SACRAMENTO, Aug. 20 (UPI) -- California prisons are becoming Islamic fundamentalist breeding grounds, the Los Angeles Times reports.
In July, a man who converted to Islam while at Fulsom Prison and suspected of plotting attacks in California was arrested.
Federal authorities are now investigating what is believed to be an Islamic prison gang.
These incidents are a telling sign that Islamic extremism is growing in the prison system, a prison official told the Times under condition of anonymity.
Some say what's needed is a better system to get qualified Muslim chaplains into the prisons, the newspaper said.
Wasco State Prison chaplain, Imam Brynell Muhammad, recommends using official agencies to endorse chaplains.
The California Department of Corrections has a system like that in place, but most prisons do the hiring themselves.
Right now, 30 full and part-time Muslim chaplains work California's 32 prisons.
