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Islamic State Threat 'beyond Anything We've Seen': Pentagon

NEW YORK (AP) — Officially, the FBI agents who swarmed Donald Ray Morgan at Kennedy Airport this month were there to arrest him on a mundane gun charge. But they whisked him away to their Manhattan office and grilled him for two hours on an entirely different topic: Islamic State extremists.

Over and over, they asked Morgan, a 44-year-old North Carolina man, converted Muslim and author of pro-extremist tweets, whether he had traveled to Syria to support the militant group. More important, they wanted know whether he could identify any fighters with U.S. ties who had left the region to return to America.

The questioning, recounted in a recent court hearing, offered a glimpse into U.S. law enforcement's intensifying efforts to identify Islamic State sympathizers who could help export the group's brand of violent jihad to the United States.

They come amid a new barrage of U.S. airstrikes against the Islamic State group that beheaded American journalist James Foley. The group called Foley's killing revenge for previous strikes against militants in Iraq.

Federal and New Police York Department officials have estimated that at least 100 Americans could be fighting with the Sunni extremists who have seized territory in northern and western Iraq. In April, a Colorado woman and convert to Islam was arrested before she could travel to Syria to marry a fighter she had met online. More recently, a Texas man who was arrested trying to board a flight to Turkey pleaded guilty to terror charges alleging he wanted to join the group.

In a Pentagon news conference, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey called the Islamic State an "immediate threat," in part because of the number of Europeans and other foreigners who have traveled to the region to join the group.

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Shiite Muslim fighters on the Jurf al-Sakhr front line against Islamic State (IS) fighters, south of …

"And those folks can go home at some point," he said.

An FBI and Homeland Security Department intelligence bulletin issued Friday said there were no credible or specific threats from the Islamic State against the U.S. homeland. However, it cautioned that "violent extremists who support (the group) have demonstrated the capability to attempt attacks on U.S. targets overseas with little-to-no warning."

NYPD counterterrorism officials, long wary of another al-Qaida strike since the Sept. 11 attacks, have increasingly turned their attention to the Islamic State threat and efforts to recruit supporters through social media.

The group used hashtags like #BewareAmerica and #CalamityWillBefallUS to make threats against the United States, NYPD analyst Rebecca Weiner said at a recent briefing for private security officials.

"What we've seen in these hashtag campaigns is a lot of pictures of U.S. cities, including New York," she said.

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This undated file still image from video released April 7, 2011, by GlobalPost, shows James Foley of …

Weiner cited the arrest this year of a Frenchman - radicalized after spending a year in Syria - in a fatal shooting of three people at the Brussels Jewish Museum. An AK-47 found in his possession was wrapped in a flag with inscriptions from the Islamic State - giving more cause for concern about "about returning foreign fighters from Iraq and Syria," she said.

Morgan, who once worked as a reserve police officer in North Carolina, spent eight months before his arrest in Lebanon, where his wife lives. He caught the attention of federal authorities in July with his Twitter rants under the name "Abu Omar al Amreeki." In one, he pledged allegiance to Islamic State leader Abu Baker al-Baghdadi. Another asked Allah for martyrdom.

Others read, "To the brothers inside Syria and Iraq, be humble and grateful. Many of us are trying to come. Some are arrested and others are delayed," and "Honestly, can we not kill one piece of crap Zionist?"

At the time, Morgan, of Landis, North Carolina, was wanted for selling an assault rifle and other weapons over the Internet - a business he continued when he was overseas with the help of his ex-wife. U.S. authorities used the gun warrant to intercept him at Kennedy Airport on Aug. 2 and question him about the Islamic State, FBI agent J.L. Pickford testified at a bail hearing Aug. 5.

Morgan admitted that he was the "Amreeki" on Twitter and that, as a devout Muslim, he was required to support any caliphate imposing strict Sharia law, the agent said. But he denied knowing the identity of any extremists who may be moving back and forth between war zone and the United States.

"I take it that was the $64 million question and he said he didn't have a clue," said federal defender Peter Kirchheimer.

Despite the agent's admission that there was no direct evidence Morgan ever joined or provided material support to the Islamic State - designated by U.S. officials as a terrorist organization - prosecutors argued he had the potential to supply arms to the militants. A judge ordered him held without bail and sent him to North Carolina to face the gun charge.

Morgan's lawyer in North Carolina, Richard McCoppin, said he won't discuss any pending case. Reached by phone, Morgan's ex-wife also declined to comment.

Jibril Hough, spokesman for the Islamic Center of Charlotte, said he didn't recognize Morgan. Hough said he could see how someone can get frustrated with U.S. foreign policy, but not enough to turn on their beliefs.

"Anyone who would be willing to join a group like that is leaving the principles of their faith if they call themselves a Muslim," he said.

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Associated Press writers Skip Foreman in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Jake Pearson in New York and news researcher Rhonda Shafner in New York contributed to this report.

