Fire Correction Official, Says Vallone

City Councilmember Peter Vallone Jr. demanded the firing of a city Correction Department official who was quoted in the New York Post as having said, "The greatest terrorists in the world occupy the White House."

Getting into the controversy on Monday about Chaplain Umar Abdul-Jalil, a Muslim imam, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at a City Hall press conference that he would personally decide whether to discipline or dismiss Abdul-Jalil because matters of principle are involved.

The mayor said he had discussed the case with aides, "But in the end, when it comes down to decisions that revolve around principles, I think that's the decision of the elected official. The public picks the mayor to make those kinds of decisions."

Vallone called for the immediate removal of Abdul-Jalil as executive director of ministerial services in a letter to Corrections Department Commissioner Martin Horn.

"His public anti-American and anti-Semitic statements are inexcusable in any context," Vallone wrote Horn, adding, "One can only imagine what he says in private sessions."

Vallone continued, "The fact that he has been allowed to indoctrinate the most violent members of our society with his poison is a cause of great concern, and I also request an explanation (in lieu of a hearing on this topic) as to how this person came to be placed in such a position of trust."

Vallone, chairman of the Council Public Safety Committee, concluded: "It is not enough that we remove this cancer, we need to ensure that it is never allowed to grow in our correction system again."

Vallone said that Abdul-Jalil had made the statement about terrorists in the White House on April 15 and 16 of last year. Other quotes made by Abdul-Jalil included the statements "Jews control the media" and Muslims must be "hard against the Kufer (unbeliever)," Vallone said.

Abdul-Jalil, 55, was born in Danville, Virginia and named William Bostick. He was arrested at age 23 in Brooklyn for allegedly selling cocaine and heroin and served out a 15 year to life term between 1975 and 1989, according to the State Department of Correctional Services, as reported by the New York Times.