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A Florida jury has found Hafiz Khan, a 77-year-old Imam from a mosque in Miami, guilty of two
conspiracy counts and two counts of providing material support to terrorists. One of the
prosecutors in the trial, U.S. Attorney Wifredo Ferrer, has characterized the defendant by
saying, "Despite being an imam, or spiritual leader, Hafiz Khan was by no means a man of
peace. Instead, he acted with others to support terrorists to further acts of ***, kidnapping
and maiming.”
The prosecution based their case on hundreds of FBI recordings in which Khan could be heard
expressing support of Taliban attacks and discussing the idea of sending $50,000 to
Pakistan. Taking the stand in his own defense, Khan insisted that the money was not meant
for Taliban use, that it was intended to support his family in Pakistan and for charity and
business reasons such as supporting a madrassa.
He said that the extremist political positions he could be heard professing on the tapes
were not his actual positions, but that he had embellished to attain funds from an undercover
FBI agent who he thought was an Islamic extremist. Sentencing is set for May 30, and each count
carries a maximum 15 year stretch.
The mascot for death known as the Grim Reaper traditionally personifies an idea similar
to the way Lady Liberty and the sandman represent the concepts of freedom and sleep. Archetypes
of this variety are generally not venerated in the same way people revere deities or saints.
However, in Mexico and Mexican communities in the US, a female version of the scythe
carrying, cloaked skeleton known as Santa Muerte has been credited with granting prayers
and has gained in popularity so quickly that the Mexican Catholic Church has actually denounced
the icon as Satanic. Devotees have credited Santa Muerte with everything from hiding criminals
from police searches, to granting a plea for love, to making the Hollywood dreams of a
successful actor come true.
The cult of Santa Muerte began over a century ago but remained mostly an underground phenomenon
popular with criminals and occultists. However, over the past two decades, representations
of this angel-of-death have begun appearing on everything from cards which can be carried
in wallets to life-sized figurines in colorful regalia proper for adoration and devotion
by the faithful.
An amalgam of Mesoamerican and Spanish variety Catholic beliefs, traditional and Church approved
avatars of faith, such as St Jude and the *** of Guadalupe are being supplanted as
this death saint becomes a popular lucky charm.