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From the Los Angeles Times

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Rep. Peter King opens Muslim 'radicalization' hearing, saying it 'must go forward'

New York Congressman Peter King says not to hold the controversial hearing would be a 'craven surrender to political correctness.' Concerns have been raised that the hearing could stigmatize Muslim Americans and increase hostility worldwide between Muslims and the U.S. government.

by James Oliphant

Washington Bureau

7:42 AM PST, March 10, 2011

In opening his congressional hearing on the "radicalization" of Muslims in the United States, Rep. Peter King on Thursday forcefully pushed back against critics who contend his inquiry demonizes an entire community and threatens national security.

"I remain convinced that these hearings must go forward. And they will," King told a packed hearing room on Capitol Hill. "To back down would be a craven surrender to political correctness and an abdication of what I believe to be the main responsibility of this committee -- to protect America from a terrorist attack.

"Despite what passes for conventional wisdom in certain circles, there is nothing radical or un-American in holding these hearings," said King, who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee.

King, a Republican congressman from New York whose district was heavily effected by the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, convened the hearing because of what he termed a growing threat of homegrown terrorism among Muslim men in the United States.

"Today, we must be fully aware that homegrown radicalization is part of Al Qaeda's strategy to continue attacking the United States," King said. "Al Qaeda is actively targeting the American Muslim community for recruitment. Today's hearing will address this dangerous trend."

King cited the plots to bomb Times Square and the subways in New York, as well as the shootings in 2009 at Fort Hood, Texas, among others, as examples.

Democrats, civil-rights groups and some terrorism experts have criticized the hearings, saying they could stigmatize Muslim Americans and increase hostility worldwide between Muslims and the U.S. government.

Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), a Muslim, offered emotional and sometimes tearful testimony in objecting to King's efforts.

"This committee's approach to this particular subject is contrary to the best of American values and threatens our security," Ellison said, saying that King was assigning "collective blame to a whole group" and was "stereotyping and scapegoating."

His voice broke as he described the actions of Mohammed Salman Hamdani, a paramedic from New York, who died while responding to the 9/11 attacks.

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the ranking member of committee, warned the hearings could increase "fear and mistrust" in the Muslim American community.

"An obligation to be responsible does not equal political correctness," Thompson said.

"In scores of hearings and briefings, members of this committee have been told that Al Qaeda's main recruiting tool is the notion that the powers of the West are aligned against the people of the Middle East," Thompson said. "We cannot give this lie a place to rest. I cannot help but wonder how propaganda about this hearing's focus on the American Muslim community will be used by those who seek to inspire a new generation of suicide bombers."

But King received qualified support from veteran Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), whose district has a significant population of Muslim Americans. Dingell said the hearing had "great potential" and could produce "good results."

Calling the majority of Muslims in the country "loyal, decent and honorable Americans," Dingell raised the specter of the infamous Sen. Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin, who chaired the anti-Communism hearings of the 1950s. Dingell called on King to conduct the hearings in a "fair, honorable and thoughtful fashion."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-muslim-house-hearing-20110311,0,7372279,print.story

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Rep. Peter King's hearing on American Muslims a 'very personal' quest

The Republican's plan to hold a hearing on radicalization in the U.S. Muslim community has drawn criticism. But he says he is driven by the deep feelings that Sept. 11 inspires for him and members of his Long Island, N.Y., district.

by Brian Bennett and Geraldine Baum, Los Angeles Times

March 9, 2011

Reporting from Washington and New York

For Rep. Peter T. King, Sept. 11 was personal. It was personal, he says, for everyone in his Long Island district, which was home to dozens of the police, firefighters and financial workers who died at the World Trade Center.

And despite concerted nationwide criticism of the Republican's plan to hold a House Homeland Security Committee hearing Thursday on radicalization in the U.S. Muslim community, King says in his district he has nearly universal support.

"Everyone is telling me to go ahead with it," King said in an interview, adding that he thinks his district is a good place to measure public opinion in the U.S. on such issues. "My district, I think it is a good barometer. Nobody in my district didn't know somebody who was killed on Sept. 11. It is still very personal."

Critics have questioned King for his approach to a hearing that some argue goes too far, lumping in all Muslim Americans with the religious extremists who would do harm to America. The hearing, critics argue, will do nothing to stem domestic terrorism and may in fact hurt King's cause by further alienating the very community that law enforcement agencies rely on to prevent attacks.

