The Muslim Brotherhood in America (Part IV) – Crossing the Bridge: The Implications of the Holy Land Foundation Trial (Part 1)

This is the fourth in a 14 part series at Big Peace which will detail the history, objectives, strategy, operational structure, modus operandi, and influence of the Muslim Brotherhood in the United States.

Click here to view previous articles on the MB in America

On a seemingly normal day on the outskirts of Annapolis, Maryland, a singular event led to the revelation of a deep-rooted enemy with a massive infrastructure inside the United States well on its way to achieving its goal of overthrowing the United States Constitution.

It is August 20, 2004. A Friday in the summertime, and the feds, lobbyists and businessmen chained to their desks in Washington, D.C. can’t wait to bust out the doors and head to the beaches on the Eastern shore of Maryland and Delaware – Rehoboth, Bethany, Ocean City, and others. The traffic on Route 50 East on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge (Maryland) is picking up after the lunch hour, and will be ugly in a couple hours.

Westbound lanes, however, are pretty clear. Traveling on 50 West is a Baltimore County (MD) Marine Police unit carrying two officers. They are slowly overtaking a silver Infiniti sport utility vehicle when they notice the passenger is fully covered in what they believe is traditional Islamic garb. Her attire is not what gets their attention though – she is filming the support structures of the Bridge with a video camera. As they come alongside the vehicle she pulls the camera down, and resumes the filming when the police have passed. The officers catch that move. They notify the Maryland Transportation Authority (MTA) who has jurisdiction of the bridge. The officers conduct a vehicle stop at just about the time the MTA unit arrives on scene.

One of the three children in the vehicle, a daughter, will later tell how the police treated her family like animals, and she will complain that it was all so scary and….more propaganda.

The way this was handled was a fair reaction from law enforcement officers when we understand the driver of the vehicle was identified as Ismail Elbarasse – a Hamas operative (and, therefore, a Muslim Brother), wanted on a Material Witness warrant in a Hamas case out of Chicago. As more officers and the FBI are notified, the cops on scene realize there is something big going on. Why is a Hamas guy filming the support structures of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge? Investigators will later suggest that because of Al Qaeda’s reduced ability to operate in the U.S. after 9/11, it was using other groups, like Hamas, to conduct pre-operational surveillance of its targets. What is most historically earth-shattering is what follows the car stop.

The FBI executes a search warrant of Elbarasse’s home and vehicle in Annandale, Virginia. In the basement of the residence is a sub-basement. In the sub-basement, the archives of the Muslim Brotherhood are discovered. Historical documents, financial documents, strategic documents, organizational documents, and all kinds of other items are found among this incredible discovery.

Many of these documents will be entered into evidence at the largest successfully prosecuted terrorism financing and Hamas trial in U.S. history – US v Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (or “HLF” for short). These documents were stipulated to by the defense counsel, meaning there is no legal basis to contest their validity as being what they purport to be.

These documents, in conjunction with testimony, recorded conversations, financial records, and other evidence entered at the HLF trial, as well as evidence revealed at other terrorism trials revealed a few key facts:

1. Holy Land Foundation was the largest Islamic non-profit in the United States and it was a Hamas entity.
2. The leaders of HLF were senior Hamas leaders.
3. Hamas was created out of the Palestinian Muslim Brotherhood.
4. There is a significant Muslim Brotherhood Movement in the United States which began in the 1950’s.
5. The first national Islamic organization, the Muslim Students Association, was created by the Muslim Brotherhood.
6. The MB seeks to subordinate existing U.S. law to Shariah (Islamic Law) and re-establish the global Islamic State (Caliphate).
7. The most prominent Islamic organizations in North America are controlled by the Muslim Brotherhood’s Movement to include, but not limited to: Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), North American Islamic Trust (NAIT), Muslim Students Association (MSA), International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT), Fiqh Council of North America (FCNA), Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), and the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) which was demonstrated to be a Hamas entity in the United States.
8. ISNA and NAIT are Hamas support entities.
9. ICNA is partnered with the Muslim American Society (MAS), and their training program to Muslims across North America includes the call to “wage war” against all systems of government not under Islamic rule, and calls Muslims to “hate and despise” all un-Islamic governments, among other things.
10. “Islamic Societies” and “Islamic Centers” across North America are controlled by the Muslim Brotherhood, meaning along with the mosques, non-profit organizations, lobbying groups, for-profit businesses, and the covert organizations controlled by the MB, the Muslim Brotherhood has thousands of entities in the U.S. at all levels of society working daily to bring Islamic law and Islamic rule to the United States.

What is most disturbing from this factual information is that federal agencies charged with the security of the United States, as well as state and local law enforcement organizations, have primarily worked with ISNA, CAIR, MSA, MAS or other hostile organization over the years – and continue to do so today. This creates a significant legal and practical danger to American citizens when the very agencies sworn to “protect and defend” are taking their advice from an enemy – the Muslim Brotherhood / Hamas / Al Qaeda – who has made their violent objectives crystal clear to anyone who has eyes to see and ears to hear.

Even if someone chooses to believe the Muslim Brotherhood will never achieve its stated goals, what is clear is that the MB is well-organized, well led, well trained, well funded (primarily by Saudi Arabia), and has strategic objectives guided by tactical milestones to get them there. Across the United States, our state and federal officials are not even aware of the MB Movement here. While the MB might not achieve their objectives, the odds are heavily in their favor.