I stared down the ‘Blind Sheikh’ for the FBI. What’s happening today is far more dangerous

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Strange, K. (2026, November 1). I stared down the ‘Blind Sheikh’ for the FBI. What’s happening today is far more dangerous. Washington Examiner. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/op-eds/4784814/political-islam-sharia-law-us-constitution/

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Washington Examiner · collected 2026-11-01 · by Ken Strange

Quick Summary

An FBI agent recounts his encounter with Omar Abdel-Rahman, known as the "Blind Sheikh," during a surveillance operation in Jersey City. The article reflects on how the initial threat from Islamic extremists was more direct and less ideologically complex compared to current dangers, which involve radicalization through social media and other modern platforms.

Written by AI on 2026-11-01, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

In 1993, Ken Strange, an FBI agent on the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF), confronted the "Blind Sheikh," Omar Abdel-Rahman, in Jersey City. Abdel-Rahman is the spiritual leader of the Islamic Group and issued a fatwa to assassinate Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. During this time, JTTF agents monitored early jihadi networks across New York and New Jersey, including those involved in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Agents conducted physical surveillance and cultivated informants among radicals who were also attempting to appear assimilated by shopping at American retailers like Sam’s Club.

Written for “FBI Whistleblower Warning Today” on 2026-11-01, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Why this leaning score

The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted verbatim and was checked against the article text before being stored, so you can find it in the original.

It was a surreal moment — here I was, an FBI agent on the Joint Terrorism Task Force, standing on a street corner in Jersey City, going jaw to jaw with the infamous spiritual leader of the Islamic Group, the “Blind Sheikh,” Omar Abdel-Rahman.

right implies that allowing such individuals into the country is dangerous
An Egyptian cleric marinated in ideological hatred by the Muslim Brotherhood, the man who issued the “fatwa” to assassinate Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, now spewed forth vitriol toward me and the United States government.

right portrays a religious leader as a dangerous figure
In those early days of counterterrorism, the threat was raw, tactical, and operational. We spent our days conducting physical surveillance and cultivating informants.

right emphasizes the need for aggressive law enforcement against perceived threats

Reading Leans strongly right (beta estimate) Confidence high

Leaning: leans strongly right for article 121036 (high confidence, 3 verified quotes) · logged 2026-11-01

Story

📰 FBI Whistleblower Warning Today

Crime & Law · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

Nothing to compare against. No article is close enough to this one for the pipeline to have linked or judged the pair.

How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted

sentences that state something as happening or true

Uncertain

0 of 6 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")

Leaning

Leans strongly right

of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate

Publisher signals

70/100

Washington Examiner's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.

Outlets on this story

Crime & Law

Same framing elsewhere

articles that frame the event the way this one does

Analyzed 2026-11-01 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability

Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Washington Examiner · 3879 article(s) · 7 correction(s) detected

Running correction rate · 7 correction(s)

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Who wrote this

Ken Strange

2 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction

🔮 In the hookah bars and mosques of New York and New Jersey, our JTTF teams stared down the early networks or cells of jihadis, men who would go on to perpetrate the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

2026-11-01 · assertive framing · I stared down the ‘Blind Sheikh’ for the FBI. What’s happening today is far more dangerous

🔮 This open defiance would eventually result in bin Laden’s revoked citizenship and expulsion from the Kingdom, setting him on a definitive path of global terrorism.

2026-09-11 · assertive framing · I taught Saudi royalty in 1979. I saw the seeds of 9/11 decades before the planes hit

Also by Ken Strange

I taught Saudi royalty in 1979. I saw the seeds of 9/11 decades before the planes hit

2026-09-11 · Washington Examiner

Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

Topics

Egyptian FBI Jersey City the Islamic Group the Joint Terrorism Task Force

Subjects

Egyptian NORP · 2× Anwar Sadat PERSON · 1× FBI ORG · 1× Jersey City GPE · 1× Omar Abdel-Rahman PERSON · 1× Saudi Arabian NORP · 1× United States GPE · 1× the Islamic Group ORG · 1× the Joint Terrorism Task Force ORG · 1× the Muslim Brotherhood ORG · 1×

Narrative

It was a surreal moment — here I was, an FBI agent on the Joint Terrorism Task Force, standing on a street corner in Jersey City, going jaw to jaw with the infamous spiritual leader of the Islamic Group, the “Blind Sheikh,” Omar Abdel-Rahman.

framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-01

2026-11-01 · Washington Examiner

I stared down the ‘Blind Sheikh’ for the FBI. What’s happening today is far more dangerous · assertive framing

Claims (6 extracted, 0 hedged)

I → stand → Group

An Egyptian cleric marinated in ideological hatred by the Muslim Brotherhood, the man who issued the “fatwa” to assassinate Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, now spewed forth vitriol toward me and the United States government. asserted

who → marinate → me

I knew this hatred intimately, having once dodged an irate mob of Saudi Arabian villagers who took serious offense to a cross necklace I was wearing. asserted

I → know → necklace

In the hookah bars and mosques of New York and New Jersey, our JTTF teams stared down the early networks or cells of jihadis, men who would go on to perpetrate the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. asserted

who → star → bombing

We spent our days conducting physical surveillance and cultivating informants. asserted

We → spend → informants

Ironically, these were some of the same radicals endorsing American consumerism on television, even shopping at Sam’s Club, to project a desire to assimilate. asserted

these → endorse → desire

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