"To the extent that these hearings make American Muslims feel that they are the object of fear-mongering, it will only serve Al Qaeda's ends," said Richard Clarke, a counter-terrorism advisor to Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush.

In holding the hearing, King wants to highlight what he sees as an unwillingness by Muslim leaders to aggressively prevent radicalization of young men and engage in robust cooperation with law enforcement to prevent attacks. Two family members of young American men seduced by Islamic extremism are expected to testify to their frustrations at the lack of assistance they received from local religious leaders to counteract their loved ones' radicalization.

But research by two North Carolina universities shows Muslims have been the top source of tips that have thwarted terrorism plots in the U.S. King's critics say the hearing is unlikely to yield revelations or investigative breakthroughs, and will only serve to promote anti-Muslim sentiment in the United States.

King counters that Obama administration officials have made the same observations he has about the rise in home-grown plots hatched in the name of Islam, even if he has been less careful in his choice of words.

Deputy national security advisor Denis McDonough, for example, told a Virginia-based Muslim community group this week that old assumptions that our unique melting pot made the U.S. immune to Al Qaeda's attempts to radicalize people here "was false hope, and false comfort."

But administration officials have made a point of presenting the American Muslim community as part of the solution, not the problem.

"The most effective voices against Al Qaeda's warped worldview and interpretation of Islam are other Muslims," McDonough said Sunday. He also met Wednesday at the White House with Muslim activists and community leaders in advance of King's hearing to assure them that the administration doesn't view American Muslims as a threat.

A report from Duke University and the University of North Carolina released last month examined terrorism investigations since Sept. 11, 2001, and found that fellow Muslims provided useful tips that helped arrest 48 of 120 Muslims suspected of plotting attacks in the U.S.

Singling out one religious community for scrutiny "is the heart of scapegoating," said Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), who is Muslim and believes it important that he testify at Thursday's hearing, even though he disagrees with King's approach.

"This hearing is not going to help. Will it hurt? I hope not. Will it help? Definitely not. … We need a greater level of engagement and more trust, and these hearings do the opposite," Ellison said.

King has never been one to shy away from controversy, and that has boosted his popularity his blue-collar district. He hasn't had a close race since he was first elected in 1992. In November, King won his 10th term in Congress with 72% of the vote, his highest percentage.

"He has a strong streak of independence," said Mike Long, the influential head of the New York State Conservative Party who has locked horns with King, but considers him an ethical and fair public advocate. King angered a lot of conservatives in New York when he voted to oppose Clinton's impeachment in 1998.

He was a visible supporter of the Irish Republican Army, which his critics have pointed out engaged in terrorist activity. He spoke in favor of the struggle against "British imperialism" at a pro-IRA rally on Long Island in 1982. King has said that the IRA never targeted Americans and his loyalty is with the U.S.

Some who have followed him for a long time saw a shift in King's attitude after Sept. 11, when he took a hard line on illegal immigration and Islamic terrorism. "I've detected a change," said Niall O'Dowd, founder of the Irish Central, the largest Irish American news website, who has known King for more than 25 years. "I think he's gone off the rails."

Like many middle-class families, King moved to Long Island from New York City for the safety and space of the suburbs. What happened on Sept. 11 shattered that sense of security those communities had come to hold dear, said Brendan Quinn, a former New York Republican Party executive who grew up in Long Island's Nassau County and has known King for decades.

"In the rest of the state, in the rest of the country, you just don't understand, you don't have the same connection to what happened on Sept. 11," said Quinn, who saw King at funeral after funeral in the days after the twin towers fell.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-king-hearings-20110310,0,6427243,print.story

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Brutal 1985 stabbing of aspiring model leads L.A. County detectives to Las Vegas man

Los Angeles County sheriff's detectives hope to extradite a Las Vegas man accused in the 1985 slaying of an aspiring model.

A cold case squad made the arrest Wednesday after picking up the case of the unsolved stabbing of the Long Beach woman.

Stafford Joel Spicer, 59, was apprehended by Los Angeles County cold-case sheriff's homicide investigators in Las Vegas, where he was living.

