Chicago, Illinois — A Chicago man was recently taken into custody and charged with a felony after he threatened to blow up the bus he was riding in “Jihad against the white devil.”
The Chicago Tribune reports that 23-year-old Caleb Russell boarded a CTA bus during rush hour on January 8th and worked himself into an angry tirade, making statements some passengers found derogatory. However, when he threatened to blow up the bus, stating that he was waging “Jihad against the white devil,” the CTA driver pushed the panic button and stopped the bus in the middle of the intersection.
Passengers, who police state “feared for their lives,” then began to flee, running off the bus from both its front and rear exits.
Russell was taken into custody and charged with making a bomb threat. He was held on $90,000 bail.
According to reports, CAIR-Chicago, an Islamic group, began running transit advertisements last month to combat what they believe is negative publicity against Muslims. The campaign, called “My Jihad,” downplays the traditional violent meaning of Jihad into softer, happy phrases. “My Jihad is to stay fit despite my busy schedule,” “My Jihad is to build friendships across the aisle” and “My Jihad is to not judge people by its cover” are all messages included in the campaign.
The advertisements were believed to be in response to an ad campaign run by Pamela Geller, the executive director of American Freedom Defense Initiative and regular contributor to WND and American Thinker. As previously reported, Geller has been purchasing space on subways, trains and other transit systems to speak out against the Islamic religion. “It’s not Islamophobia; it’s Islamorealism,” read one sign. “In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man,” read another. “Support Israel. Defeat Jihad.”
Some stated that they feared Geller’s advertisements would incite retaliation by Muslims.
“If you don’t want to see what happened in Libya and Egypt after the video . . . you shouldn’t put this up,” opined Abdul Yasar, who rides the subway station in New York City, where several ads have appeared.
However, Geller has continued to purchase space across the country to convey her message. Her most recent advertisement shows a photograph of the Twin Towers engulfed in flames, with a verse from the Koran that reads, “Soon shall we cast terror into the hearts of unbelievers.”
Geller said that she thinks Russell’s recent outburst might have had something to do with seeing CAIR’s Jihad signs displayed on the buses.
On the other hand, after seeing his mugshot, others opined that Russell’s face and eyes indicate that the man has even deeper issues.
“After looking at his photo, I would run far, far away,” one commenter stated.
“That explains [his] look of intense love for all mankind,” another added with sarcasm.
“I figure that bath salts might be part of the picture,” stated a third. “But then, this happened in Chicago … where Islam has made massive inroads. That’s one of the reasons why I left.”
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