The following statement was delivered at the Federal Court in Alexandria, Virginia by convicted 'Paintball Jihad' defendant Seifullah Chapman. Chapman, 32 and a former Marine, pled not guilty to conspiring to wage war against an ally of the United States in the 'Virginia-11' case which was covered in-depth by the Muslim Link. The statement below was delivered on the occasion of Seifullah's re-sentencing on July 29, 2005. Chapman's sentence was reduced from 85 to 65 mandatory years. For details on the re-sentencing, see our August 5, 2005 issue. We thank Sister Maryam Mussallihullah for transcribing this statement. --Editors
Bismillah Ar Rahman Ar Rahim
May peace and blessing be upon His Prophet. Your honor, you convicted me of conspiring to violate the Neutrality Act, Material Support of LET (Lashkar-e-Taiba, a group fighting Indian occupation of Kashmir) and gun charges. I respectfully disagree with the convictions. I would like the court to know that I am not just being punished for the crimes that you convicted me of. Instead, I am being punished for the Taliban, Al-Qaeda and for September 11th.
When I arrived at the maximum security penitentiary, Big Sandy, in Kentucky, the SIS (BOP FBI) opened my Pre-Sentence-Report and read page one: “Taliban”, they looked at me and said, “huh!” They turned to page two and read, “Al Qaeda”, again they looked at me and said, “huh!” They read page three, “September 11th”, looked at me and said, “huh!” They closed the PSR and returned me to the Special Housing Unit (the hole) while the other 19 prisoners that came with me on the bus were released to population.
A week later I was interviewed by the Captain and told that I would be especially closely watched and that I should not associate with the other inmates because of my “situation”. The captain told me that if there were any terror attacks, anywhere in the world, I would be placed in the hole and I could consider it a long stay there. Then, at my team orientation meeting I was told that I was on CIMS (Central Inmate Monitoring System). So there I was, in a maximum security penitentiary, with more murders per capita than there are lawyers in this building, and I, someone who has never been in trouble and poses no threat to anyone is considered a greater security threat than most at the prison.
I was also told at this meeting that I was a member of an international terrorist organization. Stunned, I asked which one, because I know I am not, have never been a member of any such organization. I was told that that information was secret. It couldn't possibly be LET because I never joined them. So what organization then? When I go to lunch and sit with other Muslims, the Correctional Officers single me out and say that I am having an Al Qaeda meeting. Because I am on CIMS I am the subject of weekly security briefings. While walking on the compound a correctional officer asked another, “Who's that again?” pointing at me, and the response was, “the Taliban guy.” With all of the deception they could use to have me convicted your honor, the government never even attempted to link me to these organizations or events yet at USP Big Sandy I am the Taliban, Al Qaeda and responsible for 9/11th. At USP Atlanta I receive the same type of treatment. I am placed behind the glass-the hole inside the hole. I'm kept on no human contact, so no showers, no hour daily recreation, no phone call, 24 hour lock down. I am not even permitted a change of clothing, so I bathe and wash my single pair of clothing in the sink. There is a small window on the door, so I can see that I am the only one who is being treated like this.
Each time that I have been at USP Atlanta I am interviewed by SIS, and then I see the angry faces of the correctional officers who come in front of my door growling with hate because they are told I am the Taliban. Al Qaeda and responsible for 9/11th. If I need toilet paper I have to stand all day at the door asking for it as I am not high on their list of importance. When I run out I have to tear up a t-shirt and use that. If I need soap or anything else I have to do the same.
Your honor please do not think that I am complaining to you because I am not. It is very important that you understand that this is not a complaint. With every single difficulty that I have encountered, Allah has immediately sent His relief. I am not complaining, I am simply telling you what I face daily. I am sure that you convicted me of conspiring to violate the Neutrality Act or possessed a legal hunting rifle or took target practice or even the camera.
