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Baseless charges often get American Muslims convicted. Paid informants entrap them. Each time there's no plot, no crime, or an intention to commit one.
Innocent victims are targeted, persecuted, arrested, imprisoned, kept in isolation, denied bail, restricted on their right to counsel, tried on secret evidence, and convicted by intimidated juries.
They're given long prison terms for their faith, ethnicity, activism, charity, and/or prominence. They learn the hard way why being Muslims in America at the wrong time is hazardous.
On October 17, DOJ's Houston Division headlined "Man Pleads Guilty in New York to Conspiring with Iranian Military Officials to Assassinate Saudi Arabian Ambassador to the United States."
Manssor Arbabsiar was pressured to plead guilty to an alleged crime. It sounded more like a bad film plot. DOJ vigilantes said plans "never progressed."
Of course not. There were none. At issue was beating up on Iran. Arbabsiar was a convenient fall guy. He's a naturalized American citizen. He holds both US and Iranian passports. At the time, Attorney General Eric Holder said he's "committed to holding Iran accountable for its actions."
Perhaps he had a hard time keeping a straight face saying it. Accusations against Arbabsiar include "conspiracy to murder a foreign official, conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction, and conspiracy to commit an act of international terrorism, among other charges."
It didn't matter that there was no plot, crime, or intention to commit one. Why Arbabsiar confessed he'll have to explain. Cooler heads knew the whole scheme was baseless.
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