Authorities said Spicer was served with an arrest warrant at his home in connection with the killing of Joanne Marie Jones, who was 23 when she disappeared April 29, 1985. Her body was found in June of that year in a remote area of Azusa Canyon east of Highway 39.

At the time, Spicer was arrested by Long Beach police after he was spotted driving Jones' Chevrolet Camaro. He was later released for lack of evidence, the Sheriff's Department said.

The case was reopened in 2009 by the department's cold-case unit, which uncovered new DNA evidence, according to authorities.

The unit's motto is "Time is on our side," Capt. Mike Parker said. "Homicide cases," he said, "are never closed until they are solved."

Anyone with information is asked to call Det. Steve Davis at (323) 890-5500 . Or tipsters can remain anonymous by calling LA Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS , texting the letters TIPLA plus your tip to CRIMES (274637)

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/

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DNA and death row

The significance of this week's Supreme Court decision is that prisoners can now sue under a civil rights law to press their claims for DNA evidence.

March 10, 2011

The Supreme Court this week had good news for a Texas death row inmate: He can sue a district attorney who won't give him access to DNA evidence that might clear him. The 6-3 decision, which opens a new avenue of appeal for condemned prisoners, is welcome. But it falls short of what the court should do to make DNA evidence available to every prisoner who requests it.

Henry Skinner was convicted of murdering his girlfriend and her two sons in 1993. He says he was in an alcoholic haze during the killings and that his girlfriend's uncle was probably the killer. At his trial, he declined to seek access to DNA evidence that might have exonerated him.

Later, Skinner changed his mind and, using a Texas law, tried to obtain DNA testing. But he was rebuffed by the courts because the state law, among other restrictions, penalized prisoners who hadn't sought DNA evidence earlier.

The significance of this week's decision is that prisoners can now sue under a civil rights law known as Section 1983 to press their claims instead of being limited to habeas corpus suits, a traditional avenue of appeal that Congress has made more difficult to pursue. Hurdles remain, but the court has allowed some suits designed to obtain DNA evidence.

But the court needs to go much further. As a matter of simple justice, every prisoner, not just death row inmates, ought to have access to DNA testing when it offers the potential of exoneration. So important is such evidence that the court should use an appropriate case to rule that the Constitution's due process clauses require DNA testing, and without conditions of the sort Texas imposed.

To do so, the court will have to overcome its past timidity. In a 2009 case, it declined to establish a federal right to DNA testing, even though Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote in the majority opinion that "DNA testing has an unparalleled ability both to exonerate the wrongly convicted and to identify the guilty." Then Roberts and his colleagues went on to say why the court shouldn't embrace a right to DNA testing, including the fact that 44 states provided access to testing. But, as the Texas case makes clear, states also can impose unjust restrictions.

Even some conservative justices recognize that the Constitution must keep up with the times. This is one example. Access to DNA testing should be declared a basic right.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-dna-20110310,0,5882284,print.story

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From the New York Times

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10 Face Charges in Mexico Killings

MEXICO CITY — Ten members of a Mexican drug gang working on both sides of the border have been charged in the murders last year of a pregnant American Consulate employee, her husband and the husband of another consulate employee in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico.

Court documents unsealed Wednesday in El Paso revealed federal charges against a total of 35 people the authorities said were linked to the Barrio Azteca gang.

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. described the gang as a transnational criminal organization with a “militaristic command structure” and revenues linked to extortion and drug sales in the United States.

At a news conference in Washington, he said the charges, stemming from arrests in Texas, New Mexico and Mexico, “reaffirm the fact that this Justice Department, and this administration, will not tolerate acts of violence against those who serve and protect American citizens.”

Noting that 7 of the 10 murder defendants are in Mexican custody, he added that “at every level of government and law enforcement, we are working with our Mexican counterparts more effectively than ever before.”

That cooperation is currently being tested in another high-profile investigation: American and Mexican authorities are pursuing the killers of a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, Jaime J. Zapata, and the wounding of a second agent last month in a shooting outside Mexico City.But the emphasis on tight links in law enforcement also appears against a backdrop of tensions between the two countries. The recent shooting has led some members of Congress to question Mexico's standard policy of refusing to allow American agents to be armed, while Mexico's president, Felipe Calderón, has responded bitterly to leaked diplomatic cables in which American officials criticized the competence of Mexican authorities in the fight against cartels.

