Ron Nixon wrote a piece for the New York Times labeled, Minnesota T.S.A. Manager Says He Was Told to Target Somali-Americans, dealing with allegations of ‘racial profiling’ in Minnesota. A summary of the case is found below:

MINNEAPOLIS —A Transportation Security Administration manager here said he was instructed by his supervisor to provide the names of Somali-American leaders visiting the agency’s local office so they could be screened against national security databases for terrorist ties, a disclosure that quickly drew accusations of racial profiling.

In a midyear performance evaluation, David McMahon, the supervisor for Andrew Rhoades, an assistant federal security director, wrote that he had advised Mr. Rhoades to check potential visitors to the agency’s offices with the field intelligence officer to determine “if we want them in our office space or meet elsewhere.”

Mr. McMahon, a deputy federal security director, wrote that he “reminded employee that with our current world affairs that we need to be mindful of those we interact with.”

Mr. Rhoades, who works with Somalis in Minneapolis, said he considered the remarks racial profiling and reported the incident to the T.S.A.’s Office of the Chief Counsel and the Department of Homeland Security’s Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. He has also contacted members of the Minnesota congressional delegation and the Office of Special Counsel, an independent federal agency that protects federal employees from reprisal.

“I have never been asked to give the names of anyone else who visited the office to the intelligence officer,” Mr. Rhoades said.

It is interesting that Rhoades not only contacted T.S.A.’s Office of the Chief Counsel and D.H.S.’ Office for Civil Right and Civil Liberties but also members of the Minnesota congressional delegation and the Office of Special Counsel. Rhoades has a history of using whistleblower laws. An article published a couple months ago has Rhoades accusing senior staff of high-level misconduct. It seems as though Rhoades holds a grudge with his employer and is eager to see the T.S.A. receive public ridicule.

Of course, the Islamist groups in Minnesota are also pushing this allegation of ‘racial profiling.’ Representative Keith Ellison of Minnesota, the recipient of tens of thousands of dollars of Islamist money throughout the years, is asking for an investigation. Muslim Brotherhood front group CAIR (Minnesota chapter) also talked about how “damaging” this is for countering extremism.

As we have seen with Obama’s Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) program, the same Islamist groups who were eager to influence the procedures of CVE as well as see federal funds go into their communities are the same groups thrusting claims of ‘Islamophobia’ and ‘racial profiling.’ There is a reason why Minneapolis, Minnesota is a target for CVE in the first place because of the Islamic terrorism problem (report from 2015 says, “Fifteen of the 58 American recruits who have attempted to join ISIS in Syria since 2011 were Minnesotans”).

This claim of T.S.A. ‘racial profiling’ gives Islamists a chance to go back on the offensive after months of being on the defensive. For example, Hassan Mohamud, an imam at Dawah Institute and a vocal critic of CVE, has been involved in a case with an accused ISIS supporter. Ryan Healy from Center for Security Policy said, “Mahmoud has been telling young men to plead not guilty to joining the IS and to allow him to take their case and go to trial.” Mahmoud is also a lawyer but not licensed to practice law. Because he is trying to influence “other defendants how to plead,” it is “a potential violation of ethic[al] rules that requires that each person receive legal advice from a person without a conflict of interest.” Furthermore, federal prosecutors are worried Mahmoud’s prior radical statements supporting jihad may even cause a mistrial. More on the case can be found at Center for Security Policy.

It is no surprise why Islamist individuals and groups in Minneapolis are so quick to say ‘Islamophobia’ and ‘racial profiling.’ To them the issue of ISIS recruitment in their community is not the real problem, the real problem is the West.