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From the OP article:
Hogrefe said authorities had conducted surveillance of the compound

And guess who was conducting that surveillance? The fucking FBI.

https://www.npr.org/2018/08/06/6359...rescue-11-emaciated-children-living-in-squalo
[....]
Hogrefe said that FBI agents had surveilled the compound a few weeks previous but did not at the time find probable cause to conduct a search.
[....]

Why was the FBI interested in this remote camp? Could it be because who Siraj Ibn Wahhaj's father is?
https://www.investigativeproject.org/mosques/409/masjid-at-taqwa
The Imam of At-Taqwa is Siraj Wahhaj, who appeared on a list of unindicted coconspirators in the trial of the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.[1] Wahhaj provided testimony during the trial to defend the Blind Sheikh, Omar Abdel-Rahman, the former leader of the Egyptian terrorist organization, Gama'a al-Islamiyya. Rahman was found guilty of "conspiracy to murder President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt," "solicitation to attack a military installation," and of bombing conspiracy related to a plot to bomb the New York FBI headquarters along with tunnels and other landmarks.[2] During Wahhaj's testimony, he called the Sheik a "respected scholar," also calling him "bold, as a strong preacher of Islam."[3]

In addition to these ties, Wahhaj has made extremist statements while lecturing at the Islamic Association of Northern Texas. In November of 1991, Wahhaj advocated the establishment of an Islamic State in the U.S.:

"Wherever you came from, you came to America. And you came for one reason- for one reason only – to establish Allah's deen."[4][emphasis added]


During the same lecture Wahhaj predicted the demise of America unless it accepted "the Islamic agenda," citing the fall of the Soviet Union as a warning sign.[5] [emphasis added] He added that "there will never be an Islamic State, never, until there's first an Islamic state of mind," and that Muslim should be involved in politics not because, "it's the American thing to do. You get involved in politics because politics are a weapon to use in the cause of Islam." [6] [emphasis added
 
They had an AR-15, so CNN would be on board with the terrorist claims.

Maybe not. Not a single mention of 'radical Islam', 'terror' or 'terrorist' in that entire article.

Can you please explain to me why anyone needs to own an AR-15?
 
Can you please explain to me why anyone needs to own an AR-15?
In effect, it is much the same as previous generations owning P14, P17, No. 1, or No. 4 Enfields, M1903 or '03A3 Springfields, Krags, M1 Garands, M1A rifles, M1 Carbines, or trapdoor Springfields: it is a service weapon. Many people spent a large portion of their youth carrying, cleaning and qualifying with one, and they would like a tactile reminder of the days when their arms weren't too short to read the newspaper and they could see the difference between a bean and a kernel of corn at 40 paces.

Of the 11 rifles I identified, seven are bolt-action repeaters. One is a single shot. Three are semiautomatics, with one of those three being a lookalike of a select-fire service rifle -- much the same as the AR-15 is a semiautomatic lookalike of the select-fire M16. Of these 11 rifles, only one fires a cartridge of less power than the AR-15.

The Krag is a little long in the tooth for a competition firearm these days, but the other 10, along with the AR-15, are used for service rifle and other competitions across the United States and around the world. They, along with the Krag, also see use in the hunting fields since their users know where the controls are and have spent hundreds of hours learning how to fire them accurately and precisely.

Did you know that the definition of "assault weapon" is based solely upon appearance? The flash hider, the bayonet lug, and the threaded muzzle made them so much more dangerous that an otherwise identical firearm lacking them. :penguin: The companies making "assault weapons" omitted these dangerous features, sometimes opting to pin and weld a muzzle brake to the end of the barrel instead of screwing a flash hider onto the threaded muzzle. That made them safe. And it sent those who would ban guns into a tizzy; apparently, the companies making these firearms were supposed to throw their hands in the air and close their doors because they could no longer make these firearms.

Assault rifles have performance-based specifications, including the ability for the operator to choose to fire either one round for one pull of the trigger or to fire multiple rounds for one pull of the trigger. This is the meaning of "select fire". And since "assault weapons" are, by definition, semiautomatic, and are only capable of firing one round for one pull of the trigger, they are not assault rifles. Remember that the next time some political critter claims a need to shut down the trade in assault rifles and claims an "assault weapon" is what he or she wants to abolish.

