Muslim chaplain 'smuggled' box-cutter blades into jail

[thundley4]

A city Department of Correction Muslim chaplain who served 14 years in prison for murder and robbery was arrested today for carrying three utility blades and a pair of scissors into a lower Manhattan jail, authorities said.
The chaplain, Zulqarnain Abdu-Shahid, had the utility blades and scissors in his duffel bag when he arrived at the Manhattan Detention Complex in the morning, according to the city Department of Investigation.

The dangerous items were found after an X-ray machine alerted correction officers to the presence of metal in the bag, the DOI said.

Authorities did not say why Abdu-Shahid was visiting the jail, commonly known as the Tombs, or why he was carrying the scissors and the rectangular blades, which were 1-and-1/2 inches long by three-quarters of an inch wide.
Abdu-Shahid, 58, was arrested at the scene and charged with four counts of first-degree promoting prison contraband — a felony carrying a maximum 7-year prison term — and four counts of the same charge in the second degree, a misdemeanor.

The Staten Island resident, who is married with three children, was ordered held in lieu of $30,000 bail during a hearing in Manhattan Criminal Court last night, where he appeared in a long robe and navy blue skull cap.

His lawyer, James McQueeney said the blades were ‘injector razor blades from an injector razor," and that when Abdu-Shahid told that to the correction officers who stopped him, "his explanation that he didn’t know there were there [in the duffel bag] was accepted."
"He was allowed into the" Tombs after the blades were confiscated," McQueeney said. "Only later were questions raised about this."


Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/muslim_chaplain_smuggled_box_cutters_BVF0VWUOLCw0vjjnRzjZRP#ixzz0eXMnCW5N
/quote]

There is a big difference between razor blades and box cutter blades.

[DefiantSix]

There is a big difference between razor blades and box cutter blades.

Not in lock-up there isn't.

[thundley4]

Not in lock-up there isn't.

True, both can be equally deadly, and what do Muslims need with razors anyway?

[TheSarge]

True, both can be equally deadly, and what do Muslims need with razors anyway?

To slice the throats if the infidels of course!

[JohnnyReb]

To slice the throats if the infidels of course!

Nawh...not peaceful Moslems...they were just going to hang a little sheetrock in the prison mosque.