Executive Summary
This report analyzes homegrown violent jihadist plots and attacks that have occurred since 9/11. It discusses the radicalization process and the forces driving violent extremist activity. It examines post-9/11 law enforcement and intelligence efforts to combat terrorism and the challenges associated with those efforts. It also briefly discusses the building of trust and partnership between community groups and government agencies and the tensions that may occur between law enforcement and engagement activities.
The report does not address terrorist activity against the United States conducted by foreigners largely radicalized abroad such as Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis's attempt to blow up the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (2012), the Printer Cartridge plot (2010), the attempted airline bombing by Farouk Abdulmutallab (Christmas Day 2009), the Transatlantic Airliners plot (August 2006), or the "shoe bomber" Richard Reid (December 2001). Nor does the report address domestic terrorism attributed to violent extremists inspired by non-jihadist causes such as radical environmentalism, animal rights, or anti-abortion causes.
Specific plots and attacks are described throughout the report to support analytical findings. A full description of each of the post-9/11 cases is provided in Appendix A of the report.
Homegrown Jihadist Terrorists: The Problem
"Homegrown" is the term that describes terrorist activity or plots perpetrated within the United States or abroad by American citizens, lawful permanent residents, or visitors radicalized largely within the United States. The term "violent jihadist" describes radicalized individuals using Islam as an ideological and/or religious justification for their belief in the establishment of a global caliphate—a jurisdiction governed by a Muslim civil and religious leader known as a caliph—via violent means.
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) estimates that there have been 74 homegrown violent jihadist plots or attacks in the United States since September 11, 2001 (9/11).1 As part of a much-discussed apparent expansion of terrorist activity in the United States, from May 2009 through January 2014, arrests were made for 53 "homegrown," jihadist-inspired terrorist plots by American citizens or lawful permanent residents of the United States. Three of these resulted in attacks. Most of the 2009-January 2014 homegrown plots likely reflect a trend in jihadist terrorist activity away from schemes directed by core members of significant terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda. However, it may be too early to tell how sustained this uptick is. Regardless, the apparent spike in such activity after April 2009 suggests that ideologies supporting violent jihad continue to influence some Americans—even if a tiny minority.
Homegrown violent jihadists may exhibit a number of conventional shortcomings when compared to international terrorist networks. Many homegrown violent jihadists possibly lack deep understanding of specialized tradecraft such as bomb making. They may not have the financing, training camps, support networks, and broad expertise housed in international organizations. These apparent shortcomings may keep some homegrown violent jihadists from independently engaging in large-scale suicide strikes. Because of this, they may turn to violence requiring less preparation, such as assaults using firearms. These shortcomings pose challenges for law enforcement, intelligence, and security officials charged with detecting, preventing, or disrupting terrorist plots. It is likely much harder to detect smaller conspiracies that can develop quickly.
How Do People Become Violent Jihadists?
Individuals can become jihadist terrorists by radicalizing and then adopting violence as a tactic. "Radicalization" describes the process of acquiring and holding extremist, or jihadist beliefs. This activity is not necessarily illegal. For this report, "violent extremism" describes violent action taken on the basis of radical or extremist beliefs. For many, "violent extremism" is synonymous with "violent jihadist" and "jihadist terrorist." In other words, when someone moves from simply believing in jihad to illegally pursuing it via violent methods, he becomes a terrorist. Because the move from belief to violence is so individualized, there is no single path that individuals follow to become full-fledged terrorists.
Intermediaries, social networks, the Internet, and prisons have been cited as playing key roles in the radicalization process. Intermediaries—charismatic individuals—often help persuade previously law-abiding citizens to radicalize or even become violent jihadists. Social networks, virtual or actual, support and reinforce the decisions individuals make as they embrace violent jihad, as does perusal of online materials. While there has been much discussion regarding the powerful influence online jihadist material may have on the formation of terrorists, no consensus has emerged regarding the Web and terrorism. Prisons, seen by some as potential hotbeds of radicalization, have not played a large role in producing homegrown jihadists.
Analysis of Homegrown Jihadist Plots
Homegrown violent jihadist activity since 9/11 defies easy categorization. No workable general profile of domestic violent jihadists exists. According to CRS analysis, the 74 plots since 9/11 exhibit four broad themes: a variety of endgames, relatively little stomach for suicide or martyrdom among plotters, successful attacks by lone wolves, and a wide range of capabilities among the plots.
- Endgames: In whole or in part, 33 plots involved individuals interested in becoming foreign fighters in conflict zones involving violent jihad abroad. Nineteen plots exclusively intended to use explosives or incendiary devices. Three exclusively intended to use or did use firearms. Twenty-seven plots incorporated multiple, unspecific, or unique tactics. Finally, outside of the 74 violent plots since 9/11, other schemes intended from the start only to fund or materially support the activities of their jihadist colleagues.
- Suicide or Martyrdom: According to publicly available information, 18 plots included individuals who clearly professed interest in killing themselves while engaged in violent jihad.
- Success of Lone Wolves: Lone wolves conducted four of the five successful homegrown attacks since 9/11.
- Divergent Capabilities: Among the 74 homegrown plots since 9/11, the operational capabilities of participants diverged greatly. Some evinced terrorist tradecraft such as bomb making skills. Others appeared to be far less experienced.
Combating Homegrown Violent Jihadists
The spate of arrests in recent years should not obscure the challenges facing law enforcement in disrupting homegrown terrorist plotting. Counterterrorism activity exists within two broad contexts. The first of these involves addressing radicalization, much of which occurs in the open marketplace of ideas. Please see CRS Report R42553, Countering Violent Extremism in the United States, for more on this topic. The second context—the focus of this report—is more "operational" and encompasses both violent jihadist plots (largely involving secretive illegal activity) and the police work used to dismantle them. The latter context, by necessity, also occurs outside of the public's view. Government efforts to combat domestic violent jihad straddle both of these arenas.
Preventive Policing
In the post-9/11 environment, the public has expected law enforcement to adopt a proactive posture in order to disrupt terrorist plots before an attack occurs. Investigative leads about terrorist plots in the homeland may originate from foreign intelligence sources. But, for the most part, information about homegrown plots is available only through domestic intelligence activities. In order to proactively gather intelligence, law enforcement has adopted a preventive policing approach that focuses not just on crime that has occurred, but on the possibility that a crime may be committed in the future.
In this context, a major challenge for law enforcement is gauging how quickly and at what point individuals move from radicalized beliefs to violence so that a terrorist plot can be detected and disrupted. At the federal level, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI, the Bureau) implemented a forward-leaning approach with a revision to the Attorney General's Guidelines for Domestic FBI Operations.2 The revision, meant to streamline the FBI's investigations and make them more proactive, has spurred the use of an investigative tool dubbed "assessments." These allow for the investigation of individuals or groups without factual predication. The revised guidelines have, however, generated some controversy among civil libertarians.
Also critical among the proactive approaches employed by law enforcement is the monitoring of Internet and social networking sites. The USA PATRIOT Act (P.L. 107-56) authorizes the FBI to use National Security Letters to obtain a range of information including data pertaining to email and Internet use. It appears that U.S. law enforcement has effectively exploited the Internet—which radicalizing individuals can mine for information and violent jihadists use while plotting—in its pursuit of terrorists. A review of criminal complaints and indictments in terrorism cases reveals that the FBI has exploited the Internet and/or email communications to build cases against defendants in at least 36 of the post-9/11 cases studied in this report. Although much is said about terrorist use of the Internet for recruitment, training, and communications, these cases suggest that terrorists and aspiring terrorists will not find the Internet to be a uniformly permissive environment.
State and Local Authorities
The role of state, local, and tribal law enforcement in detecting nascent terrorist plotting is particularly important, especially considering the challenges involved in detecting lone wolves and homegrown jihadist groups with few connections to larger terrorist organizations. More than a decade after the 9/11 attacks, integrating state, local, and tribal law enforcement into the national counterterrorism effort continues to be an abiding concern of policymakers. DOJ and the FBI have established Joint Terrorism Task Forces (JTTFs) to help coordinate federal, state, and local investigative activities. States and major urban areas have also established intelligence fusion centers with federal agencies, in part to share intelligence. The Nationwide Suspicious Activity Report Initiative (NSI) is a program to push terrorism-related information generated locally between and among federal, state, local, and tribal levels via fusion centers.
Investigative Approaches
To counter violent jihadist plots, U.S. law enforcement has employed two tactics that have been described as the "Al Capone" approach and the use of "agent provocateurs." These tactics have long been used in a wide variety of cases but apparently have particular utility in counterterrorism investigations. As the "Al Capone" moniker suggests, historically, these tactics have been employed against many types of targets such as mafia bosses, white-collar criminals, and corrupt public servants. The Capone approach involves apprehending individuals linked to terrorist plots on lesser, non-terrorism-related offenses such as immigration violations. In agent provocateur cases—often called sting operations—government undercover operatives befriend suspects and offer to facilitate their activities. The use of these techniques has generated public controversy and illustrates a bind that law enforcement faces. It has been charged with preventing homegrown terrorism, but its use of preemptive techniques spawns concern among community members and civil libertarians.
Trust and Partnership
Following the 9/11 attacks, law enforcement agencies came to realize that the prevention of terrorist attacks would require the cooperation and assistance of American Muslim, Arab, and Sikh communities. At the same time, Muslim, Arab, and Sikh Americans recognized the need to define themselves as distinctly American communities who, like other Americans, desire to help prevent another terrorist attack. The concept of building trust through engagement and partnership is rooted in the community policing model developed by law enforcement professionals in the 1990s. Currently, numerous U.S. government agencies conduct outreach, engage, and partner with Muslim American communities.
Balancing Security and Liberty
Although many public officials support community engagement, significant challenges may exist in the development of programs that foster substantive relationships rather than token discussions or community relations events. Striking a balance between security and liberty—relying on local communities to provide critical information to further proactive policing while simultaneously building trust and preserving the freedoms of community members—is seen as difficult. Law enforcement investigative activities and tactics may pose particular complications in partnership building. Especially challenging are law enforcement activities perceived by community members to be unfairly targeting law-abiding citizens or infringing on speech, religion, assembly, or due process rights.
The recruitment and management of informants—essential to many law enforcement investigations—may, however, pose an obstacle to successful community engagement efforts. Some Muslim community activists fear that law enforcement coerces immigrants into becoming informants, especially those with legal problems or those applying for green cards. Others fear that informants target and potentially entice impressionable youth into fictitious terrorist plots. There has also been public discussion of the trustworthiness of informants with criminal backgrounds. CRS analysis of open source reports indicates that confidential informants or undercover operatives were used in at least 40 of the post-9/11 homegrown jihadist terrorism cases. In some of those cases, the informants had criminal histories. In considering the tradeoff between security and liberty, policy makers face a judgment in those cases where an investigative tactic might inflame members of a particular community: Is the impact of that tactic counterproductive in the long run, or is it necessary, short-term collateral damage?
Introduction
As part of a much-discussed apparent uptick in terrorist activity in the United States, from May 2009 through January 2014, arrests were made for 53 "homegrown," jihadist-inspired terrorist plots by American citizens or lawful permanent residents of the United States.3 Three of these resulted in attacks.
- In April 2013, two brothers—Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev—allegedly detonated two homemade bombs near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing 3 people and wounding more than 200. The duo also purportedly shot and killed a police officer in events following the bombing.
- In November 2009, U.S. Army Major Nidal Hasan's assault at Fort Hood in Texas claimed 13 lives and wounded more than 30 others.
- In June 2009, Abdulhakim Muhammad shot and killed one soldier and wounded another at the U.S. Army-Navy Career Center in Little Rock, AR.
By comparison, in more than seven years from the September 11, 2001, terrorist strikes (9/11) through April 2009, there were 21 such plots. Two resulted in attacks.4
- In March 2006, Mohammed Reza Taheri-Azar, a naturalized American citizen from Iran, drove his sport utility vehicle (SUV) into a crowd at the Pit, a popular student gathering spot at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The SUV struck and injured several people.
- In March 2003, two days after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, U.S. Army Sergeant Hasan Akbar killed 2 U.S. Army officers and wounded 14 others at U.S. Army Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait, 25 miles from the Iraq border.
The apparent rise in such activity after April 2009 suggests that at least some Americans—even if a tiny minority—are susceptible to ideologies supporting a violent form of jihad.
How serious is the threat of homegrown, violent jihadists in the United States? Experts differ in their opinions.5 Moreover, the radicalization of violent jihadists may not be an especially new phenomenon for the United States. Estimates suggest that between 1,000 and 2,000 American Muslims engaged in violent jihad during the 1990s in Afghanistan, Bosnia, and Chechnya.6 More broadly, during the 1970s domestic terrorists "committed 60-70 terrorist incidents, most of them bombings, on U.S. soil every year—a level of activity 15-20 times that seen in most years since 9/11."7 Few of the attacks during the 1970s appear to have involved individuals motivated by jihadist ideas.
But as the bombing of the Boston Marathon and the Fort Hood shootings may suggest, a single successful attack can incur scores of casualties and cause considerable socioeconomic disruption. Regardless of their novelty, frequency, or lethality, attacks fostered by violent jihadists radicalized in the United States remain a security concern.
The bulk of the May 2009-January 2014 homegrown plots likely reflect a trend in jihadist terrorist activity away from schemes directed by the core leaders of Al Qaeda or other significant terrorist groups. A global shift in terrorism toward decentralized, autonomously radicalized, violent jihadist individuals or groups who strike in their home countries appears to have occurred.8 Global counterterrorism efforts have made it harder for international terrorist networks to formulate plots, place their recruits in targeted countries, and carry out violent strikes in locations far from their bases of operation.9
Homegrown Violent Jihadists
This report focuses on geography and citizenship in its characterization of homegrown terrorism by defining the phenomenon as jihadist terrorist activity or plots perpetrated within the United States or abroad by American citizens, lawful permanent residents, or visitors radicalized largely within the United States.10 These homegrown groups or individuals can focus their plots on foreign targets. They can have operational ties to foreign terrorist groups, but most of the plots after April 2009 have not. Homegrown violent jihadists potentially either come from Muslim immigrant communities or are converts to Islam. A review of the numerous arrests of homegrown violent jihadists on terrorism-related charges since 9/11 suggests a wide array of incidents. There have been those who have plotted or attempted terrorist attacks. Others have provided material support to terrorist groups. Some have recruited individuals to travel abroad—or have gone themselves—to acquire terrorist training, conduct terrorism, or join in other forms of jihadist conflict, such as fighting in Somalia, Syria, or Afghanistan.