--Al
 
Maybe not. Not a single mention of 'radical Islam', 'terror' or 'terrorist' in that entire article.

Can you please explain to me why anyone needs to own an AR-15?

I don't, but know plenty of law-abiding citizens that do. One of them is my bosses husband who does compete and is very good with rifles. I see no reason to remove them from the hands of responsible people who were afforded the right to bear arms by our nations founders.
 
Did you know that the definition of "assault weapon" is based solely upon appearance?

Thank you, @Alf, well said.

I don't know a lot, but I used to work in the family owned gun shop and I did learn some things. When I see/hear all the politicians spouting off about "assault weapons" and it's apparent they don't know what they are talking about. You would hope that they'd do their homework and talk intelligently on it, but NOOOO. They just hit the buzzwords and have their audience slobbering over banning guns that none of them know anything about. It's not that hard, GOOGLE IT.

The difference in an "assault rifle" and your grandpa's hunting rifle is simply the shit that's attached to it. The attachments do nothing towards making it fire faster or more, it simply makes it LOOK mean. You could take them off and you still have a long gun that will fire the same way. One pull one bullet.

Do we need for one more thing like Prohibition, with the sale of alcohol made illegal, or the big fat failed "War on Drugs" to happen with guns? We've already proved it's not that easy to outlaw anything and then keep it out of the hands of the ones who either have the money to get it or have the enterprising spirit to bring it into the country regardless of the laws in place.

They can't keep them out of Australia and they can't keep them out of England, they are still there, if you know where to look. And besides all that, they didn't outlaw long guns, rifles, shotguns, they are still everywhere, you can still own them, you just have to register them, so what's the point? Most of the "mass shooting" everywhere are done with long guns.

Personally I don't have a dog in this fight, but it psses me off that no one wil learn what they are talking about before jumping in the ring and screaming "BAN GUNS"!
 
If these people believe America is the devil, as most muslims do, and the boy was believed to be possessed by the devil, then does that just mean the boy liked America a bit too much?
 
Yeah, that makes sense, right. Now I'm really side-eyeing the FBI who were just sitting by watching to see what would happen since it took the local Sheriff to get shit done. Really, how can I not be suspicious especially with this low bail. It should've been millions. Hinky shit.

Despite the gross accusations, he and his adult relatives were all granted $20,000 bail on Monday.
 
From Crystal's article:

Abdul-Ghani suffered from seizures, but Mr Wahhaj believed the boy was possessed by the devil and needed to be exorcised, court papers said.

An FBI agent told the court that after Abdul-Ghani died, the children were told he would return "as Jesus" and tell them where to carry out attacks, an FBI agent told the court.

However, Judge Sarah Backus said that while the information she had heard was "troubling", prosecutors had not proved that the defendants posed a threat to the wider community.

"The state alleges that there was a big plan afoot, but the state hasn't shown to my satisfaction, in clear and convincing evidence, what that plan was," she said.


All five must wear ankle monitors and have weekly contact with their lawyers on bail, she ordered.

This is exactly how terrorists are able to carry out attacks here. Just appear to be a big old goof who only accidentally kills children while training for terrorist attacks. WTF!
 
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/08/1...ry-issuing-low-bail-to-violent-offenders.html
The state judge who on Monday set a $20,000 bail for five defendants arrested at a remote New Mexico compound where authorities say children were being trained to conduct school shootings has a history of issuing low bail to violent offenders.

Judge Sarah Backus, an elected Democrat, ordered the two men and three women to wear ankle monitors, have weekly contact with their attorneys and not consume alcohol or own firearms while on bail. She said although she was concerned by “troubling facts,” prosecutors failed to articulate any specific threats to the community.
[....]
“What I’ve heard here today is troubling, definitely. Troubling facts about numerous children in far from ideal circumstances and individuals who are living in a very unconventional way,” Backus said.

Monday isn't the first time Backus has issued low bail for suspects accused of violent crimes.

Just last month, she set a $10,000 bond for Rafael Orozco, a 24-year-old Taos man accused of battering his girlfriend, his newborn child and a health care worker at Holy Cross Hospital in September 2016.

