Spencer Ackerman of Wired just dropped his latest investigative piece on Maddow's show based upon the acquisition of FBI counterterrorism training documents, and the story told is shockingly appalling.
This is how Ackerman begins his Wired story which was just released (emphasis mine):
The FBI is teaching its counterterrorism agents that “main stream” [sic] American Muslims are likely to be terrorist sympathizers; that the Prophet Mohammed was a “cult leader”; and that the Islamic practice of giving charity is no more than a “funding mechanism for combat.”
At the Bureau’s training ground in Quantico, Virginia, agents are shown a chart contending that the more “devout” a Muslim, the more likely he is to be “violent.”
Here is a graph Ackerman acquired from an FBI training manual which agents at Quantico, Virginia are shown, with commentary from Ackerman beneath:
As Ackerman notes, the dangers of such anti-Muslim elements seeping into the training manuals of counterterrorism agents are profound from a security perspective:
The FBI isn’t just treading on thin legal ice by portraying ordinary, observant Americans as terrorists-in-waiting, former counterterrorism agents say. It’s also playing into al-Qaida’s hands.
Focusing on the religious behavior of American citizens instead of proven indicators of criminal activity like stockpiling guns or using shady financing makes it more likely that the FBI will miss the real warning signs of terrorism.
However, most damaging, in my view, are the social fissures created by such misguided, discriminatory teachings, for they legitimize and contribute to anti-Islam currents that are coursing through our society.
Additionally, such trainings have direct impacts on the authoritarian pressure that Muslim-Americans feel in their everyday lives. As Ackerman writes:
Over the past few years, American Muslim civil rights groups have raised alarm about increased FBI and police presence in Islamic community centers and mosques, fearing that their lawful behavior is being targeted under the broad brush of counterterrorism. The documents may help explain the heavy scrutiny.
I highly recommend that you read Ackerman's full piece, which engages in a lengthy treatise on the subject.
I'll leave you with this, from the ACLU:
“Seeing the materials FBI agents are being trained with certainly helps explain why we’ve seen so many inappropriate FBI surveillance operations broadly targeting the Muslim-American community, from infiltrating mosques with agents provocateur to racial- and ethnic-mapping programs,” Mike German, a former FBI agent now with the American Civil Liberties Union, tells Danger Room after being shown the documents. ”Biased police training can only result in biased policing.”
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