I just read the following: Islamic Community Forms Own Government, In the USA. Seems a bit sensationalist, and further searches about this Hancock, NY compound bring up lots of similar articles, such as:
- Muslim Terrorist Training Camps in North America
- 35 terror training camps now operating inside U.S.
- Terrorist training camps for Muslims in America
I have a hard time taking any of these articles seriously with their exclamations of terror this, terror that, and unsupported assertions of all the terrorism that's going on in there and alleged ties to more terrorism. One article even makes them sound like any old cult ("residents of the MOA believe that their top leader, Sheikh Gilani, is able to travel through space and time" and he will "turn them into a monkey").
Of course, the wikipedia page, and especially this article paint an entirely different picture, of a compound for Muslims escaping poverty, reformed criminals, or folks just looking for community.
It's hard see some of those first articles as anything more than people using the specter of "terrorism" as a thin front to their own racist xenophobia, but I also find it hard to trust the word of compound leaders. Is there actually any real evidence of any wrongdoing, or is it just more islamophobia?