Right Wing Blog: Fox News Didn’t Narc On ‘Terror Grandma,’ We Did!

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A right-wing blog that tracks networks of Islamic extremists online says it was them, not Fox News, that brought a video of a woman the network later labeled “Terror Grandma” to the attention of authorities.

“Fox did not drop the dime, we did,” writes blogger Howie on the Jawa Report. “Given the quick death of the video and its nature, which Ill elaborate on more later, we sent it along through the proper channels. Just to be sure.” TPM was unable to independently verify Howie’s claims.

“Would you rather we wait till after the bomb goes off? Cause we can do that. Or would you, Mr. John Q Public, rather we just trust the authorities to tell us what we need to know?”

Authorities told TPM that the Fox News story on Kathie Smith — a Muslim convert who thinks Sept. 11 was an inside job, calls the U.S. a “terrorist organization” and praises the American-born radical Muslim cleric Anwar al Awlaki, according to Fox’s account of email exchanges with her — was based on confirmation that a link to the video pointed out by the reporter, who was told it had been forwarded to the proper law enforcement agency.

But given Smith’s gigantic footprint — the Facebook postings, the YouTube videos, the MySpace account, and her outreach to local media — she’s not exactly being stealth if she’s operative. And since she claims to have been subjected to careful screening and plenty of questions at airports and has been visited by the FBI, it’s clear she’s been on the feds’ radar for a long time. A principal in the Indianapolis Terrorism Response Group told a local news station that authorities have known of Smith for three years.

But Jawa Report said their communications with authorities were nonetheless important.

“The more all members of this network feel exposed and watched, the better I feel,” Howie continued. “Information like this is the reason I came to Jawa Report, its the reason I blog here. Its what our readers want.”

“But if you schmucks playing circle jerk behind the barn over at Antiwar and TPMShmuckraker want to remain ignorant for a cheap shot at Fox, be our guest,” Howie continued.

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