A pro-Palestinian rally at University of South Florida devolved into a riot and Tampa, Florida police deployed tear gas on Tuesday to disperse the rioters and clear the campus of trespassers.
Those who do not follow the Muslim civilization jihad being waged against the United States may see Tampa, Florida as an unlikely spot for Islamist terrorists to put down roots, but the city and its universities have a long history of jihadi penetration.
University of South Florida “Professor” Sami Al Arian was indicted in February 2003 on 17 counts under the Patriot Act. A jury acquitted him on 8 counts and deadlocked on the remaining 9 counts. He later struck a plea bargain and admitted to one of the remaining charges in exchange for being released and deported by April 2007. However, as his release date approached, a federal prosecutor in Virginia demanded he testify before a grand jury in a separate case, which he refused to do, claiming it would violate his plea deal. He was held under house arrest in Northern Virginia from 2008 until 2014 when Obama dismissed the remaining charges and deported him.
So, it should come as no surprise when the following people were arrested in connection to the pro-Hamas riot at USF:
Adnan Elyaman – 20 – Unlawful assembly, trespass on property other than structure or conveyance, resisting officer without violence
Anas Khalid Juma – 21 – Resisting officer without violence, unlawful assembly, trespass on property other than structure or conveyance
Atah Othman – 39 – Trespass on property other than structure or conveyance, unlawful assembly, possession of a firearm on school property (felony), resisting officer without violence
Bailey Wagner- 24 – Unlawful assembly, trespass on property other than structure or conveyance, resisting officer without violence
Cameron Pressey – 27 – Unlawful assembly, trespass on property other than structure or conveyance, resisting officer without violence
Daniel Powell – 32 – Unlawful assembly, trespass on property other than structure or conveyance, resisting officer without violence
Emmanuel Atmosfera – 21 – Resisting officer with violence, disrupting school or lawful assembly, resisting officer without violence, trespass upon school grounds after notice, aggravated assault with intent to commit a felony with a weapon (felony)
Jake Geffon – 23 – Battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting officer with violence, trespass on property other than structure or conveyance
Leonardo Tilelli – 23 – Trespass on property other than structure or conveyance, unlawful assembly x2, resisting officer without violence x3, battery on a law enforcement officer (felony), resisting officer with violence (felony)
Sarah Fayiz – 25 – Trespass on property other than structure or conveyance, unlawful assembly x2, resisting officer without violence x2
Othman, aged 39 was arrested carrying a firearm and it is unknown whether he was actually a student at USF, or an “outside agitator” as administrators at the University of Florida at Gainesville termed the many non-student rioters arrested there.
However, the University of South Florida is not the only place where the seeds of jihadi terrorism sown by Sami Al-Arian have sprouted.
Sami Al-Arian — who pleaded guilty in 2005 to fundraising and other support for the terrorist group Palestinian Islamic Jihad — boasted on social media that his wife, Nahla, was among those who joined the vicious anti-Semitic riot at Columbia University last week.
The New York Post reported Al-Arian, who was deported from the US in 2015 after serving time, shared a photo of his wife smiling and sitting alone among the tents erected by the anti-Semitic rioters.
Police later clarified Nahla Al-Arian was only on the Morningside Heights campus last week and was not among the pro-terror mob that broke into an academic building early Tuesday and occupied it for nearly 24 hours before cops were given the green light to storm in and make arrests.
While there was also no evidence of any wrongdoing on her part, the NYPD’s head of counterterrorism said Nahla’s on-campus presence wasn’t something she’d want for her own child.
“We have no evidence of any criminal wrongdoing on her part but that’s something I wouldn’t want influencing my child if I were a parent of somebody at Columbia,” Rebecca Weiner, the Deputy Commissioner, Intelligence & Counterterrorism, said as she addressed the ordeal.
“These students don’t come in the door knowing how to barricade themselves behind barriers that they’ve created, right?
“These are all skills that are taught and learned and that presents a problem. And so you know, this is not about policing ideas in any way, shape or form. It is about recognizing when there is an actual public safety concern.”
We guess you could call what’s going on on American college campuses a “public safety concern” but it looks more like an organized terrorism campaign to us.*
*Go here for the FBI definition of terrorism, especially “International terrorism: Violent, criminal acts committed by individuals and/or groups who are inspired by, or associated with, designated foreign terrorist organizations…”
George Rasley is editor of Richard Viguerie’s ConservativeHQ.com and is a veteran of over 300 political campaigns. A member of American MENSA, he served on the staff of Vice President Dan Quayle, as Director of Policy and Communication for former Congressman Adam Putnam (FL-12) then Vice Chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs, and as spokesman for retired Rep. Mac Thornberry, a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and former Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.