While I am certainly no fan of Mr. Tefft - I see him as much more of neonazi-esque character than anything else - this should not be a court case. John Doe's lawyers seem to have made this into a "don't say anything bad about Islam, Muslims, or especially Arabs, or else we'll come after you" show trial. We thankfully have the freedom of speech in this country.
Certainly, John Doe had other options, at least with respect to the police department. If he wanted to serve the interests of patriotic Muslims in America (a group to which we have every reason to believe he belongs, although Mr. Tefft claims it doesn't exist), he should have negated Tefft's e-mails with ones to NYPD personnel that negated his comments. While Tefft is an excellent anti-terrorism expert, his knowledge regarding religion and especially Islam is fundamentally flawed because he denies it the status of a religion (he calls it an ideology instead). This would have gone much farther than making yet another case of Muslims attempting to silence anti-Muslims through our legal process. He's made more enemies this way than were ever needed.
As a Jew myself, I can say that when Americans hated Jews, we responded by making them aware of why we're a benefit and not a detriment to the country and the West. We mostly avoided court cases because they make too many unnecessary enemies. John Doe and all Muclim patriots need to fight fire with fire here and show the West why Islam is a friend and not a foe.
While I am certainly no fan of Mr. Tefft - I see him as much more of neonazi-esque character than anything else - this should not be a court case. John Doe's lawyers seem to have made this into a "don't say anything bad about Islam, Muslims, or especially Arabs, or else we'll come after you" show trial. We thankfully have the freedom of speech in this country.
Certainly, John Doe had other options, at least with respect to the police department. If he wanted to serve the interests of patriotic Muslims in America (a group to which we have every reason to believe he belongs, although Mr. Tefft claims it doesn't exist), he should have negated Tefft's e-mails with ones to NYPD personnel that negated his comments. While Tefft is an excellent anti-terrorism expert, his knowledge regarding religion and especially Islam is fundamentally flawed because he denies it the status of a religion (he calls it an ideology instead). This would have gone much farther than making yet another case of Muslims attempting to silence anti-Muslims through our legal process. He's made more enemies this way than were ever needed.
As a Jew myself, I can say that when Americans hated Jews, we responded by making them aware of why we're a benefit and not a detriment to the country and the West. We mostly avoided court cases because they make too many unnecessary enemies. John Doe and all Muclim patriots need to fight fire with fire here and show the West why Islam is a friend and not a foe.