Get-out-of-jail-free card for Muslims

Official reaction to the shooting attack on a Philadelphia policeman by an avowed Islamic jihadist raises a disturbing question: Will Muslims who commit crimes and confess to them be given a get-out-of-jail-free card?

Here's why I ask.

Edward Archer, 30, confessed to shooting Officer Jesse Hartnett, 33, by approaching his vehicle's driver's window, pointing a gun and firing 13 shots and doing so "in the name of Islam" as an ISIS supporter.

With the attack caught on surveillance video, it would seem to an open-and-shut case.

But, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney later denied the attack had anything to do with "being a Muslim or the Islamic faith."

Now, it's not unusual to hear from public officials following jihadist attacks claiming they have nothing to do with Islam, which is, as we have all heard, a "religion of peace."

However, to convict a suspect of attempted murder in a U.S. court of law, you have to prove the defendant had "means, motive and opportunity."

What Kenney did – wittingly or unwittingly – is to repudiate a confession of a suspect by removing his stated motive.

Think about that.

In his zeal to be politically correct, to repudiate "Islamophobia," to be a multiculturalist in good standing and to exude tolerance, the mayor may have actually provided a legal loophole for a would-be cop-killer.

Thankfully, Officer Hartnett survived the horrific attack at close range. But it's hard to see a shooting in which 13 rounds are fired at close range as anything else but attempted murder.

And now we have the mayor of Philadelphia, in effect, renouncing the suspect's confession – or at least what he had to say about his motive.

This strikes me as a new low in what I characterize as "Islamophilia," a standard we don't apply violent attacks by members of any other group in America.

For instance, if a white man shoots a black man and says his motivation was racism, we call it a "hate crime." Officials don't say it can't be racism because white people aren't racist.

Likewise, if a black man shoots a white man and says he did so out of revenge for slavery, we don't say that can't be a proper motivation because black people aren't racist.

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If someone blows up an abortion clinic and says his Christian faith led him to do it, I have yet to hear one official anywhere say that's not possible because Christianity couldn't possibly lead to such a result.

Only with the Islamic faith are such over-the-top reactions offered by politicians and people in the media.

But this could be the first time an official's statement actually jeopardizes our system of criminal justice.

You need means, motive and opportunity for a conviction.

Have you ever seen a public official repudiate a confession by an assailant by suggesting his own stated motive for the crime is implausible?

It's a first for me – and it suggests we haven't seen the end of denial by officials when it comes to Islam. It may be just the beginning.

To my knowledge, Mayor Kenney has no degree in comparative religion, no special expertise on Islam and little understanding of Shariah law, which the suspect also invoked as his motive for attacking a law enforcement officer.

Yet, he speaks with authority that Islam couldn't possibly serve as a motivation to kill a non-Muslim police officer in a non-Islamic society.

On the contrary, we've seen more and more of this kind of jihadist activity in America, which only seems to result in more denials.

How many others out there are sick and tired of hearing excuses and silly platitudes about the peaceful nature of Islam any time a zealot cites the Quran as his inspiration to commit mayhem?

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