Earnest James Ujaama

Earnest J. Ujaama
Born	1965 (age 58–59)
Other names	عبد القادر
Education	MA. Ed. – Antioch University – Seattle B.A. – University of Washington
Occupations	Activist American Justice and Terrorism Expert Educator
Known for	Anti-war Anti-racism Activism
Spouse	F. Kahin (1997–2007)

Earnest J. Ujaama (born 1965) is an American Muslim social activist, Ph.D candidate, and a former Entrepreneur trainer. On June 10, 1994, then Washington state lawmaker Jesse Wineberry issued a certificate declaring James Ujaama Day in the state of Washington. He was also presented with a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition from Senator Harry Reid, a similar certificate from former U.S. Congressman James H. Bilbray, a key to the City of Las Vegas, and was honored by KCPQ13 as a "Special Person".

On July 22, 2002, Ujaama was arrested as a Material Witness warrant, becoming the first American to be detained on U.S. soil while under investigation using the Patriot Act.

On CNN Wolf Blitzer's Report

The following is a transcript of what aired July 15, 2002 a week before the arrest of Ujaama on a material witness warrant:

SAVIDGE: Hello, Kate. This is a very complicated, very convoluted investigation that is still ongoing. So let me do my best to try to put it in a nutshell for you. Federal authorities and local police say they are very interested in a number of individuals, described as a “handful,” in the Seattle area that all are members or were members of a now defunct mosque in downtown Seattle. The Dar el Salaam mosque was heavily damaged…

Authorities aren’t interested in the building so much as they are with a number of individuals that parade there. One of those individuals, a 32-year old man, said to be a British national from Sierra Leon, is in custody. He was arrested in May on charges of violating immigration laws. He’s not been charged with anything pertaining to terrorism. Authorities say a search of his Seattle area home turned up documents that were linked to Abu Hamza. … a Muslim imam in London who’s been an outspoken supporter of Osama bin Laden.

Also, federal authorities say the same search of the same house turned up what they say were documents talking about water supply distribution. That raised a red flag. There were concerns about a possible threat to Seattle’s water supply. Alerts went out. Security has been beefed up.

Now, the same individual in custody, in 1999, lived on a ranch in a remote part of southern Oregon. That was actually in a an area that’s described as Bly, Oregon, a property the is said to her about 250 acres. And investigators are wondering if it was possibly being scouted out for us as a terrorist training camp.

Now, CNN’s been down in the area, been all around the ranch and talked to people who have lived in that area. There is no evidence to suggest right now that it was ever used as a terrorist training camp.

And finally, three other individuals from this same now defunct mosque are being investigated by federal authorities. No one is saying that these men are part of a sleeper cell for al Qaeda. They are merely saying that there [is] enough information out there to raise concerns.

(End CNN Report.)

It is true that the case against Ujaama has from the very beginning been very “complicated.” There have many charges by the government and in the media that have changed many times. For example, the charge that Ujaama was involved in possibly seeking to poison water supplies and his links to the Al-Qaeda network. Most all accounts cited Ujaama as being a well-known and prominent activist in the community which made it difficult for the Government to simply brand him a terrorist so easily. (BBC News, Americas, Al-Qaeda suspect arrested in Denver) “Seattle newspapers said Mr. Ujaama was well-known in the black community.” (ibid) CNN Reported, “For years, James Ujaama was known as a prominent community activist in Seattle, working to help the city’s poor and promoting entrepreneurship as a way up the economic ladder.” (CNN From Community activist to alleged terror conspirator).

Conflicting reports in the Media

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported, “the lead FBI in the case testified that he did not believe the terrorism conspiracy suspect was sufficiently dangerous that he needed to be locked up pending his trial..” (Skolink, Sam. November 12, 2002. Ujaama isn’t threat, agent says. Seattle Post-Intelligencer.) CNN also reported on September 3, 2002, “A federal grand jury Wednesday indicted a well-known Islamic activist in the Seattle-area on on charges of trying to set up an al Qaeda terrorist training camp in rural Oregon in an attempt to further promote “violent jihad” against the United States.” (CNN Seattle man indicted on terror charges).

