Question for the TPD: When was the last time there was a mandatory event at a local church? I’m assuming never.
(Tulsa World) — A Tulsa police captain who allegedly refused to require his subordinates to attend a “Law Enforcement Appreciation Day” at the Tulsa mosque has been assigned to a different division as the department investigates the matter, according to an e-mail obtained by the Tulsa World.
In an e-mail sent by Tulsa Fraternal Order of Police Board of Directors Chairman Clay Ballenger to FOP members Monday, Ballenger said Tulsa police Capt. Paul Fields was temporarily transferred to the Mingo Valley Division on Monday afternoon.
The e-mail states that internal affairs officers are investigating Fields’ refusal “to attend and/or order officers to attend the ‘Law Enforcement Appreciation Day’ at the Mosque of the Islamic Society of Tulsa. “
It states that Fields’ refusal “was based on the 1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, departmental policy, and past practices of the Tulsa Police Department.”
Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan confirmed that Fields was transferred Monday pending an internal affairs investigation. Citing confidentiality of personnel matters, Jordan said he could not comment further.
In a statement from the Islamic Society of Tulsa, officials said the event was specifically in response to a recent threat to the Muslim community in Tulsa.
UPDATE: In December 2006 the Islamic Society of Tulsa threw out a member who dared to criticize jihadist ideology, calling him a “traitor.”
Mosque of Peace? — Urban Tulsa Weekly
. . . Rather than blaming western critics for their negative portrayal of Islam, Miftah blamed Zawahiri and his ilk for causing the West to associate terrorism and Islam. He called on Muslim youth and Muslim clerics to “help the civilized world to bring these culprits to justice and prove that Islam is not a religion of hatred and aggression.”
What seemed to cause the most controversy was this statement: “Even mosques and Islamic institutions in the U.S. and around the world have become tools in [terrorists’] hands and are used for collecting funds for their criminal acts.”
Miftah was not condemning all mosques, but was referring, for example, to Brooklyn’s al-Farooq mosque, which had been an incubator for the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center, and to a mosque in Bridgeview, Illinois, which had been investigated for funneling money to terrorist organizations.
On Nov. 18, Miftah was attending prayers at the mosque. After prayers, Miftah says he was chatting with friends when he was confronted by the imam (prayer leader) of the mosque, Ahmad Kabbani.
Kabbani told Miftah that he should be ashamed of himself for writing the article, saying bad things about Muslims in front of non-Muslims. After Kabbani called Miftah “anti-Islamic,” Miftah walked away from the confrontation into the corridor.
There Miftah says he was confronted by the president of the mosque’s operating council, Houssam Elsoueissi (also known as Abu Waleed). In a loud voice, Elsoueissi called Miftah “anti-Muslim” and a “traitor” for writing against Muslim organizations.
HT: Jay