FBI pulls 'Faces of Global Terrorism' bus ads after receiving complaints.

FBI Pulls ‘Faces of Global Terrorism’ Bus Ads

By  Andrew Johnson

June 26, 2013 2:50 PM

The FBI has taken down its Seattle-area bus ads featuring the “Faces of Global Terrorism” after receiving complaints, including from one member of Congress, that the ads stereotype Muslims.

Last week, Washington congressman Jim McDermott (D) wrote a letter to FBI director Robert Mueller, saying the ads “only serve to exacerbate the disturbing trend against Middle Eastern, South Asian and Muslim-Americans.” ”When you start saying that this is the face of terrorism, you are really stigmatizing a whole group of people,” he added.

According to the Seattle Times, King County Metro, the city’s transit authority, had received six complaints about the ads. An FBI spokesperson said the decision to remove all 46 ads was because of “the feedback we are getting.”

The FBI pointed out that the ads show terrorists from all over the world, including from African countries, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Chechnya; and three were born in the U.S. McDermott countered that it is hard to distinguish the faces as the buses drive by.

Jeff Siddiqui, the founder of American Muslims of Puget Sound, applauded the FBI’s decision to pull the ads. He said that his organization could now “rebuild a relationship” with the agency. “Please God, let it be a relationship of open communication and trust.”

The ads will be taken down in the next seven to ten days.

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Wonder if this tactic would work on those wanted posters in the Post Office? Just get some friends to file complaints.

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Bare Naked Islam has a different take on this:

SEATTLE: Left wing media want to know if this FBI-sponsored ad campaign on Global Terrorism is ‘racist?’

Apparently the moonbats are ignorant of the fact that Islam is not a race. The fact that the photos on this sign showing Faces of Global Terrorism are ALL Muslims, is not racist, Islamophobic, or xenophobic. It is the truth…something the mainstream media have a problem using in their stories about Muslims.

Seattle Weekly  In a letter to the FBI requesting they pull the campaign from Seattle buses, U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) sounds off on what he says is “offensive to Muslims and ethnic minorities” and “encourages racial and religious profiling.” (Well, DUH, that’s the idea, especially when a $25 million reward is offered!)

The ad shows sixteen faces of wanted terrorists, all of whom appear to be from predominantly Muslim regions. McDermott calls foul, writing that the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorists list includes people who are not Muslims (but the vast majority ARE)

“The…ad will likely only serve to exacerbate the disturbing trend against Middle Eastern, South Asian and Muslim Americans.” (Ewww, we wouldn’t want to offend Muslim terrorist supporters, now would we?)

The ad is the work of the Puget Sound Joint Terrorism Task Force, and are part of the U.S. Department of State’s Rewards for Justice Program.

As downtown news blog Fifth Avenue Seattle reported on June 4, the program is offering $25 million in rewards for information leading to the terror suspects’ arrests. A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that the ad campaign itself cost $25 million.

We are trying to reach someone with the FBI to get comment on their purported dastardly-ness, but the news release announcing the program put it like this:

“Members of Seattle’s community have time and time again shown themselves to be concerned about protecting their families, their neighbors, and their freedom. Many despicable plots from illicit drug trafficking to violent acts of terrorism have come to the FBI’s attention because vigilant Seattleites came forward with a tip.”