In almost every newspaper report, the government was cited or journalists reported that Ujaama was either a major Al-Qaeda terrorist conspirator or a hustler out to make a buck. On July 24, 2002, The Seattle Times, Winner of Ten Pulitzer Prizes, reported “Ujaama’s conversion: A passion for business, then zealotry for Islam.” The article went on to describe Ujaama’s past efforts to keep kids out of drugs and gangs by teaching them entrepreneurship and as “charismatic young man planted firmly in the mainstream of America’s capitalism.” The reporters of the article noted Ujaama’s “work in Seattle’s Central Area earned him the support and admiration of community leaders.” But they went on to describe an investigation that “produced a starkly different image of this man a decade later: A zealous Islamic convert sharply critical of the United States [and] a man working in support of the Al-Qaida network.” (Bernton, Hal; Heath, David; and Carter, Mike (2002, July 24). Ujaama’s conversion: A passion for business, then zealotry for Islam. The Seattle Times.)

On July 17, 2002, Seattle Post-Intelligencer Columnist, Robert Jamieson, Jr. wrote that millions of people would come to know Ujaama as a “possible lackey for bin Laden and Muslim extremist.” He cautioned that in a rush for quick conviction what would be lost was Ujaama was a community activist who had received a state proclamation for his work in steering youth away from the lure of drug selling and gang violence, or as a writer who successfully published a “hood novella” and as a man who had an “unbridled passion for helping the underdog and for railing loudly against injustice.” His article continued to offer up a description of Ujaama as not much different than who everyone admits he was then and is now, a man with a great gift of persuasion, passion for helping others, and a disdain for war and injustice. (Jamieson, Robert J. July 17, 2002. Real case against Ujaama yet to be made. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer.)

In the end, Politico magazine would report “the Terror camp that wasn’t” citing a fax where Ujaama wrote to the Egyptian-born Imam located in London, Abu Hamza al-Masri also known as Mustafa Kamel Mustafa. In the fax, Ujaama wrote “Get away from dunia [earthly matters] and be among Muslims!” Citing a federal official, the magazine reported, “Ujaama basically saw this as a cash cow, [n]o self-respecting international terrorist would have anything to do with Ujaama’s plan.”

The magazine also reported that he wrote, referring to the Bly training camp, “It is 100% legal, and so are all of our activities.” Government prosecutors did admit that much citing in their sentencing memorandum that Ujaama’s flyer had advertised survival training, horse riding, archery, combat and martial arts, rifle and handgun handling, hunting and Koran recitation — all things that are actually legal.(Government Sentencing memorandum).

One of the members, Abdur-Rahim Ali Ar-Rashad, told the Seattle P-I, “We did nothing that any other group of white boys wouldn’t do. We shot targets and rode horses and that’s it.” He continued to charge, “Since we were black and Muslims and young, they figured we were doing something criminal.”

Original indictment

In the government’s original indictment, Ujaama is charged with one count of conspiracy to Provide Material Support and Resources. This indictment specifically mentions Al-Qaida as the intended receiver of support and resources and was the object of the conspiracy. The indictment also describes the “purpose of the conspiracy” as a plan to “offer and provide facilities in the United States of America for training of persons interested in violent jihad; to provide safe houses in the United States of America for the conspirators; to recruit persons interested in violent jihad and jihad training; to provide actual training of such persons in firearms, military and guerrilla tactics, and related activities; and to sponsor partially trained personnel for further violent jihad training and operations coordinated by Al Qaida, in order to assist such persons and groups to promote violent jihad activities around the world.” (Ujaama indictment, 2002)

