http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=127802 Attorney Angela M. Lloyd listens to Rifqa Bary at Dec. 22 hearing (Photo: Columbus Dispatch
The chief of a law firm that has promised to defend a youth pastor reportedly investigated for driving a runaway Muslim-turned-Christian teen to a bus station says the probe is another "lawfare" case in which Islamists are trying to intimidate critics of the religion.
Ohio authorities are investigating youth pastor Brian Williams for his assistance of Rifqa Bary, 17, who claimed she fled her Muslim parents last year because her father threatened to kill her after learning she had become a Christian.
In a column on BigJournalism.com, anti-jihad blogger Pamela Geller called it a "perverse twist of reality" that law enforcement officers are investigating "Christians in Ohio who helped a teenage apostate escape the death threat (in line with sharia law) made by her family."
Richard Thompson, president and chief counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, confirmed to WND today that his organization has lined up to defend Williams should charges be filed.
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He agreed with much of Geller's assessment;
"I think this is another aspect of Islamic lawfare that's going on, attempting to intimidate people into staying away from anything that may be considered a criticism of Islam," Thompson told WND.
He said should any case be filed against Williams, there would be an "ironclad" defense.
"You can take action to save someone from harm," he said. "If you believe someone is in harm's way, you can take action to help.
"I am astonished the police and prosecutors have gone so far as to continue to go after Brian Williams," he continued.
Thompson explained Williams had been told by Bary that her life was in danger, and he reviewed the possibilities before agreeing to help.
"If you take seriously that apostates can be killed and have been killed … then it just doesn't make any sense that American law enforcement is investigating a youth minister who was acting basically to save a life."
In Geller's commentary, she cited indications of Islamic influence in the case.
"The sharia-compliant 'Columbus Dispatch" ran this headline over the AP story about Williams' retaining counsel: 'Minister accused of aiding Rifqa Bary retains lawyer.' 'Accused.' As if aiding Rifqa Bary were a crime. … Who wouldn't retain a lawyer if he were advised that he was going to be arrested?' The 'Dispatch' implies a taint," she wrote.
"What kind of nation, what kind of society are we living in where someone who helps a girl whose life is in danger is prosecuted for it? An Islamic one," she wrote.
A WND source said Bary now has been declared a dependent of the state of Ohio, a goal her defenders had adopted to protect the teen from any Muslim retribution for her decision to abandon Islam.
Scholars in all the major streams of Islam have asserted the religion's holy book, the Quran, teaches that rejection of Islam must be punished by death.
The source in Rifqa's case told WND even though the formal goal of the case in the juvenile court system in Ohio is to reunify her with her parents, that will never happen.
Further, she will become independent of her parents when she turns 18 later this year, the source said.
On a forum following Geller's post, a contributor warned that unless Islamic activists are halted, there will be trouble ahead.
"I find it interesting that if a teen these days went to any teacher [or] adult and complained they were being abused, [social services] would be down their throats in a matter of hours. But if you are a Muslim parent you are protected …We have come to a very sick and twisted perspective in our country."
Another forum participant had a much more practical suggestion: "Assistance to Rifqa Barry should include training and certification with firearms and relocating her to a conceal-carry state when she turns 18. I believe she has the spirit and backbone to defend herself with deadly force should it come to that. She can set a shining example for all of the other apostates of this medieval death cult parading as a religion."
Law enforcement officials said they couldn't document evidence of a reason that the teen should be concerned for her life if she returned home, however the court system in Ohio has kept her in foster care while "counseling" plans were developed for the family.
Author and Jihad Watch director Robert Spencer and Geller, both close observers of the case, assert the case inescapably is about the religious beliefs of Bary's parents and the local mosque that pressured them to abide by Islam's deadly intolerance for conversion.
Rifqa Bary has reported her father, Mohamed Bary, threatened her life after learning of her conversion. She says she became a Christian several years ago. When her parents began preparing to move the family back to Sri Lanka, she sought refuge with a Florida pastor and his wife after connecting with them on the social networking site Facebook.com. The Barys reported their daughter missing to Columbus, Ohio, police July 19, 2009, then tracked her down in Orlando.
Before her case was moved from Florida to Ohio, court documents linked a mosque near the family's home to allegations of terrorism financing.
While in Orlando, Rifqa explained her plight in an interview with WFTV.
"If I had stayed in Ohio, I wouldn't be alive," she said. "In 150 generations in [my] family, no one has known Jesus. I am the first – imagine the honor in killing me."
She explained there is "great honor in that, because if they love Allah more than me, they have to do it. It's in the Quran."
Topic: Islamic 'lawfare' targets Rifqa Bary's friends (Read 2152 times)