Are You the Key to Homeland Security?

By Erick Stakelbeck

CBN News- Terror Analyst

June 1, 2007

CBNNews.com - WASHINGTON - When customers gave store clerk Brian Morgenstern a video showing men firing weapons and chanting "Allah is great," he decided to contact authorities. His tip helped break up a domestic terror cell planning to murder U.S. soldiers at New Jersey's Fort Dix.

"I think that we need more people to do this. You never know these days, and like the U.S. attorneys have been saying, it's no longer just for law enforcement to act on something. We as citizens have a duty for our country to speak up if we see something that needs to be reported," Morgenstern said.

Morgenstern is what's known as a "John Doe": an American citizen who provides authorities with information about suspicious behavior.

"We as Americans are the first line of defense for the country. Our founding fathers envisioned that when they said the price of liberty is eternal vigilance," Congressman Steve Pearce said.

Pearce is sponsoring legislation that would protect John Does from lawsuits or prosecution. His bill was inspired by a controversial incident on a U.S. Airways flight last year.

Six Muslim imams were removed from that flight after passengers complained they were praying loudly and moving about the plane speaking Arabic. Now the imams are suing the airline and those passengers.

"This isn't about money, about getting any pay off in the end. It's about protecting civil rights and defending the good names of the Imams," said Ibrahim Hooper of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

But Pearce says that if successful, the lawsuit will have a chilling effect on national security.

"Our bill simply says you cannot sue people for reporting suspicious behavior. That's the foundation, that's the basis of our security in this country," Pearce said.

Dr. Zuhdi Jasser has offered to raise money for the John Does' legal fees. Jasser, a practicing Muslim, is an outspoken critic of radical Islam.

"Everyone who is thinking of reporting a suspicious activity is now going to say 'Wait a minute. If I'm wrong about this, I might have to hire an attorney, I might then be liable.' All of a sudden, they're going to be doubting it and they're going to feel like it's just better to be quiet," Dr. Zuhdi Jasser of the American-Islamic Forum for Democracy said.

Republicans are lobbying House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer to support Pearce's bill. The measure is expected to pass in the House. In the meantime, similar legislation to protect John Does has been introduced in the Senate.

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