
The letter's postscript had no such good wishes: "Your children are not safe anywhere at anytime."
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http://www.allahsnation.net/
http://gangsorus.com/
© 2002 The Associated Press
JIHAD IN AMERICA:
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And this article:
Jihadis in the Hood
Race, Urban Islam and the War on Terror
This link was provided by toenail on another thread!
(From National Drug Intelligence Center)
Five Percenters
The Five Percent or the Nation of Gods and Earths, founded in 1964 by Clarence Edward Smith Jowers upon his expulsion from the Nation of Islam, is a loosely knit organization made up mostly of African Americans. The name Five Percenters, derived from the "Mathematics" of the Nation of Islam "Lessons," is symbolic of members believing they are the true five percent gods of the universe with the knowledge and wisdom to deliver the black man from the home of the devil. Five Percenters do not consider their beliefs a religion and teach Islam as a righteous culture for black individuals. They believe that a black man with the knowledge (the Five Percent) is a god of himself as well as his people and that the "eurogentiles" have deceived the whole world causing it to honor and worship false gods and idols. Understanding this philosophy is essential for those who encounter Five Percenters. In its hierarchy, a Five Percenter male is a god with the highest status, followed by black males in the masses, earths (Five Percenter females), black females in the masses, white males, and white females. Some members do not believe they are accountable for the crimes they commit because of their status as gods or earths. Many members formed loosely organized sets that distribute drugs and commit violent crimes, including against each other. Some Five Percenters profess their beliefs through the lyrics of popular rap and hip-hop music.
Several street gangs are involved in drug distribution and violent crime throughout the state. Survey responses to the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) National Street Gang Survey Report 2000 illustrate that most of the 19 reported street gangs in New Jersey distribute drugs and commit violent crimes, including assaults, drive-by shootings, and homicides. The Bloods, Latin Kings, and Ñetas street gangs and Five Percenters, a cultural group, are the most prominent (have the most chapters). (See text box.) All distribute cocaine, heroin, and marijuana from Jersey City and Irvington, New Jersey. The Latin Kings and Ñetas street gangs and Five Percenters cultural group also distribute in Camden, while the Bloods distribute in Eatontown.
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