Headlines for Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Muslim radicalization hearings continue in House

The House Committee on Homeland Security today held its third hearing on the radicalization of Muslims-Americans.  This one focused on the Somalia-based terrorist organization al Shabaab, and their alleged efforts to recruit youth in the Midwest. From Washington, FSRN’s Alice Ollstein reports.

New York Republican Peter King, who chairs the committee, claims al Shabaab has recruited more than 40 Muslim-Americans and 20 Canadians to their ranks. He questioned St. Paul, Minnesota’s police chief Tom Smith, who described his successful community outreach efforts with the Somali-American community. Smith said programs that build trust and respect are more effective than criminalization.

Other members, like New York Democrat Yvette Clarke, agreed. She said the committee’s “fixation” on the Muslim-American community has both provoked resentment, and distracted from other security threats, such as gang violence and hate groups. Alice Ollstein, FSRN, Washington, DC.

Gas lease activist sentenced to two years in prison

Environmental activist Tim DeChristopher has been sentenced to two years in federal prison for disrupting a federal auction for oil and gas leases. DeChristopher bid and won several leases in an act of civil disobedience but had no ability to pay the 1.8 million dollars for them. A Utah District Court convicted him. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Judge Dee Benson told the court that DeChristopher may not have been prosecuted at all for his crime except for his continued calls for others to commit acts of civil disobedience. DeChristopher supporters have been protesting the court proceedings from the beginning. After the sentencing Tuesday, dozens gathered outside the courtroom.

“The prosecution clearly stated that they were looking for a harsh sentence. They were looking for incarceration in order to deter us from any future action.”

A video posted by the group Peaceful Uprising shows protesters singing songs of support and calling for continued action on the issue.

“Consider this your call to action. Consider this the spark that will ignite this movement.”

After the rally, DeChristopher supporters tied their wrists together, blocking a downtown street. Police arrested 19 protesters and cited seven more after they refused to disperse. As of today, all 19 have been released from police custody, but face trial in the coming months.

Goodwin Liu nominated for CA Supreme Court

Goodwin Liu, the Berkeley law professor and Obama’s failed nominee to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, has now been asked by California Governor Jerry Brown to serve on the state Supreme Court. Liu withdrew his nomination to the federal court after being blocked several times by Republicans. Liu has accepted the nomination to the California court, and now has to be approved by a state commission. He is widely seen as a future nominee to the US Supreme Court.

Activists rally against fracking in New York City

New York is moving forward with plans to allow and regulate hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. Earlier this month, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced he intended to lift a moratorium on the natural gas mining practice. This has triggered a new surge in activism around the issue. FSRN’s Jim Krivu reports.

Nearly 100 protesters rallied in front of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s New York City offices Tuesday, calling for a ban on fracking in the state. Last year, former New York Governor David Patterson issued a one-year moratorium on fracking, pending the results of environmental testing. Now that year has passed, and Governor Cuomo says he plans to terminate the moratorium, except in the New York City and Syracuse watersheds and on state-owned lands.

The New York Department of Environmental Conservation has issued a “preliminary” environmental impact statement, but says the official version will not be released until later in 2011, after more information is gathered. Jim Krivo, FSRN, New York.