FBI Talks to Muslim High School Student
about “PLO” Initials on His Notebook
by Matthew Rothschild
The Progressive
Saturday, December 24, 2005
Munir Mario Rashed is a 16-year-old junior at Calvine High School in Sacramento.
On September 27, two FBI agents came to the school to question him.
“I was scared,” he told the LA Times.
“I didn’t know what was going on or what I had done wrong.”
Evidently, what he had done wrong was to scribble the initials “PLO” on his binder—two years previously!
At that time, he had gotten into an argument with his math teacher.
Rashed, a fourth-generation Palestinian American, had defended the PLO, while the teacher called it a terrorist group, according to the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area.
The FBI agents asked about the PLO, about investigations of Muslims in Lodi, California, and “whether he had pictures of suicide bombers stored on his cell phone,” the LA Times reported. “He told agents that the only photo he carried on his phone’s screen was of a mosque.”
On December 15, the Lawyers’ Committee and the Sacramento Valley office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations issued a statement alleging that the school district violated its own policy during this incident.
“Administrators at Calvine High School apparently violated a school board policy that requires a student’s parents be informed whenever a law enforcement officer requests an interview on school premises,” the statement says. In a private room, “the agents asked the student to recount an incident that had occurred two years earlier in a math class. He told the agents that his teacher had reprimanded him for having scrawled the letters ‘PLO’ on his binder. The teacher said that anyone who supported the PLO was a terrorist.”
Shirin Sinnar, an attorney at the Lawyers’ Committee, says: “The FBI should not be interviewing kids about their political views, and schools should not be short-circuiting the involvement of parents in such a frightening situation.”
In a December 15 letter Sinnar sent to the president of the Elk Grove Unified School District, she urged the district to “take appropriate disciplinary action against Calvine High School administrators for failing to notify Muir’s parents” and to “investigate whether any school official at Elk Grove High School was responsible for reporting Munir to the FBI and take appropriate disciplinary action.”
The letter says “Munir and his family strongly suspect” that his math teacher turned him in after Rashed defended the PLO. “If any school official was responsible for the ‘tip’ to the FBI, such an action would constitute a deprivation of Munir’s right to free speech in the school setting,” Sinnar writes in her letter.
The school district issued a statement on December 15 acknowledging the letter. “The district is investigating the allegations raised in the letter and, as appropriate, will deal with the issues,” it says. “The district realizes the importance of the rights of all the parties involved, including those of law enforcement.”
Sinnar’s letter also accuses the FBI of going over the line. “The FBI clearly had no information to believe that Munir was responsible for any illegal or threatening conduct,” it says. “Nevertheless, at this time, the FBI is interviewing many individuals in Northern California who are Muslim or Middle Eastern about their political beliefs.”
The FBI confirmed that its personnel visited the school and interviewed the student, saying they did so “as a result of information received from a complainant,” according to a statement released by the FBI’s office in Sacramento. “The complainant alleged the student had written ‘PLO’ on a binder and had pictures of suicide bombers on his cell phone. Information concerning possible terrorist or threat activity, however benign, is reviewed by the FBI.”
The FBI says it gave Rashed the opportunity to contact his parents.
“Prior to the start of the interview, the student was asked by the agents if he wanted a parent present and was told he did not have to answer any questions,” the FBI statement says. “The student indicated he would discuss the interview with his parents later.”
According to the FBI statement, the questioning took about 20 minutes, and at the end the agents decided not to pursue the matter further.
“The issues brought forth by the complainant were resolved, and no further action has been taken,” the statement says.
Rashed, who did not return phone calls from The Progressive, told the LA Times the meeting “seemed like forever.”
“The entire experience left the student badly shaken,” says the statement from the Lawyers’ Committee and the Council American-Islamic Relations. “He has since been hesitant about expressing his political views in any context.”
by Matthew Rothschild
The Progressive
Saturday, December 24, 2005
Munir Mario Rashed is a 16-year-old junior at Calvine High School in Sacramento.
On September 27, two FBI agents came to the school to question him.
“I was scared,” he told the LA Times.
“I didn’t know what was going on or what I had done wrong.”
Evidently, what he had done wrong was to scribble the initials “PLO” on his binder—two years previously!
At that time, he had gotten into an argument with his math teacher.
Rashed, a fourth-generation Palestinian American, had defended the PLO, while the teacher called it a terrorist group, according to the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area.
The FBI agents asked about the PLO, about investigations of Muslims in Lodi, California, and “whether he had pictures of suicide bombers stored on his cell phone,” the LA Times reported. “He told agents that the only photo he carried on his phone’s screen was of a mosque.”
On December 15, the Lawyers’ Committee and the Sacramento Valley office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations issued a statement alleging that the school district violated its own policy during this incident.
“Administrators at Calvine High School apparently violated a school board policy that requires a student’s parents be informed whenever a law enforcement officer requests an interview on school premises,” the statement says. In a private room, “the agents asked the student to recount an incident that had occurred two years earlier in a math class. He told the agents that his teacher had reprimanded him for having scrawled the letters ‘PLO’ on his binder. The teacher said that anyone who supported the PLO was a terrorist.”
Shirin Sinnar, an attorney at the Lawyers’ Committee, says: “The FBI should not be interviewing kids about their political views, and schools should not be short-circuiting the involvement of parents in such a frightening situation.”
In a December 15 letter Sinnar sent to the president of the Elk Grove Unified School District, she urged the district to “take appropriate disciplinary action against Calvine High School administrators for failing to notify Muir’s parents” and to “investigate whether any school official at Elk Grove High School was responsible for reporting Munir to the FBI and take appropriate disciplinary action.”
The letter says “Munir and his family strongly suspect” that his math teacher turned him in after Rashed defended the PLO. “If any school official was responsible for the ‘tip’ to the FBI, such an action would constitute a deprivation of Munir’s right to free speech in the school setting,” Sinnar writes in her letter.
The school district issued a statement on December 15 acknowledging the letter. “The district is investigating the allegations raised in the letter and, as appropriate, will deal with the issues,” it says. “The district realizes the importance of the rights of all the parties involved, including those of law enforcement.”
Sinnar’s letter also accuses the FBI of going over the line. “The FBI clearly had no information to believe that Munir was responsible for any illegal or threatening conduct,” it says. “Nevertheless, at this time, the FBI is interviewing many individuals in Northern California who are Muslim or Middle Eastern about their political beliefs.”
The FBI confirmed that its personnel visited the school and interviewed the student, saying they did so “as a result of information received from a complainant,” according to a statement released by the FBI’s office in Sacramento. “The complainant alleged the student had written ‘PLO’ on a binder and had pictures of suicide bombers on his cell phone. Information concerning possible terrorist or threat activity, however benign, is reviewed by the FBI.”
The FBI says it gave Rashed the opportunity to contact his parents.
“Prior to the start of the interview, the student was asked by the agents if he wanted a parent present and was told he did not have to answer any questions,” the FBI statement says. “The student indicated he would discuss the interview with his parents later.”
According to the FBI statement, the questioning took about 20 minutes, and at the end the agents decided not to pursue the matter further.
“The issues brought forth by the complainant were resolved, and no further action has been taken,” the statement says.
Rashed, who did not return phone calls from The Progressive, told the LA Times the meeting “seemed like forever.”
“The entire experience left the student badly shaken,” says the statement from the Lawyers’ Committee and the Council American-Islamic Relations. “He has since been hesitant about expressing his political views in any context.”
posted by Hanan Elbadry at 11:30 AM
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