Residents of the St. Louis area, of two places in Illinois, and of Utica, New York have been charged with sending money and supplies to terrorist groups such as ISIS and al Qaeda. The suspects, all of whom are immigrants from Bosnia, allegedly sent military supplies including military uniforms, combat boots, tactical gear and clothing, range finders and rifle scopes.
Mediha Medy Salkicevic of Schiller Park, Illinois appeared in federal court in Chicago earlier today, and faces up to 30 years in prison. Read more about her at NBC Chicago, ABC7 and the Chicago Tribune.
Salkicevic's co-defendants Ramiz Zijad Hodzic, his wife Sedina Unkic Hodzic, and Armin Harcevic live in St. Louis County, Missouri. Also indicted are Nihad Rosic of Utica, New York and Jasminka Ramic of Rockford Illinois, who is currently overseas. Read more at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and KSDK.
UPDATE: Read more on Jasminka Ramic and her husband Fadil at The Daily Beast.
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In my opinion, this case raises three questions:
1. According to above-mentioned Post-Dispatch, three of the six suspects have become naturalized American citizens. NBC Chicago reports that Salkicevic has been naturalized. Since these people have allegedly given support to al Qaeda, could their actions, in the case of the three who are now U.S. citizens, meet the Constitutional definition of treason?
2. NBC Chicago and the Post-Dispatch respectively report that Salkicevic and Sedina Hodzic have worn head coverings. Some people quoted by KSDK imply that the St. Louis area suspects are Muslim. It thus appears that at least some of these six suspects are Muslim. If ISIS (a.k.a. ISIL, a.k.a. Islamic State) is not Islamic, why would a group of Muslims want to help them?
3. Since these suspects are from Bosnia, and would thus be as white as any American of European descent, can we dispense with the idea that suspicion of Islam or or its adherents is based on skin color?
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