Old Joe Biden held a big party for Muslims at the White House Monday, and he went heavy on the pandering, claiming that “Muslims have been part of the United States from the very start.” But conspicuously not playing a part in this lovefest was Mohamed Khairullah, the mayor of Prospect Park, N.J., who complained Monday that the Secret Service had barred him from attending. What’s this, Joe? “Islamophobia” in the Biden regime’s White House? Appoint a special counsel!
News 12 New Jersey reported Monday that Khairullah, “New Jersey’s longest-serving Muslim mayor,” asserted that “officials at the White House told him that the United States Secret Service decided that he could not enter.” Khairullah, in full victimhood mode, lamented, “I guess I’m back to being accused of something.” News 12 New Jersey explains that he was “referencing a 2019 incident where he was detained at JFK International Airport. The Syrian American mayor traveled to Syria in 2015 to aid refugees and to the Middle East last year with no issue.”
Well, there was a bit more to it than just aiding refugees. Back in Sept. 2019, Khairullah was at JFK International Airport in New York City, on his way home from visiting relatives in Turkey. “We just wanted to go and have a good time,” he said, but upon his return, he was held for no less than three hours for questioning. “I don’t go near shady organizations,” he declared and added, “I believe that my constitutional rights were violated” by questions about whether he had met with any terrorists.
It turned out, however, that Khairullah has a history of support for jihad activity. Terrorism researcher John Rossomando noted in Nov. 2019 that it was “more likely that Khairullah was pulled aside by the CBP [U.S. Customs and Border Protection] due to his frequent travel to the Syrian war zone via Istanbul.” Also: “The mayor worked on relief missions and was a board member with Watan USA, the American branch of the London, England–headquartered Watan Foundation. Watan’s partner organizations and some of its leaders have supported and assisted al-Qaeda in Syria. Its co-founder and president, Moaz al-Sibaai, belonged to the Muslim Brotherhood–linked Muslim Council of Britain’s Business and Economics Committee. A 2015 IRS tax form listed Khairullah as a Watan USA board member.” Thus there was every reason for U.S. officials to look twice at Khairullah’s trip.
And as you no doubt expect, there was more: “Khairullah’s social media shows he repeatedly expressed support for Jabhat al-Nusra,” al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria. “Khairullah even thanked ISIS for taking bandits off the streets of Syria.” Khairullah wrote in Jan. 2014, “A good thing that ISIS has done is to eliminate the thieves and bandits in their area of control. Allah knows what was behind this move.”
But Khairullah didn’t note any of that when he decided to go public with this complaint about his questioning by the CBP. “It was definitely a hurtful moment where I’m thinking in my mind that this is not the America that I know,” he said. “I am very familiar with our laws and Constitution.” That’s terrific, seeing as how you’re the mayor of an American city and all that. “And everything that was going on there was a violation.” Even worse, “it’s flat-out insulting. It’s flat-out stereotyping of Muslims and Arabs.” Maybe. But all this made it abundantly clear why the Secret Service had abundant reason to bar Khairullah from Old Joe’s post-Ramadan shindig.
Related: Old Joe Puts on a Cringefest at Muslim White House Event
The Hamas-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), however, disagreed, and fumed: “We call on the White House to override the Secret Service and reinstate the mayor’s invitation, disband the secret watchlist, and issue an apology to [Mayor Khairullah].” In the face of this intimidation, at least so far the Secret Service is standing firm: “While we regret any inconvenience this may have caused, the mayor was not allowed to enter the White House complex this evening. Unfortunately, we are not able to comment further on the specific protective means and methods used to conduct our security operations at the White House.”
There are perfectly good reasons to keep a man such as Mohamed Khairullah away from the White House. The refusal to recognize this is designed to make sure that no one is barred in this way in the future. After Khairullah’s rage and complaints, the Secret Service may become more wary of daring to stop people from entering sensitive areas, no matter how suspicious they may be. Is that what Mohamed Khairullah, the patriotic mayor of Prospect Park, N.J., wants? Is that what any American should want?
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