The jazz bassist who stands accused of conspiring to aid al-Qaeda is up for a hearing tomorrow. (See my earlier post for background.) Again, avant-jazz promoter Margaret Davis has emailed urging us to support Shah:
I think we should all be there to show solidarity for Tarik Shah as well as for freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom of religion, all Constitutional rights guaranteed to every citizen.
Elsewhere Davis wrote that Shah “isn’t even accused of anything but meeting and talking with others of his choice….”
As a democrat, I am as eager as anyone to see Shah’s right to due process respected. But I find these statements from Davis rather misleading. “Meeting with others of his choice”? The charges involve Shah telling an undercover FBI agent of his goal to provide material support to al-Qaeda. Freedom of speech and religion are simply not at issue here. People do not have a right to aid terrorists or to make plans to do so.
As I’ve said before, the burden is on the government to prove its case against Shah. But it’s cavalier of Davis to suggest that Shah’s alleged activities involve nothing but speech and the free exercise of religion. (In fact, it has been reported that Shah was dismissed from a Bronx mosque for his views.)
Again, I support Shah’s right to due process. But the fact that Shah is a jazz musician does not require me to offer unequivocal support for the man himself. I await more facts.
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