Preemptive prosecution is applied to Muslims but not to armed white militias

Evidence

But even beyond declining to profile all white Christian men, the civil liberties of far-right-wing groups are respected by the law enforcement community. There is no preemptive prosecution of these groups, which span a wide ideological range that includes white supremacists, anti-government fanatics, and various Christian fundamentalist tendencies, even though many such groups form “militias” and hold regular paramilitary training camps. As Downs notes, “Nobody bothers them because indoctrination and weapons training is constitutionally protected free speech and exercise of the Second Amendment right to bear arms. The criminal line is crossed only when such groups conspire to commit a specific crime. However, preemptive prosecution makes an exception for Muslims.” In short, while white supremacists are allowed to train with guns at sites all over the United States, if a regular Muslim American so much as acquires a weapon, he or she is deemed suspicious. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 488

Categorization

• XREF: The Second Amendment/free-speech protection of armed white groups versus suspicion of armed Muslims is a concrete instance of the unequal citizenship Kumar and Selod describe for racialized Muslim Americans. — connects to: Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act enforcement targeted Muslims despite neutral wording. — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 259; White supremacist killers are prosecuted as hate criminals rather than charged as terrorists — Arsalan Iftikhar, Fear of a Muslim Planet_ Global…, 226; White victims receive instant humanity denied to Arab and Muslim victims (+5 more)
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 488

Broader Connections

• Surveillance targets Muslims while ignoring white supremacist militias #corroborates (0.85) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 487
• Religious labeling of criminals applies to Muslims but not to Christians #expands (0.60)
• Whiteness does not guarantee affinity with white supremacist violence #contradicts (0.50)