Even as Mr. Calderón went to Washington this month to meet with President Obama, he lashed out at the American ambassador, Carlos Pascual, and at what he described as an “incoherent” policy regarding drugs and guns in the United States.

The official American response, as evidenced by the comments of the attorney general, appears to be to press on, staying positive to keep the relationship intact, especially on the cases that matter most.

The murders in Ciudad Juárez had been a focus of multistate and cross-border efforts for more than a year.

When Lesley Ann Enriquez, a consulate employee, and her husband were shot and killed in March 2010 after a social event with other consulate employees, some people worried that Americans might regularly be singled out, and brutally — the gunmen left the couple's baby crying in the back seat of their S.U.V.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/10/world/americas/10mexico.html?_r=1&ref=world&pagewanted=print

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Police in Los Angeles Step Up Efforts to Gain Muslims' Trust

LOS ANGELES — Sgt. Mike Abdeen, on duty in the county Sheriff's Department, got a call last year from a Muslim father who was worried about his son. The young man had grown a full beard and was spending a lot of time alone in his room, on the computer. The father was worried that perhaps his son had fallen in with Islamic extremists, and wanted Sergeant Abdeen to look into it.

The sergeant approached the young man after Friday Prayer, talked with him over coffee and kept in touch over the next few months. It turned out that the youth was hardly a budding terrorist; he was just a spiritual searcher, a recent college graduate who had grown a beard to express his Muslim identity.

For Sergeant Abdeen, a Palestinian-American who runs a pioneering sheriff's unit charged with forging connections between law enforcement and local Muslims, the episode was a sign of progress. Until recently, a concern like this would probably have gone unreported because of the fear some Muslims have about talking to law enforcement.

“If the father didn't trust us to do the right thing, he wouldn't call us,” the sergeant said.

The question of whether American Muslims do, or do not, cooperate with law enforcement agents in preventing potential terrorist attacks is at the heart of Congressional hearings that begin Thursday in Washington. The hearings have been called by Representative Peter T. King, a Republican from Long Island, N.Y., and chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. He says that American Muslims do not cooperate, and that he will call witnesses who will prove it.

But in Los Angeles, home to one of the largest and most diverse Muslim populations in the country, the picture is far more encouraging, though there are still challenges. And it has one of the most assertive multidepartmental efforts in the country, along with New York, to overcome mistrust and engage Muslims as allies in preventing terrorism, according to law enforcement experts.

“We're not going to win the war against terrorism without Muslims,” said Leroy D. Baca, the Los Angeles County sheriff, in an interview in his office. Mr. Baca will be called as a witness at the hearings on Thursday.

The Sheriff's Department and the Police Department have formed such strong personal relationships with Muslim leaders in the last few years that these ties have helped overcome some bad patches, such as when Muslims discovered that the F.B.I. had placed informants in mosques on nonspecific intelligence-gathering missions.

Dozens of civilian Muslim leaders serve on councils in the Sheriff's Department, the Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security. Imams and Muslim professionals have helped to train law enforcement officers in the cultural and religious sensitivities that could make or break an investigation.

Law enforcement officers visit mosques during Friday Prayer, have tea with imams and liberally hand out business cards with their personal cellphone numbers. The hope is that all this public relations will pay off in improved mutual trust and tips about all kinds of crimes — from fraud to drug dealing and, certainly, to terrorism.

More than a dozen members of the Muslim American Homeland Security Congress, an advisory group initiated by Sheriff Baca, said at a meeting last week that Muslims in particular had a large stake in preventing further terrorist attacks because if something happens, it is their community that comes under scrutiny, their members who face suspicion and discrimination.

Ashraf Jakvani, of the Islamic Center of San Gabriel Valley, said, “If we fail to report and something happens, believe me, 99.9 percent of the Muslim population would hold us accountable.”

However, the barriers to cooperation can be high. When uniformed men representing the government come calling, some Muslims are indeed afraid and reluctant to talk, according to both Muslims and law enforcement officials. This is especially true for immigrants from repressive countries where the police were feared and hated.

Omar Ricci, a reserve police officer in Los Angeles, whose mother emigrated from Pakistan, said: “For many Muslims, law enforcement was the enemy back home. There was this automatic suspicion that all of their phones were tapped, all of their cars were bugged.”