Another point that I want to make to the court is that this case has placed some labels on me. Prisoner is one. I can accept this label. There is no doubt that I am a prisoner. You have also labeled me a terrorist. This label I refuse to accept or to wear. I have never been a terrorist, I am not now a terrorist, and I will never in the future be a terrorist. I totally reject this label. Unfortunately, my testimony, the testimony of my wife, the testimony of my mother, and the testimony of my brother-in-law did not convince you of who I am. None of these testimonies are even mentioned in the court's opinion, nothing of our defense is a part of your opinion. My actions from the time that I was an adult were not enough to convince you of the type of man that I truly am. Four years of honorable service to my country in the USMC [US Marine Corps], and I was a Muslim. Then years of providing security at Department of Defense contractor facilities, retired military housing facility and other people and their property, the whole while I was a Muslim. My service to my community at the police department, and I was a Muslim then too. My high honors at Marymount University, a degree in Sociology and a degree in Criminal Justice. My membership in the National Scholastic Honor Society and the National Criminal Justice Honor Society, on the Dean's list every single semester in College, and I was a Muslim. But none of this conveyed to you the true me.
Your honor, our apartment was vandalized on September 11th, and on two occasions people kicked at our door threatening to enter and harm us. We were spit at, yelled at, called names and people threw their trash on our balcony. People even tried to run us off of the road on more than one occasion. Yet, I never retaliated, I never showed any behavior that would suggest I am the type of person that you convicted. Correctional officers and deputies have called me a terrorist and treated me as such, but never have I retaliated in any form. Look at the way that I was treated when in Saudi custody. Look at how I was treated by the FBI on the 18 hour flight, stripped and photographed naked, handcuffed and shackled and blindfolded with duct tape. Never so much as a complaint. Everywhere I go now people are willing to treat me this way. But, I have never exhibited any behavior that would suggest that I am the kind of person that you convicted. No major incidents, not even a single minor incident in two years of incarceration. I am simply not a threat to anyone, here or anywhere else. I have never been and never will be. So there have been some bad things that have come from this case, like the things I have mentioned, not to mention being away from my family and not being able to support and raise them the way that I am supposed to. At the same time, a lot of good has come from this case as well. When people take the time to get to know me they see what Islam really is as opposed to the misrepresented version of Islam. Those who get to know me witness how beautiful Islam really is and many have become Muslim as a result.
From the time that I became an adult and a Muslim, until now, I have always served people. Never once have I ever been involved in all these years in anything that would suggest that I have any beliefs that could be connected to terrorism. Even now, I have been incarcerated for two years and I am known, for example at Alexandria Center, not for the crimes you convicted me of, but instead I am known for teaching ESL and GED to inmates. I have helped a dozen people get their GED's. All of the people that I helped at ADC, served in the Marine Corps. at security jobs and at the police department, all of them have been “kafir”, a word that the government demonized at trial. Yet those are the very people that I have always served, helped or taught.
Your honor, my community has strongly supported me and right now the Muslim community is terrified of our government. Every ring of the phone and every knock at the door causes Muslims to fear that it is the FBI there ready to take someone away from they families, and they do not have this fear because they are guilty of crimes. The Muslim community knows me and knows that I am not the kind of person that you think I am. I thank them for all of their support. My wife knows what kind of person I am and knows that I am innocent. She is my strongest supporter. My entire family, Muslim and non-Muslim know this as well. I will never be the person that you convicted me of being. Even the correctional officers and deputies that have gotten to know me know that there is no way that I did what I've been convicted of and they have expressed this to me many times. It's too bad that we were unable to prove to you the person that I really am. The media has portrayed the Muslim community as quiet on condemning terrorism. Well, this is not a newsworthy event and our condemnation has not been highlighted even though it has and is taking place. At every Muslim conference in the D.C. area since 9/11th, the focus has been centered on Muslim's condemnation of terrorism. It is not that we have been quiet, it is just no one is interested in hearing this and it doesn't make it onto the television or into the newspapers. But, as Muslims we all strongly condemn all acts of terrorism, and they are not now and have never been a part of our way of life.