Although this indictment was thrown out it continues to be offered online as proof of Ujaama’s allegiance to terrorism and an Al-Qaeda supporter. It primarily displayed by the website IPT (www.investigativeproject.org), an organization founded by Steve Emerson in 1995, who has been called a “complete idiot” by the former U.K. Prime Minister, David Cameron, for false reporting on what he called “no go zones.” Emerson and his Investigative Project on Terrorism has also been accused of “creating mass hysteria” and called a “discredited terrorism expert and Islamophobe.” (Freidman, Robert. Terrorism financing: origination, organization, and prevention. Hearing before the Committee on Governmental Affairs, United States Senate, One Hundredth Eight Congress, first session. vol. 4, p. 178. ISBN 0756740304 “creating mass hysteria”; Hammer, Julie: Safi, Amid (2013). The Cambridge Companion to American Islam. Cambridge University Press. p.8. ISBN 98781107002418. “discredited terrorism expert”)

Additionally, government prosecutors and agents closely involved in the investigation, admitted in both their sentencing memorandum and at the sentencing hearing, that “Ujaama testified at the Kassir trial that he did not intend for the Bly training camp to support al Qaeda. The government is aware of no information to the contrary.” (Kassir transcript; US Government sentencing memorandum, US V. Ujaama, 04 CR 356, SDNY 2015).

Maintaining innocence

On August 27, 2002, Ujaama wrote in a statement published by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, “If I have broken any laws and am guilty of crimes against the American people, then I must be held accountable. The fact is that I am innocent of any wrongdoing and am fully prepared to face my accusers and defend myself in a court of law.”

Almost Twelve years later, on May 6, 2014, at the trial of Abu Hamza, Ujaama again reiterated his innocence before a federal judge on direct and cross-examination testimony. This exchange was between Abu Hamza’s lawyer, Mr. Jeremy Schneider and Ujaama: (Taken from the Abu Hamza trial transcript, May 1-6, 2014).

• Mr. Schneider: Were you guilty of the crimes you were indicted for?
• Mr. Ujaama: Back then I did not believe I was guilty, sir.
• Mr Schneider: What did you think you were innocent of? What do you think you didn’t do?
• Mr. Ujaama: That I did not give support to a terrorist organization, Al-Qaeda.
• Mr. Schneider: But you pled guilty, didn’t you?
• Mr. Ujaama: I did not plead guilty to giving material support to Al-Qaeda, no, sir.
• […]
• Mr. Schneider: So the question is — I asked you before, you said you weren’t guilty of the original indictment that you were charged with?
• Mr. Ujaama: No, sir.
• Mr. Schneider: No. So you were completely innocent. They charged you, the government in Seattle, Washington, made a complete mistake and charged the things that they were wrong about, is that right?
• Prosecutor: Objection
• Mr. Schneider: That’s your understanding that they were wrong?
• The Court: Why don’t you rephrase your question.
• Mr. Schneider: Do you believe that the government charged you and you were innocent when you were first indicted?
• Mr. Ujaama: I believe that the government charged me with a crime that I was not guilty of.
• Mr. Schneider: Okay. Are you saying not guilty meaning they couldn’t prove it or not guilty meaning that you were innocent of it? It’s different.
• Mr. Ujaama: I was not guilty of it.
• Mr. Schneider: Right. Because you did not do it.; you believed in your heart that you did not commit that crime, didn’t you?
• Mr. Ujaama: I believed in my heart that I had never given support to Al-Qaeda.

• Mr. Schneider continued with his attempt to break Ujaama.

• Mr. Schneider: Well, one of the charges in the indictment was that you tried to contact a cooperator in May and June of 2002 to find out if, in fact, that person was a witness against you, isn’t that right?
• Mr. Ujaama: If that was a charge, it was not true.
• Mr. Schneider: So, again, the government —
• Prosecutor: Objection, your Honor.
• Mr. Schneider: What, the word “again?” I apologize.

• Mr. Schneider continues with his questioning Mr. Ujaama.
• Mr. Schneider: So it’s your position that the government charged you with something you were not guilty of, is that right?

The government again objects. Mr. Schneider decides he’s had enough and simply moves on. His attempts to break Mr. Ujaama’s conviction that he was innocent of supporting known terrorists were a complete failure.