Another impediment arose when some Muslims who talked to F.B.I. agents investigating terrorism later had immigration or other legal problems, said lawyers at the American Civil Liberties Union and the Council on American Islamic Relations of Greater Los Angeles. Now both groups advise Muslims to get a lawyer before talking to the F.B.I.

Usually after someone retains a lawyer the F.B.I. agents never go through with the interviews, the lawyers said, leading Muslims to conclude that these are fishing expeditions. Besides, Muslim leaders said, asking for a lawyer before talking to the F.B.I. is a citizen's right and should not be seen as a lack of cooperation.

Steven M. Martinez, assistant director in charge of the Los Angeles division of the F.B.I., said that having someone engage a lawyer can “hinder” an investigation, but not stop it. He acknowledged that F.B.I. investigations could indeed transition from terrorism to other issues.

As to the quality and degree of cooperation his agency gets from Muslims, he said, “I would gauge it as very good.” He said the community outreach had prevented incidents, though he said he could not be specific in order to protect sources.

In many ways, local law enforcement agencies play “good cop” to the F.B.I.'s “bad cop.” Police and sheriffs' Muslim outreach units have organized forums, often in mosques, on things like earthquake preparedness, domestic violence and identity theft, or blood drives.

What may look like social work is a long-term strategy, said Deputy Chief Mike Downing, head of counterterrorism for the Police Department.

“The purpose of our outreach engagement is not to be able to knock on the door and say, Tell me where the next terrorist is,” he said. “It's about building resilient communities and neighborhoods, so we teach them how to use government and solve problems. If people feel good about where they live, they're less likely to fall into these traps that can lead to alienation and extremism.”

Last week, Chief Downing and six police officers attended Friday Prayer at the Islamic Center of Southern California. Afterward, they were surrounded by men and women asking about traffic rules, how to become a police officer and whether they were looking for wives.

Alnoor Mamdani, a 43-year-old engineer, told Chief Downing that with the hearings coming up, “sometimes we feel alienated, we're attacked, we're seen as second-class citizens. It means a lot that you came.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/10/us/10muslims.html?ref=us&pagewanted=print

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Rhode Island Town Fights the Release of a Child Killer

The impending early release of a convicted child killer has stirred outrage in Rhode Island and sent state officials scrambling for alternatives to freeing him.

The prisoner, Michael Woodmansee, was sentenced to 40 years for the 1975 murder of Jason Foreman, a 5-year-old neighbor in the tranquil coastal town of South Kingstown. In 1982, the police found the boy's shellacked bones in Mr. Woodmansee's bedroom, along with a journal that they said contained gruesome details of the crime.

But because of a state law that shortens the sentences of inmates with good behavior and prison jobs, Mr. Woodmansee, 52, is to be released in August after serving only 28 years. Jason's father, John Foreman, has threatened to kill Mr. Woodmansee if he is set free, and others have planned a rally at the Rhode Island Statehouse to protest the so-called earned time law.

Mr. Woodmansee was 16 when Jason vanished in May 1975, never coming home from an afternoon of outdoor play. The case went unsolved until 1982, when Mr. Woodmansee was charged with the attempted murder of a 14-year-old paperboy, and confessed to luring Jason into his home and stabbing him.

A. T. Wall, the state corrections chief, said Wednesday that psychiatrists started evaluating Mr. Woodmansee this week to determine if he meets the “very narrow” standards for involuntary commitment after his release.

“In this case our options are slim,” Mr. Wall said. “We are also looking for other settings that might provide him with some form of shelter and treatment even if he does not meet the standard for commitment.”

He added that many other states had earned-time laws, saying, “We are by no means an outlier.”

Mr. Woodmansee, who was sent to Massachusetts to serve his prison time, was returned to Rhode Island last week so that corrections officials could start evaluating him.

John Foreman would not comment on the case Wednesday, but his lawyer, Erik B. Wallin, said the Foreman family wanted state lawmakers to alter the earned time law so that it no longer applied to violent offenders.

Vincent Vespia, the police chief in South Kingstown, described Jason Foreman's murder as “heinous and brutal,” and said Mr. Woodmansee's shortened sentence was “mind-boggling.”