Shortcomings and Strengths
Homegrown violent jihadists may exhibit a number of conventional shortcomings when compared to international terrorist networks such as Al Qaeda. Because some homegrown terrorists are not tied to international groups, some say they possibly lack deep, hands-on understanding of specialized tradecraft such as bomb making and may not have the financing, training camps, support networks, and broad expertise housed in international organizations with extensive rosters and greater resources.11 Also, homegrown groups tend to be much less formally structured than international organizations.12 A former CIA case officer has commented that the threat posed by self-radicalized "lone" bombers lacking support networks, "even those who have been in contact with either Al Qaeda or the Taliban, will be hit or miss at best."13
These apparent shortcomings may keep some homegrown violent jihadists from independently planning, coordinating, and implementing large-scale strikes such as 9/11 or the Mumbai attacks of November 2008.14 Because of this, they may turn to violence involving less planning and preparation, such as assaults using firearms.15 However, the possibility that homegrown violent jihadists can commit large strikes that kill or wound numerous victims and disrupt everyday life for thousands of Americans is not out of the question. The bombing of the 2013 Boston Marathon by the Tsarnaev brothers suggests as much.16
Al Qaeda appears to have embraced such homegrown terrorist plots. In March 2010, As Sahab, Al Qaeda's media wing, released an English language video titled "A Call to Arms" featuring American-born spokesperson Adam Gadahn. In the video directed toward jihadists in the United States, Israel, and the United Kingdom, Gadahn extols alleged Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan as a "trailblazer" who did not attract law enforcement attention by training abroad or relying on conspirators.17 Gadahn encourages would-be terrorists to select realistically hittable targets that are familiar to them and have some broadly symbolic—especially economic—resonance.18 In an early June 2011 English language video message titled "Do Not Rely on Others, Take the Task upon Yourself," Gadahn even more clearly emphasized lone wolf operations. In the video he suggests possible weapons,
Let's take America as an example. America is absolutely awash with easily obtainable firearms. You can go down to a gun show at the local convention center and come away with a fully automatic assault rifle, without a background check, and most likely without having to show an identification card. So what are you waiting for?19
Gadahn stresses "targeting major institutions—after a clip showing the logos of such firms as Exxon, Merrill Lynch and Bank of America—and 'influential public figures.'"20 At about the same time as this video was released, users of jihadist websites apparently began posting potential targets and developing hit lists.21
In the same vein as Gadahn's video, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (an Al Qaeda affiliate) has issued an English language propaganda magazine titled Inspire. The magazine has encouraged homegrown violent jihadist activity in the West, focusing on smaller scale strategies such as using a vehicle to run over victims.22 The magazine has featured articles attributed to three prominent violent jihadist propagandists with strong American ties: Gadahn, radical U.S.-born imam Anwar al-Awlaki, and Saudi-born American citizen Samir Khan.23 In September 2011, the latter two died in a widely reported U.S. strike in Yemen.24
This does not mean that homegrown terrorists are incapable of sophisticated, coordinated action or linking up with international groups. For example, in 2008 foiled New York City subway bomber Najibullah Zazi received explosives instruction from Al Qaeda in Pakistan. He and co-conspirators then tried to implement this training in the United States.25 U.S. authorities assert that senior Al Qaeda official Adnan el-Shukrijumah possibly recruited Zazi and his fellow plotters.26 Shukrijumah—a Saudi-born, naturalized American citizen who spent part of his youth in Brooklyn—and others involved in Al Qaeda's "external operations" program allegedly planned the attack.27 The relative sophistication of Zazi's plot, involving both individuals in the United States and abroad, may have actually exposed it to greater law enforcement and intelligence agency scrutiny.28
The conventionally perceived shortcomings of homegrown terrorists may, in fact, pose some challenges for law enforcement, intelligence, and security officials charged with detecting, preventing, or disrupting terrorist plots. According to one terrorism analyst, "The smaller cells tend to be less powerful than a central terrorist organization like Al Qaeda, but they are harder to detect…. When the group of conspirators are [sic] small it's much more difficult for the FBI…. The larger the group, the greater the chances the FBI can infiltrate."29 Former Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair noted that many of the terrorist schemes disrupted in 2009—including homegrown activity—relied on short-term planning. These quickly generated schemes are harder to identify and disrupt than more traditional and more highly organized international terrorist conspiracies, which can gestate for years.30
According to at least one study, homegrown terrorists can be nimble adversaries, because as U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents, they can travel easily between the United States and foreign countries.31 While abroad, they could receive training from foreign terrorist organizations, conduct surveillance operations against foreign targets, and plan attacks. In the case of recent immigrants to the United States, they are particularly comfortable moving between American and foreign cultural contexts.32 English language skills, the ability to navigate Western culture, society, and context are likely key ingredients for successful strikes.33 Three cases involving homegrown terrorists illustrate how these factors possibly facilitate terrorist plotting:
- In February 2011, Colleen LaRose (aka "Jihad Jane") pled guilty "to all counts of a superseding indictment charging her with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, conspiracy to kill in a foreign country, making false statements, and attempted identity theft."34 She allegedly discussed with her co-conspirators how her mainstream American physical appearance would allow her to "blend in with many people."35
- On March 18, 2010, David Headley, born Daood Sayed Gilani to an American mother and Pakistani father, pled guilty to helping plan the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, and for plotting to attack the offices of a newspaper in Copenhagen, Denmark. Headley was able to use his American citizenship and Pakistani heritage to move between the United States and abroad for seven years during which time he received terrorist training in Pakistan and scouted locations in India and Denmark for terrorist attacks.36
- For 10 years prior to his involvement in a September 2009 plot to trigger explosive devices in New York City's subways, Najibullah Zazi, an Afghan immigrant legally present in the United States, lived in the New York City borough of Queens and had family in Pakistan.37
In 2010, the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS's) Office of Intelligence and Analysis warned, "probable terrorist perception of success in challenging the U.S. even through failed attacks, suggest[s] Al Qaeda and associated groups will try to conduct operations in the United States with increased frequency."38 It appears that for the foreseeable future, American citizens and lawful permanent residents of the United States radicalized within the nation's borders will continue to pose a violent jihadist threat.39
Radicalization and Violent Extremism
Radicalization and violent extremism are terms that are sometimes used interchangeably but do not necessarily mean the same thing. Radicalization has been described as the exposure of individuals to ideological messages and the movement of those individuals from mainstream beliefs to extremist viewpoints.40 Others say radicalization consists of changes in belief and behavior to justify intergroup violence and personal or group sacrifice to forward specific, closely held ideas.41 Still others use the term to more closely link extremist beliefs to violent action, as in this definition by DHS, which states that radicalization "entails the process of adopting an extremist belief system, including the willingness to use, support, or facilitate violence, as a method to effect societal change."42
But there is an important distinction between the terms "radicalization" and "violent extremism" as it relates to the threshold of U.S. law enforcement interest and action. This is because Americans have the right under the First Amendment to adopt, express, or disseminate ideas, even hateful and extremist ones. But when radicalized individuals mobilize their views (i.e., they move from a radicalized viewpoint to membership in a terrorist group, or to planning, materially supporting, or executing terrorist activity) then the nation's public safety and security interests are activated. Thus, the terms may be differentiated as follows:
- "Radicalization" describes the process of acquiring and holding radical, extremist, or jihadist beliefs.
- "Violent extremism," for this report, describes violent action taken on the basis of radical or extremist beliefs. For many, this term is synonymous with "violent jihadist" and "jihadist terrorist."
From Radicalization to Violent Extremism
Combating homegrown violent jihadists requires an understanding of how radicalization works and formulating ways to prevent the radicalization from morphing into violent extremism.43 In 2007, the New York City Police Department's (NYPD's) Intelligence Division released a study of domestic jihadist radicalization that has been widely circulated within the law enforcement community.
The study describes a general four-step process of radicalization leading to violent extremism. First, individuals exist in a pre-radicalization phase in which they lead lives unaware of or uninterested in either violent jihad or fundamentalist Salafi Islam. Next, they go through self-identification in which some sort of crisis or trigger (job loss, social alienation, death of a family member, international conflict) urges them to explore Salafism. Third, individuals undergo indoctrination or adoption of jihadist ideals combined with Salafi views. The study indicates that, typically, a "spiritual sanctioner" or charismatic figure plays a central role in the indoctrination process. Finally, radicalizing individuals go through "jihadization," where they identify themselves as violent jihadists, and are drawn into the planning of a terrorist attack.44 At this point, according to the NYPD, they can be considered violent extremists. The FBI's own four-stage model of radicalization closely follows that of the NYPD.45
However, this model and the process it describes—though useful—should be read with caution, according to some observers. The radicalization process is best depicted in broad brush strokes. One expert has suggested that
There is no easily identifiable terrorist-prone personality, no single path to radicalization and terrorism. Many people may share the same views, and only a handful of the radicals will go further to become terrorists. The transition from radical to terrorist is often a matter of happenstance. It depends on whom one meets and probably on when that meeting occurs in the arc of one's life.46
Some experts have warned against viewing the radicalization process as a "conveyer belt," somehow starting with grievances and inevitably ending in violence.47 The NYPD report itself acknowledges that individuals who begin this process do not necessarily pass through all the stages nor do they necessarily follow all the steps in order, and not all individuals or groups who begin this progression become terrorists.48 Studies by the DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis indicate that the radicalization dynamic varies across ideological and ethno-religious spectrums, different geographic regions, and socio-economic conditions. Moreover, there are many diverse "pathways" to radicalization and individuals and groups can radicalize or "de-radicalize" because of a variety of factors.49
Forces and Factors in the Forging of Terrorists
What drives radicalization and spurs the creation of terrorists remains open to debate. Poverty, alienation, brainwashing, or personal humiliation—commonly seen as factors driving radicalization and terrorism—may not play particularly significant roles. Likewise, failed multiculturalism or failed integration into the larger society does not predict radicalization or terrorist activity.50 The radicalization process and jihadist violence may offer participants powerful but intangible spiritual incentives such as salvation and paradise in the afterlife.
Other forces are key in radicalization and the evolution of jihadist terrorists. Family ties and socialization are critical. Moral outrage or perceptions that the West is harming the global community of Muslims (the Ummah),51 or even waging war against it may also spur radicalization and violence. And travel to regions featuring terrorist activity can foster radicalization. Religious conversion plays a key role in the radicalization of some individuals.52 CRS analysis of the 74 plots since 9/11 suggests that 31 of them included converts to Islam.
As all of this may suggest, in fact, "pre-radicalization" indicators are subtle and may not be detectable and the forces driving jihadists can be described in only the most general of terms. Certainly, radicalizing individuals and terrorists connect larger grievances about the world to their own direct experiences. A study of 2,032 foreign fighters who joined Al Qaeda and its affiliated organizations broadly suggests that these individuals can be categorized as revenge seekers, status seekers, identity seekers, or thrill seekers who possessed "an unfulfilled need to define themselves."53 Even more broadly and fundamentally, one author has suggested that psychologically, individual terrorists "see the world in Manichean, black-and-white terms; they identify with others; and they desire revenge."54
Overall, many scholars and counterterrorism analysts who have studied post-9/11 jihadist terrorist attacks have noted the prominence of a number of forces impacting radicalization and extremism. These include intermediaries (the "spiritual sanctioners" identified by the NYPD report on radicalization), social networks, the Internet, and prisons.
Intermediaries
Intermediaries are critical in the development of terrorist plots and radicalization. They quicken the formulation of individual or group beliefs regarding violent jihad. Terrorist recruiters from Al Qaeda or extremist clerics tied to such organizations can play this role in the radicalization process. They can interact with individuals interested in terrorism either directly (face-to-face discussion groups) or in online forums. Some post 9/11 terrorist plots have included an intermediary.55 In certain cases a key intermediary may be a government informant or undercover agent. Four charismatic U.S. citizens have played especially prominent roles in international jihadist propaganda, but determining the impact—if any—of these and other intermediaries can be difficult.