Police said Orozco prompted a lockdown at the hospital after punching his girlfriend as she breastfed their newborn in front of a male doctor, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported. Cops said Orozco then grabbed the mother by the throat and slapped the baby.

Orozco reportedly fled the hospital and was arrested in Rio Arriba County a few months later. While in prison, Orozco was accused of other crimes, including obtaining Suboxone, an opioid medication, and pulling a fire alarm. A year later, he and his brother, Cristian Orozco, were charged with assaulting and threatening a guard.

In September, Backus approved an order to incarcerate Orozco at the Lea County Correctional Facility until his trial. His defense attorney recently filed a motion arguing for his release and last month, Backus ruled in his favor.
[....]
Backus was first appointed to the bench in June 2011 by Republican Gov. Susana Martinez. She was elected to the post in 2012 and is expected to remain there until at least 2020.

Prior to her appointment to the bench, Backus – a graduate of the University of California Hastings College of the Law – served as a deputy public defender and deputy Attorney General in San Francisco. She's lived in Taos since 1994.

Martinez issued a statement after Monday’s hearing saying she “strongly disagreed” with the outcome and Backus’ decision.

“Unfortunately, it highlights how extreme the New Mexico Supreme Court has been in dictating pretrial release for all kinds of dangerous criminals,” she said.
[....]
Ryan Cangiolosi, chairman of the Republican Party of New Mexico, said Backus’ decision to release “suspected terrorists” into the community has put the people of the state at risk.

“By releasing these suspects without even requiring them to post bail, Judge Backus has put people in danger and created the risk that they could flee and harm other children and communities as well,” he said in a statement. “If New Mexico Democratic Party leaders are serious about keeping our state safe, they should join me in denouncing Judge Backus and the incredible failure of leadership and judgment demonstrated by her terrible decision.”
[....]
Despite being issued bail, however, Wahhaj is likely to remain locked up pending a warrant for his arrest in Georgia on accusations he abducted his own son, Abdul-ghani, from the boy's mother in December and fled to New Mexico. The four other defendants — Jany Leveille, Lucas Morton, Subhannah Wahhaj and Hujrah Wahhaj — may be released on house arrest as early as Tuesday.
[....]
Defense attorneys argued prosecutors were trying unjustly to paint their clients as armed militants. They also argued the rifles and handguns found on the property were common guns that could be bought at retail stores and the group made no aggressive effort to defend the compound.
 
In effect, it is much the same as previous generations owning P14, P17, No. 1, or No. 4 Enfields, M1903 or '03A3 Springfields, Krags, M1 Garands, M1A rifles, M1 Carbines, or trapdoor Springfields: it is a service weapon. Many people spent a large portion of their youth carrying, cleaning and qualifying with one, and they would like a tactile reminder of the days when their arms weren't too short to read the newspaper and they could see the difference between a bean and a kernel of corn at 40 paces.

Of the 11 rifles I identified, seven are bolt-action repeaters. One is a single shot. Three are semiautomatics, with one of those three being a lookalike of a select-fire service rifle -- much the same as the AR-15 is a semiautomatic lookalike of the select-fire M16. Of these 11 rifles, only one fires a cartridge of less power than the AR-15.

The Krag is a little long in the tooth for a competition firearm these days, but the other 10, along with the AR-15, are used for service rifle and other competitions across the United States and around the world. They, along with the Krag, also see use in the hunting fields since their users know where the controls are and have spent hundreds of hours learning how to fire them accurately and precisely.

Did you know that the definition of "assault weapon" is based solely upon appearance? The flash hider, the bayonet lug, and the threaded muzzle made them so much more dangerous that an otherwise identical firearm lacking them. :penguin: The companies making "assault weapons" omitted these dangerous features, sometimes opting to pin and weld a muzzle brake to the end of the barrel instead of screwing a flash hider onto the threaded muzzle. That made them safe. And it sent those who would ban guns into a tizzy; apparently, the companies making these firearms were supposed to throw their hands in the air and close their doors because they could no longer make these firearms.

