Florida is a magnet for tourism, boasting some of the top vacation destinations in the country from Disney World to resorts with ocean views. According to the Orlando Sentinel, over 105 million tourists traveled to the sunshine state in 2015. However, that is not all the state attracts. For years, Florida has been one of the largest breeding grounds for terrorism in the United States. Yet, no one seems to be doing much about it.
Real Clear Politics cites the should-be-concerns in the area linked to radical Islamic terrorism,
- Schools: The Muslim Students Association at the University of Central Florida, started by the radical Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood whose goal is to encourage the pursuit of “jihad,” hosted a terror-aligned individual, Siraj Wahhaj, to speak. He has been connected with the first attack on the World Trade Center in 1993, along with other plots.
- Mosques: The Husseini Islamic Center hosted an individual who preached anti-gay language, even encouraging Muslims to take action against the gay community. This happened only a few weeks prior to the attack on the Pulse nightclub.
- Prisons: Florida’s prisons, along with prisons across the United States, are prime for radicalization in the United States. Radicalized in a Florida prison, Jose Padilla, also known as Abdullah al Mujahir, was found to be responsible for a deadly bomb plot.
The Orlando Attack only confirms what is happening inside our borders. The success of this attack reveals that ISIS and other extremist groups are most successful when they conduct grassroots efforts from the inside, not attacks from the exterior. Therefore, policy must be enacted not only to protect our borders, but also to preserve citizens’ rights to protect themselves. Guns are not the issue, the infiltration of radical Islamic terrorism is.
