Muslim Charity Raided By FBI

Federal agents served warrants and raided the offices of a Muslim charity in Detroit today. Records were seized and removed by anti-terrorism task force members at the Life for Relief and Development offices in the Detroit suburb of Southfield. 

Federal counterterrorism agents raided a Muslim charity in Southfield on Monday morning, according to the FBI.

Agents with the FBI and Joint Terrorism Task Force executed search warrants at the headquarters for Life for Relief and Development, a Southfield-based charity that works in Arab and Muslim countries around the world.

The warrants were based on a criminal predicate, said William Kowalski, assistant special agent in charge for the Detroit office of the FBI. The affidavits in support of the warrants are sealed, he said.

At about 9 a.m., agents raided the Southfield office, hauling away documents, letters and ledgers, said Dawud Walid, head of the Michigan branch of the Council on American Islamic Relations. Agents told officials with the charity that the raid was related to some sort of criminal activity, Walid said.

Debbie Schlussel has a lot more background on Life for Relief and Development.