Anwar al-Awlaki was a radical imam and key international charismatic figure in jihadist circles prior to being killed in a U.S. counterterrorism operation in Yemen in September 2011.56 Awlaki allegedly served as a leader in the terrorist group known as Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).57 He was a U.S. citizen born in New Mexico in 1971 and had been linked to a number of domestic jihadist plots.58 U.S. officials have said that he directed foreign terrorist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's failed Christmas Day 2009 bombing attempt.59 However, according to publicly available sources, his exact connections to homegrown violent jihadists are largely unclear. Before his November 5, 2009, gun rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, U.S. Army Major Nidal Hasan exchanged emails with Awlaki. It remains publicly unknown how the contact influenced Hasan. After the Fort Hood shootings, Awlaki issued a statement dubbing Hasan a hero.60
The imam and his teachings have influenced people involved in other homegrown violent jihadist plots. Jose Pimentel was building explosive devices when he was arrested after two years of surveillance by the NYPD.61 He sympathized with Al Qaeda and drew inspiration from Awlaki. The would-be bomber is reputed to have tried but failed to correspond with Awlaki via email, and the cleric's death may have sped up his plotting.62 In December 2010, federal officials charged Antonio Martinez, a Muslim convert, in a plot to bomb an Armed Forces recruiting station. A sting operation by the FBI ensnared Martinez. He allegedly planned to attack an Armed Forces recruiting station in Maryland, using a sport utility vehicle loaded with what he believed was a bomb. During the course of his plot, he also allegedly praised Awlaki.63 Naturalized U.S. citizen Farooque Ahmed was arrested in October 2010 for attempting to assist people he believed to be terrorists in planning the bombing of Washington, DC, Metrorail stations.64 Ahmed allegedly possessed a biography of Awlaki and listened to his online sermons.65 Also apprehended in October 2010, U.S. citizen Abdel Hameed Shehadeh, who allegedly tried to join overseas extremist groups such as the Taliban, modeled one of the jihadist websites he managed after Awlaki's teachings. The website offered hyperlinks to Awlaki's online lectures. According to DOJ, Shehadeh also discussed Awlaki's ideas with an individual he tried (and failed) to recruit for violent jihad.66 Zachary Chesser, who allegedly tried to join the Somali terrorist group al-Shabaab as late as July 2010 and propagandized online, emailed Awlaki. The cleric responded twice, according to court documents.67 In July 2010, Paul Rockwood Jr. pled guilty to making false statements in a domestic terrorism investigation. He closely followed Awlaki's online pronouncements and developed an "execution" hit list that included 15 people Rockwood believed had desecrated Islam.68 According to court documents, Shaker Masri encouraged an FBI cooperating source to "review speeches" by Awlaki.69 Arrested in June 2010 while allegedly trying to join al-Shabaab, Mohamed Alessa and Carlos Almonte, watched videos of and listened to sermons by Awlaki.70
According to media sources, Faisal Shahzad, a Pakistani immigrant who admitted that he attempted to detonate an explosives-filled vehicle in New York City's Times Square on May 1, 2010, cited Awlaki and another cleric, Abdullah Faisal from Jamaica, as key influences on him.71 Also, a surveillance recording from 2007 captured one of six individuals eventually convicted of plotting to attack Fort Dix in New Jersey talking about an Awlaki lecture.72
U.S. officials believe Awlaki also had contact with Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the young Nigerian who concealed an explosive device in his underwear and attempted to detonate it on a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day 2009.73 In October 2011, when he pled guilty to his involvement in the plot, Abdulmutallab stated, "I was greatly inspired to participate in jihad by the lectures of the great and rightly guided mujahedeen who is alive, Sheikh Anwar al-Awlaki, may Allah preserve him and his family and give them victory, Amin, and Allah knows best."74 A U.S. official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the topic's sensitivity, told The Washington Post that Awlaki was the first U.S. citizen added to a list of suspected terrorists the CIA was authorized to kill.75
Even after Awlaki's death, his teachings have influenced would-be plotters. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has reportedly indicated to authorities that he and his brother, Tamerlan, watched videos of Anwar Al-Awlaki in the period before the siblings allegedly bombed the 2013 Boston Marathon.76 In January 2013, Erwin Antonio Rios, an individual who allegedly desired to travel abroad to wage violent jihad, purportedly discussed the writing of the deceased radical cleric with a law enforcement informant.77
Samir Khan—before he was killed in the same strike as Awlaki—served as the editor of Inspire magazine, launched in 2010 by AQAP.78 Inspire has been described as "a slick magazine for jihadists ... that featured political and how-to articles written in a comfortable American vernacular."79 The magazine is intended to attract would-be jihadists in the West.
The Saudi-born Khan lived in Queens, New York, and Charlotte, North Carolina. He radicalized after the Al Qaeda attacks on September 11, 2001, and moved with his parents to Charlotte in 2004. He left Charlotte in 2009 and joined AQAP in Yemen.80 Prior to leaving the United States, Khan had gained some notoriety as a jihadist blogger and as creator of the online magazine, Jihad Recollections—Inspire's forerunner.81
Reportedly, Khan and his online publications may have influenced homegrown jihadists.
- In November 2012, Miguel Alejandro Santana Vidriales was arrested for allegedly plotting with three others to join either Al Qaeda or the Taliban in Afghanistan. According to DOJ, he had read articles from Inspire about bomb making and weapons training.82
- In July 2011, U.S. Army private Naser Abdo was arrested near Fort Hood in Texas for allegedly plotting a shooting spree and bombing in the area. Abdo intended to kill soldiers near the same place where Army Major Nidal Hasan killed 13 individuals in 2009. Federal officials noted that Abdo also possessed an article on how to construct an explosive device, among other items. The article was from Inspire.83
- In November 2010, Mohamed Osman Mohamud, a Somali-born naturalized U.S. citizen, was arrested as part of an FBI sting operation, moments after he tried to detonate a van he believed was packed with explosives in Portland's Pioneer Courthouse Square.84 According to DOJ, Mohamud wrote articles for Khan's first magazine, Jihad Recollections.85
Aside from editing Inspire, Khan also contributed to it. Additionally, the magazine included commentary from Awlaki and another American Al Qaeda propagandist, Adam Gadahn.86
Adam Gadahn has served as a translator and English-language propagandist for Al Qaeda and has been charged with treason by the United States. He has appeared in a number of the organization's videos widely circulated on the Web. Born in 1978 and raised in California, Gadahn converted to Islam as a teenager and moved to Pakistan by 1999. As a young convert in California, Gadahn was influenced by two jihadists involved with a discussion group he attended. One of these men also likely introduced him into Al Qaeda circles in Pakistan and Afghanistan. In 2004, he first appeared in a widely released video threatening attacks on the United States, and in another dispatch he urged Americans to convert to Islam. In a video posted on June 20, 2010, Gadahn rails against President Barack Obama, describing him as "treacherous, bloodthirsty, and narrow-minded."87
Omar Hammami, also known as "Abu Mansour al-Amriki," is originally from Daphne, Alabama. In 2007, he emerged as a key international intermediary for the Somali terrorist group al-Shabaab but has since broken with the group.88 In September 2013, he publicly renounced his ties to al-Shabaab and Al Qaeda, and news reports indicated that he was killed by assassins from the terrorist group.89 Before that, he spent years trying to influence would-be violent jihadists to join with the Somali terrorist group. The son of a Syrian-born father and an American mother, he has been featured in propagandist videos distributed by the group. In one, he instructs recruits in urban warfare. Zachary Chesser saw Hammami as a role model. He even imitated Hammami's adoption of "al-Amriki" (the American) as part of his own jihadist name—"Abu Talhah Al-Amrikee." Somali officials tie Hammami to al-Shabaab recruitment and financial management. He may also have led battlefield skirmishes. In August 2010, DOJ unsealed a 2009 superseding indictment against him.90 In October 2011, Hammami released a video calling Western Muslims to violent jihad.91
As a child, Hammami lived between the Christian world of his mother and the Muslim beliefs of his father. He converted to Islam in high school, and while a student at the University of South Alabama, he led the Muslim Student Association and began adhering to Salafi doctrine. His Salafism allegedly sprang in part from a desire to rebel against his father. In 2002, he dropped out of school, and by 2004 he had found his way to Toronto, Canada, where American combat in Iraq and Afghanistan encouraged him to reconsider his nonviolent Salafi views. One of his friends alleges that Hammami began surfing the Web for information on jihad at this time. While in Canada, he married a Somali woman. In 2005, they moved to Cairo, and by late 2006 he was in Somalia pursuing violent jihad.92
Social Networks
Social networks appear to be central to the radicalization process and to terrorist plots as well. Networks can be actual groups—encompassing intimate kinship ties, bonds of friendship, links forged in student associations, or cliques tied to radical mosques. They may also be virtual and fostered by the Internet. Group loyalties can form around jihadist messages entailing moral outrage over the perceived suffering of fellow Muslims and a sense that the West is at war with Islam. Networks help place these messages into the context of an individual's personal experiences.93
Beyond the radicalization experience, the development and strengthening of affective ties with like-minded individuals may play a prominent role in the formation of terrorist groups and plots.94 For example, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev may have been heavily influenced by his elder brother as they allegedly planned the bombing of the 2013 Boston Marathon.95
According to The New York Times, Faisal Shahzad befriended Shahid Hussain, a fellow Pakistani, while the two were enrolled at the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut in the early 2000s. Shahzad appears to have started to radicalize in the United States by 2004. During trips to Pakistan prior to his attempted Times Square bombing, Shahzad reestablished ties with Hussain. The latter had also returned to Pakistan. Together, the two grew more militant, especially when in 2007 Pakistani forces stormed Lal Masjid, the "Red Mosque," a center of Islamic fundamentalism. The two friends socialized with a third individual, Muhammad Shouaib Mughal. The three were keenly interested in global jihad. Mughal eventually trained with the Pakistani Taliban, the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan. He brought Shahzad and Hussain into the group's camps for training in 2009.96
Intermediaries within Networks
Social networks often feature their own internal intermediaries or charismatic leaders. DOJ alleges that in 2010, Sohiel Omar Kabir "influenced [Miguel Alejandro Santana Vidriales and Ralph Deleon] to convert to Islam and introduced [them] to radical and violent Islamic doctrine.... " This purportedly included posting items online and perusing violent jihadist material on the web.97 DOJ asserts that Kabir listed content related to Al Qaeda on his Facebook page and that, in turn, Santana and Deleon used the Facebook "like" function to highlight some of these links via their own accounts. According to a criminal complaint unsealed in November 2012, the trio and another individual, Arifeen David Gojali, allegedly plotted to travel from Southern California to join either Al Qaeda or the Taliban.98
In 2009 and 2010, Daniel Boyd and several others were indicted on terrorism charges.99 From November 2006 to 2009, Boyd, a charismatic leader, led a conspiracy involving a network of associates that included his sons Dylan and Zakariya to radicalize, recruit, and assist young men interested in terrorism. The conspiracy also purportedly included fundraising for and provision of material support to terrorist groups. Using stories of his past violent jihadist exploits in Pakistan and Afghanistan, Boyd recruited and trained individuals for violent terrorist activity, according to FBI courtroom testimony. From 1989-1992, Boyd supposedly trained at terrorist camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan and may have been a fighter in Afghanistan.100 In 2011, the Boyds pled guilty to charges related to the case.101
Jihadi Cool
Several post-9/11 plots have suggested that intermediaries and social networks can emphasize persuasive messages featuring elements outside of jihadist religious rhetoric. Adventurism and romanticized notions of revolution seem to have some prominence in the radicalization process. A desire to protect the Ummah against what he perceived as Western incursion may have been more important to Faisal Shahzad than more overtly religious rhetoric.102 Terrorist recruiters also promote "jihadi cool" by producing rap videos advocating terrorism and releasing them on the Web. In 2007, Cabdulaahi Ahmed Faarax, a charismatic recruiter for al-Shabaab, enticed young Somali men in Minnesota with a jihadi cool message replete with war stories. According to federal court documents, he emphasized jihad but also stressed the sense of brotherhood he had experienced while fighting. He detailed his own experiences in guerilla combat and reassured his listeners that it was fun and not to be afraid. He further underscored that recruits would get the chance to use firearms.103
"Jihadi cool" may have also played a role in pushing five young Northern Virginia Muslim men to travel in 2009 to Pakistan, where they were arrested for allegedly attempting to join jihadist organizations in the region. On June 24, 2010, the five were convicted on terrorism charges and sentenced to 10 years in prison in Pakistan.104 Muslim leaders from Alexandria, Virginia, indicated that they had no inkling of radicalization among the five.105 Abroad, as early as 2006, Dutch officials noted an "intensification of radicalization tendencies" among young Muslims in the Netherlands and a perception that jihad was "cool."106
The Internet
The Web plays a role in the experiences of many would-be and actual terrorists, just as it does in the lives of so many people. The interactivity of chat rooms, blogs, social networking sites, message boards, video hosting sites, and email blurs the lines between readership and authorship that previous generations of terrorists and sympathizers encountered with pamphlets, newspapers, and newsletters.107 This blurring possibly encourages people who interact in such forums to more easily see themselves as part of broader jihadist movements and not just casual readers or online spectators. They may eventually engage in more substantive activity—actual propagandizing, financial support, or joining a terrorist network.108
The Web's impact on individual would-be jihadists likely varies. In some cases accessing and engaging in online jihadist rhetoric possibly prods an individual toward violence. A study of 18,130 entries in 2,112 online discussions from more than 15 Arabic-language jihadist forums revealed that "[o]ne fifth of all discussions included an explicit call for more terrorist attacks.... Overall, two thirds of all discussions contain[ed] some form of call for or encouragement of terrorist attacks."109 One author asserts that Internet activity has been central in the development of a "self-starter" phenomenon110 and offers would-be violent jihadists what has been described as a "de-formalized" radicalization experience.111 For this report, "self-starters" are groups that lack ties to major international terrorist networks and do not receive orders from such organizations.112 However, instances of solely virtual radicalization without face-to-face interaction seem to be rare.113 Most radicalization apparently requires experience with real-world social networks.114
In other instances, terrorist "wannabes" may see online activity as a suitable substitute for direct violence and face-to-face contact with hardcore terrorists.115 Simply, individuals interested in violent jihad no longer have to physically travel to formal terrorist camps for indoctrination and rudimentary training. One author has also indicated that activity in the virtual realm may even play a much more profound, "cathartic" role, "allow[ing] aspiring jihadists to be part of the broader global jihad but crucially without engaging in direct violence."116 In essence, online activity may channel individuals away from the violent expression of their radical beliefs by allowing them to air their grievances. While such activity may be seen in terrorist circles as an increasingly legitimate option—instead of violent jihad—it does not come without repercussions for online supporters of terrorism. Individuals absorbed in such activities may run afoul of law enforcement for materially aiding terrorist organizations.117
Regardless of whether jihadist online activity drives individuals to violence, the Internet arguably serves to spur radicalization in three ways. First, it allows jihadists to augment their messages with suggestive audio and video. Second, it makes it easier for would-be jihadists to find and interact with like-minded people around the world. Finally, the Internet "normal[izes] behaviors considered unacceptable or inappropriate in real-world environments."118 Terrorists publish rhetoric online that displaces culpability for their violent actions, which they commonly describe as inevitable responses when faced with overpowering enemies such as the West.119
Radicalizing material is readily accessible online, as are virtual communities in which one can discuss violent jihad. Since 2005, video sharing websites have broadened the availability of jihadi video material. All sorts of other texts and graphic images supporting violent jihad exist on the Web, as does a great volume of tradecraft, such as bomb-making guides.