“I believe he's mentally ill,” Chief Vespia said, “and I have no reason to believe he's been rehabilitated or cured from that malady.”

The journal found at Mr. Woodmansee's home remains in Chief Vespia's possession, sealed under court order. “I'll not discuss the contents,” he said.

In an interview on WPRO radio on Wednesday, Dale Sherman, the former paperboy whom Mr. Woodmansee attacked in 1982, said Mr. Woodmansee had given him a drink that made him pass out and tried to strangle him with a red bandanna. “Why is this man even still breathing,” Mr. Sherman said, “let alone trying to get out of prison?”

On Monday, John Foreman told WPRO that he had “stupidly” agreed to the plea bargain to avoid the agony of hearing details of the murder at trial.

“If this man is released anywhere in my vicinity,” he said, “or if I can find him after the fact, I do intend to kill this man.”

Other residents expressed similar fury in interviews Wednesday. Walter Campbell, 52, who said he helped search for Jason Foreman after he disappeared, said he considered buying a gun after hearing that Mr. Woodmansee might be released.

“I think that there are probably a lot of people who would want to kill him if he came back in this town,” Mr. Campbell said, “to make sure it didn't happen again.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/10/us/10release.html?ref=us&pagewanted=print

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From Google News

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14 suspected pirates to appear in federal court

(CNN) -- Fourteen suspected pirates indicted for the February hijacking of a yacht that led to the deaths of four Americans are set to appear in federal court Thursday.

Thirteen Somalis and one Yemeni will make their first court appearance in Norfolk, Virginia, at 2:30 p.m ET, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney's office.

The men face piracy, kidnapping and firearms charges, according to office spokesman Peter Carr. They were indicted Tuesday.

According to U.S. officials, the four Americans -- ship owners Jean and Scott Adam, along with Phyllis Macay and Bob Riggle -- were found shot after U.S. forces boarded their vessel.

Their ship, Quest, was being shadowed by four U.S. warships after pirates seized it off the coast of Oman in February.

U.S. forces responded after a rocket-propelled grenade was fired at a U.S. Navy ship about 600 yards away -- and missed -- and the sound of gunfire could be heard on board, according to U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Mark Fox.

The men were found to be in possession of several assault rifles and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, according to the indictment. They tossed additional weapons into the ocean as U.S. forces approached, it said.

It was the first time in recent history that Americans have been killed in a suspected pirate attack in the Gulf of Aden, Carr said.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/03/10/virginia.pirates.court/

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Obama: Bullying 'is not something we have to accept'

President Obama opened a White House conference on school bullying today by saying that all Americans -- parents, teachers, coaches, and people in general -- have a responsibility to make sure children are not threatened or intimidated by their peers.

Bullying is not "a harmless rite of passage," but can have "destructive consequences for our young people" -- from poor grades to suicide.

"Sometimes we've turned a blind eye to the problem," Obama said.

About 150 students, parents, and teachers are attending the conference, discussing their experiences and possible ways to prevent bullying moving forward.

"No family should have to go through what these families have gone through," Obama said. "No child should feel that alone."

Obama said bullying is frequently targeted as "kids that are perceived as different," from the color of their skin to sexual orientation. "It's not something we have to accept," Obama said.

The president also said his big ears and unusual name made him a target: "I wasn't immune. I didn't emerge unscathed."

The co-host of the anti-bullying summit, first lady Michelle Obama, said children have the right to be safe in the classroom, on the playground, and online.

And children often don't volunteer information about their harassment, Mrs. Obama said.

"When something is wrong we need to speak up and we need to take action," she said.

In urging more communications between parents and students, Mrs. Obama cited one of her own children:

"We don't always know, because they don't always tell us every little detail.

We know that from Sasha. Sasha's response is -- 'what happened at school today?' 'Nothing.'

That's it. It's like, well, we're taking you out of that school."

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2011/03/obama-bullying-is-not-something-we-have-to-accept/1

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Colo. authorities search for Texas couple's 2 boys

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MONUMENT, Colo. -- Colorado authorities are searching for two boys who have been missing for most of the last decade whose adoptive parents from Texas have been receiving government checks to support the boys, even though they were not living with the couple.