Your honor, you have accepted the government's version of Islam. You accepted their version over the version that I and the vast majority of Muslims follow. In order to convict me you had to accept their distorted version of Islam. It is my fault that I was unable to show you what Islam really is and for that I am sorry. Still, this doesn't make the government's misrepresentation of Islam correct. It is easy to take any religion and distort it. For example, in Matthew 10:34 Jesus is quoted as saying, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth, I have not come to bring peace but a sword.” Taken out of context someone could, as the government has done with my religion, distort the meaning of this religious verse and make it into a jihadic mission statement. But it is sickening and unfair to do this to any religion. It is simply wrong, but it is exactly what was done here. The beautiful and peaceful religion of Islam that I know and follow is far different from Mr. Kromberg's Islam. Since this is my day in court I would like to share with you just two short stories that express my understanding of Islam. Islam is the most tolerant of religions. Islam not only gives freedom of religious affiliation to non-Muslims, but its tolerant law extends to facilitating their worship services and the preservation of their places of worship:
1. At one time the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, which is considered by Jews to be one of their holiest places of worship, was completely buried under rubble. When the Ottoman Khalifah Sultan Sulayman found out about it, he ordered his governor in Jerusalem to remove all the rubble and clean it so the Jews could return to worshiping there (The Rights of Non-Muslims in the Islamic World, pg. 25). This is Islam!
2. In an example of Islam's defense of non-Muslim citizens is that of Ibn Taymiyyah when the Tatars overran Syria. Ibn Taymiyyah went to their leader Qultasha pleading for the release of the prisoners. The Tatar leader freed the Muslim prisoners but Ibn Taymiyyah protested saying, "We will only be satisfied with the release of all the Jewish and Christian prisoners; they are the People of the Covenant. We do not abandon a prisoner whether of our own people or those of the covenant." He kept on asking for this until all of them were freed. (The Rights of Non-Muslims in the Islamic World, pgs. 48-49). This is Islam! This is the way of life that I follow.
The government might say, but your honor look at the actions of Khattab, the execution of the Russian P.O.W., in the Russian Hell video. I hate that it had to happen, that way, my position on this is clear from trial. Yet, the situation in Chechnya is such that the Mujahideen there are a small force and they are fighting the Russian army. The mujahideen have absolutely no resources, no bases, no hospitals, no nothing. They have no support and they fight by hit and run. After an engagement like the one in the video, Russian troops saturate the area and seek to destroy their enemy. The Russian prisoner, I'm sure if it was possible to take him from the battlefield that he would have been treated justly. But he couldn't keep up, and he couldn't be left behind because he would tell his fellow soldiers where the Mujahideen went, so he was shot. Unfortunately that's what happens in war, people die. Now your honor, last year on CNN we watched U.S. Marines enter a Mosque in Iraq. They found unarmed Iraqi’s who at first appeared to be dead. On closer inspection on U.S. Marine said, “Hey this guy is playing dead”, and then we see another Marine run over, shoot the Iraqi in the face killing him and then say, “He ain’t faking dead now!” Immediately after seeing this on CNN the American public said, maybe this Marine had witnessed one of his buddy’s killed or maybe he was having problems at home. Whatever the case he was exonerated of any wrong doing. This Marine’s action was seen as acceptable. When Khattab with who’s forces there are no resources killed a P.O.W. he was quickly called a terrorist, but when a U.S. Marine did no less than Khattab and who’s forces are the best supported in the world killed a P.O.W., he was seen as a hero. It is war and people necessarily will die, but it is unfair to call one a terrorist and the other a hero. They are either both to be understood as unfortunate but explainable, or both to be condemned. Watching the U.S. Marine on CNN does not mean you condone or glorify it nor does seeing the other on the Russian Hell video.