Social networking, now inherently part of the Internet, is likely a tool that is used in the development of contacts among radicalized individuals and recruitment into violent jihadist groups. Before he died, Anwar al-Awlaki circulated jihadist lectures online and managed his own popular Facebook page and blog.120 The five Virginia men convicted on June 24, 2010, in Pakistan on terrorism charges allegedly contacted an Al Qaeda operative via social networking websites, according to press coverage of their trial in the city of Sarghoda.121
Another case that highlights Internet-related issues involves Tarek Mehanna. Mehanna, a pharmacist living with his parents in Sudbury, a wealthy Boston suburb, was arrested on terrorism charges in October 2009.122 Among other alleged activities, Mehanna and co-conspirators translated from Arabic to English documents advocating terrorism and posted them on jihadist websites.123 They viewed themselves as the "media wing" for Al Qaeda in Iraq. In the eyes of some terrorism experts, the Mehanna case highlights the shift away from core members of Al Qaeda toward Internet-inspired, homegrown radicalization and self-starting terrorists. The Mehanna case emphasizes how recruiters from foreign terrorist organizations no longer seem necessary to shepherd radicalized individuals into terrorist training abroad. (Mehanna, himself, allegedly tried but failed to get into such camps.) One terrorism specialist has noted that "there is a sense that these guys are radicalizing on their own."124 Another has commented that the Web has supplanted mosques as a recruitment venue, especially as terrorists try to draw Westerners into their organizations.125 In December 2011, Mehanna was convicted of "conspiracy to provide material support to al-Qaeda; providing material support to terrorists (and conspiracy to do so); conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country; conspiracy to make false statements to the FBI and two counts of making false statements."126
Aside from its possible impact on the radicalization process, the Internet potentially offers terrorists operational capabilities.127 Its decentralized form mirrors the flattened, cellular structures of most terrorist organizations. Among other things, it could help them to collect intelligence about their targets, communicate with one another, propagandize, recruit foot soldiers, raise funds, convey operational direction, and provide training or instruction.128 For example, the Tsarnaevs allegedly followed bomb making instructions from Inspire magazine—available online—while constructing the homemade explosive devices they detonated at the 2013 Boston Marathon.129
Jailhouse Jihadism
In the last several years, terrorism experts and some Members of Congress have shown interest in jihadist prison radicalization.130 But the research is decidedly unclear regarding the threat posed by radicalization behind bars. A scholar of the prison phenomenon in the United Kingdom notes that jail time potentially accelerates the radicalization process for many individuals. Prison brings together disaffected people who may be receptive to anti-social messages offering "clear, albeit intolerant, solutions to complex problems of identity and belonging."131 Experts have sounded warnings about the unknown level of threat posed by radicalization and terrorist recruitment in U.S. jails.132
Others are quick to point out, however, that while conversion to Islam and radicalization occur among incarcerated populations, the jump to terrorist plotting in the United States is rare.133 This is at least partly due to prison officials' efforts to counter jailhouse jihadism, according to a study involving interviews with 210 prison officials and 270 inmates mostly from state correctional systems.134 The Federal Bureau of Prisons has acknowledged the possibility of inmate radicalization but "do[es] not believe that there is widespread terrorist-inspired radicalization or recruiting in federal prisons," where between 5% and 6% of prisoners identify as Muslims.135 Based on CRS analysis of the 74 violent jihadist plots since 9/11, only one clearly involved radicalization in prison. A study of 117 homegrown jihadist terrorists from the United States and United Kingdom found seven cases in which prison had a significant impact on an individual's radicalization process.136
The lack of conclusive prison-based radicalization among the jihadist terrorism plots and foiled attacks since 9/11 suggests that the threat emanating from prisons does not seem as substantial as some experts may fear. One case, commonly known as the Newburgh Four plot, included at least two individuals who converted to Islam while in state prison, but it remains unclear whether they radicalized behind bars.137
The most prominent post-9/11 example of domestic violent jihadist activity inspired in prison implicated the group, Jamiyyat Ul-Islam Is-Saheeh (JIS or the "Authentic Assembly of God"). Kevin James, Levar Washington, Gregory Patterson, and Hammad Samana were arrested and charged in August 2005 for their participation in a plot to attack Jewish institutions and other targets in the Los Angeles area, including synagogues, the Israeli Consulate, Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), U.S. military recruiting offices, and military bases.
According to DOJ, the incarcerated James founded JIS in 1997 based on his interpretation of Islam. His views are apparent in several of his prison writings, including a 104-page document titled the "JIS Protocol." In this document, James supports the establishment of an Islamic Caliphate in the United States and describes "Jihad [as] the only true 'anti-terrorist action[,]' a defensive battle against the aggression of theological imposters led by Zionism." The document also advocated the killing of "lawful targets," including non-Muslims. Reportedly, James met Washington in prison in 2004 and introduced him to JIS and its beliefs. After his release, Washington, who converted to Islam while he was in prison, recruited Patterson, an employee at LAX, and Samana at the Jamaat-E-Masijudal mosque in Inglewood, California, where they all worshipped. Both Patterson and Samana swore allegiance to Washington and pledged to serve as "mujahideen," according to court documents.138 One study has pointed out that James' radicalization manifested itself in prison but may not have been heavily influenced by his experiences behind bars. Two points suggest that factors outside of prison may have at least partly driven his radicalization: his "JIS Protocol" does not focus on jailhouse conditions, and his father had been a member of the Black Panther Party.139
Overview of Post-9/11 Homegrown Jihadist Terrorism Plots and Attacks
Scholars and law enforcement officials have noted that no workable general profile of domestic violent jihadists exists. According to the NYPD's Intelligence Division, there is no effective profile to predict exactly who will radicalize.140 Another study found only broad trends among domestic jihadist terrorists, specifically that they are overwhelmingly male and about two-thirds of them are younger than 30 years old.141 As the above discussion may suggest, generalizing about the individuals involved is problematic.
Indeed, there does not appear to be a common thread connecting the U.S. Army psychiatrist Major Nidal Hasan with the Caucasian convert, Daniel Patrick Boyd; the Afghan immigrant Najibullah Zazi with Carlos Bledsoe, an African American of a happy childhood who converted to Islam and renamed himself Abdulhakim Muhammad; David Headley, who was born Daood Gilani to a successful Pakistani immigrant father and American mother, with Talib Islam, who was born Michael Finton and raised in multiple foster homes; or the educated pharmacist Tarek Mehanna, with the Somali American from Minneapolis Shirwa Ahmed, who traveled to the land of his birth and became the first U.S. citizen suicide bomber. The plots and attacks drew in first- and second-generation Muslim American immigrants and native-born Americans who converted to the faith. Some included individuals acting alone, while others had multiple co-conspirators. Some plots were aspirational. Many believe others appear to have been pushed along by government informants or undercover agents, and still others were serious and calculating until uncovered by intelligence and/or law enforcement officials (see Appendix A for details on the cases).
Table B-1 provides information about the profile and training of individuals involved in domestic jihadist terrorist plots and attacks. Table B-2 documents the specific plots and attacks, including the target (within/outside the United States), intended endgame (use of firearms, explosives, or fight abroad), and tools used by investigators to disrupt the plotting.
Overarching Themes
Homegrown violent jihadist activity since 9/11 defies easy categorization. For example, conventional notions of "homegrown" may suggest plots that are hatched and executed solely within the United States. But in a globalized environment, many domestic jihadist terrorist plots have some sort of international dimension. For example, some plotters train abroad. Some receive cues from terrorist Internet propagandists operating in foreign lands. And as suggested above, homegrown terrorists can focus their violent plans on domestic or international entities. Since 9/11, 42 homegrown plots featured domestic targets, 29 focused on foreign ones, and three conspiracies had both domestic and foreign targeting elements. From another perspective, 44 involved intent to or actual travel abroad for training or to plan for terrorist attacks. The 74 homegrown jihadist attacks and plots since 9/11 do exhibit four broad themes: a variety of endgames, relatively little stomach for suicide or martyrdom among plotters, successful attacks by lone wolves, and varied capabilities among the plots.
A Variety of Endgames
Homegrown violent jihadists pursue a number of endgames. Some seek involvement in foreign conflicts or insurgencies. Others plan and attempt to execute either bombings or assaults with firearms. Finally, some jihadists apparently intended from the start only to fund or materially support the activities of their brethren.
Foreign Fighters
Thirty-three of the post-9/11 homegrown plots have featured individuals seeking (at least in part) to become foreign fighters with terrorist groups. Al-Shabaab-related cases concerning young men leaving the United States to fight in Somalia form the paramount example. Other cases involve different destinations, such as Syria and the warring factions involved in its civil war.
- According to DOJ, Abdella Ahmad Tounisi, 18 years old at the time of his arrest in April 2013, was apprehended at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport while he tried to board a flight for Istanbul, Turkey. Tounisi, a U.S. citizen, allegedly intended to travel to Syria to join the Nusra Front, a terrorist organization commonly referred to as "al Qaeda in Iraq."142
- In March 2013, Eric Harroun—of Phoenix, Arizona—was arrested for "conspiring to use a rocket propelled grenade (RPG) [a weapon of mass destruction] while fighting with the al Nusrah Front" in Syria.143
- Five men from Northern Virginia (Northern Virginia Five) were arrested in Sarghoda, Pakistan, in December 2009. They purportedly traveled there hoping to join jihadist groups and battle U.S. troops in Afghanistan. On June 24, 2010, they were convicted of terrorism charges in a special Pakistani anti-terror court. Prosecutors say the five men also began planning attacks against a Pakistani nuclear plant and an air base and other targets in Afghanistan and "territories of the United States."144
- In February 2006, three residents of Toledo, Ohio—Mohammad Zaki Amawi, a dual U.S. and Jordanian citizen; Marwan Othman El-Hindi, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Jordan; and Wassim Mazloum, a lawful permanent resident from Lebanon (Toledo, Ohio Plotters)—were charged with conspiracy to kill or maim persons in locations outside the United States, to include U.S. Armed Forces personnel serving in Iraq.145 On June 13, 2008, a federal jury convicted all three of conspiring to commit terrorist acts against Americans overseas and material support to terrorists.146
Explosives and Firearms
Nineteen of the 74 homegrown jihadist plots targeting the United States since 9/11 exclusively involved explosives or incendiary devices. Suspects at least discussed the use of bombs, hand grenades, or missiles in these cases.147 From a broader perspective, 38 cases in whole or in part included schemes revolving around explosives or incendiary devices.148 Historically, most terrorist incidents in the United States have involved bombs or fires. According to research drawn from the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism's Global Terrorism Database, about 83% of all terrorist incidents on U.S. soil between 1970 and 2007—including violent jihadists as well as non-jihadists—have included explosives or incendiary devices. Roughly 9% involved firearms.149
The deadly bombing of the Boston Marathon, the attempt by Faisal Shahzad to detonate an explosives-filled 1993 Nissan Pathfinder in New York City's Times Square, and Najibullah Zazi's plot to detonate bombs in the New York City subway system stand out as examples of plots incorporating explosive or incendiary devices.
- DOJ claims that Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev assembled two bombs using components including pressure cookers, low explosive powder, shrapnel, and adhesive. They concealed the explosive devices inside backpacks and planted them among crowds near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013. The brothers then triggered the bombs to devastating effect.150 The FBI and DHS have noted that such devices "contain[ing] the initiator, switch, and explosive charge frequently have been used in Afghanistan, India, Nepal, and Pakistan."151
- On May 1, 2010, investigators discovered fireworks, clocks, wiring, filled propane tanks, gasoline canisters, and fertilizer that Shahzad had rigged for explosion in his vehicle.152 The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan helped facilitate the failed attack by training Shahzad and sending him $12,000 in funding.153
- Zazi has admitted that he plotted to bomb New York City subway trains in September 2009. Zazi told investigators that he and two friends planned to strap explosives to their bodies, board trains at the Grand Central and Times Square stations—two of the busiest in New York City—and explode their bombs during the crowded rush hour.154
Three plots intended to use firearms exclusively, while 22 plots involved in whole or in part the use of firearms. The three plots that exclusively focused on firearms include two of the successful post-9/11 attacks.
