Hatred in the USA
On April 10, the FBI arrested Robert R. Doggert, 63, of Signal Mountain, TN. Initially, the criminal complaint was sealed. However, the complaint was recently unsealed, to show that the former congressional candidate was planning a violent attack upon an Islamic community in the town of Hancock, NY.
Doggert’s plan was to have a para-military force attack the community, with snipers using rifles; with explosives to destroy the school and mosque; and machetes for “hand-to-hand” combat. He reportedly had selected this community, based upon some Fox News reports that it was a “terrorist training camp.”
It has been reported, based upon Doggert’s previous communications, that he had planned a similar attack on another Islamic community in the past. However, during the course of his preparations, he had been disappointed to learn that community was non-violent, and its residents were well-accepted as good neighbors and responsible citizens by the larger community of non-Muslim residents.
Having lived and worked in this area of upstate New York for many years, I am familiar with the Islamic groups in Hancock and near-by Deposit, both in Delaware County. The vast majority are from families in NYC that, in the 1960s and ‘70s, converted to Islam. As happens with human beings of all religions, or no religion, some would seek to move out of the city, to raise their families in “small town America.” If one were to follow one of the main highways out of NYC, heading west, one comes to Hancock and Deposit, and eventually Binghamton.
In the 1980s, groups of people from mosques in NYC, seeking a better quality of life for their families, would pitch in funds, and buy old farms in our region. They sought to raise their own livestock and gardens. They faced a certain amount of mistrust at first, for several reasons: “city folks” do not always mix well; most are black, moving into white towns; and they weren’t “Christians.”
However, at a time when “family farms” were being put out of business by corporate farms, and when many beautiful old farms were being sub-divided into lots that realtors advertised in distant places, the locals came to appreciate having hard-working, law-abiding neighbors. Not everyone, of course, but in time it became clear that the only ones who were opposed to these settlements of Muslims were the racist trash on the margins of civilization.
After 9/11, the fear of Islam began its metastasis, and those who were not familiar with the group in Hancock became convinced that the settlement was a cell that posed danger to our society. The articles linked below, however, clearly identify the diseased individuals who pose the risk of extreme violence in America.
http://www.wbng.com/news/local/Former-congressional-candidate-arrested-charged-for--304050121.html
http://heavy.com/news/2015/05/robert-doggart-tennessee-congressional-candidate-islamberg-new-york-anti-muslim-islam-attack-arrest-court-documents-photos-charges-plea-patriot/
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