FBI Target Got Govt. Grants, FBI Invites in Hamas Operative (!?)

A very incomplete report here by ABC7, no mention of the occupation of the individuals charged and of their alleged trips overseas. Excellent piece by ABC7's Chuck Goudie:

As executive director of the Arab American Action Network in Chicago, Mr. Abudayyeh is a well-known advocate for immigrant rights. When federal officers raided his North Side home last week, along with residences in Minneapolis, they were looking for funding links between Abudayyeh and the radical Islamic group Hamas that took power in the Gaza Strip three years ago.

Even as Abudayyeh is under investigation by a federal grand jury, city of Chicago records obtained by the ABC7 I-Team show that his Arab American Action Network has received thousands of dollars in city grants: as much as $457,000 since 1998. According to city officials, the money was intended for an after-school program for high-risk students who struggle with English.

Of course. No questions asked.

But what about this other story on the site, supposedly unrelated. Bridgeview rang a bell (scroll down), then I just happened to check my email and a friend sent in this link at Big Peace: FBI Escorts Known Hamas Operative Through Top-Secret National Counterterrorism Center as “Outreach” to Muslim Community

Is this nuts or what. Let's look at other Chicago coverage.

CBS2. Still the old postcard to girlfriend story:

The agents said they were looking for evidence relating to terrorist activity. But Iosbaker and Weiner said the government targeted them because they've been outspoken against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and U.S. funding of conflicts abroad.

"We all know what it was about, was that we were marching; we were organizing," Weiner said.

Iosbaker and Weiner say the government confiscated boxes that contained only old family pictures and love letters.

No mention of the SEIU nexus.

Nor the Sun Times. Minimal story.

Tribune/AP. No mention of SEIU.

Search warrants and subpoenas indicate authorities are looking for connections between the activists and groups including the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and Hezbollah. The U.S. government considers those groups to be terrorist organizations.

Among the speakers in Chicago were two activists whose home was raided, Joe Iosbaker and his wife, Stephanie Weiner.

"We will not be intimidated," Iosbaker told the crowd, with people cheering in response.

Iosbaker told the crowd FBI agents had gone through everything in their home, including their music collection and their sons' school notebooks.

Expanded beyond the old girlfriend postcards. The music collection might be toxic though.

More. Andrew McCarthy, NRO. Scott Johnson, Powerline.