Assault rifles have performance-based specifications, including the ability for the operator to choose to fire either one round for one pull of the trigger or to fire multiple rounds for one pull of the trigger. This is the meaning of "select fire". And since "assault weapons" are, by definition, semiautomatic, and are only capable of firing one round for one pull of the trigger, they are not assault rifles. Remember that the next time some political critter claims a need to shut down the trade in assault rifles and claims an "assault weapon" is what he or she wants to abolish.

--Al
Alf, I'm kinda in love with you based on this post. ♥
 
https://www.kob.com/new-mexico-news/amalia-compound-destroyed-after-raid/5032216/
[....]
Property owner Jason Bader said there was a court order allowing the seizure of a stolen trailer that made up part of the compound.

The compound – where authorities found the remains of a still-unidentified child in a post-raid search – had stood vacant since being raided by Taos County deputies on August 3.
Amalia_compound_destroyed_after_raid-syndImport-062951.jpg

Is it normal to destroy evidence in cases like this? Or was the buried trailer enough and now it's in some evidence warehouse somewhere?
 
Forensic investigators said Thursday they identified the remains of a Georgia boy whose father is accused of abducting him and performing purification rituals on the child as he died at a remote New Mexico desert compound. The cause of the child's death remained unknown.


The body of Abdul-ghani Wahhaj (ahb-DOOL' GAH'-nee wah-HAJ') was found Aug. 6 in an underground tunnel. It was so severely decomposed that investigators could not yet determine how the severely disabled boy reported missing in December had died, New Mexico's Office of the Medical Ivestigator said in a statement.


A spokeswoman for the office said it will be examining both the body and where the remains were located to seek to determine a cause and manner of death. A prosecutor said no charges regarding the death are imminent because officials don't yet know how the boy died.


"All we have is a positive ID," Donald Gallegos, the district attorney for Taos County in northern New Mexico, said in an interview. "We'll need something else, actual cause of death, manner of death."


Read more here: https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/nation-world/article216831365.html#storylink=cpy
https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/nation-world/article216831365.html
 
https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-new...estroyed-by-authorities-1299928131725?v=raila
An underground tunnel at the site where remains of a 3-year-old were found is now buried in rubble, as ammo and a bulletproof vest sit in piles of uncollected trash.

https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/nation-world/article216831365.html#storylink=cpy
will be examining both the body and where the remains were located

Good luck with that considering the condition of the compound now.
 
https://archive.fo/nzn6I
Two of the adults who were arrested at a Taos County compound earlier this month have recently been slapped with cash-only bonds that will keep them in jail if they can’t raise the money – but not for the child abuse charges they’ve faced from the start.

Trespassing citations against four of the five adults who were arrested during or just after an Aug. 3 raid of the compound showed up in court files about two weeks after the raid.

Tuesday, defendants Lucas Morton, 40, and Subhanah Wahhaj, 35, were ordered held under $5,000 cash-only bonds by Taos Magistrate Court Judge Ernest Ortega on the trespassing charges.

Two others from the compound, Hujrah Wahhaj, 37, and Jany Leveille, 35, also were given trespassing citations, dated the day of the raid. But these two were not given monetary bonds by the magistrate judge they faced, Jeffrey Shannon.

Lawyers for Morton and Subhanah Wahhaj have filed emergency motions for reviews in the higher District Court, saying their clients are “unable to meet the current conditions of release.”

Megan Mitsunaga, Subhanah Wahhaj’s lawyer, called the $5,000 bonds unconstitutional and said people are typically released on their own recognizance for misdemeanors like trespassing.

“A $5,000 cash-only bond for a misdemeanor is outside the bounds of anything that would be reasonable,” Mitsunaga told the Journal.

Last week, Taos District Court Judge Sarah Backus set off controversy when she ordered that the five adults from the compound can be released on unsecured $20,000 signature bonds – meaning they only have to pay if they’re found to have violated conditions of release. During the Aug. 3 raid of the remote compound, officers found 11 children ages 1-15 that they say appeared to be malnourished, and each adult defendant faces 11 counts of felony child abuse.

Backus has faced criticism from Gov. Susana Martinez and others, and telephoned threats, over her denial of prosecutors’ motions to hold the five Muslim defendants until trial. Officers testified that children from the compound say they were being trained to make armed attacks on educational, law enforcement and government institutions.

