4/2/26 Reposted from seattletimes.com
The president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents this week after authorities said he had been convicted of crimes by Israel more than three decades ago and had lied on his American green card application.
The president, Salah Sarsour, 53, has led the group, which is the largest Islamic organization in Wisconsin, for five years. In a statement Thursday, the group said that he was a legal permanent resident who had lived in the United States for more than three decades.
Lauren Bis, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement Thursday that Sarsour had been convicted of throwing Molotov cocktails at the homes of members of the Israeli armed forces and illegally attempting to possess weapons and ammunition.
Sarsour, who has no criminal record in the United States, has been a frequent supporter of Palestinian rights and a board member of American Muslims for Palestine. That organization said in a statement Wednesday that he was “a pillar of the community and a law-abiding Milwaukee business owner.”
This week, Sarsour was taken to a detention facility in the Chicago area before being transferred to a lockup in Indiana, according to American Muslims for Palestine.
Othman Atta, executive director of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, said he had spoken by phone with Sarsour on Thursday afternoon. He said that Sarsour had been collecting mail at an office on the south side of Milwaukee on Monday morning when he was approached outside by an armed man in plain clothes. Then, about a dozen vehicles pulled up with more men, also in plain clothes, who identified themselves as ICE agents before they took him away, Atta said.
