CAIR’s former civil rights chief conspired with al Qaeda, federal grand jury says

The Council on American Islamist Relations (CAIR) is reeling after a federal grand jury charged one of its former senior staffers with conspiring to aid Osama bin Laden’s terrorist organization.

Former CAIR civil rights coordinator Randall Todd “Ismail” Royer faces federal charges that he and others “conspired to provide material support to Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda organization and to his Taliban protectors in Afghanistan,” according to the Washington Post.

Royer is one of 11 members of an alleged “jihad network” based in northern Virginia to support al Qaeda and other Islamist terrorists. Four of the 11 already have pled guilty and are cooperating with federal authorities.

CAIR uses the civil rights issue as a cloak to protect itself and its allies from allegations that they support terrorism, and consistently has denounced federal counterterrorism efforts as being racist and bigoted.

CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad has openly expressed support for Hamas suicide bombers. Recently he declined to appear in person to testify before a Senate subcommittee on terrorism and homeland security.

The new grand jury charges against Royer are the first to link a senior CAIR figure directly to al Qaeda.