[This post is meant to provide background info on another post, entitled "The Law Enforcement Paradigm".]
For this post, I just want expound on this one item, Brother Corey of the Seas of David. There is another post I'm working on about this group of seven that were arrested for domestic terrorism (or rather, the conspiracy to commit such). On Anderson Cooper 360, John Zarrella was approached outside the infamous warehouse by another member, "Brother Corey" who declared their innocence. The only reason he's important is that he was clearly bat-shit crazy. It was like talking to one of those homeless people who feel the need to explain at length why they need a dollar only you walk away not knowing what the hell they were talking about. Something about moon bats and pie? Now, one wonders, was he a crazy hanger-on, were the men in jail watching this groaning and saying, "Oh my Allah, I can't BELIEVE they are talking to him! WE don't even talk to him! This is so embarrassing..." I'm really surprised that no one has mentioned this startling interview again on any news program. Since virtually no one except however many people hang on every second on AC360 has seen it, I wanted to give you some of the transcript, only it's way too long. Here instead are some classic Brother Corey moments, edited for space:
ZARRELLA: What happened? Do you know?
BROTHER COREY: I know that it was supposed to have been a letter sent off to the Sears Tower, which I don't recommend that -- I don't believe my Brother Prince (ph) were -- had to jeopardize his temple as we worship here...We are not no terrorists (UNINTELLIGIBLE). We are prince of Allah, that we study and we believe in a word of God. This is a place where we worship and also have business as a worksite, as a construction company we trying to build up. And my prince, he told me never to come here and observe nothing that the outside that's trying to observe. We had to keep to ourself because we are general. We are generals and we take care of ourselves.
ZARRELLA: And you're not terrorists? Not related in any way to al Qaeda?
BROTHER COREY: Sir, I don't want to release none of that information, but I know we are not terrorists. And I don't have nothing else against the same situation that they had to do here, but I don't feel like that was right for the search warrant to go down. Because we are legal citizens here, which I know they trying to say my brothers, they locked up five of them. So right now I'm sitting here just observing because I have more authority to come here and distribute the things that they have...The way we worship, we come around, we got things we look out for the kids and everything here. So right now I'm just telling you that there is no way they'll -- right now that I can assume that we have this terrorist in our heart. We are not terrorists. We are members of David, Seas of David.
[JZ asks again about al Qaeda.]
BROTHER COREY: No, sir. Right now, only thing I can tell you is that we worshipers of this temple here. And we allow certain people to come and join our prayers, but we have certain authorities that we run by.... That I know my brother has not been treated right in the system. He's been locked up for-- on the sense that he was driving without a license. But this brother of mines, I love him to death. And I tell all of my brother -- I didn't (UNINTELLIGIBLE) get a chance to talk to them. We have codes. We have everything that's, you know, right now that is trying to establish. We're trying to build up a restaurant here. We really take toll in trying to do things the right way. We are not no terrorists.
ZARRELLA: Anderson wants to know what is the purpose of your organization? And the meaning of the name Seas of David?
BROTHER COREY: Actually I can tell you we are in a bible. And we studied Allah and also the worship of the regular bible. But it is not no terrorist or threat that you guys say that we are threats to this -- any other community. I grew up in this city. I'm a residential citizen. And all my brothers that I have, on my line right now, we are not no terrorist attackers. And I grew up with my brother that's been in the system now, the Haitian guy. They're saying illegal alien. He grew up here. I know or a fact that we are in general as one. We talk as among each other as young men. And we work out and help each other... Yes, we have connections to people in Chicago. We're -- so -- this is like we -- we negotiate to help the peace. We try to bring as many brothers in to help them out.
ZARRELLA: But there were connections to other members of this group in Chicago?
BROTHER COREY: Yes, we have soldiers in Chicago.
ZARRELLA: Why do you call yourselves soldiers? What's the -- you know, if it's a peaceful group, why use the term soldier.
BROTHER COREY: Because we study and we train through the bible, not only physical -- not only physical, but mentally. We study and we worship that we have the sense of direction that got other people in the right direction. We are not no terrorists. We come here every morning and we have the sense to go to work. We are not no homeless -- this is not no homeless shelter for a terrorist attack. You hear me?
Then JZ throws it back to AC and he has no choice but to throw this to his roundtable of Jeanne Meserve, Pat D'Amuro, Mike Brooks and Jim Walsh. Not one of them, and I find this shocking, mentioned that Brother Corey was clearly a nutjob. Meserve could only point out that it differed from what the FBI was saying (yeah, and?), and AC summed up their reactions best when he said, "I'm sort of still trying to figure out what came out of that interview, but it was sort of fascinating." It's times like these when you do long for FOX News, which at least would have had a big belly laugh at this guy.
But instead they try to hold their giggles until they are off-camera, and instead they try to pick apart his words as if they meant something. And it's true there were some weird tidbits in there.
Of course, I should have said this earlier, being a nutjob doesn't necessarily mean you're wrong. But it does make you wonder: is this guy really affiliated with this group, or is he a nutjob that kept hanging around and now, being the only one left standing, he's still hanging around this empty warehouse trying to pretend he's important? Or are they all like this, which calls into question whether or not they were capable of doing anything except practicing spastic karate?
Regardless, they clearly did have some kind of connection to Chicago, and he refers to them as soldiers and generals. Actually, he called himself one of the "generals" and the people in Chicago as "soldiers", which is also telling, but what it's telling is unclear-- aspirations of militaristic might or delusions of grandeur? And he was referencing the prison system several times, implying that they help people get back on their feet after getting out of prison, and perhaps recruiting members in prison itself.
He was also really skinchy about Al Qaeda, and while his answers look definitive in the transcript, he would stop suddenly, stare at JZ, then look down and to the right, and then look back up and say, "No sir." But it was really hinky.
And does that mean they are all crazy, or that he's not really involved with them?
Family members have also taken to the airwaves, though most of them are older people, like mothers-- which is only significant because I'm sure many people thought as I did, "How many mothers know what their adult kids are really up to?" So just because a mom or an aunt says they're innocent, well, I'm not sure how much weight that has at this early stage.
Reports are that these guys didn't have any weapons, or money to buy weapons, or really hardly any money at all to do much of anything. It seems to have been all talk, although they were caught when the leader, Narseale Batiste, approached or was approached by a federal agent posing as an Al Qaeda operative, and hit him up for money. According to CNN, "The indictment says Batiste gave the informant a list of equipment he needed, including "boots, uniforms, machine guns, radios and vehicles" as well as bullet-proof vests and $50,000 in cash," to "wage jihad" to "kill all the devils we can," while the defense attorney for one of the men said, "The only al Qaeda person was the undercover guy." Even Attorney General Gonzales said, "There is no immediate threat ... part of the reason for that is because they didn't have the materials they requested, they didn't receive the weapons, at least [that] we know of." However, as best as I can tell, only Batiste actually talked to the undercover operative, and it may well be that no one else knew what he was up to. He apparently took a bunch of Catholic and Christian men and got them praying to Allah a little by combining the two faiths, and a bunch of ex-cons and got them to stop drinking, practice karate, and get their acts together. It may well be that he was luring these men with the promise of resurrecting their broken lives and never telling them that he was secretly planning to wage jihad.
So yes, I have my doubts as to what is going on here, and I think it's too early to tell. I do think that it's interesting what happens to a terrorism case when the family is vocal, unlike Jose Padilla, who perhaps because of his former gang activity with the Latin Kings doesn't have anyone willing to stand up for him in public. But as to what the heck was really going on here, it's too early to tell.
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