- The deadlier of the two attacks was the November 5, 2009, shooting at Fort Hood, Texas. In it, U.S. Army Major Nidal Hasan killed 13 and injured more than 30 others.155
- Abdulhakim Muhammad was arrested on June 1, 2009, in connection with a shooting at the U.S. Army-Navy Career Center in Little Rock, Arkansas, that killed one soldier and wounded another.156 He was charged with capital murder, attempted capital murder, and 10 counts of unlawful discharge of a firearm.157 In Arkansas state court, in July 2011, Muhammad pled guilty to these charges.158
The third case that centered on firearms involved six men. They were arrested in May 2007 in a plot against Fort Dix, a U.S. Army base in New Jersey. The plan focused on firearms and included attacking and killing soldiers. In December 2008, a jury found five of the six guilty of conspiring to kill military personnel but cleared them of attempted murder.159
Multiple, Unclear, or Unique Tactics
In total, 27 attacks and plots incorporated multiple or unique tactics or the tactics were not clear from the public record. One attack involving multiple tactics happened abroad but targeted members of the U.S. Armed Forces at a base. In that attack, which occurred on March 23, 2003, U.S. Army Sergeant Hasan Akbar used hand grenades (explosives) and his military-issued M-4 rifle to kill two fellow U.S. servicemen and wound 14 others at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait.160 Other examples of multiple, unique, or unspecified tactics include the following:
- Members of the plot involving Daniel Boyd allegedly attempted to travel abroad to engage in jihad as foreign fighters and also likely prepared to attack a domestic site—the U.S. Marine Corps Base in Quantico, Virginia, using firearms.161
- Bryant Vinas, who plotted to blow up (explosives) the Long Island railroad in New York, admitted to U.S. officials that he met with Al Qaeda leaders in Pakistan and, between March and July 2008, attended three Al Qaeda training courses.162 In September 2008, as a foreign fighter he took part in a rocket attack targeting a U.S. military base in Afghanistan.163
- Even though the plotters discussed using explosives, the four individuals tied to JIS and arrested in 2005 used firearms in robberies to generate funding for their scheme.164
- In a case involving unspecified tactics, Ehsanul Islam Sadequee, a U.S. citizen born in Virginia, and Syed Haris Ahmed, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Pakistan, scouted targets in Washington, DC, in 2005.165
- In an attack that did not feature guns or bombs, on March 3, 2006, Mohammed Reza Taheri-Azar, a naturalized U.S. citizen, crashed his SUV into a crowd near the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. No one was seriously injured in the attack, and he pled guilty to two counts of attempted murder. The assailant allegedly hoped to avenge the deaths of Muslims abroad that he believed were caused by the United States.166
Material Support
Although this report largely focuses on radicalization and violent jihadist plotting, there is at least one other illegal method for individuals to assist terrorists. Radicalization may lead people to help terrorist organizations by illegally providing them material support unrelated to specific violent jihadist plots. How frequently this has occurred since 9/11 is difficult to discern, because material support167 charges are often part of the illegal activity in violent plots. DOJ has publicly released information on unsealed terrorism convictions between September 11, 2001, and March 18, 2010.168 CRS analysis of this information indicates that homegrown jihadists unconnected to any specific violent plots were prosecuted for materially supporting terrorists in at least six schemes.169 The six schemes supported violent jihadist or jihadist-linked groups such as Al Qaeda, Jemaah Islamiyah, Abu Sayyaf, and Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT). They included the following:
- Rahmat Abdhir: A U.S. citizen living in San Jose, California, Abdhir was indicted in 2007 for providing material support to his brother, Zulkifli Abdhir, a member of Jemaah Islamiyah based in the Philippines. The U.S. government accused Rahmat of sending to his brother more than $10,000 in supplies, including chocolates, underwear, knives, guns, and radios.170
- Ahmed Abdellatif Sherif Mohamed: According to DOJ, during a routine traffic stop in Goose Creek, South Carolina on August 4, 2007, law enforcement officials found explosive materials (PVC pipe containing potassium nitrate and kitty litter as well as about 20 feet of fuse) during a consensual search of the trunk of the Toyota Camry Mohamed was driving. A laptop retrieved from the car yielded a video produced by Mohamed depicting how components from a remote controlled toy car could be used to fashion a detonator for an explosive device. Mohamed had uploaded the recording to YouTube. Although no specific terrorist group was linked to Mohamed, he did admit that he intended the recording as instruction to "suiciders" on how to spare themselves in attacks. An Egyptian resident of Tampa, Florida, Mohamed entered the United States on an F-1 student visa.171
- Tarik Shah, Rafiq Abdus Sabir, Mahmud Faruq Brent: In an investigation stretching back at least to December 2001, the FBI infiltrated a group of acquaintances interested in supporting international jihadist terrorist organizations. Shah and Brent pled guilty to material support in 2007 and Sabir was convicted of the charge the same year. In 2005, Shah, a Bronx, New York City, jazz musician and martial arts instructor, had sworn allegiance to Al Qaeda in the presence of an FBI agent who posed as a recruiter for the group. He had also allegedly offered to train Al Qaeda fighters in hand-to-hand combat. Shah purported to have been interested in traveling to Afghanistan in 1998 to attend terrorist training camps.172 Sabir, a doctor from Florida, swore allegiance to Al Qaeda in the same ceremony as his friend, Shah. Sabir also offered his medical skills to treat injured Al Qaeda fighters.173 Brent, a Washington, DC, cab driver, traveled to Pakistan in 2002 to attend a LeT training camp.174 A fourth individual was arrested in the investigation but did not get convicted of material support.175
- Ronald Grecula: In an FBI sting operation, Grecula negotiated to build and sell an explosive device with individuals he believed were tied to Al Qaeda.176
- Ilyas Ali: In a drugs-for-arms case, Ali, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in India, admitted to conspiring in 2002 with two Pakistanis to supply Al Qaeda with anti-aircraft missiles bought using proceeds from the sale of heroin and hashish.177
- Cedric Carpenter and Lamont Ranson: In February 2005, the duo from New Orleans pled guilty to conspiring to sell false Mississippi Driver's licenses, Social Security cards, and birth certificates to undercover informants they believed were members of the Abu Sayyaf terrorist organization.178
Aside from the convictions derived from the DOJ's list covering the period between 9/11 and March 18, 2010, several other material support cases have come to light. Some of the cases include the following:
- In September 2012, Joseph J. Brice, a resident of Clarkston, Washington, pled guilty to "the crimes of attempting to provide material support to terrorists and manufacturing an unregistered explosive device."179 Brice came to law enforcement attention in April 2010, when an explosive device he had constructed exploded, seriously injuring him. According to DOJ, a subsequent terrorism investigation uncovered (among other things) evidence that Brice had "posted instructions on the manufacturing of chemical improvised destructive devices ... and other anti-law enforcement literature" on a "foreign-based jihadi internet site."180 He was arrested in May 2011.181
- In May 2011, FBI agents arrested Hafiz Khan (a naturalized U.S. citizen and resident of Miami) and two of his sons Izhar Khan and Irfan Khan (both naturalized U.S. citizens). They were allegedly involved in efforts to provide financing and other material support to the Pakistani Taliban. The trio was purportedly assisted by three other indicted individuals at large in Pakistan. This second group included Amina Khan—Izhar Khan's daughter—and her son, Alam Zeb, as well as an individual named Ali Rehman. Hafiz and Izhar Khan are imams in South Florida mosques.182 The federal government dropped its charges against Irfan Khan in June 2012 and Izhar Khan in January 2013.183 Hafiz Khan was found guilty of material support in March 2013.184
- Nima Ali Yusuf: A lawful permanent resident of the United States living in San Diego, Yusuf was arrested on November 12, 2010, on charges of conspiracy to provide material support to al-Shabaab and for making false statements to a government agency regarding an international terrorism matter.185 In December 2011, Yusuf pled guilty to conspiring to provide material support to al-Shabaab.186
- Mohamud Abdi Yusuf, Abdi Mahdi Hussein, and Duwayne Mohamed Diriye participated in a scheme to provide material support to al-Shabaab, according to an indictment unsealed November 3, 2010. Yusuf, a resident of St. Louis, Missouri, is accused of sending funds to people tied to the terrorist organization in Somalia, including Diriye. Yusuf purportedly worked with Hussein to structure financial transactions while the latter was an employee of a licensed money-remitting business.187 In November 2011, Yusuf "pled guilty to providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization."188
- According to an indictment unsealed on November 2, 2010, San Diego residents Basaaly Saeed Moalin, Mohamed Mohamed Mohamud, and Issa Doreh conspired to provide material support to al-Shabaab. The indictment states that Moalin received a request for financial support from one of al-Shabaab's military leaders in December 2007 and subsequently worked with Mohamud and Doreh to fill the request.189 In a separate indictment unsealed on December 3, 2010, Anaheim resident Ahmed Nasir Taalil Mohamud was tied to the scheme.190 The quartet was convicted of material support in February 2013.191
- Barry Bujol: According to DOJ, Bujol, a U.S. citizen living in Texas, allegedly attempted to provide money, pre-paid telephone calling cards, and global positioning system receivers (among other items), to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula after he had communicated with radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki.192 He was arrested on May 30, 2010.193 In November 2011, he was convicted of attempting to provide material support or resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization as well as aggravated identity theft.194
- Khalid Quazzani: On May 19, 2010, Quazzani, a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Morocco and living in Kansas City, Missouri, pled guilty to participating in a material support scheme that provided more than $23,000 to Al Qaeda.195
- Syed Hashmi: A Pakistan-born U.S. citizen, Hashmi pled guilty to material support charges on April 27, 2010. He admitted that while he was a graduate student in London, he allowed a roommate to store in his apartment ponchos, sleeping bags, and waterproof socks destined for Al Qaeda. Hashmi also loaned the individual $300 to travel to Waziristan, Pakistan, to deliver the goods.196
- Raja Lahrasib Khan: On March 25, 2010, Khan, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Pakistan, was charged with providing material support (in the form of money) to Al Qaeda. The criminal complaint alleges that Khan accepted $1,000 from an undercover agent and assured him that the money would be used to purchase weapons and possibly other supplies. In February of 2012, he pled guilty to material support charges.197
- Between November 2007 and March 2010, U.S. citizens Wesam El-Hanafi and Sabirhan Hasanoff allegedly engaged in a scheme to, among other things, provide computer expertise to and purchase seven Casio digital watches for Al Qaeda.198 In June 2012, El-Hanafi and Hasanoff pled guilty to providing material support Al Qaeda associates in Yemen and elsewhere and to conspiring to provide material support to al Qaeda.199
Little Stomach for Suicide or Martyrdom
Relatively few of the terrorist conspiracies examined in this report clearly contained suicidal or martyrdom overtones. Two terrorist plots clearly had suicide missions as core elements. Najibullah Zazi and his associates planned their attack on New York's subways as suicide missions.
Additionally, some Americans from Minneapolis, Minnesota, who were recruited into al-Shabaab reportedly committed suicide attacks. On October 29, 2008, al-Shabaab recruit Shirwa Ahmed became the first known American suicide bomber when he drove an explosives-laden truck into a government building in Somalia, one of five simultaneous assaults that killed 22 U.N. aid workers and others.200 The FBI also identified Farah Mohamed Beledi as a suicide bomber who died as he tried to detonate his suicide vest in a May 2011 attack in Mogadishu, Somalia.201 According to media reports, al-Shabaab has claimed that Abdisalan Hussein Ali purportedly blew himself up while attacking African Union troops in Mogadishu in October 2011.202
Individuals in 16 other plots clearly expressed some level of willingness to engage in suicide missions. For example, Daniel Maldonado told authorities that he would be willing to become a suicide bomber if he were wounded and could not otherwise fight.203 Al Qaeda member and U.S. citizen Bryant Neal Vinas wanted to become a suicide bomber but was rebuffed by the group.204 In emails intercepted by law enforcement authorities, Colleen LaRose ("Jihad Jane") wrote that she was prepared to be a martyr. And, in recordings of his conversations with an informant, Shaker Masri stated that he would be willing to walk up to a group of U.S. Army soldiers and blow himself up as a martyr.205
The Success of Lone Wolves
Lone wolves (Nidal Hasan, Abdulhakim Muhammad, Hasan Akbar, and Mohammed Taheri-Azar) have conducted four of the five successful homegrown attacks since 9/11. Three other plotters acted alone. The remaining plots have involved two or more participants in a group or network of one type or another.206 Three of the four lone wolf attacks involved firearms, and they targeted U.S. military personnel.
It is difficult to generalize from such a small pool of cases. However, the success of four solo actors may highlight two contrasting points. First, law enforcement may face significant challenges in identifying and stopping lone wolf terrorists involved in technically uncomplicated plots unconnected to terrorist groups. Second, U.S. Law enforcement has been successful in disrupting and dismantling homegrown terrorist groups or networks since 9/11. Bolstering this point, undercover agents or cooperating witnesses infiltrated and monitored 37 of the plots.
Varied Capabilities
Among the 74 homegrown plots since 9/11, the operational capabilities of participants diverge greatly. Some evinced terrorist tradecraft such as bomb making skills. Others did not. As mentioned elsewhere in this report, while it appears that the Tsarnaev brothers did not receive formal bomb-making training, they were allegedly able to assemble working explosive devices from instructions available on the Internet.
Two additional homegrown jihadist terrorist plots appear to stand out for the capability their plotters. Both came to public attention in 2009. Both involved homegrown jihadists who had strong ties to foreign terrorist organizations. Attorney General Eric Holder characterized one of those plots—Najibullah Zazi's plan to blow up explosives on the New York City subway—as
one of the most serious terrorist threats to our nation since September 11th, 2001, and were it not for the combined efforts of the law enforcement and intelligence communities, it could have been devastating. This attempted attack on our homeland was real, it was in motion, and it would have been deadly. We were able to thwart this plot because of careful analysis by our intelligence agents and prompt actions by law enforcement.207
While a complete picture of Zazi's radicalization process is not publicly available, some details regarding his plot have emerged. In his youth, he may have listened to the radical messages of Saifur Rahman Halimi, an imam who advocated jihad, attended the same mosque as Zazi's family, and lived in the same Queens building.208 Regardless, Zazi pled guilty on February 22, 2010, to a number of terrorism charges. As mentioned above, the young man admitted to receiving Al Qaeda training in the Waziristan region of Pakistan in 2008. There, he learned about explosives and discussed specific targets with Al Qaeda members. He returned to the United States in January 2009 and moved to Denver. He also traveled to New York to discuss the timing for the attacks with a network of conspirators. In July and early September in Denver, he gathered materials for detonator components and assembled them based on the detailed training he had received in Afghanistan. Zazi admitted to bringing the explosive Triacetone Triperoxide (TATP) into New York on Thursday September 10, 2009. He intended to finish bomb construction over the weekend and planned to target New York's subway lines early the next week.209
On March 18, 2010, David Headley pled guilty to terrorism charges. He admitted that he helped plan two plots for the Pakistani terrorist group, LeT—the November 2008 Mumbai attack and an un-executed conspiracy targeting a Danish newspaper. He received training from LeT and claimed membership in the organization. Headley attended the group's training camps five times between 2002 and 2005. These stints in Pakistan provided him with weapons training, indoctrination in jihad as well as instruction in close combat, survival skills, and counter-surveillance, among other things.
