On Wednesday, the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force raided an apartment in Sacramento, California and arrested Omar Ameen, a man wanted in Iraq on charges he murdered a police officer while flying the ISIS banner. Court documents reportedly show that he snuck into the U.S. by lying his way through the refugee vetting system, something liberals suggested was impossible. To apparently preserve that narrative, ABC and NBC had omitted the arrest from their morning and evening programs on Thursday.
The only mention of the shocking infiltration was on CBS This Morning in the form of a fleeting 27-seconds long news brief by co-anchor Gayle King who obviously brushed over how he got into the U.S.:
GAYLE KING: The Sacramento Bee reports federal agents arrested a suspected ISIS member in Northern California. 45-year-old Omar Ameen allegedly killed an Iraqi police officer back in 2014 while fighting for ISIS. He was taken into custody yesterday during a raid on an apartment complex. U.S. officials plan to extradite him to Iraq to face charges there. Ameen reportedly entered the U.S. seeking asylum as a refugee after lying about his background.
Meanwhile, on Fox News Channel’s Special Report, national correspondent William La Jeunesse went into far greater detail and addressed Ameen’s mode of infiltration.
“And what's being called one of the most significant arrests of an accused ISIS terrorist in the U.S., law enforcement swarmed a Sacramento apartment Wednesday looking for this man,” he began his report. “Omar Ameen, who according to prosecutors, was a hitman for ISIS and Al Qaeda.”
The speed in which Ameen went from ISIS frontline fighter to refugee taking refuge in the states was frightening. “Court documents say, Ameen, driving a pickup mounted with a machine gun and a black ISIS flag, killed an Iraqi policeman in June 2014. Five months later, Ameen entered the U.S. as a refugee despite what allegedly a thorough screening process,” La Jeunesse explained.
According to La Jeunesse, documentation played a very small part in vetting Ameen’s application. “Ameen claimed ISIS killed his father for cooperating with the U.S.” and said, “he never killed anyone”. But in reality, “FBI agents say they found at least eight witnesses who identified Ameen and his family as committed fanatics who planted IEDs to kill coalition forces.”
Of course, this incident raised important questions about the refugee vetting process in the United States and harkened back to the President’s travel ban which was greatly opposed by the liberal media. “The Trump administration imposed a travel ban last year over concerns terrorists could thwart the screening process. Claude Arnold, a former war crimes investigator, says this case shows they weren’t wrong,” La Jeunesse noted.
According to Arnold, “This is a classic example of the vulnerabilities in the refugee system. (…) It really vindicates the administration’s reasoning behind implementing the travel ban.”
It’s disappointing that ABC and NBC chose to keep this important story from their viewers. Instead of reporting on this exploitation of the U.S.’s refugee system, both continued to hyperventilate about President Trump pulling former CIA Director John Brennan’s Top Secret security clearance.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
CBS This MorningAugust 16, 20187:49:54 a.m. EasternGAYLE KING: The Sacramento Bee reports federal agents arrested a suspected ISIS member in Northern California. 45-year-old Omar Ameen allegedly killed an Iraqi police officer back in 2014 while fighting for ISIS. He was taken into custody yesterday during a raid on an apartment complex. U.S. officials plan to extradite him to Iraq to face charges there. Ameen reportedly entered the U.S. seeking asylum as a refugee after lying about his background.
Fox News Channel
Special Report
August 16, 2018
6:29:49 p.m. EasternBRET BAIER: He is a member of ISIS and a killer and this week he was arrested in California. That's according to charging documents filed in Sacramento. And as national correspondent William La Jeunesse reports of the cases raising questions about how the man was able to settle in the U.S.
[Cuts to video]
MCGREGOR SCOTT: Mr. Amin was an active member of ISIS in its heyday.
WILLIAM LA JEUNESSE: And what's being called one of the most significant arrests of an accused ISIS terrorist in the U.S., law enforcement swarmed a Sacramento apartment Wednesday looking for this man. Omar Ameen, who according to prosecutors, was a hitman for ISIS and Al Qaeda.
SCOTT: He is accused by the Iraqi government, under the ISIS flag, as an ISIS operative, in cold-blooded murder.
LA JEUNESSE: Court documents say, Ameen, driving a pickup mounted with a machine gun and a black ISIS flag, killed an Iraqi policeman in June 2014. Five months later, Ameen entered the U.S. as a refugee despite what allegedly a thorough screening process.
CLAUDE ARNOLD: This is a classic example of the vulnerabilities in the refugee system.
LA JEUNESSE: Refugee screening depends largely on a victim's story, not documentation. When he applied, Ameen claimed ISIS killed his father for cooperating with the U.S. In fact, court records say his father died of a blood clot. Ameen also claimed he never killed anyone but FBI agents say they found at least eight witnesses who identified Ameen and his family as committed fanatics who planted IEDs to kill coalition forces.
SCOTT: That application was replete with lies and misrepresentations.
LA JEUNESSE: The Trump administration imposed a travel ban last year over concerns terrorists could thwart the screening process. Claude Arnold, a former war crimes investigator, says this case shows they weren’t wrong.
ARNOLD: It really vindicates the administration’s reasoning behind implementing the travel ban.
[Cuts back to live]
LA JEUNESSE: Ameen could be extradited to Iraq next week. It is the first known use of a 1934 treaty between the two countries. Ameen faces death if convicted.
BAIER: William, thank you.