The compound was on land owned by local resident Jason Badger, although defendant Morton had purchased property in the same area. Sheriff’s Sgt. Jason Rael issued the criminal trespass citations. “Above person was advised by property owner Jason Badger to vacate the property + failed to do so,” the citations say.

The fifth defendant, Siraj Ibn Wahhaj, is also charged with custodial interference, for allegedly abducting his 3-year-old son, Abdul-Ghani Wahhaj, from Georgia in December. So far he is the only one not cited for trespassing. Child remains found on the compound have been identified as those of his missing son. The Taos district attorney is waiting on determination of cause of the death before filing any charges in the boy’s death.

Time stamps on the trespassing citations indicate that they weren’t filed in court until last Thursday, three days after Backus’ controversial decision to allow release of the defendants without a secured bond. Taos County spokesman Steve Fuhlendorf said Sheriff Jerry Hogrefe told him the citations were taken to the courthouse Aug. 6, the first business day after they were issued, so it’s unclear why that weren’t stamped as filed until last week. All of the defendants remain in jail.
 
https://taosnews.com/stories/four-defendants-still-held-motions-to-dismiss-filed,51279
The 8th Judicial District Attorney's Office in Taos dismissed a fugitive from justice charge Thursday (Aug. 23) against a man accused of abusing 11 children at a compound in Northern New Mexico, clearing the way for the man's conditional release.
[....]
Wahhaj's fugitive from justice charge stemmed from an arrest warrant filed in Georgia after he allegedly kidnapped his son, Abdul-Ghani Wahhaj, whose remains were found buried at the dwelling near the Colorado border Aug. 6.

Ron Olsen, deputy district attorney with the 8th Judicial District Attorney's Office in Taos, stated earlier this month that Wahhaj would have to first address the New Mexico abuse case.
[....]
Defense attorneys have filed motions to dismiss the abuse cases filed against all five defendants, citing continued delays by state prosecutors and conditions of release that none of the four defendants had been able to fulfill as of press time Thursday.

The motions cite a court rule which requires the state to hold a preliminary hearing for defendants within 10 days of when they are placed in custody.

"If a preliminary examination is not held within the time limits in this rule, the court shall dismiss the case without prejudice and discharge the defendant," Hujrah Wahhaj's attorney, Marie Legrand Mller wrote.
 
http://www.santafenewmexican.com/ne...cle_5f8576c5-bc1b-5f7d-9fd4-53c2a1707a5e.html
The FBI suspected as early as May that a missing Georgia boy was at a makeshift compound in Amalia, a tiny community near the Colorado border, according to newly released records from Taos Central Dispatch.

The child’s body was found at the site early this month, three days after a law enforcement raid prompted authorities to take 11 children into state custody and arrest five adults on suspicion of neglecting the children. The FBI did not participate in the raid and has not commented on its investigation.

Responding to an inquiry about evidence collected at the compound before it was demolished last week, FBI spokesman Frank Fisher said “it would be inappropriate” for the agency to comment while cases connected to the investigation are pending.

The May 14 dispatch report indicates Special Agent Dennis Suta, who works for the FBI field office in Atlanta, requested assistance from the Taos County Sheriff’s Office.

“Request for assistance from local authorities of a [3-year-old] child,” the dispatch report reads, “have reason to believe he’s in Amalia. Have an address and would like a deputy to assist. This case is out of Atlanta, Georgia.”

“What sort of assistance is required?” a Taos deputy asked.

“Assist with kidnapped child,” the dispatcher said.

Taos County Sheriff Jerry Hogrefe said the FBI tracked the boy’s father, Siraj Ibn Wahhaj, after an arrest warrant was issued, accusing him of abducting his young son, Abdul-Ghani Wahhaj.

Federal agents had watched the compound using aerial surveillance for an unknown number of months but never moved in on the property because of a lack of evidence, Hogrefe said.

The compound’s residents might have been in danger, the May 14 report says, with comments describing Siraj Ibn Wahhaj as potentially “armed and dangerous.” Deputies were warned not to broadcast chatter about the compound on the radio “as a precaution.”
[....]
Henry Varela, a spokesman with the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department, which has placed the 11 children from the compound in foster homes, said the office had not received a complaint about the children’s living conditions prior to the Aug. 3 raid.
 
http://time.com/5378088/boy-denied-medication-new-mexico-compound/
Prosecutors on Friday charged the father and stepmother of a 3-year-old boy whose body was found at a ramshackle compound in northern New Mexico with child abuse charges that can carry a penalty of life in prison.