Between 2005 and 2008, he received extensive direction from LeT members and engaged in reconnaissance for the group in preparation for its Mumbai attack. To provide cover for his surveillance activity, Headley encouraged a co-conspirator in Chicago, who owned an immigration services business, to open a satellite office in Mumbai.210 Headley conducted video surveillance of potential Mumbai targets for LeT, and using a global positioning system device, he pinpointed landing sites for a waterborne assault. At the behest of LeT, Headley also conducted reconnaissance of the offices of the Danish newspaper Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten. Representatives of both LeT and Al Qaeda schemed with him to strike the newspaper after it had published unflattering cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.211
Other plotters appear to have been less equipped to commit terrorist acts than the Tsarnaevs, Zazi, or Headley. For instance, long before Derrick Shareef was apprehended in 2006, he likely intended to commit terrorist acts. However, he appears not to have possessed the capability to do so on his own until he was approached by an undercover FBI informant.
Shareef, a Muslim convert and 22 years old at the time of his arrest, plotted to set off hand grenades at a shopping mall in Rockford, Illinois. FBI informant William "Jamaal" Chrisman played a central part in the plot. At the behest of authorities, Chrisman befriended Shareef in September 2006 while the latter was working in a video store and had nowhere to live. Chrisman invited the young man to move in with him and began reporting to his law enforcement handlers regarding Shareef's jihadist tendencies.212 Shareef was unaware that Chrisman secretly recorded their conversations. The duo talked about violent jihad against civilians, public buildings, and a judge in DeKalb, IL.213 They concocted a plan to attack a local shopping mall. Chrisman told the young jihadist of a friend who could procure weapons for them. Unknown to Shareef, the "friend" was an undercover FBI agent.214 On December 6, 2006, the duo met the undercover FBI agent in the mall's parking lot where Shareef attempted to trade stereo speakers for hand grenades and was arrested.215 Shareef, who pled guilty to one count of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, was sentenced in September 30, 2008, to 35 years in prison.216
Combating Homegrown Terrorism: Enforcement Activities
The Obama Administration recognized the significance of the homegrown jihadist threat in its June 2011 National Strategy for Counterterrorism.217 The strategy focuses on Al Qaeda, its affiliates (groups aligned with it), and its adherents (individuals linked to or inspired by the terrorist group).218 John Brennan, President Obama's top counterterrorism advisor at the time the strategy was released, publicly described the strategy as the first one, "that designates the homeland as a primary area of emphasis in our counterterrorism efforts."219 The Strategy states:
We know al-Qa'ida and its affiliates continue to try to identify operatives overseas and develop new methods of attack that can evade U.S. defensive measures. At the same time, plots directed and planned from overseas are not the only sort of terrorist threat we face. Individuals inspired by but not directly connected to al-Qa'ida have engaged in terrorism in the U.S. Homeland. Others are likely to try to follow their example, and so we must remain vigilant.220
The spate of recent arrests and other counterterrorism successes should not obscure the challenges facing law enforcement in disrupting homegrown terrorist plotting. Counterterrorism efforts exist within two broad contexts. Many of the legal behaviors associated with radicalization occur in the open marketplace of ideas where consumers weigh competing ideologies within the context of free speech. Conversely, the operational aspects of violent jihadist plots largely involve illegal activity. In this secretive realm involving criminality, law enforcement pursues terrorists in a real-world version of hide-and-seek.
The divergent nature of these two contexts may imply a distinct wall between the public realm and the secretive operational realm. In reality, the barrier is far from distinct. What happens operationally has significant impacts in the marketplace of ideas (Figure 1). The success of terrorist plots may spur radicalization, while effective policing may make terrorism a less popular option for radicals. High levels of radicalization may expand the potential pool of terrorist recruits.
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Source: CRS |
Intelligence Approaches
A group of intelligence and terrorism experts argues that "to infiltrate terrorist conspiracies, identify and head off future terrorist attacks, and build the knowledge base required to rapidly investigate when terrorist incidents do occur requires human intelligence."221 The DOJ and FBI operate just over 100 Joint Terrorism Task Forces (JTTFs) in the United States—more than 70 created since 2001.222 These interagency entities include more than 4,000 federal, state, and local law enforcement officers and agents who "investigate acts of terrorism that affect the U.S., its interests, property and citizens, including those employed by the U.S. and military personnel overseas."223 As this suggests, their operations are highly tactical and focus on investigations, developing human sources (informants), and gathering intelligence to thwart terrorist plots.
JTTFs offer an important conduit for the sharing of information developed from FBI-led counterterrorism investigations with outside agencies. These task forces also connect state and local law enforcement with the U.S. Intelligence Community on terrorism-related investigative matters. To help facilitate this, especially as the threat of homegrown jihadists has emerged, the number of top-secret security clearances issued to local police working on JTTFs increased from 125 to 878 between 2007 and 2009.224
A significant dilemma for law enforcement and intelligence officials who straddle the public realm of ideas and the secretive realm of terrorist operations is how to sift the law-abiding, non-violent radical attracted to jihadist rhetoric from the would-be terrorist who merits targeting. The vast amount of terrorist-related material available on the Internet in a relatively anonymous setting attracts homegrown individuals open to radicalization. Many of these individuals may show great interest in radical content, engage in radical discourse, but not become terrorists.225 A growing pool of those who view jihadism as "cool" and engage in online "talk" may make it harder for police to identify actual terrorists.
Preventive Policing
Since the 9/11 attacks, law enforcement has taken a more proactive, intelligence-driven posture in its investigations. While serving as Deputy Attorney General, Paul McNulty described the Justice Department's aggressive, proactive, and preventative course as
the only acceptable response from a department of government charged with enforcing our laws and protecting the American people. Awaiting an attack is not an option. That is why the Department of Justice is doing everything in its power to identify risks to our Nation's security at the earliest stage possible and to respond with forward-leaning—preventative—prosecutions.226
One observer has described intelligence gathering in this context as "driven by a theory of preventive policing: in order to anticipate the next terror attack, authorities need to track legal activities…. It focuses not on crime, but on the possibility that a crime might be committed at some future date."227
The FBI and DOJ also emphasized their forward-leaning approach with the September 29, 2008, revision of the Attorney General's Guidelines for Domestic FBI Operations,228 which they claim "make the FBI's operations in the United States more effective by providing simpler, clearer, and more uniform standards and procedures."229 Referred to as the "Mukasey Guidelines" after Michael B. Mukasey, who was Attorney General at the time of their release, this is the latest in a series of guidelines stretching back to 1976 that govern the FBI's investigative activities.230 The Mukasey Guidelines went into effect on December 1, 2008. In large part, these guidelines sprang from the post-9/11 national security context, in which the FBI surmised that it could not simply react to crimes. It had to preemptively search for criminal, counterintelligence, and terrorist threats to the homeland.231 As the FBI's General Counsel stated in congressional testimony:
We believe that this will allow the FBI to take additional necessary steps to becoming a more proactive organization. One of the key issues that we think the FBI needs to be able to do is assess potential risks and vulnerabilities. Having these additional techniques available at the assessment level, we think, will be key to the FBI's ability to efficiently and effectively answer those questions and assess risks.232
The 2008 revision to the guidelines represents a consolidation of several other previously stand-alone documents that had governed FBI investigations. The 2008 Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (DIOG)—the FBI's document governing the agency's implementation of the Mukasey Guidelines, which the FBI modified in 2011—reflects these changes as well.233
The most prominent changes in the Mukasey Guidelines and the DIOG concern "assessments." Agents and analysts may now use assessments outside of the more traditional preliminary and full investigations, which require some level of factual predication.234 Preliminary investigations can be opened with "any 'allegation or information' indicative of possible criminal activity or threats to the national security."235 Opening a full investigation requires an "'articulable factual basis' of possible criminal or national threat activity."236 On the other hand, opening an assessment does not require particular factual predication.237 Instead, assessments are to follow specifically articulated purposes, of which there are five:
Seek information, proactively or in response to investigative leads, relating to activities—or the involvement or role of individuals, groups, or organizations relating to those activities—constituting violations of federal criminal law or threats to the national security;
Identify, obtain, and utilize information about actual or potential national security threats or federal criminal activities, or the vulnerability to such threats or activities;
Obtain and retain information to inform or facilitate intelligence analysis and planning;
Seek information to identify potential human sources, assess their suitability, credibility, or value of individuals as human sources; and
Seek information, proactively or in response to investigative leads, relating to matters of foreign intelligence interest responsive to foreign intelligence requirements.238
Assessments are not to be "pursued for frivolous or improper purposes and are not based solely on First Amendment activity or on the race, ethnicity, national origin, or religion of the subject of the assessment, or a combination of only such factors."239 Assessments offer terrorism investigators a variety of techniques, including public surveillance and the use of confidential informants to penetrate conspiracies.240
Civil libertarians and Muslim community organizations have voiced broad concerns about the Mukasey guidelines.241 According to media reporting, Farhad Khera, executive director of the nonprofit Muslim Advocates, has suggested that the Attorney General Guidelines are invasive and based on "generalized suspicion and fear on the part of law enforcement, not on individualized evidence of criminal activity."242 The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has criticized the FBI's amassing of racial and ethnic data based on the new guidelines.243 As written, the guidelines allow for the collection of information about ethnic or racial communities and justify the gathering of such information for proactive purposes. The guidelines state that it should be done if it "will reasonably aid the analysis of potential threats and vulnerabilities, and, overall, assist domain awareness for the purpose of performing intelligence analysis."244 One ACLU official has described this as "racial profiling of entire communities."245
Additionally, assessments—like most law enforcement investigative processes and tools—are not perfect. For example, the FBI-led JTTF in Boston appears to have completed an assessment of Tamerlan Tsarnaev at the request of the Russian government.246 As part of its assessment, the Bureau allegedly interviewed Tamerlan (as well as other family members), visited the community college Tamerlan attended, and checked databases for information about possible links he or his mother had to terrorists. The FBI found no such ties. Investigators also reputedly conducted surveillance of his apartment in Cambridge.247 By June 2011, the Bureau closed its assessment. In August 2011, the FBI provided the assessment's results to the Russian government.248 The Bureau also asked for more details from Russian authorities but purportedly received nothing else.249
In congressional testimony, Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis claimed that the FBI did not share with Boston police the fact that it had investigated Tsarnaev.250 The FBI has countered by stating that it placed information about the Tsarnaev assessment into a database that could be accessed by Boston police officers serving on the city's JTTF.251 The Bureau has also noted that in 2011, its Boston office "conducted approximately 1,000 assessments, including the assessment of Tamerlan Tsarnaev."252
In another case, the JTTF tied to the FBI's Washington, DC, field office assessed Nidal Hasan and found him not to be a threat months prior to his attack at Fort Hood in November 2009. To make this determination, investigators took four hours to review and discuss evidence related to Hasan.253 Members from San Diego's JTTF, who were also involved in the case, believed the Washington assessment "look[ed] a little slim, i.e. limited probing into [Hasan's] background, no contact w/command [Hasan's supervisors] and no interview of Hasan."254 After the Fort Hood shooting, the FBI and Department of Defense established "a clearinghouse procedure to provide notice to [the Department of Defense] of any FBI counterterrorism assessment or investigation of a known member of the military, a known [Department of Defense] civilian employee, or a person known to have access to military facilities."255
Detecting the Shift from Radical to Violent Jihadist
A major challenge for law enforcement is gauging how quickly and at what point individuals move from radicalized beliefs to violence.256 Because not all terrorist suspects follow a single radicalization roadmap on their way to executing plots, U.S. law enforcement also faces the task of discerning exactly when radicalized individuals become real threats.
The bombing of the 2013 Boston Marathon, the 2009 Fort Hood shooting, and Abdulhakim Muhammad's June 1, 2009, attack on a U.S. Army-Navy Career Center Little Rock, Arkansas, emphasize the difficulty of discerning when radicals become terrorist threats. Even if a suspect comes to the attention of law enforcement, evaluating the person's intent and capability remains challenging. As noted above, the assessment the FBI did of Tamerlan Tsarnaev—well before the bombing of the Boston Marathon—provided no evidence that he was involved in terrorist plotting. Prior to the Fort Hood shooting, over the course of several months, Nidal Hasan sent a number of emails to Awlaki (who reportedly replied to two of them). The email exchange was assessed by investigators to be in line with the psychiatrist's research into Muslim U.S. soldiers' reactions to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, thus, presumably protected speech.257 In retrospect it appears Hasan's intentions were far more menacing.
The FBI interviewed Abdulhakim Muhammad before his June 1, 2009, attack on a U.S. Army-Navy Career Center Little Rock, Arkansas. Muhammad spent 16 months in Yemen starting in the fall of 2007. While there, he married a woman from the southern part of the country. He allegedly taught English and learned Arabic during his time in the country. Yemeni officials imprisoned him in November 2008 on a visa overstay. He also supposedly possessed a fraudulent Somali visa.258 Yemen deported him to the United States in January 2009.259 The FBI is reported to have interviewed him while he was in prison in Yemen and then again in Nashville soon after he returned.260 According to law enforcement officials, the episode in Yemen prompted a preliminary investigation by the FBI and other American law enforcement agencies into whether he had ties to extremist groups. But that investigation was inconclusive, leaving the FBI with insufficient evidence to wiretap his phone or put him under surveillance.261
In terrorism investigations, the FBI can monitor the online activity of suspects, particularly to ascertain the extent to which they are engaged in violent plotting. The USA PATRIOT Act (P.L. 107-56) authorizes the FBI to use National Security Letters to obtain a range of information including data pertaining to email and Internet use from Internet Service Providers.262 In addition, according to an internal Justice Department document obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, law enforcement agents may also go undercover into social networking sites with false online profiles to exchange messages with suspects, identify a target's friends or relatives, and browse private information such as postings, personal photographs and video clips.263
A review of criminal complaints and indictments in terrorism cases reveal that the FBI has exploited the Internet activity of suspects and/or their email communications to build cases against defendants in at least 36 of the post-9/11 cases studied in this report. Although much is said about terrorist use of the Internet for recruitment, training, and communications, these cases suggest that terrorists and aspiring terrorists will not find the Internet a uniformly permissive environment.