Hamas leader: Don't compare us to ISIL

In Yahoo News interview, Meshaal condemns murder of journalists, admits Hamas killed Israeli teens

Top Hamas Leader condemns comparison to ISIL

DOHA, Qatar—In an interview with Yahoo News, the political leader of Hamas today vigorously rejected any comparison to ISIL terrorists and pledged that the Palestinian militant group will start giving warnings to Israelis about impending rocket attacks in order to avoid the killing of innocent civilians.

As much of the world expressed revulsion over the beheading of American journalist James Foley by an ISIL executioner, Hamas political chief Khaled Meshaal took pains to distance his organization from the Islamist militant group that has conducted a murderous rampage across a large swath of Syria and Iraq.

"This is an opportunity for me to say we are against the killing of any civilians, any journalists," Meshaal said in the interview. But he then turned the accusation against Israel. "The question is who is killing the civilians," he said, asserting that more than 15 journalists have been killed during the Israeli assault on Gaza.

Meshaal acknowledged for the first time that Hamas members — but not the group's political leadership — were behind the slaying of three Israeli settlers on the West Bank in June. But he defended the murders as a legitimate action against Israeli "illegal" occupation.

"We were not aware of this action taken by this group of Hamas members in advance," he said. "But we understand people are frustrated under the occupation and the oppression, and they take all kinds of action."

When asked directly whether Hamas members carried out the abduction of the Israeli teens, Meshaal said: "We learned about these confessions from the Israeli investigation … Hamas political leadership was not aware of all these details. We learned about it later on …

"Our view is that soldiers and settlers on the West Bank are aggressors, and they are illegally living in this occupied and stolen land. And the right to resist is the right of Palestinians."

The hourlong interview was conducted at a gated, unmarked Hamas media office in Doha, Qatar. It came after two days of talks there between Meshaal and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the sprawling palace of Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani following the collapse of a 10-day cease-fire and the resumption of Hamas rocket fire and Israeli airstrikes in Gaza.

CLICK IMAGE for slideshow: Supporters of Hamas hold posters of three senior commanders of the Hamas military wing, …

In the wide-ranging interview, Meshaal repeatedly blamed Israeli leaders for the current round of violence. He deflected questions about the hundreds of Hamas rockets aimed at Israel, making a new pledge to warn civilians in advance of the attacks.

"We do not target civilians, and we try most of the time to aim at military targets and Israeli bases," Meshaal said. "But we admit that we have a problem. We do not have sophisticated weapons. We do not have the weapons available to our enemy … so aiming is difficult. We do promise you, though, that we will try in the future and we will warn people … We have given warnings to Israeli civilians. We promise that if we get more precise weapons, we will only target military targets."

Asked about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s comments this week that "Hamas is like ISIS, ISIS is like Hamas," Meshaal called the comparison a "lie" designed to "trick" the American public.

"We are not a religious, violent group," Meshaal said, calling ISIL (the Islamist militant group also known as ISIS) a "totally different phenomenon. We are fighting against aggression in our land."

Hamas leader: Don't compare us to ISIL

In a Yahoo News interview, Khaled Meshaal says his group does not "target civilians" and isn't "violent."
Admits killing Israeli teens

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration on Friday denounced the movement of a Russian convoy into Ukraine, citing it as the latest provocation by Moscow along the highly volatile eastern border of the former Soviet republic.

"We very much condemn the violation — flagrant violation — of Ukraine's sovereignty that we saw today with the movement of this Russian convoy into Ukraine," said Ben Rhodes, deputy national security adviser to President Barack Obama.

Rhodes also said the United States has detected the use of Russian artillery in Ukraine in recent days.

According to the White House, Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke by telephone Friday and agreed the presence of Russian soldiers in Ukraine, the buildup of Russian troops along the Ukrainian border and Russian shelling into Ukraine represent dangerous escalations of tensions by Moscow.

The White House said the two leaders agreed that the convoy was yet another provocation by Moscow that violates Ukraine's sovereignty.

Obama and Merkel spoke Friday while Obama vacationed in the island resort of Martha's Vineyard.

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Deputy National Security Adviser for Strategic Communications and Speechwriting Ben Rhodes speaks to …

Rhodes said Russia would face additional costs if the convoy is not removed. He said the U.S. would discuss the matter Friday with its partners on the U.N. Security Council.

In that closed-door emergency meeting at the U.N., several countries rebuked Russia for "what many called an illegal and unilateral action by the Russian federation," British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant, the council president, told reporters.

"It is an undeniable and blatant violation of Ukrainian sovereignty," Lyall Grant said. "It has nothing to do with humanitarianism. That humanitarian effort is being coordinated by the U.N. and if the Russia federation wanted to participate in that, it could have done so in a collective way rather than acting unilaterally."

Lyall Grant said "there was no unanimity of views" during the emergency consultations, which were held at the request of Lithuania.

Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said he defended his country during the discussions, reminding his colleagues that Moscow had received an "official note" from Kiev welcoming the idea of the Russian convoy. He reiterated Russia's stance that Ukrainian border guards were deliberately stalling the convoy. He accused Ukraine forces in recent days of deliberately shelling the areas where the convoy was supposed to head in order to claim the areas were too unsafe for the convoy.

