Muslim man beaten outside Fla mosque – Minnesota woman linked to backing terrorism in Virginia case

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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla, July 3, (AP): Authorities said they have arrested a suspect in the early Saturday beating of a man outside a Florida mosque that Orlando nightclub shooter Omar Mateen had attended, and an Islamic group said the victim was a Muslim.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations said racial slurs were made by the attacker, though authorities said they had no immediate indication of any racially motivated comments. Authorities said, however, that they were continuing to investigate. St. Lucie County Sheriff Ken J. Mascara said deputies were called to the Fort Pierce Islamic Center at 4:11 a.m. Saturday by a caller who said someone was attempting to burglarize a vehicle.

His statement said deputies found a man bleeding from the mouth who said he was approached by a man who “asked him what he was doing and then punched him several times in the face and head.” Mascara added that the man left but an officer’s traffic stop minutes later halted a vehicle and the victim subsequently “positively identified the driver as the man who attacked him.” The sheriff’s statement said a suspect identified as Taylor Anthony Mazzanti, 25, was arrested and has been charged with felony battery. Mazzanti was booked into jail on a $3,750 bond.

Identify
It wasn’t immediately clear if Mazzanti had an attorney. Mascara didn’t identify the victim, but said he was treated for injuries at a medical center and released. The Council, or CAIR, issued a statement earlier that a white truck stopped at the mosque early Saturday and that a man had made slurs, saying “You Muslims need to get back to your country.” Mateen’s father is among the roughly 100 members that attend the mosque. Ruiz said Omar Mateen sometimes attended Friday prayers but didn’t socialize with others. Mascara said there was no initial indication of any such statements though he said more interviews would be conducted in the investigation.

The sheriff’s statement also reported no possible motive or any apparent link to the mosque or those attending it. “Interviews by the deputies and supervisors on scene and a written witness statement completed by the victim do not indicate any racially-motivated comments were made by the suspect prior to, during or after the incident,” Mascara said.

“However, we are further investigating the incident and detectives will be interviewing the suspect, victim and (an) apparent witness that has now been identified by the Council of Islamic-American Relations.” CAIR said there was a witness to the beating it identified as Abdul Rauf Khan, 43.

Reached by phone by The Associated Press, Khan said he was driving from his home in Boca Raton when it was nearing time for morning prayers around 4 a.m. Saturday. He stopped at the mosque and saw the victim in the parking lot struggling to enter his car after locking the keys inside. He said a man approached, began punching the victim in the face and knocked out one of the man’s teeth. “He just start throwing punches and saying all kinds of foul language,” said Khan, adding he called 911. The Council statement said the sheriff’s office has repeatedly ignored pleas to tighten security since Mateen fatally shot 49 people at a nightclub two weeks ago.

“Unfortunately, our requests were repeatedly ignored,” said CAIR spokesman Wilfredo Amr Ruiz. Mascara denied that, saying in his statement Saturday that he and his agency “have repeatedly attempted to communicate with the mosque to explore options of working together and there has been no response.” He previously said deputies are patrolling the mosque more frequently.

A Minnesota woman charged with supporting east African militant group al-Shabab is helping the federal government’s case against the ringleaders of a network of women who have sent thousands of dollars overseas to an organization the US says is involved in terrorism. Amina Mohamud Esse pleaded guilty to the charge in November 2014, according to case records that were unsealed Thursday

. Allegedly part of a group of women organized online, prosecutors said Esse had sent roughly $500 overseas to a woman in Kenya, knowing the funds would eventually make their way to al-Shabab. It adds another layer to the string of cases involving terrorism recruitment and support in Minnesota, home to the largest Somali population outside of the eastern Africa country. More than 20 young men have left the state since 2007 to join al-Shabab in Somalia, and roughly a dozen people have left in recent years to join militants in Syria.

Charges
The US designated al-Shabab as a terrorist group in 2008. In 2012, leaders of al-Shabab and al-Qaeda announced they were merging. The US District Court of Minnesota kept the proceedings in Esse’s case private, as local District Attorney Andrew Luger’s office worried that divulging the details of her charges and her cooperation with the federal government could imperil the case against some of the ringleaders of the online group, who were also arrested in 2014.

“Al-Shabaab members and associates would obviously not accept or trust the defendant if they knew she had been charged and was cooperating with the FBI,” a court filing said. But some of the records were unsealed this week as the trial against Muna Osman Jama and Hinda Osman Dhirane is set to begin in Virginia’s US District Court on July 11. Esse is listed in the government’s scheduled witnesses for the trial against the two women, according to court records.

Ben Petok, a spokesman of the US Attorney’s Office in Minnesota, declined to comment. Esse’s attorney did not return a voicemail seeking comment. Jama and Dhirane were arrested in June 2014 and charged with 20 counts of providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization. Jama herself allegedly sent more than $3,300 overseas meant to help al-Shabab.

Three others overseas were also charged, including their alleged point of contact in Nairobi. According to the charges, Esse sent $500 overseas between December 2011 and April 2012 — payments that were shepherded by Jama, who was then living in Virginia. Internet chat logs between Esse and Jama submitted by the federal government ahead of the trial show the pair of women discussing how to recruit more women to contribute money to their cause.

In an April 2012 conversation, Esse expressed concern to Jama about being caught. “Sister, I told you, do not connect me to anyone till we get to know the person well. . . . Do you want me to get arrested?” Esse wrote. In exchange for her guilty plea and providing information against the other women, Esse was put on probation and banned from traveling outside of Minnesota, according to court records. She was also required to submit for a mental health evaluation.

A Tucson man has been arrested by the FBI and the Arizona Attorney General’s Office for threatening to commit acts of terrorism on Arizona government buildings. The Attorney General’s Office says 18-year-old Mahin Khan appeared before a Phoenix judge Saturday morning. He was ordered held without bond in Maricopa County Jail.

Khan faces two counts of conspiracy to commit terrorism and terrorism. Arizona Attorney General spokeswoman Mia Garcia says Khan is accused of conspiring to carry out terrorism acts on government buildings in Phoenix and Tucson. Garcia declined to give further details, saying Khan’s court records are currently sealed. However, she says authorities are not aware of any threats Khan made that involved the Fourth of July holiday weekend

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