The case involving Mohamed Alessa and Carlos Almonte highlights the complexities in detecting transitions from radicalization to violent extremism. Investigators arrested the duo on June 5, 2010, at John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK) in New York as they allegedly tried to fly to Egypt. They hoped to eventually link up with the Somali terrorist organization, al-Shabaab.264 The case started with an email tip to the FBI on October 9, 2006, which stated,
[e]very time [Alessa and Almonte] access the Internet all they look for is all those terrorist videos about the Islam holly [sic] war and where they kill US soldiers and other terrible things…. They keep saying that Americans are their enemies, that everybody other than Islamic followers are their enemies … and they all must be killed.265
This statement suggests that in 2006, the two young men engaged in radical behavior, perusing jihadist websites and discussing terrorist activity.
Between 2006 and 2010, investigators monitored the duo's actions as their beliefs arguably morphed into something more dangerous. Initially it was unclear whether the pair was just engaged in radical talk or actually planning for violent jihad.266 In 2006 and 2007, investigators debated the level of threat posed by Alessa and Almonte. A key shift occurred when law enforcement discovered after the fact that the duo had travelled to Jordan in 2007 but failed to get recruited as mujahedeen fighters. This helped convince authorities of the two plotters' actual intent to do harm. By 2009, the case included an undercover investigator from the NYPD interacting with the two suspects.267
The U.S. government's criminal complaint against Alessa and Almonte lays out the alleged overt activities marking the duo's change from radicals to terrorist suspects worthy of arrest. Back in New Jersey, Alessa and Almonte supposedly trained for jihad by lifting weights and rehearsing combat techniques using paintball guns. The government claims that they gathered equipment, including tactical-brand flashlights and combat boots. The pair also purportedly saved over $7,000 to fund their foreign violent jihad. The criminal complaint describes how the two discussed violent jihad and downloaded jihadist rhetoric. For example, Almonte is said to have kept a lecture by radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki on his cell phone. The U.S. government contends that Alessa viewed a video including scenes of Al-Qaeda spokesperson Adam Gadahn praising Nidal Hasan, the alleged Fort Hood shooter. Also, according to the criminal complaint, Almonte possessed computer files of violent jihadist documents authored by Osama Bin Laden and his second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri. For the government, Alessa and Almonte's transformation from radicals to terrorists likely culminated when the two allegedly booked reservations for separate flights to Egypt scheduled for June 5, 2010.268
The Role of State and Local Law Enforcement
A terrorist attack in the United States, whether committed by homegrown or foreign terrorists, will occur in a community within a state or tribal area. Since the plotting and preparation for domestic terrorist attacks (such as surveillance of a target, acquisition and transport of weapons or explosives, and even the recruitment of participants) will also occur within local communities, preventing such attacks is not only a federal responsibility but also a state, local, and tribal one.269
Every day, officers at over 17,000 state and local law enforcement agencies collect and document information regarding behaviors, incidents, and other suspicious activity associated with crime including terrorism.270 A joint study by the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security, and senior law enforcement officials concluded that "[t]he gathering, processing, reporting, analyzing, and sharing of suspicious activity is critical to preventing crimes, including those associated with domestic and international terrorism."271 A former police chief observed that
On the beat or mobile, cops are sensitive to things that do not look right or do not sound right … [r]emember, it was a rookie cop on a routine check that resulted in the arrest of Eric Robert Rudolph in North Carolina despite the enormous commitment of federal resources.272
Another example is the case of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh. He was arrested after a traffic stop when Oklahoma State Trooper Charles J. Hanger noticed that McVeigh's yellow 1977 Mercury Marquis had no license plate.273 Using his home state as an example, a former U.S. Attorney maintains that "evidence of a potential terrorist threat or organized criminal enterprise is far more likely to be found in the incidental contact with the 10,000 police officers in the state of Washington than by the less than 150 FBI agents assigned to the Seattle Field Division."274
The role of state, local, and tribal law enforcement in detecting nascent terrorist plotting is particularly important considering the challenges noted elsewhere in this report in detecting terrorist lone wolves. The four successful homegrown jihadist terrorist attacks that have occurred since 9/11 were all committed by lone wolves. Preventing future terrorist attacks likely requires effective domestic intelligence collection that is best accomplished by local authorities.275
Integrating state, local, and tribal law enforcement into the national counterterrorism effort continues to be an abiding concern of policymakers. After the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (9/11 Commission) cited breakdowns in information sharing and the failure to fuse pertinent intelligence (i.e., "connecting the dots") as key factors in the failure to prevent the 9/11 attacks276 several efforts were made to improve the sharing of terrorism information between federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies:
- States and major urban areas established intelligence fusion centers.277 Congress has defined fusion centers as a "collaborative effort of two or more Federal, state, local, or tribal government agencies that combines resources, expertise, or information with the goal of maximizing the ability of such agencies to detect, prevent, investigate, apprehend, and respond to criminal or terrorist activity."278 By 2013, there were 78 federally recognized fusion centers.279
- In the 2004 Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act (P.L. 108-458), Congress mandated the creation of an Information Sharing Environment (commonly known as the "ISE")280 to provide and facilitate the means of sharing terrorism information among all appropriate federal, state, local, and tribal entities, and the private sector through the use of policy guidelines and technologies.281
- Congress made information sharing a priority of the new intelligence structure in DHS, requiring it "to disseminate, as appropriate, information analyzed by the Department within the Department, to other agencies of the Federal government with responsibilities related to homeland security, and to agencies of State and local government and private sector entities, with such responsibilities in order to assist in the deterrence, prevention, preemption of, or response to, terrorist attacks against the United States."282
- Congress mandated that DHS support fusion centers in the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 (P.L. 110-53).283 DHS supports these centers through its State, Local, and Regional Fusion Center Initiative by providing operational, analytic, reporting, and management advice and assistance; training; information technology systems and connectivity; and intelligence officers and analysts.284
The Nationwide Suspicious Activity Report Initiative (NSI) is a program to push terrorism-related information generated locally between and among federal, state, local, and tribal levels. Specifically, it is a framework to support the reporting of suspicious activity—from the point of initial observation to the point where the information is available in the information sharing environment.285 It is a standardized, integrated approach to gathering, documenting, processing, analyzing, and sharing information about suspicious activity that is potentially terrorism-related while protecting the privacy and civil liberties of Americans.286 The intent is for this locally generated suspicious activity reporting to be combined in a systematic way with other sources of intelligence at the federal level to uncover criminal activity, including terrorism.
Investigative Approaches
To counter violent jihadist plots, U.S. law enforcement has employed two tactics that have been described by one scholar as the "Al Capone" approach and the use of "agent provocateurs."287 The Capone approach involves apprehending individuals linked to terrorist plots on lesser, non-terrorism-related offenses such as immigration violations. In agent provocateur cases—often called sting operations—government undercover operatives befriend suspects and offer to facilitate their activities. As the "Al Capone," moniker suggests, historically, these tactics have been employed against many types of targets such as mafia bosses, white-collar criminals, and corrupt public servants. While these techniques combined with the cultivation of informants as well as surveillance (especially in and around mosques) may be effective in stymieing rapidly developing terrorist plots, their use has fostered concern within U.S. Muslim communities.
The Capone Approach
As mentioned, the Capone approach involves apprehending individuals linked to terrorist plots on lesser, non-terrorism-related offenses such as immigration violations. This approach fits within a preventative mode of counterterrorism prosecution and has received media scrutiny.288 Experts have noted that immediately after 9/11, DOJ often leveled lesser charges against terrorist suspects to preemptively squelch potential attacks. However, according to the Center on Law and Security at New York University School of Law, DOJ has moved toward trying suspected terrorists as terrorists instead of leaning heavily on lesser charges. In 2001 and 2002, 8% of defendants labeled as terrorists in the media were charged under terrorism statutes, this figure rose to 47% by 2006 and 2007.289 Regardless, the Capone approach is still used in terrorism cases.
Lying to an FBI Special Agent is one of the violations reminiscent of the Capone approach.290 A recent example stands out. On July 21, 2010, Paul Rockwood, Jr., a U.S. citizen and Muslim convert, pled guilty to making false statements to the FBI. Rockwood's wife, Nadia Rockwood, also pled guilty to making false statements related to her husband's case. By early 2010, while living in King Salmon, Alaska, Paul Rockwood had developed a list of 15 people he planned to kill, believing that they had desecrated Islam. He had also researched explosives and shared with others ideas about mail bombs or using firearms to kill his targets. It appears that prosecutors could not pursue a case based on more substantive terrorism charges and opted to neutralize a threat—someone apparently preparing to kill people—by using the Capone approach.
The utility of this preventative technique coupled with actual terrorism charges was exhibited by the FBI in its case against Najibullah Zazi. As mentioned above, Zazi arrived in New York on September 10, 2009, with explosive material and plans to detonate bombs in New York's subway system. Zazi feared authorities had caught up to him and returned to Denver on September 12. Between September 10 and 19, the FBI monitored his activities and bolstered its case with searches of a vehicle and locations linked to him in New York and Denver. Zazi also agreed to interviews with the FBI in Denver. On September 19, Special Agents first arrested Zazi in Aurora, Colorado, for knowingly and willfully lying to the FBI. Presumably this was done because he might flee. Four days later, a grand jury returned a more substantive one-count indictment against him on weapons of mass destruction charges.291
DOJ used similar charges against Ahmad Wais Afzali, an imam from Queens. He was arrested for tipping off Zazi to the FBI's investigation. On March 4, 2010, Afzali pled guilty to lying to federal officials. He admitted that he warned Zazi that the FBI had asked about him. Afzali also stated that during the phone conversation he simply cautioned Zazi not to "get involved in Afghanistan garbage."292 He stated in court that he misled the FBI about a telephone conversation he had with Zazi. Afzali claimed that by lying to investigators he had hoped to protect himself, not Zazi. Afzali had been a source of information for federal and New York City investigators in the past.293
In another instance of the Capone approach, in 2008 the federal government charged Tarek Mehanna for lying to FBI agents regarding his relationship to Daniel Maldonado, subsequently convicted and jailed for terrorism-related offenses. Mehanna's 2008 arrest occurred at Boston's Logan International Airport as he was preparing to leave the country, according to news reports. He was subsequently released on bail. His defense attorney claimed that the FBI wanted Mehanna to become an informant, and his refusal precipitated his 2009 indictment and re-arrest on terrorism charges.294
Agent Provocateur Cases
Agent provocateur cases rely on expert determination by law enforcement that a specific individual or group is likely to move beyond radicalized talk and engage in violent jihad. The ultimate goal is to catch a suspect committing an overt criminal act such as pulling the proverbial trigger but on a dud weapon. By engaging in such strategy, investigators hope to obtain ironclad evidence against suspects.
Three FBI investigations exemplify the utility of this approach. On November 26, 2010, Mohamed Osman Mohamud was arrested after he attempted to set off what he believed was a vehicle bomb at an annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Portland, Oregon. Mohamud thought he had plotted with terrorists to detonate the bomb. In actuality the device was a dud assembled by his co-conspirators, FBI undercover operatives. Mohamud offered the target for the strike, provided components for assembly of the device, gave instructions for the operation, and mailed passport photographs for his getaway plan to FBI undercover operatives.295
On September 24, 2009, a Jordanian immigrant named Hosam Smadi was arrested for attempting to detonate what he thought was a car bomb in the parking lot of a 60-story skyscraper in Dallas, Texas. On May 26, 2010, he pled guilty to one count of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.296 Smadi's apprehension resulted from an FBI operation including at least three undercover employees. The operation duped Smadi into believing he was planning an attack with Al Qaeda operatives. It ended with Smadi driving a truck he believed to contain a live bomb into the underground garage of 60-story Fountain Place in Dallas, Texas. He used a cell phone to try and trigger the dud.297
The same day of Smadi's arrest, the FBI apprehended Michael C. Finton in Springfield, IL, on similar but unrelated charges. Finton's case also relied heavily on undercover FBI personnel. Allegedly they supplied him with a van Finton believed contained almost one ton of high explosives. According to the DOJ, he drove and parked the van near the Paul Findley Federal Building and Courthouse in downtown Springfield. FBI Special Agents arrested Finton after he tried to detonate the bogus bomb using a cell phone.298
Initially, the FBI appears to have just tracked the activities of Finton and Smadi. How Mohamud's case played out is less certain, based on publicly available information. However, the investigations—particularly the Finton and Smadi cases—likely reached tipping points encouraging the Bureau to initiate much more proactive agent provocateur-type operations. Finton had converted to Islam while in prison on aggravated robbery and battery charges. According to court documents, he was released in 2006 but in 2007 was re-arrested and returned to prison because of a parole violation. At the time, a search of Finton's vehicle revealed passages he wrote that championed martyrdom as well as attempted correspondence with John Walker Lindh, a U.S. citizen who pled guilty in federal court to serving in the Taliban army and carrying weapons. In 2008, after Finton was released from prison for his parole violation, members of the FBI's Springfield JTTF interviewed him. The JTTF also used an informant to monitor Finton, who engaged in radical rhetoric after his release. In January 2009, the informant reported that Finton planned to travel to the Gaza strip to fight Israelis. At this juncture in the investigation, the FBI allegedly initiated its agent provocateur strategy to nab Finton.299
The tipping point in the Smadi investigation is a little less specific. He allegedly had come to the agency's attention because the jihadist sentiment he displayed among an online group of extremists supposedly "stood out."300 Investigators claim Smadi exhibited "vehement intention to conduct terror attacks in the United States and ... zealous devotion to Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda."301 As a result, an FBI undercover employee communicated with Smadi. More than 10 exchanges between the two emphasized Smadi's desire to conduct violent jihad on behalf of Al Qaeda. Thus, the FBI determined he was a "legitimate threat," introduced him to another undercover employee who posed as a senior member of an Al Qaeda sleeper cell, and ostensibly set the sting in motion.302
The tipping point in the Mohamud investigation is even less clear due to ambiguity in the publicly available information regarding the timeline of the case. At some point, someone from the local Muslim community alerted the FBI to Mohamud, a 19-year-old Somali-born naturalized U.S. citizen. Media reports have suggested that a family member, perhaps Mohamud's father, relayed concerns about the young man to officials.303 According to DOJ, in December 2009 Mohamud communicated with an individual the U.S. government believed to be a terrorist located in Pakistan. The duo allegedly discussed Mohamud traveling to Pakistan to prepare for violent jihad. After Mohamud was not allowed to board a flight from Portland to Kodiak, Alaska, on June 14, 2010, the FBI interviewed him. He purportedly told the FBI that he planned to take a fishing job in Alaska for the summer and that he had previously wanted to travel to Yemen but had neither purchased tickets nor obtained a visa. According to court documents, shortly thereafter, on June 23, an FBI undercover employee professing to be an associate of the Pakistan-based terrorist emailed Mohamud. It is unclear whether or not Mohamud's attempt to travel to Alaska and his interview precipitated the undercover operation.304
Court documents in the Smadi, Finton, and Mohamud cases allege that FBI undercover employees tested the suspects to ascertain the depth of their intent to do harm. The FBI evaluated Mohamud's resolve on a number of occasions. Two stand out. Mohamud's first meeting with an undercover FBI operative entailed a discussion in which the would-be violent jihadist was told that he could help "the cause" in "a number of ways … ranging from simply praying five times a day to becoming a martyr." The young man responded, saying that he wanted to become "operational" and needed help in staging an attack. When in a following meeting Mohamud suggested the Christmas tree lighting ceremony as his intended target, an FBI undercover employee noted that children attend such events. Mohamud responded by saying that he wanted a large crowd "that will ... be attacked in their own element with their families celebrating the holidays."305
In the Smadi and Finton cases, the suspects received reassurances that if they quit the schemes, they would face no repercussions from their fellow (sham) plotters. FBI undercover operatives repeatedly tried to discourage Smadi's violent jihadist sentiments. In July 2009, an undercover employee (the fictitious senior member of an Al Qaeda sleeper cell), offered Smadi a way out of the plot. The mock Al Qaeda operative counseled Smadi by saying that different types of jihad existed, and he did not have to follow through on the plot if he was uncomfortable with it. He reassured Smadi by stressing that if he backed out, he would remain part of Al Qaeda's "brotherhood." Regardless, Smadi steadfastly believed in the plot and refused to quit.306 Like Smadi, Finton was given at least one opportunity to abandon his scheme. He allegedly understood that, "anytime he felt uncomfortable, he could walk out the door and still be a brother."307
The "Bind" for Law Enforcement
Not all agent provocateur cases appear as thorough in their efforts to reveal the harmful intent of suspects. Some cases have raised controversy about the extent to which government informants or agents have entrapped suspects and/or supported or pushed along terrorist plots. These instances illustrate what Philadelphia Inquirer reporter and author, Stephan Salisbury, describes as the "bind" the FBI finds itself in. "On one hand it is being charged by the Justice Department to go out and stop this stuff [terrorism] before it happens. But on the other, it is getting criticized for the techniques it is using to do that."308 The 2008 Attorney General's Guidelines for Domestic FBI Operations address the same competing forces, and as mentioned their implementation has spurred concerns among civil liberties groups.
