Craig Dumont, Deputy Sheriff of Delaware County, New York
Deputy Sheriff Dumont said in 2015 that there was no information to indicate that jihad training was happening at Islamberg in Hancock, N.Y. He said that the Sheriff’s Department had been inside the 70-acre compound several times for matters unrelated to terrorism and described the MOA headquarters as simply being benign Muslims who peacefully participate in local community activities.[11]
He said that his Department said it is “kind of perplexing to us, all of this recent media attention in regard to potential terrorist training camps and things that are going on there.” He said that there is no information indicating that Islamberg poses an “active threat;” verbiage that law enforcement uses to describe situations where there is credible information of a specific violent plot.
Dumont was asked about the 2002 video showing women receiving paramilitary instruction inside Islamberg and the earlier “Soldiers of Allah” video where Sheikh Gilani says that aspiring jihadists can sign up for his guerilla training through his organization’s offices in New York and elsewhere.
He said that the Department hadn’t seen anything to believe “there’s any credit to these videos.” MOA has not denied the credibility of the 2002 video. The credibility of the “Soldiers of Allah” tape has also never been challenged.
When asked about Sheikh Gilani and a declassified FBI report from 2007 stating that MOA members go to Pakistan to receive guerilla-type training, Dumont shockingly said, “We have no reason to believe at this point in time that the individuals you identified in the FBI report are currently with the property there.”
MOA, including Islamberg, is openly loyal to Sheikh Gilani. They continue to communicate directly with him. It’s never been denied. Top MOA leaders are also known to have gone to Pakistan and the group’s own newspaper boasts of members going there, though they don’t say it is for training related to combat or jihad.
In another interview, Dumont was asked whether Islamberg is a military camp where Muslims train to kill Americans. He said there is “no reason to believe any of those types of activities are taking place there.”
He even said that he and his Department colleagues “call into question whether those videos were even shot anywhere near Hancock.”
Again, MOA did not deny the credibility of the Islamberg training video and it was provided to Professor Ryan Mauro of the Clarion Project by a knowledgeable law enforcement source and its authenticity was confirmed by multiple unconnected law enforcement sources. MOA-affiliated sources have also confirmed its authenticity and identified trainees seen in the video. One literally laughed at the notion that such training isn’t happening.
Dumont conceded that the organization was investigated by the FBI after the 1993 World Trade Center bombing along with other groups but said no arrests were made. He failed to mention the arrest of Clement Hampton-El, a reported Fuqra/MOA member, for involvement in the bombing.
He agreed with the radio host’s comparison of Islamberg to the Amish.[12]
Freeport Police Chief Dan Pennington (Texas)
In 2014, Freeport Police Chief Dan Pennington dismissed concerns about Fuqra’s Mahmoudberg “village” in Sweeny, Texas in comments to KHOU 11 news reporter Andrew Horansky.[13]
Pennington subsequently told Mauro that he had not read the original article that the news report was about. He also said he had not read the declassified FBI documents that the article referenced and provided.
When asked about the connection to MOA and Sheikh Gilani, Chief Pennington rejected concern about Mahmoudberg based on its affiliation with MOA, suggesting that this commune should not be judged by the other MOA communes.
The assertion is patently false. There’s no such thing as a MOA commune that is independent of MOA or completely separate from the other MOA sites. Each and every one is devoted to Gilani as their leader.
The FBI documents clearly state that some members came from other MOA communes, including a leader from the Baladullah compound in California that was abandoned after its charter school scam was stopped. In addition, Mahmoudberg had a non-profit named the Muslim Model Community with a resident named Idris Johnson as the registered agent. Idris Johnson was the Master of Ceremonies for an interfaith MOA event held in Binghamton, New York.[14]
Freeport Police Chief Dan Pennington’s view of Mahmoudberg is less surprising when you consider that a member of the Freeport Police Department is reportedly a resident of Mahmoudberg.[15]
[11] Aaron Klein Investigative Radio, January 25, 2015.
[12] First News with Keeler in the Morning, WIBX950AM. (2015). WIBX YouTube channel, posted September 22, 2015. https://youtu.be/IGocpY1By58
[13] Horansky, Andrew. (2014). Small Muslim Community Struggles with ‘Terrorist’ Rumors. KHOU 11 News.
[14] Mauro, Ryan. (2014). Texas Terror Enclave Exposed. FrontPage Magazine. http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/219646/texas-terror-enclave-exposed-ryan-mauro
[15] Geller, Pamela. (2014). Texas Police Double as Mahmoudberg’s Militia. WorldNetDaily. http://www.wnd.com/2014/02/texas-police-double-as-mahmoudbergs-militia/
