Here is the latest update from Patrick Poole of Central Ohioans Against Terrorism in Front Page Magazine. I have two first hand accounts that Patrick really has the Franklin County Commissioners in a major tizzy, and rightfully so…:

Central Ohio government officials were running for cover following my article last week, “Hometown Jihad: The Somali Terror Apologist Next Door”, which revealed that Abukar Arman, a vocal supporter of the Somali terrorist group and al-Qaeda-linked Islamic Courts Union (ICU), as well as several other terrorist individuals and organizations, was currently serving on the blue-ribbon board that oversees Central Ohio Homeland Security.

Originally appointed to the Franklin County Criminal Justice Planning Board, which oversees and directs the Office of Homeland Security and Justice Programs in March 2005, he has since been reappointed. Additionally, Arman also serves on the Ohio State Board of Education’s Foreign Language Advisory Board, a position he was appointed to by the Board of Education this past March.

The day after that report appeared, Franklin County Commissioner Paula Brooks sent the following memo to Don Brown, County Administrator, and Karen Crandall, County Homeland Security director, demanding an immediate investigation into the claims made in my FrontPage article regarding Abukar Arman’s support for terrorist organizations:

To: Don Brown, County Administrator
CC: Kathy Crandall, Director, Homeland Security and Justice Programs
From: Paula Brooks, Commissioner
Date: July 12, 2007

I expect this to be investigated expeditiously. If true, these allegations are definitely grounds for removal.
The aide to Commissioner Brooks, RJ Sontag, was also sending out emails to a number of angry constituents distancing Brooks’ from Arman’s original appointment and reappointment to the Criminal Justice Planning Board:

From: “Sontag, RJ” <[email protected]>
To: “XXX” <[removed]>
Subject: RE: Question
Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2007 16:45:58 -0400

Dear Mr. XXX:

Commissioner Brooks asked that I share this with you. She did not recommend Mr. Arman, and Commissioner Brooks especially relied on the judgment of the other voting commissioners: Commissioner Mary Jo Kilroy and former Commissioner Dewey Stokes – both of whom she thought knew Mr. Arman.

RJ Sontag
Aide to Commissioner Paula Brooks
Franklin County Board of Commissioners
373 South High Street, 26th Floor
Columbus Ohio 43215
o: (614) 462-5729
f: (614) 462-5999
[email protected]

The other two commissioners, Mary Jo Kilroy and Marilyn Brown, have thus far not responded to constituent inquiries about Mr. Arman’s presence on the board overseeing area Homeland Security.

Read the rest of Pat’s column here. It is shocking that this guy sets on the Criminal Justice Planning Board with Coleman and others, and has a say in local counter-terrorism efforts!

In addition, make sure to download Patrick’s interview with Dirk Thompson here. (Here is a backup of the audio.) It is absolutely alarming that Arman hasn’t already been canned, and the Franklin County commissioners should move swiftly to get rid of him. If they don’t, Mary Jo Kilroy, during her latest campaign for Congress, will have some serious questions to answer.

And what about Mayor Coleman? Arman is a close friend of a Coleman adviser, and they serve on this board together. Does Coleman’s denounce Arman’s support of terror groups and terrorists? And is Coleman responsible for nominating Arman to be on a number of boards and committees throughout government?

And why hasn’t The Dispatch covered this story yet?

And is the Franklin County GOP asleep or are they too busy screening more homosexuals to run long-shot campaigns?