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Deputy National Security Adviser for Strategic Communications and Speechwriting Ben Rhodes speaks to …

Lyall Grant said U.N. Assistant Secretary-General Oscar Fernandez briefed the Security Council and reiterated that U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon "had urged Russia to work with Kiev and expressed deep concern about the unilateral action."

Earlier, Ban warned that "any unilateral action has the potential of exacerbating an already dangerous situation in eastern Ukraine."

At the Pentagon, press secretary Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby told reporters that Russia must remove its vehicles and its personnel from the territory of Ukraine immediately or face "additional costs and isolation."

Kirby said the U.S. is not sure of the contents of the Russian trucks. Reports from Ukraine said trucks carrying food, water, generators and sleeping bags crossed into rebel-held regions of Ukraine on Friday morning without the permission of the government in Kiev.

Ukraine called the Russian move a "direct invasion."

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Deputy National Security Adviser for Strategic Communications and Speechwriting Ben Rhodes, right, a …

Kirby noted that Russia's defense minister had recently "guaranteed" Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel that the Russian military would not invade Ukraine.

In Brussels, NATO's secretary general condemned Russia for sending a "so-called humanitarian convoy" into eastern Ukraine.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen called Russia's unilateral decision to send more than 130 trucks filled with what it called humanitarian aid into rebel-held areas "a blatant breach of Russia's international commitments" and "a further violation of Ukraine's sovereignty by Russia."

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Associated Press writers Jim Kuhnhenn in Edgartown, Massachusetts, and Alexandra Olson at the United Nations contributed to this report.

Heavily-redacted document omits key public information

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A police report on the death of Michael Brown is missing key information and violates Missouri open records laws, an ACLU attorney told Yahoo News on Friday.

The two-page document, which the Ferguson Police Department released only after pressure from journalists and civil liberties advocates, is largely redacted or left blank. The most egregious omissions are the victim’s name and a description of the offense – the fatal shooting of Brown.

“They are breaking the law,” said Tony Rothert, legal director of the ACLU of Missouri.

The report, obtained by Yahoo News through the Missouri Sunshine Law, lists only the date, time and location. Fields for the type of incident, name of the complainant, and a summary of the circumstances are redacted.

“I’ve never seen an incident report that didn’t contain a description of the incident, at least on some basic level,” said Don Tittle, a veteran Texas civil and criminal attorney. “It makes you wonder if they don’t want to commit to a story.”

Click image to read entire report.

The report comes nearly two weeks after Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson fatally shot Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old, in broad daylight in the middle of a residential street.

Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson has said Wilson was attempting to get Brown and his friend, Dorian Johnson, to stop walking in the middle of the street when the officer realized the pair fit the description of suspects being sought in the theft of cigars from a nearby convenience store.

A scuffle ensued and, according to Jackson, a shot was fired inside the officer’s squad car as Brown attempted to grab Wilson’s gun.

But Johnson has told reporters that it was Wilson who was the aggressor and that Brown never went for the weapon. Instead, Johnson says Wilson shot his friend while Brown was trying to flee but had stopped and put his hands up in surrender.

The death has sparked nightly protests in the mostly-black St. Louis suburb. Allegations of racism and a lack of transparency about the shooting have been at the heart of sometimes violent clashes between demonstrators and police. Chief Jackson waited nearly a week before revealing the name of the officer who shot Brown at least six times.

The ACLU filed a lawsuit to try and compel Ferguson to make the disclosure. But their attorney told Yahoo News that the incomplete police report just adds to the mistrust in Ferguson.

“It doesn’t tell us anything,” Rothert said. “We have to imagine what is there because it is all redacted.”

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Ferguson Officer Darren Wilson and shooting victim Michael Brown. (Facebook/AP Photo)

Devin James, a contract spokesperson hired by the City of Ferguson since Brown’s death, told Yahoo News that questions about the report’s missing information “are beyond the scope of what my team can respond to.” He referred questions to City Attorney Stephanie Karr, who didn’t immediately reply.

Officer Wilson, 28, is on paid leaving pending the outcome of multiple investigations. A St. Louis County Circuit Court grand jury began hearing testimony about the shooting this week. The U.S. Department of Justice is also investigating possible civil rights violations.

The state investigation is being conducted by the St. Louis County Police Department. A copy of their offense report does list Brown as the victim, but doesn’t give a summary of what happened.

The county’s report reveals that the larger metro department didn’t receive a call on the Aug. 9 shooting until 12:43 p.m., about 40 minutes after Brown was killed.

“So we have no idea what happened during those 43 minutes,” Rothert said. “It just adds to the complete lack of transparency about what happened.”

Last week, Chief Jackson gave members of the media 19 pages of police documents, photos and video from a convenience store robbery that occurred shortly before the fatal shooting. Police said they believe Brown and Johnson had just stolen cigars at the store before crossing paths with Officer Wilson on their way home.

“They have obviously taken the shooting of Michael Brown less seriously than the alleged robbery of cigarillos,” Rothert said. “That’s pretty disturbing.”