Islamic Center of Murfreesboro

Feds Declare TN Mosque Site Fire An Arson

Rachel Slajda | September 3, 2010, 5:50PM

Future Site of Murfreesboro, TN Islamic Center

Federal authorities have officially declared the fire at the site of a community center and mosque near Murfreesboro, Tenn., an arson.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said today that an accelerant was definitely used in the torching of construction equipment at the site last Saturday morning. The agency is offering a $20,000 reward leading to an arrest.

Authorities told the Tennessean that they cannot rule the arson a hate crime until they have a suspect.

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'Ground Zero Mosque'

Birthermercial Producer Wants A '9/11 Christian Center' At Ground Zero

Rachel Slajda | September 3, 2010, 11:00AM

Bill Keller

Remember the birther infomercial, produced by LivePrayer.com, that asked viewers for $30 for a "got a birth certificate?" bumper sticker?

The man behind it, Bill Keller, is now railing against the Islamic center planned for lower Manhattan. He says he'll be holding Sunday services from a room at the Marriott across from Ground Zero every weekend until he can find a permanent spot for his "9/11 Christian Center."

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BP

BP: If You Limit Our Production, We'll Limit Our Generosity

Rachel Slajda | September 3, 2010, 9:16AM

The Deepwater Horizon rig burning before it sank

Via the New York Times this morning, BP is using its voluntary funding of several programs -- $100 million for unemployed rig workers, $500 million for research, $90 million for Gulf Coast tourism -- as a bargaining chip to try to get lawmakers to back down from punitive legislation.

BP has agreed to voluntarily fund a slew of programs related to Gulf restoration beyond its legal obligations, and state and federal officials are pushing for more. But the company is warning that proposed legislation that would limit its Gulf oil production would also limit its generosity.

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Cordoba House

Gingrich: Make Ground Zero A National Battlefield To Stop The Supposed Mosque

Rachel Slajda | September 2, 2010, 6:26PM

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA)

The majority of New Yorkers want the developers of Park51, known to its opponents as the "Ground Zero mosque," to voluntarily move the community center further from Ground Zero -- but the majority also acknowledges the developers' right to build there if they want.

Newt Gingrich doesn't feel that way. In a radio interview today, he said he wants the national government to step in and stop the developers from building the Islamic community center by whatever means necessary.

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Civil Rights Division

DOJ Investigating Anti-Muslim Incidents

Rachel Slajda | September 2, 2010, 1:43PM

Ahmed Sharif

The Department of Justice is investigating two recent, high-profile anti-Muslim incidents, TPMmuckraker confirms.

A DOJ spokeswoman says the department has opened investigations into the attack on a Muslim cab driver in New York City and an apparent arson at the site of a future mosque in Murfreesboro, Tenn.

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Islamic Center of Murfreesboro

FBI Seeks To Reassure Tenn. Muslims After Mosque Site Fire

Rachel Slajda | September 2, 2010, 10:05AM

Future Site of Murfreesboro, TN Islamic Center

The FBI met with Tennessee's Muslim leaders Monday to discuss the recent arson at a mosque site in Murfreesboro and reassure the leaders that federal officials are on the case.

As the Washington Post reports, the meeting took place at the U.S. attorney's office in Nashville. The U.S. attorney is the one who will determine whether the fire rises to the level of a hate crime or civil rights violation, and the FBI is the agency which conducts hate crimes investigations.

It's a signal that the feds are looking at the arson as a hate crime, even though they've officially said there's "no indication" that the fire qualifies.

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Jim Traficant

He's In! Traficant Will Be On The Ballot

Rachel Slajda | September 1, 2010, 5:12PM

James Traficant

It's official.

TPMmuckraker's favorite ex-convict ex-Congressman Jim Traficant will appear on the ballot for his old House seat in Ohio.

A county board of elections ruled today, in a meeting that lasted less than a minute, that Traficant has enough signatures to make it on the ballot.

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BP

BP Spent $93.4 Million On Advertising Between April And July

Rachel Slajda | September 1, 2010, 1:08PM

A still from a BP ad titled "Making It Right: Cleanup"

BP spent $93.4 million on U.S. advertising efforts between April, when the Deepwater Horizon exploded, and the end of the July.

According to Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), who's heading one of the investigations into the oil spill, that's three times the amount BP spent on advertising in the same period last year.

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Islamic Center of Murfreesboro

Police Report In Tennessee Mosque Site Fire: Engine Was Running

Rachel Slajda | September 1, 2010, 11:57AM

The police report filed by the Rutherford County Sheriff's Department, the local agency investigating a fire that destroyed construction equipment at the site of a mosque in Tennessee, shows that the engine was running on the dump truck that was torched.

The police report, obtained today by TPMmuckraker, is brief. But it does reveal two bits of information: One, that the engine was running on the destroyed machinery. Two, police observed someone in a car watching the fire from the road, who then drove away.

You can read the report here.

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Mosques

Teens Harass Muslims In Upstate New York

Rachel Slajda | September 1, 2010, 10:55AM

The five teenagers arrested.

Five teenagers have been arrested for disrupting religious services at a mosque in upstate New York after allegedly driving by the mosque during Ramadan services, honking their horns and firing a shotgun.

The five, who are all 17 and 18, have allegedly driven by the World Sufi Foundation mosque in Carlton, N.Y., during Ramadan services twice over the past week, yelling obscenities.

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Office of Congressional Ethics

OCE Recommends Three Congressmen For Further Ethics Probe

Rachel Slajda | September 1, 2010, 9:16AM

Rep. Tom Price (R-GA)

The Office of Congressional Ethics, a semi-independent body that investigates House members on ethics charges and forwards its findings to the official House ethics committee, says the conduct of three members warrants further investigation.