An El Paso County sheriff's spokeswoman said Wednesday that 58-year-old Edward Bryant and 54-year-old Linda Bryant are in jail on $1 million bail each.

They have not been charged in the disappearances of Austin Eugene Bryant and Edward Dylan Bryant.

Austin may have disappeared as early as 2003, when he was 7, and Edward may have disappeared in 2001, when he was 9.

The Bryants lived in the Monument area near Colorado Springs between 1999 and 2005 and most recently lived in the Dallas area.

http://www.seattlepi.com/national/1110ap_us_adopted_boys_missing.html

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Gang Rape of 11-Year-Old Girl Sparks Racial Tensions in Texas Town

New Black Panthers Rally Is Moved Because of a Death Threat

The alleged gang rape of an 11-year-old girl by at least 18 boys and young men has sparked shame and outrage in a tiny Texas town, but it has also stirred racial tensions that threaten to split the East Texas hamlet.

All of the defendants arrested are African-American and the girl is Hispanic.

The hardscrabble town of Cleveland, which is 45 miles from Houston, has fewer than 8,000 residents and since the saw mill closed the biggest employers are Wal-Mart and a nearby prison. In a town this small, everyone is a neighbor, but that small town ambience is being severely strained.

The rape allegedly occurred last November, and the list of suspects has been growing as arrests keep coming. It's not clear whether more arrests are in the works.

The suspects range in age from 14 to 26, include stars on the high school's basketball team as well as the son of a school board member.

But as the investigation drags on, the shock and indignation has been tinged with an undercurrent of racial tension.

"I feel sorry for the little girl. I feel sorry for everyone involved...the city is in turmoil," Inez Dickerson said.

Dickerson remembers when her great-grandson called to tell her the crime he's accused of committing.

"When I got on the phone, he was crying. He said, 'Granny, I've been accused of something. I'm scared,'" Dickerson said. "He's pretty tore up about it."

"I'm not going to play the race card on this because my grandson and all the rest were very young men and they could have given a second thought on this," Dickerson said.

While Dickerson believes the flaring of racial tensions isn't warranted, others disagree.

Houston community activist Quanell X will host a town hall meeting this evening called "What's the real truth behind the rape allegations?"

"Every adult male that had sex with this child should go to prison, I don't care what the color is. But I do not believe black males are the only ones that had contact with this young child," said Quanell X, the leader of Houston's New Black Panther Party. "It appears to me there's only been the selective prosecution of one community, which is African American."

Quannell X said the rally has been moved from a church to a community center because, "The church received some death threats."

The village has a history of racial violence. In 1988, an African American man was arrested in Cleveland for allegedly stealing a fountain pen. The man, 30-year-old Kenneth Simpson, was allegedly beaten to death by white police officers while in prison. The officers were acquitted of murder charges and returned to work.

In addition, Cleveland is embroiled in a political scandal where three city council members are facing a recall election following complaints of corruption. All three of those city council members are African American.

More than half of the town is white, with the rest of the residents split between blacks and Hispanics.

Most of the defendants have ties to Precinct 20, the nickname for the predominantly African-American neighborhood in Cleveland. The black neighborhood is sometimes referred to as "the quarters."

Cleveland police began investigating the rape in December of last year after cell phone video showing the alleged sex attack started circulating among students at Cleveland schools, according to court documents. The video shows the girl engaged in sexual acts with several men.

The girl told authorities that the weekend after Thanksgiving she was asked if she wanted to ride around with three of the defendants in the case. The girl, described as a straight A student by those who know her, rode with the young men to a blue house with white trim, according to court documents.

As the night unfolded, numerous men came to the house and later an abandoned trailer to have sex with the girl, according to court documents.

The video surfaced because some of the girl's attackers used their cell phones to take photographs and to film the assaults.

The girl, who has not been identified because she is a minor and the alleged victim of a sex crime, said that she was told by the men that they "would have some girls 'beat her up' or she would not be taken back to her residence" if she didn't have sex with them, according to court documents.

When a relative of one of the defendants was heard returning to the blue house, the group hurriedly moved to an abandoned trailer. The girl left behind her bra and panties, according to the court documents.

The girl has been removed from the custody of her parents.

Brenda Myers knows the girl and her family. Myers runs the Community and Children's Impact Center in Cleveland, one of the few programs for Cleveland's youth.

