Five alleged Muslim extremists who are accused of training children to carry out school shootings have been released on bond after one of their attorneys complained that the men were only being targeted because they’re “black and Muslim,” as opposed to “white and Christian.”
Judge Sarah Backus said that prosecutors didn’t prove the alleged jihadists were “a danger to the community” and released them on a $20,000 “signature bond,” which means they won’t even have to pay the fee unless they violate the conditions of their release.
“The state argued that the 11 children at the compound were being trained to use guns as they prepared to attack teachers, law enforcement and others in institutions that the group considered corrupt,” reports the Albuquerque Journal.
Eleven malnourished children were found on the property while another child had died at his father’s hand “during a religious ritual intended to expel religious demons from his body.”
However, one attorney argued that the men were victims of Islamophobia and racism, commenting, “The NRA right now are telling us that guns are a good thing and that we should be training our teenagers to go ahead and use them, but now that we have someone who’s actually do that, and they’re not white, and they’re not Christian we think there’s some nefarious plan.”
“No one would bat an eye” if the men were white Christians, added Thomas Clark, attorney for Siraj Wahhaj.
Judge Backus appeared to show sympathy towards the alleged jihadists when she remarked, “Many people here live in unconventional ways.”
NBC correspondent Gadi Schwartz tweeted a video showing the tunnel underneath the compound.