The FBI recently held a joint press conference with CAIR, about the FBI’s search for suspected terrorist Adnan El Shukrijumah—and CAIR turned it into an attack on the FBI and a defense of the suspected terrorist. Joe Kaufman and Bella Rabinowitz have the story: CAIR vs. the FBI.

Before the event, the FBI issued a press release, claiming CAIR had “approached the FBI and offered their assistance in reaching out to the Arab-American community to encourage them to provide any information they might have concerning El Shukrijumah and to address concerns within [sic.] community regarding hate crimes.”

Three days later, CAIR issued its own press release.  However, this one contradicted the FBI.  CAIR’s PR machine claimed that it was not CAIR that approached the FBI, but it was in fact the FBI that approached the radical Islamic group.  The CAIR press release states, “The FBI approached us and sought our help.”  This may seem like an honest mistake to some, but when CAIR’s concerned, honesty rarely factors in on the equation.

Exalting CAIR as “respected members within the Arab-American community,” the FBI’s press release noted its appreciation for CAIR’s “efforts.”  But only a significantly small portion of CAIR’s PR actually dealt with imploring anyone to come forward with information that would be helpful to the FBI’s search.  So it seems the only “effort” CAIR had tried to make was to seek to mask the problem and grant protection to the offender and his cohorts.

CAIR’s press release started out by offering a hazy explanation of the Muslim community’s supposedly complete rejection of terror.  “Terrorism is antithetical to Islam … ‘If anyone slays a human being – unless it be (in punishment) for murder or for spreading corruption on earth – it shall be as though he had slain all mankind.’”  How should one interpret “punishment” or “spreading corruption?”  Certainly al-Qaeda would never lose such semantically challenged debates.

The PR charged FBI agents with the defense and upholding of El Shukrijumah’s human rights “should they apprehend him.”  Naturally, CAIR mentioned nothing about the possible risk such a suspect posed to our nation’s security, nor to the agents who will attempt to bring him to justice.

The press release then bestowed platitudes upon the family of El Shukrijumah, accolades most assuredly undeserved.  It stated, “Adnan G. El Shukrijumah’s family members have earned their respect from the South Florida community.  They have contributed productively to this community.”