• Schneider: Now, did the [Governement], as far as you know, did the prosecutors either in Washington or New York reinstate the original indictment.
• Ujaama: They charged me for, my understanding is they charged me for all the crimes that I could be charged for, charged with.
• Schneider: They never charged you — originally in your first indictment you were charged with the 924C, possession of a weapon in conjunction with Bly camp, right? Remember that?
• Ujaama: Correct, sir.
• Schneider: The government did not reinstate that charge against you after you violated the agreement, did they?
• Ujaama: No, they did not.
• Schneider: And neither New York nor Washington brought back that charge in any form against you, did they?
• Ujaama: No, sir.

Final Charges

Interestingly, throughout the trial, Mr. Ujaama, enduring continued harassment and contentious questioning, maintained his innocence in supporting a terrorist organization. However, Ujaama had admitted his support for the Taliban, whom he believed, as well as the Bush Administration and members of the U.S. Supreme Court, to be the government of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Also it is very important to note that the Taliban has never been declared to be a Foreign Terrorist Organizations by the United States Department of State.

President Clinton signed an Executive Order 13129 on July 4, 1999, known as the International Emergencies Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701, AKA “IEEPA”) forbidding U.S. citizens from “any transactions or dealings…” with the Taliban. This included “funds, goods, or services to or for the benefit of the Taliban” and includes “services to the territory of Afghanistan controlled by the Taliban…” which is why Ujaama would eventually plead guilty to violating the IEEPA for installing software for a friend to use on a computer owned by the Taliban, and “conspiring to take Feroz Abassi to go and fight with the Taliban against the Northern Alliance.” However, Ujaama could only be sentenced once for this charge, and he was on April 2003.

Ujaama was charged with four counts: (1) Title 18 USC 371 Conspiracy to provide and conceal material support, in relationship to a plan to develop a "jihad" training camp in Bly, Oregon; (2) Title 18 USC 2339A Conspiracy to provide and conceal material support, in relationship to an agreement to take Feroz Abassi to Afghanistan to join the Taliban in their fight against Northern Alliance; (3) Title 18 USC 2339A and 2 Providing and concealing material support, in relationship to [alleged] conduct of Feroz Abassi; and (4) Unlawful Flight to Avoid Testimony in relationship to leaving the country without permission.

The offense for count one ended on January 1, 2000. Although there had been an investigation in that same year, Ujaama was not charged with a crime until after August 2002. The government agreed that Ujaama had less knowledge of the ultimate purpose of the provision of the material support, because as they also stated, "(he) testified at the Kassir trial that he did not intend for the Bly training camp to support Al-Qaeda", and "the government is aware of no information to the contrary".

Further notes

This author is in possession of all court transcripts, sentencing memorandums, and primary documents related to United States vs. Earnest James Ujaama, SDNY 04 CR 356 KBR. Most of these are filed under seal. At times, I have referenced a few of these documents throughout. Most of what is found on the Internet is piece-meal journalism, speculation or theory, and is outdated. This case was constantly evolving from around July 2002 – December 2006, and January 2007 – October 2015. In addition, this case in actuality had very little to do with Ujaama, and more to do with his co-conspirators: Abu Hamza al-Masri, Ousssama Kassir, Haroon Aswat, and Feroz Abassi. The government has admitted that Ujaama's knowledge of the details was unknown, and that he was not engaged in terrorist activity. They do claim, however, that he inadvertently supported terrorism, a point of contention rendered moot, at his sentencing.

Selected bibliography

• Ujaama, Ej. (1991). Young People's Guide to Starting a Business. Self-published.
• Ujaama, Ej. (1993). Entrepreneur Basics 101. Seattle, WA: Be Your Own Boss Publishing.
• Ujaama, Ej. (1994). How to Be An Entrepreneur. Seattle, WA: Be Your Own Boss Publishing.
• Ujaama, Ej. (1996). Coming Up. Seattle, WA: Inner-City Publishing.
• Strickland, Daryl. (1991, August 1). Young, Gifted and Black -- 'Living Large' The Legal Way – Enterpreneur, 25, Shares Tips on Business with Teen Gangs. The Seattle Times.