Federal Agents Arrest Two Syrian Terrorists One In Houston The Other Sacramento

The U.S. Attorneys Office confirms federal agents were involved in a “national security arrest” today in Sacramento and a second in Houston.

 The suspect arrested in Sacramento has been identified the U.S. Attorney’s Office as 23-year-old Aws Mohammad Younis Al-Jayab. He was born in Iraq and emigrated from Syria to the United States as a refugee in October 2012.

 The criminal complaint alleges Al-Jayab lied to federal agents about traveling to the Middle East, where he is believed to have associated with members of a terrorist organization.

 He reportedly told investigators that in late 2013 he went to Turkey to visit his grandmother, but they said he continued from Turkey to Syria. Investigators say prior to the trip, Al-Jayab communicated with another person that he was “going with the Mujahidin,” or Islamic guerrilla fighters.

The complaint alleges that on January 2, 2014, Al-Jayab allegedly wrote to an unnamed individual, “I have been thinking of joining the State and abandon[ing] the al-Ansar.” He explained that he was familiar with Ansar al-Islam, which the U.S. Attorney’s office says is a Sunni terrorist group in Iraq, because he “used to work with them in Iraq,” and his “commander” came to Syria from Iraq.

Investigators believe “the State” he was referring to is ISIS.

Al-Jayab faces a long list of federal charges, which include being a member of, and assisting a rebel group, militia, or insurgent organization; soliciting membership for a terrorist group or organization and providing material support to a person or group that engages in criminal activity; calling for, helping with, or committing the killing and intentional and severe injury of a person; becoming a member of a group in which he used or threatened to use a weapon against a person; and assisting a group where other people used or threatened to use a weapon against any person.

“Who he was fighting, what his goals were, are still unclear, but the FBI has stated that he wasn’t planning an attack on us. This was an individual going back home as an Iraqi to fight what he perceived as corrupt rule,” said terrorist expert Flagg Miller.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott used the arrest of the Houston suspect to reinforce his position against immigration from countries “controlled by terrorists.”

“I applaud the FBI for today’s arrest of this dangerous subject. However, this is precisely why I called for a halt to refugees entering the U.S. from countries substantially controlled by terrorists. I once again urge the President to halt the resettlement of these refugees in the United States until there is an effective vetting process that will ensure refugees do not compromise the safety of Americans and Texans.”

Houston Floods: Message From God?

Anise Parker and her partner

Could God be sending us a message and no one is listening?  On May 28th of 2014, openly lesbian Houston Mayor Annise Parker signed the controversial Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO) into law. 

The Houston Chronicle described the ordinance thusly:

The measure bans discrimination based not just on sexual orientation and gender identity but also, as federal laws do, sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, pregnancy and genetic information, as well as family, marital or military status.

This ordinance unlawfully punished those for practicing their faith beliefs of marriage between a man and woman and that anything other than that was a sin and in some faiths not just a sin, but mortal sin.  In addition it prevented those with faith believes or any sense of morality from expressing themselves. 

The ordinance applies to businesses that serve the public, private employers, housing, city employment and city contracting. Violators could be fined up to $5,000.

On August 7th, 2014, HERO was placed on hold after opponents of the ordinance filed suit against the city with the help of the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian legal advocacy group focused largely on opposing same-sex marriage and abortion. The following month city attorneys subpoenaed sermons given by local pastors who oppose the law and are tied to the conservative Christian activists who have sued the city.

The  subpoenas a were an infringement on religious liberties, they were intended to "punish and intimidate those who dared to step-up and oppose the city council," and that the specific and seemingly unrelated nature of the subpoenaed material suggests the discovery investigation is really about a crackdown on political or anti-homosexual and anti-abortion preaching in city churches.

Now May of 2015 Houston, Texas and surrounding communities are seeing record flooding of unprecedented proportions. Houston has been the bullseye of this storm system receiving the most rain per the National Weather Service. 

Ministers In Coeur D,Alene, Idaho Told By Gov't Marry Gays Or Go To Jail

First it was the lesbian Mayor of Houston, Texas demanding

sermons from local preachers that preached against homosexuality, no we have another case in Idaho.

Two Christian ministers who own an Idaho wedding chapel were told they had to either perform same-sex weddings or face jail time and up to $1,000 in daily fines, according to a lawsuit filed Friday in federal court.

Alliance Defending Freedom is representing Donald and Evelyn Knapp, two ordained ministers who own the Hitching Post Wedding Chapel in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

The wedding chapel is registered as a “religious corporation” limited to performing “one-man-one-woman marriages as defined by the Holy Bible.”

City officials told Donald Knapp that he and his wife Evelyn, both ordained ministers who run Hitching Post Wedding Chapel, are required to perform such ceremonies or face months in jail and/or thousands of dollars in fines. The city claims its “non-discrimination” ordinance requires the Knapps to perform same-sex wedding ceremonies now that the courts have overridden Idaho’s voter-approved constitutional amendment that affirmed marriage as the union of a man and a woman.

That ordinance, passed in 2013, prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and it applies to housing, employment and public accommodation.  This was not a problem until last week when gay marriage became legal in Idaho.

“The government should not force ordained ministers to act contrary to their faith under threat of jail time and criminal fines,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Jeremy Tedesco. “Many have denied that pastors would ever be forced to perform ceremonies that are completely at odds with their faith, but that’s what is happening here – and it’s happened this quickly. The city is on seriously flawed legal ground, and our lawsuit intends to ensure that this couple’s freedom to adhere to their own faith as pastors is protected just as the First Amendment intended.”

City Of Houston Subpoena's Pastors Sermons, States They Can Not Speak Out Against Homosexuality

 Is America dead?  The constitution appears to be?  In Houston, Texas, pastor's sermon's are being subpoenaed.

The pastors face being fined and or imprisoned for speaking God's word as stated in the Bible when it comes to homosexuality.   The City of Houston, Texas considers this a violation of their equal rights ordinance.   

Houston's embattled equal rights ordinance took another legal turn this week when it surfaced that city attorneys, in an unusual step, subpoenaed sermons given by local pastors who oppose the law and are tied to the conservative Christian activists who have sued the city.  This was done by order of Houston Mayor, Annise D. Parker, who has publically confirmed she is a lesbian.

Opponents of the equal rights ordinance are hoping to force a repeal referendum when they get their day in court in January, claiming City Attorney David Feldman wrongly determined they had not gathered enough valid signatures to qualify for the ballot.

City attorneys issued subpoenas last month as part of the case's discovery phase, seeking, among other communications, "all speeches, presentations, or sermons related to HERO (Houston Equal Rights Ordinance), the Petition, Mayor Annise Parker, homosexuality, or gender identity prepared by, delivered by, revised by, or approved by you or in your possession."

The subpoenas were issued to pastors and religious leaders who have been vocal in opposing the ordinance: Dave Welch, Hernan Castano, Magda Hermida, Khanh Huynh and Steve Riggle. The Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian legal organization known for its role in defending same-sex marriage bans, filed a motion Monday on behalf of the pastors seeking to quash the subpoenas, and in a press announcement called it a "witch hunt."

Wouldn't discrimination of Christian Faith as protected under the first amendment supersede any illegal (unconstitutional) ordinance?  When will people speak up?!