Smith Act applies to Shari'a Islamism, experts warn
Anti-terrorism experts citing the Smith Act and evidence gathered at Islamic mosques recently said federal authorities are within legal rights to shut down what they characterized as insurrectionism forming under the guise of religion.
Frank Gaffney, Center for Security Policy CEO, founder, and former senior advisor to President Ronald Reagan, said an insurrectionist extreme following a political ideology called Shari’a Islam exists in America, far from a majority of Muslims seeking religious spirituality.
David Yerushalmi, president and founder, Society of Americans for National Existence, said a Shari’a mapping project is tracking the insurrection and probable terrorist violence to come.
Gaffneyh and Yerushalmi told PRB News they agree on the question that Shari’a Islam violates the federal Smith Act, Title 18, section 23:85.
“We crafted a piece of legislation to get at Shari’a,” Yerushalmi said. “What we found is that a better statute already existed, and it’s what we call the old Smith Act.
“It makes it a crime to teach, preach or organize or to disseminate information calling on the violent overthrow of the U.S. government,” he added.
“Shari’a as it exists in its own literature, is just that…[teaching] if you follow the laws of Congress and not Islamic law, the penalty is death, burning in Hell.”
Gaffney said the label of “Islamo-fascist” was the best way to differentiate between religious Muslims and fundamentalist theocratic despots seeking a revival of the Islamic Caliphate.
“There are lots of different names for this ideology,” he said. “There are lots of different groups that subscribe to that ideology working to some degree together, to some degree independently.
“The common aim is to bring about the triumph of the Islamo-fascist movement and its program known as Shari’a,” he added.
“This is not just about the Middle East, but worldwide – including here in the United States…to bring about a sort of theocratic arrangement under what is called a global caliphate.”
Yerushalmi said the first step is to realize the U.S. outlaws Shari’a Islam. That knowledge is power, providing the ability for a free people to stand against a rising insurrection.
Through lawmakers and political leaders, a free people can give the proper authorities the empowerment they need do the right thing, shut Shari’a down.
“What we need to do on our side is to inform the prosecutors and the public that Shari’s is how we see it in the mosques, where we’re mapping it,” he said, referring to his agents in the field. [see related story]
“Or, just open your eyes and go to the Sudan, with the teddy-bear, go to Saudi Arabia where they convict a woman for having raised the claim of having been raped, where a man was executed for leaving Islam.
“That’s Shari’a law in action,” Yerushalmi added, noting also the Ontario, Canada case of a 16-year-old girl strangled to death as an act of Shari’a law – because she refused to wear proper covering in accordance with Islamic law.
“It is not unique to Saudi Arabia, it is Shari’a, it has a 1,000-year judicial history,” he said.
Gaffney warned against believing groups like the Counsel on American Islamic Relations, which he characterized as an actively subversive group holding persuasive influence over U.S. policy.
“We’re looking at penetration of the highest levels in some of these agencies; the FBI comes to mind, relying on the Counsel on American Islamic Relations – CAIR – of all people,” he said.
Gaffney pointed to cases CAIR is embroiled in as co-conspirator roles to finance terrorism overseas.
“This is according to the U.S. Justice Department,” he said, “ands these are the people the FBI is relying on for sensitivity training…Are law enforcement hands being tied? I think there’s no doubt about it.”