The 11-year-old girl and her two sisters frequently attended meetings held by Myers' organization. Myers said the girl was a happy and talkative girl, but something abruptly changed last October.

"This little girl was always hugging and loving and in October, she was really, really quiet," Myers said.

When Myers asked the girl what was bothering her, she said, "It's just something I can't tell you," Myers said.

When Myers heard the news of the alleged crime, she cried.

"I got angry and then...thought where were the parents?" she said.

The girl's mother was recently in the hospital and her father is an unemployed construction worker, Myers said. She said that the family cares deeply about the children.

"The mother was in tears. She feels extremely bad about what happened. She's devastated for her family," Myers said.

"It's becoming a black and white issue because it happened over in the quarters. It's segregating our community again," Myers said. "The reaction is anger, devastation."

Lance Blackwell helps organize weekly prayer sessions for the Cleveland Prayer Center. Recently, an impromptu prayer session included both defendants and family members of the girl.

"It's clear these family members and friends know one another and are in a deep amount of pain," Blackwell said. "The young men that were involved were very emotional...obviously we didn't discuss details, that wasn't what it was about."

http://abcnews.go.com/US/gang-rape-charges-18-men-sparks-racial-tensions/story?id=13095476&page=1

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From the FBI

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Violent Border Gang Indicted

Members Charged in Consulate Murders

03/09/11

Thirty-five leaders, members, and associates of one of the most brutal gangs operating along the U.S.-Mexico border have been charged in a federal indictment in Texas with various counts of racketeering, murder, drug offenses, money laundering, and obstruction of justice.

Of the 35 subjects, 10 Mexican nationals were specifically charged with the March 2010 murders in Juarez, Mexico of a U.S. Consulate employee and her husband, along with the husband of another consulate employee.

The indictment was announced today at a press conference in Washington, D.C., by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, FBI Executive Assistant Director Shawn Henry, and other representatives. All commented on the cooperation American officials received from their Mexican counterparts. Said Henry, "We may stand on opposite sides of the border, but we stand together on the same side of the law."

Seven of the 10 charged with the U.S. Consulate murders —and two other indicted defendants —are in custody in Mexico. Three remain at large, including Eduardo Ravelo, currently one of the FBI's Top Ten Most Wanted Fugitives. We're offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading directly to his arrest.

The Barrio Azteca began in the late 1980s as a prison gang but has since expanded into a transnational criminal organization with approximately 3500 members, including 600 active members located in West Texas and Juarez, Mexico. Barrio Azteca gang members can also be found throughout state and federal prisons in the U.S. and Mexico.

This particular organization is known to engage in criminal activities both inside and outside of prison walls. Those activities include murder, assault, threats of violence, extortion, money laundering, witness intimidation, illegal firearms possession, alien smuggling, and drug trafficking—on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border.

According to today's indictment, the Barrio Azteca formed an alliance with the Vicente Carrillo-Fuentes (VCF) drug trafficking organization in Mexico , conducting enforcement operations against VCF rivals and receiving “discounts” on illegal drugs from the VCF.

And in addition to the consulate murders, the defendants are allegedly responsible for a number of other murders in the U.S. and Mexico. The indictment states they also imported heroin, cocaine, and marijuana into the U.S., and charged a “cuota,” or tax, on businesses and other criminals operating on their turf. The funds raised by these taxes were allegedly funneled into prison commissary accounts of gang leaders and also helped pay for defense lawyers.

Today's indictment is a direct result of the cooperation among the local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies and prosecutors involved. Members of our multi-agency Safe Streets Task Forces out of our El Paso and Albuquerque offices worked seamlessly with one another throughout the investigation, sharing intelligence, conducting surveillance, making undercover drug buys, and executing search warrants.

The use of Safe Streets Task Forces is part of our strategy for going after these violent criminals—we currently have 168 Violent Gang Task Forces and 41 Violent Crime Task Forces nationwide. Also valuable is our ability to use federal statutes, because they often result in longer sentences and allow us to seize and forfeit assets from convicted gang members. And targeting the leadership of these criminal groups often disrupts their ability to ply their illegal trade.

Hopefully, with today's indictment and arrests, the streets on both sides of the border are a little safer.

http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2011/march/azteca_030911/azteca_030911

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