Siraj Ibn Wahhaj and his partner Jany Leveille are accused of failing to provide medication to a son of Wahhaj’s who had a severe medical condition that was well known to the family, according to charges of child abuse resulting in death and conspiracy to commit child abuse filed by the district attorney’s office in Taos.

Wahhaj is the father of Abdul-ghani Wahhaj, whose remains were discovered inside an underground tunnel at a compound near the Colorado state line.
[....]
A lawyer for Siraj Ibn Wahhaj did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Kelly Golightley, an attorney for Leveille, said she had not seen the charges or accompanying warrant and that her client maintains her innocence.

Leveille also is being held on accusations by federal immigration authorities that she overstayed her non-immigrant visitor visa after arriving 20 years ago in the United States from her native Haiti. She was returned Thursday to Taos from a federal holding facility in Texas.

In an affidavit accompanying the new charges, prosecutors outlined allegations that Wahhaj and his son left Georgia without taking medications the boy needed to treat severe health problems, including seizures that stemmed from a lack of oxygen and blood flow at birth.

The affidavit alleges that Leveille and Wahhaj witnessed the boy’s seizures and knew he had a diagnosed seizure disorder but apparently provided no medication and took no action to seek proper medical care.

Prosecutors quote an extensive account of the child’s death as written in a journal entry that they attribute to Leveille, indicating that Abdul-ghani died in late December 2017 as the exhausted boy’s heartbeat faded in and out during a religious ritual accompanied by a reading of the Quran and aimed at casting out demonic spirits.

The ritual and the boy’s death were described at earlier court hearings by an FBI agent who drew on information from interviews with teenagers who lived at the compound. The descriptions conform with aspects of an alternative, meditative Islamic healing ritual called ruqya.

The New Mexico Office of Medical Inspector has not yet determined how Abdul-ghani died. Spokeswoman Alex Sanchez said Friday that the agency is performing analyses.
[....]
 
https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/at...ck-on-grady-hospital-documents-show/820684695
ATLANTA - Channel 2 Action News has learned about a planned terror attack on Grady Memorial Hospital.

Channel 2's Lauren Pozen was at the hospital in downtown Atlanta looking over newly-filed court documents from prosecutors that name the hospital as a possible target, as well as some other big-name institutions
[....]
Included in the documents are a 10-page hand-written document called "Phases of a Terrorist Attack".

Prosecutors say Leveille "expressed his displeasure with Grady Hospital due to the treatment her mother received there."
[....]
Prosecutors in New Mexico filed the documents as a part of a new motion. A judge previously granted the suspects in this case bond.

Prosecutors want that decision reversed in light of the new information.
 
Otherwise, those who met them said they seemed friendly. A resident recalled how one of the men tenderly wiped the nose of a crying child. What little the residents knew about the compound didn't raise eyebrows in an area where many people live "in unconventional ways," as the judge in the case has said.
Individuals from society's periphery have long sought refuge in this part of the state, where cheap land far from the nearest power line or shopping center is easy to find. The region's history of welcoming outsiders has contributed to cross-cultural exchanges and a tolerant attitude that locals consider points of pride. Many are quick to distance the state's countercultural vibe from the compound and its inhabitants, who are accused of training the children to commit mass shootings. But they also fear that the publicity around a case infused with allegations of terrorism, child abuse and faith healing might contribute to a rise in racism and Islamophobia.
"People come here and they want to be left alone and sometimes they do things that are unconventional," said Malaquias "JR" Rael, whose family arrived in the Taos region in the mid-1800s. Newcomers are drawn to the area for its proximity to nature, breathtaking views and simple way of life, he says. Other families like his -- predominantly Hispanos -- have been here for generations.


"It can be difficult to be alarmed or judgmental, because people have been doing this kind of stuff for a long time."
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/08/26/us/new-mexico-off-the-grid/index.html

Fuck CNN. Fuck them.
 
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