ISLAMIC STATE-AMERICANS
High school buddies followed similar path to jihad
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) β Two high school buddies who loved to shoot hoops and crack jokes with their friends converted to Islam in early adulthood and were somehow recruited by terror groups to leave the United States and die for jihadist causes on separate continents.
That’s the picture that’s emerging of Douglas McAuthur McCain and Troy Kastigar, who attended classes together at Robbinsdale Cooper High School in the Minneapolis suburb of New Hope.
It was not immediately clear how the two were drawn into radicalism or whether they might have influenced one another along the way. But the two best friends went down similar paths and met the same end.
The 33-year-old McCain was killed in Syria while fighting with the Islamic State group. Kastigar was killed in Somalia in 2009 while fighting with the terror group al-Shabab.
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242-w-34-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor, with Kyle Loven, chief division counsel, FBI-Minneapolis, and Shelley Chase, former neighbor of Douglas McCain)–Officials and former neighbors are wondering why two high school buddies from suburban Minneapolis converted to Islam, joined terror groups and died for jihadist causes. AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports. (28 Aug 2014)
< 241-a-12-(Shelly Chase, former neighbor of slain militant fighter Douglas McAuthur McCain, in interview)-“what to do”-Shelly Chase, a former neighbor of slain militant fighter Douglas McAuthur McCain, says McCain had been a friendly outgoing boy. (28 Aug 2014) < 240-a-10-(Shelly Chase, former neighbor of slain militant fighter Douglas McAuthur McCain, in interview)-“know what happened”-Shelly Chase, a former neighbor of slain militant fighter Douglas McAuthur McCain, says he and her son used to play together. (28 Aug 2014) < 236-a-18-(Kyle Loven (LOH’-vehn), chief division counsel, FBI-Minneapolis, in interview)-“of young people”-The FBI’s Kyle Loven says the bureau is monitoring social media and other outlets to try to discourage young recruits in Minnesota from joining Islamic militant groups, and fighting against U.S. interests. (28 Aug 2014) < 237-a-14-(Kyle Loven (LOH’-vehn), chief division counsel, FBI-Minneapolis, in interview)-“for law enforcement”-The FBI’s Kyle Loven says it’s surprising to find that militant groups have been reaching out to young people in Minnesota, trying to recruit them. (28 Aug 2014) < 238-a-07-(Kyle Loven (LOH’-vehn), chief division counsel, FBI-Minneapolis, in interview)-“withdrawn from society”-The FBI’s Kyle Loven says some Islamic militant recruiters are reaching out to young adult Americans through social media. (28 Aug 2014) < CHURCH METH Illinois women charged with cooking meth in church HILLSBORO, Ill. (AP) β Two Illinois women have been charged with cooking methamphetamine in a rural Hillsboro church. Montgomery County officials say 53-year-old Judith Hemken and 26-year-old Tiffany Burton were charged Wednesday with participation in manufacturing methamphetamine. They could each face nine to 40 years in prison if convicted. Undersheriff Rick Robbins says authorities responded to a call Tuesday from a member of the Waveland Presbyterian Church who said he had stopped at the church to investigate suspicious activity while the church was closed. The church member said he saw two women there and what looked like components of a meth lab before the women took off in a car. Robbins said deputies stopped a vehicle the church member had described and then arrested the women. Robbins said he has investigated meth operations in cemeteries before, but never in a church. Hemken’s bond was set at $200,000 and Burton’s was $100,000. The women are due in court Friday morning, when they may be assigned public defenders. Sound: 230-w-32-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor, with Montgomery County, Ill., Undersheriff Rick Robbins)–Two women have been charged with cooking methamphetamine in a Southern Illinois church. AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports. 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(AP) βFlorida’s teacher union along with other groups has filed a lawsuit aimed at ending one of the nation’s largest private school voucher programs. The lawsuit contends that a program that serves 60,000 students primarily from low-income families violates the state’s constitution by creating a parallel education system and by directing tax money to religious institutions. Most of the schools that utilize the vouchers in the nearly $300 million program are religious. Those involved in the lawsuit argue that the program drains money away from existing public schools and the children that attend them. Backers of the popular program, as well as Republicans who have supported its expansion, criticized the lawsuit and its potential impact on the families who rely on it. ISLAMIC CONFERENCE-DETROIT Carter, Snyder to address leading US Muslim group DETROIT (AP) β Former President Jimmy Carter and Michigan Gov. 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