Mr. Kromberg says that LET hates the U.S. and everything Western, and they are bent on destroying the U.S. This is not true. When I was in Pakistan the only negative thing that anyone from LeT ever said about the U.S. was that Pakistanis were upset with the U.S. because the Pakistani government bought and paid for some F-16 warplanes which were never delivered. When I was at LeT no one said they hated the U.S. or wanted to harm Americans, ever. They never showed any negative attitude towards the U.S., and the burning flag is very misleading. So in conclusion, I know that if I was not a Muslim, I would not be here today. This case, from start to finish, has been about nothing other than Islam and how the prosecution has been successful in perverting it. All anyone has to do is to look at the offense conduct in my Pre-Sentence Report. There are 19 points in the offense conduct and 11 of these points are about the Taliban, Al –Qaeda, and September 11th. And what do they have to do with my case? And more importantly with me? Nothing! Except that I am a Muslim and this says that we are all terrorists.
Mr. Kromberg says that he believes that 85% of the Muslims in this country support terrorism, and that would be somewhere between 8 and 9 million Muslims, that these Muslims believe that 9/11 was justified. 85%! You couldn’t find .85 of 1% that believes that. In fact, the only person that we have ever heard being happy by the attack was a government witness, who is going home in December of this year. This is what this case is really about, the government saying that Muslims and Islam equal terrorism. This is not true and I have never in my life displayed any such behavior, nor do the vast majority of Muslims. Yet here I am, being handed a sentence to die in a maximum security prison. I believe that you have convicted an innocent person, unintentionally, and if you really knew me and as you said you “had to look into my heart and mind to determine” if I was guilty, that if you really saw the real me, I wouldn’t be here today. Even unintentionally, I am still here and I see this case as an attack on Islam and so does the Muslim community. Look at some of the factors that you used in determining me guilty. On page 23 of your opinion you said that I emailed the paintball players copies of military manuals and told them to memorize them. But in the trial transcripts, in Vol. III pg. 649, Donald Suratt (a government witness) admitted that it was he that brought a Marine corps manual to paintball, and I didn’t play that day, and he also testified that he, Donald Suratt, emailed some paintball players the manuals and told them to memorize it. The government has my computer and they know that I never sent nor received this email, yet this and other instances like this have been used to convict me. It doesn’t feel fair or just to my community. The Saiga hunting rifle is another example. I bought the hunting rifle before meeting the paintball players; that’s in evidence. I hunted before paintball. I went hunting with Al- Hamdi and we followed all of Virginia’s hunting laws. Al-Hamdi was questioned by the FBI on more than 7 occasions over a period of a month about this rifle and in each and every 302 he said the only reason he bought the rifle from me was for hunting. At trial Al-Hamdi (a government witness) testified the only reason he bought it was for hunting. But I am facing a mandatory 25 years for that rifle. It just doesn’t seem fair. The government has tried to make me out to be something that I am not, but your honor what I have done with me entire life proves their deception. I have forgiven everyone for everything that they have done to me. For months now, my brothers in Islam, those who worked for the government: Hassan, Attique, Kwon etc. have been sending me messages begging me to forgive them for what they did to me, but I forgave them a long time ago. It is up to Allah to pardon or punish. I go to sleep every night without being angry at anyone. I am at peace. This is a test from Allah and I pray that I will pass it and die submitting to Him, Insha’Allah.
Hopefully my words did not come across as being angry because I am not. This life is short, 100 years from now none of us will be alive and all that we will have to look forward to is our meeting with Allah. Then the Most Just Allah will judge between us all and either reward or humiliate us for our deeds. Allah is the best of planners and neither the prosecutors, nor the FBI, nor this courts has the ultimate control over the final outcome of this case as Prophet Muhammad (SalAllahu’alaihiwasalam) said, if the entire nation came together to do someone harm they could not do it unless it be the Allah’s Will. So I will either go free one day, and this is victory because I am innocent and should be with my family, or I will die with patience in a maximum security prison for crimes that I have not committed, and this is severe oppression which can only be rewarded by Allah’s Mercy. Your honor, this sentence is not justice. In the end, when all is said and done, what this sentence cries is: Justice…Justice…Muslims need not apply. Muslims are no longer welcome here.
And may the peace and blessing of Allah be on His Prophet Muhammad, and his family, and all of his followers.
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