A woman who was facing federal charges of sending a fake Weapons of Mass Destruction to a New York politician was killed by police officer after attacking him at her apartment in Marietta, Georgia.
In April, Jameela Barnette, 53, mailed a vial of perfume, a hateful letter and a stuffed monkey with a star of David on it to New York state Sen Greg Ball, because she believed he was biased against her Islamic faith.
She also sent a bloody pig's foot and an anti-Semitic letter to Rep Peter King because he was hosting Congressional hearings about 'radicalization' in the American Muslim community.
Bizarre hoax: Barnette gained attention this spring for a pair of strange, anti-Semitic packages she sent to politicians
Shot dead: Jameela Barnette was killed by a police officer after she attacked him with a knife and a handgun, authorities said
On Saturday, police were called to Barnette's apartment by a panic alarm. When an officer arrived, police say, Barnette attacked him with a knife and a handgun.
The officer defended himself and shot Barnette, killing her.
The unidentified officer was treated for injuries to his arm .
Barnette told the New York Post in April that she thought the letters to the politicians were self-explanatory.
Last month, the FBI arrested her on charges of sending a hoax weapon of mass destruction for her letter to Sen Ball.
Strange package: This strange package, including a vial of perfume, arrived at the office of New York state Sen Greg Ball in April
The package Sen Ball received included a Curious George stuffed monkey with two stars of David taped to it, along with a note that said 'FINAL DESTINATION: AUSCHWITZ.'
She told the Lower Hudson Journal News that she sent the monkey because: 'I knew the Jews were behind the hearings. A monkey is a representation of who the Jews are.'
Rep King's letter also contained anti-Semitic tirades and references to him being a Jew -- even though he's Catholic.
The letter reported ended with the phrase, 'kiss my black, Muslim-American a**.'
The foiled Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington D.C.
crosses a "very dangerous threshold," says House Intelligence Committee chairman
Rep. Mike Rogers — one that demands an unprecedented level of action from the
Obama administration to stop the rising Islamist power.
“The longer we
put off an aggressive international approach to this, the worse off we are all
going to be,” said the six-term Michigan Republican in an exclusive Newsmax.TV
interview.
“Imagine a nation state that’s engaged in trying to kill U.S.
soldiers and coalition forces in Iraq; that is plotting to kill an ambassador,
the Saudi Ambassador to the United States, here in Washington D.C.; oh, and by
the way, they’re going to get nuclear weapons.”
President Obama also will have to make the case to the world for action against
Iran, and that will mean pressuring China and Russia to fall in line. The two UN
Security Council permanent members need to be told they have to stand with the
rest of the world in opposition to the Tehran government, Rogers said.
“It is important for us, us, as the international community, to band
together and say, ‘Hey, wait a minute, you have to make a choice here, you have
to be for them and for a state sponsor of terrorism, or you are going to be with
the rest of the international community. This is your chance.’
“I’m not
pollyannaish enough to believe they are all of a sudden going to change their
minds but we need to make them very uncomfortable,” he added.
Rogers was
speaking just as Obama told reporters that Iranian involvement in the thwarted
plot was “part of a pattern of dangerous and reckless behavior."
“What
you're going to see is folks throughout the Middle East region questioning their
ability to work effectively with Iran," added the president.
Rogers said
he agrees with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Iran is about two
years away from getting a nuclear weapon, and that must be stopped at all costs.
He believes that the reason the plot targeted Saudi ambassador Adel al-Jubeir
was due to Riyadh’s strong position opposing a nuclear Iran.
“They have
been aggressive about saying that it is really dangerous if Iran gets a nuclear
weapon,” said Rogers. “It’s destabilizing to the whole region and it unleashes
the hordes of their intelligence service to do really bad things.”
The
plot to kill al-Jubeir by blowing up a Washington restaurant as he ate was
revealed by Attorney General Eric Holder on Tuesday. Rogers, Obama and other
leaders had known about it since being briefed in June. Two Iranians have been
charged in connection with the plot, one is in custody and the other is still on
the run.
Iran has denied any link to the plot, but Rogers was adamant
that the plot was real and that senior officials in the Iranian government were
behind it.
“Evidence is evidence,” he said. “I’m a former FBI agent and I
can tell you, I’ve looked at the case, I’ve looked at the evidence, I was
briefed when this thing started to unfold months ago and they have nowhere to
go.
“The evidence in this case is incredibly strong and that’s why you
see such a widespread agreement of Republicans and Democrats and senior
intelligence officials and DOJ officials. Yes this happened. Yes, it was tied to
Iran. Yes, this crossed a very dangerous threshold.”
Rogers said Manssor
Arbabsiar, the man who is in custody, is cooperating and has admitted to ties to
the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ Quds force and to the very top in
Tehran.
“This was an operation that would have cost $1.5 million, so you
know someone senior in there has already been involved,” he said. “You know that
the Quds force has a direct command relationship (with) the Supreme
Leader.”
He said that because of the brazenness of the assassination plot
it is safe to assume that it is not the first time – nor will it be the last –
that Quds operatives have killed their enemies.
”It’s important to know
the Quds force has been up to no good and dangerous activities for years, and
went relatively unmolested by the rest of the world, unchallenged by the rest of
the world. This is what led to this very brazen activity and, one could
extrapolate, there is likely to be other plans… in the works.”
He said
Quds operatives have been operating with impunity in both Iraq and Afghanistan
in killing American and coalition soldiers.
Now, he said, it is time to
“ratchet up” sanctions on Iran. “It would be a serious mistake if they didn’t
feel some pain as a result of what was a very aggressive operation to commit an
act of violence for political gain in the United States.”
But he said he
does not agree with House Homeland Security Committee chairman Rep. Peter King
of New York, who has called on Obama to expel all Iranian diplomats from the
United States. “We don’t have a formal diplomatic relationship as it stands,
there’s a consulate up in New York that we do some dealings with,” he pointed
out.
“I always believe that even in a time of extreme tension, you need
at least somebody to talk to, to either de-escalate or make an agreement about
why they ought to change their ways. So I would be a little careful about going
there.
“But that doesn’t mean we should not be incredibly aggressive
about targeting Quds force people in Iraq and Afghanistan, and about making sure
that the Quds force operatives, wherever they are in the world, are going to
have difficulty operating, and that we continue to put pressure on
Iran.”
