The U.S. Department of Homeland Security says it arrested Milwaukee Islamic leader Salah Sarsour because he is a “convicted criminal who lied on his immigration form” and is a “terrorist convicted for throwing Molotov cocktails at the homes of Israeli armed forces.”
However, even before DHS explained why it detained Sarsour (the president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee), top Wisconsin Democrats rushed to demand his release and/or trash law enforcement.
“DHS Law Enforcement Arrests Jordanian National with Previous Conviction for Throwing a Molotov Cocktail at the Homes of Israeli Forces,” the news release from DHS says. Furthermore, Sarsour is a board member of American Muslims for Palestine. Although the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel labeled that group merely “a national advocacy organization,” it has actually been accused in multiple forums of links to Hamas, which it denies.
“American Muslims for Palestine is at the core of the anti-Israel and anti-Zionist movement in the United States. AMP’s leadership frequently engages in rhetoric that promotes antisemitic tropes and support for violence against Israel, such as praising Hamas for the October 7, 2023, attack which marked the deadliest massacre of Jewish people since the Holocaust,” alleges the Anti Defamation League. “The organization has been an active sponsor of the anti-Israel protest movement and has avidly sought to delegitimize and demonize the Jewish state through various campaigns and organized actions over the years.”
“A coalition of 25 US states filed a legal brief (amici curiae) against American Muslims for Palestine and National Students for Justice in Palestine over their (alleged) role in providing material support to Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023,” the Jerusalem Post wrote in 2026. In 2024, Georgia’s attorney general alleged, “As asserted in the lawsuit, AMP’s material support for Hamas has persisted for decades, originating from its predecessor organizations, including the Holy Land Foundation (HLF) and the Islamic Association of Palestine (IAP), whose board members were convicted of providing material support in the form of millions of dollars to Hamas.”
Contrast all of that with these comments from Wisconsin Democrats after Sarsour’s detention:
- Democrat governor candidate and legislator Kelda Roys called the detention an “authoritarian kidnapping.” She pledged to work as governor to get law enforcement officers and Trump criminally charged for abuse.
- Democrat Gov. Tony Evers called for Sarsour’s immediate release, saying, “Targeting people because of their beliefs or background is wrong.”
- Democrat Sen. Tammy Baldwin insisted: “This doesn’t make us safer.” She accused ICE of targeting Sarsour because of his “skin color.”
- Democrat governor candidate and former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes promptly called ICE a “rogue” agency that is “trampling on our rights all to serve a wannabe dictator.”
- Democrat governor candidate Joel Brennan labeled Sarsour’s detention an “abuse of power.”
- Democrat governor candidate and Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley declared that the detention was “an affront to everything Wisconsin stands for.” He also attended a rally for Sarsour, the Journal Sentinel reported.
- Democrat Lt. governor candidate and Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski claimed, “Mr. Sarsour was targeted for his advocacy and community organizing.
Homeland Security Alleged That Salah Sarsour Is ‘Suspected of Funding Terror Organizations’
“Today, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), in conjunction with the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), conducted a targeted operation in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to arrest Salah Salem Sarsour, a criminal illegal alien from Jordan suspected of funding terror organizations and lying on immigration forms,” the DHS news release says.
“Salah Salem Sarsour is a terrorist convicted for throwing Molotov cocktails at the homes of Israeli armed forces. This illegal alien from Jordan lied on his green card application to gain legal status in the U.S.,” said Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis. “Thanks to President Trump and ICE, this terrorist is out of American communities. This Administration will always put the safety of the American people FIRST and Make America Safe Again.”
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Sarsour’s attorney, Munjed Ahmad, says, “The deportation paperwork he received when he was arrested said the federal government is holding him not because of any criminal conviction, but because Secretary of State Marco Rubio has determined Sarsour ‘poses an adverse consequence to foreign policy considerations.'” The Journal Sentinel says Sarsour has lived in the U.S. for 32 years.
Othman Atta, executive director of the Milwaukee mosque, contradicted DHS in a statement to the Journal Sentinel, which reported, “The deportation documents focus on Sarsour’s arrest by Israeli authorities as a teenager living in the West Bank to argue that he provided material support for a terrorist organization. U.S. authorities have known about that arrest since Sarsour immigrated in 1993, Atta said.”
“It’s absolutely false,” Atta told the Journal Sentinel of the claims Sarsourm, a furniture store owner, supported Hamas. “He is being deported because he’s exercising his right of freedom of speech. He revealed that Sarsour was arrested a second time in 1998, but the charges were dropped.
Sarsour “first submitted an application for an immigrant visa at the American Consulate in Jerusalem, which was denied due to his convictions in Israel for throwing a Molotov cocktail at the homes of Israeli armed forces and illegally attempting to possess weapons and ammunition,” the DHS release says. DHS alleges that Sarsour “ultimately entered the United States in 1993—under the Clinton administration—as a conditional resident. After lying on his application, he became a green card holder in 1998 under President Clinton.”
“This criminal and terrorist will remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings,” added DHS. “This arrest is an example of what the media counts as a ‘non-criminal’ arrest because this terrorist lacks a criminal rap sheet in the U.S. During President Trump’s first year, ICE arrested 43,305 potential national security risks. ICE has arrested 1,416 known or suspected terrorists (KSTs) and has removed 1,392 KSTs.”
What of the American Muslims for Palestine Group?
The American Muslims for Palestine group has faced repeated accusations. Again, Sarsour is described as a member of its board of directors.
“A federal judge in Chicago allowed a lawsuit to proceed last week that claims the anti-Israel group American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) is really a continuation of a defunct cog in a Hamas-support network,” alleged JNS in 2022.
“The Richmond City Circuit Court held the AJP Educational Foundation, which operates as American Muslims for Palestine, in civil contempt on Monday for the Falls Church, Va., group’s failure to comply with a state investigation,” JNS wrote in 2025.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton wrote in a 2026 statement: “Attorney General Ken Paxton joined a multistate coalition in filing an amicus brief in support of a group of survivors of Hamas’s October 7 terrorist attack, family members of those murdered by Hamas, civilians under fire from Hamas’s ongoing terrorism, and individuals displaced by Hamas’s ongoing terrorism.”
On October 8, 2023, “radical groups American Muslims for Palestine (“AMP”) and National Students for Justice in Palestine (“NSJP”) declared that they were ‘Part of’ a ‘Unity Intifada’ under Hamas’s ‘unified command.’ This declaration came in the wake of Hamas’s October 7 terrorist attacks. Those who have been victimized by Hamas’s terrorism brought claims against the radical groups under the federal Anti-Terrorism Act. Attorney General Paxton’s brief is in support of the victims and was filed to ensure terrorist supporters are brought to justice,” wrote Paxton.
The Virginia AG is seeking the group’s donor list but was blocked in court, says Virginia Mercury.
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