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| Fifth Column |
| Muslims offer to help 'John Does' sued by imams |
| 2007-03-21 |
| By Audrey Hudson Lawyers and a Muslim group say they will defend at no cost airline passengers caught up in a lawsuit between a group of imams and U.S. Airways if the passengers are named as "John Does" and sued for reporting suspicious behavior that got the Muslim clerics booted from a November flight. The six imams are suing the airline, Minneapolis-St. Paul Metropolitan Airports Commission, and the unnamed "John Does" to be named later, for discrimination, saying they were removed from the flight for praying in the airport. Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser, a Phoenix-area physician and director of American Islamic Forum for Democracy -- a group founded in 2003 to promote moderate Muslim ideas through its Web site (www.aifdemocracy.org) -- told The Washington Times his group will raise money for legal fees for passengers if they are sued by the imams. "It's so important that America know there are Muslims who understand who the victims are in air travel," said Dr. Jasser. "But I hope it doesn't get to that point because the backlash will be even greater when Americans see Islamists trying to punish innocent passengers reporting fears." The lawsuit specifically cites two passengers who stared at the men as they prayed, then made a cell phone call that the imams say went to U.S. Airways to complain about the prayer. Gerry Nolting, whose Minnesota law firm Faegre & Benson LLP is offering to represent passengers for free, says the judicial system is being "used for intimidation purposes" and that it is "just flat wrong and needs to be strongly, strongly discouraged." "As a matter of public policy, the FAA [Federal Aviation Administration] presently tells traveling passengers to report suspicious behavior as part of its homeland security program," Mr. Nolting said. "This has nothing to do with race or ethnicity, but trying to intimidate and discourage reporting of suspicious behavior and [also discourage] the promotion of safe travel." Tom Malone, another Minnesota lawyer offering his services pro bono, says the lawsuit is "a very overt attempt to intimidate people" and "coerce them into silence." Appearing yesterday on Fox News, Dr. Jasser told Neil Cavuto, "Americans are going to be more afraid of Arabs and the Muslim community for fear of being sued. Why spend money on litigation when we should be spending it on fighting terrorism?" Passengers and the flight crew say the imams were disruptive, did not take assigned seats, asked for seat-belt extensions they didn't need, loudly criticized the war in Iraq and President Bush, and shouted about al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. The men were escorted off Flight 300 to Phoenix, handcuffed briefly, searched and questioned for several hours by airport police and members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force. The imams' lawyer, Omar Mohammedi, will not comment on his case except to say that the John Does, who could also be airline employees, will not be determined until the lawsuit enters the discovery process. Airport commission spokesman Pat Hogan declined to comment on the lawsuit, except to say, "We believe the airport police appropriately responded to U.S. Airways' call for assistance. That is what we have contended all along and that is still what we believe." Some lawyers have said that suing passengers could set a "chilling" precedent, but question whether the courts would allow such charges to proceed. "If [the passengers] acted within reason, and took a reasonable course of action, they may not be subject to liability," said Victor Schwartz, a partner with Shook Hardy & Bacon LLP in Washington and general counsel for the American Tort Reform Association. Several lawyers, including Mr. Malone and Mr. Nolting, contacted PowerLineBlog.com, a site operated by Minnesota and Washington lawyers, urging fellow litigators to step forward and defend passengers pro bono. "I would hope thousands of lawyers would come forward, we need a massive showing of support, we need to let people who would intimidate us know it is not going to stand. This is where we draw the line," Mr. Malone said. "No one is against freedom of religion or the right to pray, it is fundamental to our society. But that does not mean that we use it as a cover or use it to intimidate people. There |
| Posted by:anonymous5089 |
| #15 Excellent, Ice! I just talked to Counselor Nolting personally and gave him my deepest thanks for helping defend America from this evil threat. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-03-21 14:15 |
| #14 Let me ad some additional contact information. If you want to leave a message thanking Gerry Nolting. Phone: 612-766-7000 Toll-Free: 800-328-4393 Fax: 612-766-1600 I just called and left a thank you message on Mr. Nolting service. We need more Americans like this man. We Will Not Submit! |
| Posted by: Icerigger 2007-03-21 13:45 |
| #13 Jasser will be considered a renegade/infidel-lover by the rest of 'em. Too bad, because he seems generally okay. |
| Posted by: ex-lib 2007-03-21 13:31 |
