Oklahoma City Group Urges Compassion For Refugees Following Alleged Terrorist Plot
In the days following the FBI foiling an alleged terrorist plot by two Afghan citizens living in Oklahoma City, the state’s Council on American-Islamic Relations chapter has a message for Oklahomans wondering what to make of a threat so close to home.
Veronica Laizure is the Deputy Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations and a civil rights attorney.
She said she doesn’t want Oklahomans to get the wrong idea about Afghan refugees - or any refugees.
One or two people’s extreme actions, she said, are not representative of any community; extremist violence is happening, she says, but it’s across the social, political and religious spectrums.
“If we are not vigilant about it, if we're not watching you know, understanding what our kids are seeing online, what kind of content they're being exposed to, if we're not having conversations in our own communities about fighting extremism, you know, this becomes the result,” Laizure said.
The foiled attack was meant for a crowded place on Election Day, court records show.
And the perpetrators planned to die as martyrs.
Laizure said, even so, Oklahomans should not let fear deter them from getting to a ballot box this November.
CAIR Oklahoma offers a hotline for victims of Islamophobic or anti-Asian hate to report incidents on their website.
Juvenile Detention Center In Tulsa Remains On Probation
Tulsa County’s embattled juvenile detention center remains on probationary status.
Family Center for Juvenile Justice Director David Parker reports the Oklahoma Office of Juvenile Affairs extended the center’s tentative status through the end of the year.
The center was placed on probation in July before county commissioners took over the facility amid noncompliance, abuse allegations and a Homeland Security search.
Parker reports the Office of Juvenile Affairs only had one deficiency in its latest review of the center.
“That has to do with paperwork that should be in files that, from January, I just can’t come up with. I would have loved to have found them from emptying the file cabinets and all the boxes that are there, but they’re just nonexistent,” Parker said.
Parker said he has revamped the center’s filing system in response to OJA’s citation.
The probationary status is upheld as a federal lawsuit accusing detention center employees and county officials of the abuse or neglect of more than 20 youth remains in litigation.
Parker declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Two State Questions Go Before Voters In November
There are two down-ballot races Oklahomans will decide that don’t have any candidates this November. State Questions.
State Question 833 would allow local municipalities to create public infrastructure districts - commonly called PIDs.
A PID can organize public works projects funded by taxpayers within its boundaries.
State Question 834 seeks to clarify that only U.S. citizens can vote in Oklahoma elections.
Currently, noncitizens cannot vote anywhere in Oklahoma or federal elections. However, some municipalities in other states allow noncitizens to vote in certain elections.
This state question would not change Oklahoma law, but supporters say it clarifies it further, while opponents argue it feeds into anti-immigrant sentiment.
These two questions will be up for vote across Oklahoma on Nov. 5.
Otoe-Missouria Tribe To Implement Prevention Programs
Indigenous people are more likely to be the victims of violent crime than people of other races in the U.S., according to FBI data. But a Department of Homeland Security grant is helping the Otoe-Missouria tribe lower those risks.
The Otoe-Missouria government is based in Red Rock in northern Oklahoma. Homeland Security is awarding $359,536 to the tribe’s police department to create prevention programs such as awareness campaigns, threat assessment and management teams and bystander training.
Otoe-Missouria Chief of Police Jennings Gabriele said one major focus is preventing active shooter situations involving Indigenous youth.
“Native American communities have been disproportionately affected by violent extremism and hate crimes,” Gabriele said in a statement. “A report by the National Congress of American Indians highlighted that Native Americans are often targeted at higher rates compared to other ethnic groups, which underscores the need for targeted interventions like those proposed by the Otoe-Missouria Police Department.”
The Otoe-Missouria Tribe is among eight entities that received the grant to assist underserved communities in preventing targeted violence and terrorism.
The tribe received this grant from the DHS through the Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention program, which has awarded nearly $90 million to organizations since its launch in 2020.
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