TEL AVIV – ISIS is taking advantage of racial tensions in the U.S. by attempting to recruit dissatisfied Muslims among the American black population.
This according to Abu Saqer, leader of Jihadiya Salafiya, an Islamist militant group in the Gaza Strip. Jihadiya Salafiya represents al-Qaida in Gaza and has made statements in support of ISIS.
Saqer, speaking to WND from Gaza, would not provide further details other than to confirm ISIS is taking advantage of what he described as the “growing movement within the black community toward Islam and the racist policies of the U.S. government.”
Saqer said he was not aware of whether ISIS actually recruited any dissatisfied black Muslims within the U.S. or whether any such cells have been established.
He said Arabic Internet forums supportive of ISIS were “encouraged” by what he claimed was a pro-ISIS T-shirt worn by Ferguson protesters that became popular on social media.
It appears, however, that ISIS supporters may have misunderstood the intent of the message written on that grammatically incorrect shirt, which reads: “I rather get stopped by ISIS terrorist than Ferguson PD.”
The shirt clearly was not meant as a sign of support ISIS.
It’s not the first report of ISIS viewing the racial protests in America as possible fertile recruiting grounds. The protests in recent days have spread to Baltimore, where some protesters have turned violent.
The London Daily Mail reported last November that ISIS jihadists pledged on Twitter to send militants to fight police in Ferguson if protesters there commit to Islam.
The same article quoted London-born jihadist Junaid Hussain, who now goes by the name Abu Hussain al-Britani, tweeting a photograph of a handwritten letter urging the Ferguson protesters to “reject corrupt man-made laws like democracy” and declare their allegiance to ISIS’ leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who is believed to have been severely injured in a recent airstrike.
In the past few days, two U.S. agencies have warned of possible ISIS plots on U.S. soil.
While the FBI investigates a possible ISIS terror attack on the basis of intercepted chatter and intelligence information, the TSA is warning ISIS is planning an attack on U.S. soil.
As WND reported, little is known about the threat other than its imminence, which has prompted the TSA to deploy its new Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response teams, or VIPR, to various undisclosed locations. The VIPR teams deploy at airports, train stations and other busy transportation hubs.
One law enforcement source said parts of California were of special concern.
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