The OCE has been investigating Reps. John Campbell (R-CA), Joseph Crowley (D-NY) and Tom Price (R-GA) for fundraisers they held in the days before voting on financial reform legislation last December. The office dismissed similar investigations against five other members.

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'Ground Zero Mosque'

Park51 Imam To Cut Middle East Visit Short To Deal With Controversy

Rachel Slajda | August 31, 2010, 6:35PM

Construction at WTC site and Jufikil Chodhury looks on while a Tea Party leader speaks against Cordoba House (inset)

Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the cleric trying to build an Islamic community center and mosque in downtown Manhattan, is cutting short his visit to the Middle East in order to deal with the controversy at home.

ABC News reports that Rauf, who has been traveling for the State Department as part of a mission to build understanding between Middle Eastern countries and the U.S., will leave from Dubai tomorrow.

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Race

Man Charged With Hate Crime For Allegedly Punching Turban-Wearing Store Clerk

Rachel Slajda | August 31, 2010, 5:18PM

A 35-year-old Seattle man has been charged with a hate crime for allegedly punching a 7-11 clerk in the head.

Police say Brock Stainbrook walked into the 7-11 just after midnight Aug. 24, approached a clerk wearing a turban, threw change on the floor and then punched the clerk in the side of the head.

"You're not even American, you're Al-Qaeda. Go back to your country," he then said, according to police.

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Islamic Center of Murfreesboro

Former Civil Rights Division Lawyer: TN Mosque Attack Looks Like A Hate Crime

Rachel Slajda | August 31, 2010, 3:34PM

Future Site of Murfreesboro, TN Islamic Center

A veteran of the DOJ's Civil Rights Division says he'd be surprised if the fire at the site of a mosque in Murfreesboro, Tenn. isn't investigated as a hate crime.

"I think it's pretty clear that there's a hate crime investigation underway," William Yeomans, who served in the division for 24 years and was briefly the acting director, told TPMmuckraker today.

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Islamic Center of Murfreesboro

Tennessee Mosque Received Threats Before Fire

Rachel Slajda | August 31, 2010, 11:11AM

Future Site of Murfreesboro, TN Islamic Center

The Islamic Center of Murfreesboro reportedly received threats in the week before the fire on its property, according to a local TV station, including one that was recorded on voicemail.

News Channel 5 reports that someone called the Islamic center a few days before the fire and left a message saying, in part, "You need to get out of the country now."

A fire was discovered early Saturday morning at the site of the proposed Islamic center and mosque in Murfreesboro, Tenn. An accelerant had been dumped over four pieces of construction equipment, and one was set on fire.

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Jim Traficant

Traficant To Get On The Ballot; Official Decision Wednesday

Rachel Slajda | August 31, 2010, 9:15AM

Jim Traficant

Jim Traficant, the former congressman and ex-con, has enough signatures to get on the ballot for his old House seat.

Last night, according to the Youngstown Vindicator, a county board of elections certified another 31 signatures that Traficant supporters had argued were valid.

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Islamic Center of Murfreesboro

Sheriff: Gunshots Near Mosque Site Probably Hunters

Rachel Slajda | August 31, 2010, 8:00AM

The gunshots heard near the site of a proposed mosque near Murfreesboro, Tenn., were probably the result of hunters taking advantage of the start of squirrel hunting season, a spokesman for the Rutherford County Sheriff's Office tells TPM.

Detective Sgt. Dan Goodwin said that no police report was filed after someone reported hearing nine gunshots at the site the day after construction equipment was found torched at the site.

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Mosques

ATF "Leaning Toward Arson" In TN Mosque Fire

Rachel Slajda | August 30, 2010, 2:59PM

Future Site of Murfreesboro, TN Islamic Center

Local and federal authorities are investigating a fire at the construction site of an Islamic community center and mosque in Murfreesboro, Tenn., this weekend, as well as reports of gunshots as community members gathered at the site.

The fire, which damaged a large piece of construction equipment, was discovered early Saturday morning. The local sheriff's office, the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Bureau and the FBI are investigating.

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Eddie Bernice Johnson

Dem Rep Admits Breaking Rules By Giving Scholarships To Her Grandkids

Rachel Slajda | August 30, 2010, 12:49PM

Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX)

Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) has admitted to breaking anti-nepotism rules by awarding Congressional Black Caucus Foundation scholarships to her grandchildren and to the children of her aides.

The Dallas Morning News reports that Johnson improperly awarded the scholarships (which are funded by donations, not taxpayer money) to two grandchildren, two grand-nephews and to her district director's two children. Between 2005 and 2008, she awarded a total of 15 scholarships to the six students. She told the News that no single award was more than $1,200 and that if there were more "very worthy applicants in my district," she might not have given the scholarships to her relatives. She also apparently broke the rules by awarding scholarships to students outside of her district.

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George Bush

Watchdog Report: Bush Aides Didn't Care About Threat To Emails

Rachel Slajda | August 30, 2010, 9:59AM

Former Vice President Dick Cheney and Former President George W. Bush.

Aides to President George W. Bush weren't troubled by the threat, due to a tech glitch, of losing millions of emails -- the preservation of which is required by federal law.

According to a new report by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Vice President Cheney and others ignored warnings that, with no viable archive system in place, emails could be lost as the White House switched to the Microsoft Exchange email system in 2002. White House Counsel Harriet Miers even rejected a 2005 plan to restore the emails, according to the report.

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