| #12 Passengers and the flight crew say the imams were disruptive, did not take assigned seats, asked for seat-belt extensions they didn't need, loudly criticized the war in Iraq and President Bush, and shouted about al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. The men were escorted off Flight 300 to Phoenix, handcuffed briefly, searched and questioned for several hours by airport police and members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force. I continue to remain entirely unamused by how the MSM literally refuses to make the above facts more apparent to the general public. Many of the individual acts mentioned above are sufficient grounds for reporting these perpetrators. Taken together, they constitute a conspiracy. Period. I will make certain to applaud Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser's efforts at reversing the intensely bad publicity this incident has cast upon American Muslims. However, I am still obliged to agree with Seafarious' comment that: we are correct to question anyone who claims to speak for 'the Muslim community'. The whole lousy lot of them are taking orders from Riyadh and Tehran. I tried to find an email address for Tom Malone but was unable to do so. Here is the email being sent to Faegre & Benson LLP: (Please consider sending one yourself.) info@faegre.com Re: U.S. Airways Flight 300 To All at Faegre & Benson LLP, Please accept my congratulations upon offering pro bono services to those passengers of U.S. Airways' flight 300 who are being sued for expressing rightful concern over suspicious conduct by the imams involved. By all reckoning, this was a blatant probe of airline security and legitimate cause for alarm by all involved. Furthermore, any reporting of suspicion or concern certainly constitutes free speech and the imam's attempts to quash expressions of such are highly suspect. You are providing all Americans, including American Muslims like Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser, a vital service in the ongoing fight against Islamic terrorism. Organizations like CAIR, whose well-established terrorist associations casts their motives in the very worst light, must not succeed in squelching public opposition to their stated aim of subverting America's constitutional law. Please spare no expense at defending our precious Constitution from the predations of these seditious traitors. Again, I extend my deep gratitude that your firm has shown itself ready to oppose any erosion of American civil liberties. You are to be commended for it in no uncertain terms. Thank You, Zenster |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-03-21 13:10 |
| #11 We need more like him! This article is about the good actions of this particular group and as such, I'm sorry I made derogatory remarks.. Stepping away from this article and this group, I think that the focus should be on this all important question: How is it that these wise, brave individuals are being left by our government to twist in the wind over a case that affects the right of every single individual in America to take the simplest steps to defend themselves against a world-wide army of fanatics sworn to our destruction. It is an outrage that our own government has not gotten involved to protect the most basic of our rights. |
| Posted by: Harcourt Clerong1339 2007-03-21 12:14 |
| #10 No offense taken, we are correct to question anyone who claims to speak for 'the Muslim community'. The whole lousy lot of them are taking orders from Riyadh and Tehran. I would question this gentleman's motives too if I hadn't heard him on the radio. |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2007-03-21 11:59 |
| #9 Brave guy to publicly stand like that, considering how looney his Wahabbi opponents are. Wish there were more like him. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2007-03-21 11:50 |
| #8 He seems like a great person and I applaud him. He is in the position to change the world for a better place and he has my utmost respect. I don't mean my comments to be an affront to this man and I acknowledge he is generous to offer. But if I was a defendant, I would insist on retaining control of my own defense. I don't know why he wants to try them as "john does" but there must be a reason why. |
| Posted by: Harcourt Clerong1339 2007-03-21 11:46 |
| #7 On the surface and for the moment, justifiable suspicions notwithstanding, this is exactly the kind of position we need more western muslims to take. The moderate muslim community must speak out with a loud and unified voice against those who have perverted their faith for their own political gain before the problem of islamofascism can even begin the long process of marginalization by fellow muslims necessary for it's ultimate extinction. This Jasser fella seems to be saying the right things. If muslims in the West want to be respected and not feared, that is. |
| Posted by: eltoroverde 2007-03-21 11:39 |
| #6 Here is the link to the Mark Levin interview, if this link is bad it's also on the AIF page. |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2007-03-21 11:36 |
| #5 Dr. Jasser is the real deal. I heard him on the Mark Levin show. He firmly believes that Islam must stay out of politix and is standing practically alone against the Wahhabs. I was very impressed with him. Here is his website, go check it out. |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2007-03-21 11:34 |
| #4 True, true. But that dog analogy doesn't really work because we don't know what the dog intends to do here. If this group wants to simply pay for any lawyer that the defendants chooses to select, then it may be a meaningful gesture. If it were my defense, my life, I wouldn't be willing to take that money unless it was very clear that no strings were attached. When the fox offers to guard the henhouse, you should consider his offer with suspicion. |
| Posted by: Harcourt Clerong1339 2007-03-21 11:25 |
| #3 Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser, a Phoenix-area physician and director of American Islamic Forum for Democracy The very model of a modern, muslim moderate. |
| Posted by: eLarson 2007-03-21 10:50 |
| #2 You don't smack the dog when it goes outside to crap, and you shouldn't smack a Muslim group when it actually says the right thing. (Even if you may not entirely trust them.) |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2007-03-21 10:46 |
| #1 gosh. I wonder who will win this lawsuit it they take them up on their offer. Fox guarding the henhouse, comes to mind. |
| Posted by: Harcourt Clerong1339 2007-03-21 10:31 |