Investigations of the so-called Newburgh Four and Liberty City Seven plots illustrate this bind. In each, law enforcement has been criticized for its use of undercover informants. To counter this, in both cases, officials emphasized the importance of prevention—neutralizing threats posed by the groups involved. For example, in a press conference related to the Newburgh plot, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg reassured the public by stating that the plotters did not have ties to a larger terrorist organization. However, he went on to stress the preemptive aspects of the case, "I've always thought of our police department's primary job, not as first responders but as first preventers."309 Cognizant of criticisms that the Liberty City men were neither competent nor their plotting viable, former Attorney General Gonzalez cautioned that
our philosophy here is that we try to identify plots in the earliest stages possible, because we don't know what we don't know about a terrorist plot ... it's dangerous for us to make an evaluation case by case ... well, this is a really dangerous group, this is really not a dangerous group. And we felt that the combination of the planning and the overt acts taken were sufficient to support this prosecution.310
Newburgh Four
The Newburgh Four case kindled controversy regarding the use of an agent provocateur. In the investigation, an FBI informant allegedly offered plotters $250,000 and a luxury car, among other inducements to trigger explosives near a synagogue and to shoot down military aircraft.311 On June 14, 2010, the federal judge hearing the trial delayed its start, because prosecutors may have failed to provide to defense attorneys relevant case information. Days earlier the defense received an FBI document suggesting that the lead plotter, James Cromitie, was not a threat.312 News accounts suggest the plotters may have been heavily influenced by the FBI's informant.313 They have also raised questions about the informant in the case, alleged to be a man named Shahed Hussain.314 According to the Village Voice, Hussain duped the Newburgh Four into their plot. The Voice suggested that the quartet of smalltime felons had no grand terrorist ambitions, and Hussain had plied them with cash and suggestions.315
The Newburgh Four were arrested in May 2009. They purportedly had attempted to detonate explosives near a synagogue in the Riverdale section of the Bronx in New York City. The federal government asserts the plotters also planned to shoot down military airplanes at the New York Air National Guard Base at Stewart Airport in Newburgh, New York. Hussain allegedly passed himself off as a member of a Pakistani terrorist organization, Jaish-e-Mohammed, and provided the four suspects with inert C-4 explosives and an inactive Stinger surface-to-air missile.316 The Newburgh Four were found guilty of the plot on October 18, 2010.317
According to other news reports, Hussain, a Pakistani immigrant, became an FBI informant in 2002 to win leniency and avoid deportation on fraud charges. They stemmed from when he worked as a translator for the New York Department of Motor Vehicles. Hussain pled guilty to production and transfer of false government identification documents—illegally helping immigrants obtain licenses. He had also served as the key informant in the 2003 and 2004 FBI sting operation implicating Mohammed Hossain and Yassin Aref in a plot to launder money related to the sham sale of surface to air missiles to terrorists.318
Liberty City Seven
Like the Newburgh Four case, the Liberty City Seven investigation also generated questions regarding informant use by the FBI. Seven Miami-area men were arrested in 2006 for allegedly plotting to blow up the Sears Tower (now called Willis Tower) in Chicago, the FBI building in North Miami Beach, and other government buildings in Miami-Dade County. Defense attorneys called the case an outrageous example of government entrapment claiming that the men had neither the will nor the means to carry out the crimes.319 An FBI informant posing as an Al Qaeda member in the case, offered the men $50,000 as part of their plot. He also obtained warehouse space for the group's activities, led a ceremony in which the conspirators swore allegiance to Al Qaeda, gave the group video cameras for surveillance activities, and suggested targeting Miami's FBI offices.320
One of the two FBI informants in the investigation, Abbas al-Saidi, was jailed after reportedly having extorted $7,000 from a friend who raped his girlfriend and then, after accepting the money, beat her up.321 The other informant, Elie Assad, also had a domestic battery charge on his record. According to FBI agents, Assad failed a polygraph test administered while he was working for them on a previous case in Chicago. A 35-year veteran of the FBI, who was hired as an expert witness by the Liberty City defense team, stated that Assad never should have been authorized to work on the [Liberty City] case at all. However, at trial, the former FBI agent was not allowed to testify nor did the judge permit the testimony about Assad's failed polygraph test.322 After juries in the first two trials failed to reach a verdict, six of the seven Liberty City men were convicted at a third trial and sentenced to long prison sentences.
Combating Homegrown Terrorism: Building Trust and Partnership
In August 2011, the Obama Administration released a strategy for combating violent extremism (CVE).323 Many federal CVE efforts depend on government agencies cooperating with local groups to discourage people from embracing terrorist ideologies.324 The Administration's national CVE strategy highlights a "community-based approach" for the federal government, and much of the activity it encompasses takes place in the "marketplace of ideas" described in Figure 1. To this end, the federal government most effectively acts as a "facilitator, convener, and source of information."325 The federal-level CVE work that has revolved around engagement depends on fostering trust and partnership between communities and the federal government.326
Engagement and Community Policing
The concept of building trust through engagement and partnership is rooted in the community policing model developed by law enforcement professionals in the 1990s, and community policing is mentioned in the Administration's CVE strategy.327 Following the 9/11 attacks, law enforcement agencies came to realize the prevention of terrorist attacks would require the cooperation and assistance of American Muslim, Arab, and Sikh communities. "Embedded within these communities," notes Professor Deborah Ramirez, "are the linguistic skills, information, and cultural insights necessary to assist law enforcement in its efforts to identify suspicious behavior. In order to have access to these critical tools and information, law enforcement recognized the need to build bridges required for effective communication with these groups."328 At the same time, Muslim, Arab, and Sikh Americans recognized the need to define themselves as distinctly American communities who, like all Americans, desire to help prevent another terrorist attack.329
A study by the Homeland Security Institute found that "[c]ommunity policing has been applied with notable success in places such as New York City, Chicago, Boston, and San Diego, and has been widely adopted (at least in name) throughout the United States."330 A Homeland Advisory Council (HSAC) working group331 chaired by Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley found that Community-Oriented Policing works:
Effective public-private partnerships, designed to enable civic engagement, problem-solving, and violent crime mitigation provide the foundation for efforts to prevent, protect against and respond to violent criminal activity—including that which may be motivated by ideological objectives.332
The Tension between Enforcement and Engagement Activities
An inherent challenge to building trust and partnership involves law enforcement investigative activities and tactics that can be perceived to unfairly target law-abiding citizens or infringe on speech, religion, assembly, or due process rights. One expert has noted that "counter-radicalization is not about intelligence-gathering nor is it primarily about policing."333 The HSAC Countering Violent Extremism Working Group found that
There can be tension between those involved in law enforcement investigations and those collaborating to establish local partnerships to stop violent crime. Community policing can be impeded if other enforcement tactics are perceived as conflicting with community partnership efforts.334
This challenge is evident in law enforcement efforts to recruit and manage informants. One Muslim community leader who has published widely on domestic terrorism, states that "many Muslim Americans fear that paid FBI informants specifically target impressionable youth and that law enforcement agents coerce community members to become informants themselves to avoid complications with immigration procedures."335
Community leaders report numerous attempts by the FBI to recruit Muslims as informers. In virtually all cases, the Muslims in question had immigration and other legal problems or were applying for green cards according to Shakeel Syed of the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California, an umbrella organization of 68 area mosques. Syed said the FBI told Muslims, "We will make your problems vanish if you cooperate." He goes on to say that "For some individuals who have refused recruitment, there is startling evidence that the FBI has actually retaliated against them."336
Two cases that are often cited to support these allegations are those of Foad Farahi and Yassine Ouassif. Farahi is an imam at a mosque in North Miami Beach, Florida, who has lived in the United States since 1993. Although an Iranian citizen, he does not speak Farsi because he grew up as a Sunni Muslim in Kuwait speaking Arabic. He applied for political asylum in the United States in 2002 after it was determined that he could be removed from the country because he had failed to maintain his student status. He sought asylum based upon a fear of persecution if deported to Iran because he is a Sunni Muslim and Iran is overwhelmingly Shia.
In 2004, when he was first approached by the FBI, Farahi said he told them that he was willing to work with them, but the relationship would need to be public. He claimed the FBI wanted him to be a secret informant instead and promised him residency and money for school.337 But Farahi declined saying "People trust you as a religious figure, and you're trying to kind of deceive them. That's where the problem is."338
In the summer of 2007, Farahi declined a second request from the FBI to become a secret informant. The consequences for this followed later that year at a hearing on his asylum case. Four Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, armed and wearing bullet proof vests, followed him into the Miami Immigration Court. They allegedly told his attorney they had a file with evidence that he was supporting or involved in terrorist groups and gave him an ultimatum: Drop the asylum case and leave the United States voluntarily or be charged as a terrorist. Farahi reported that these threats led to the involuntary and coerced withdrawal of his asylum application before the Immigration Court.339
According to Farahi's attorneys, the government has never shared any information or evidence that he was involved in terrorism, nor has the government charged him for any terrorist offenses. He has appealed the withdrawal of his asylum application to the U.S. Court of Appeals. Farahi believes that "People have two choices. Either they end up working with the FBI or they leave the country on their own. It's just sometimes when you're in that situation, not many people are strong enough to stand up and resist and fight—to reject their offers."340
Farahi's assertion that the government tried to coerce him to become an informant cannot be verified independently because the FBI won't comment on his case. When asked by a journalist who has written on the case, a Miami FBI Special Agent stated: "It is a matter of policy that we do not confirm or deny who we have asked to be a source."341
In a case reported by The Wall Street Journal, a 24-year-old Moroccan, Yassine Ouassif, was stopped in November 2005 and questioned for several hours by immigration officials as he crossed into New York from Canada. His lawful permanent resident card was taken from him and he was told to contact an individual when he returned home to San Francisco. Ouassif complied with the immigration officials' instructions and the individual he contacted turned out to be an FBI agent. The agent told him that he had been monitoring Ouassif and his friends for many months.342
According to Ouassif, the FBI agent offered him the opportunity to become an informant and regularly report to the FBI on what his Muslim friends in San Francisco were saying and doing. In exchange, his lawful permanent resident card would be returned and he could resume his education, bring his Moroccan wife to America, and pursue his dream of buying a car, moving to Sacramento, and becoming an engineer. If he refused, according to an account written by Ouassif soon after the meeting, the FBI agent told him, "I will work hard to deport you to Morocco as soon as possible."343
According to the Los Angeles Times, "this account of Ouassif's ordeal is based largely on interviews with him and his lawyer, as well as his own written chronicle. Immigration officials declined to comment, since no formal action was taken against Ouassif. FBI officials also declined to discuss the investigation, saying it is classified."344
The activity of one FBI informant has roiled the Muslim American community in Southern California.345 The Bureau employed a convicted con man, Craig Monteilh, as an informant in an investigation called "Operation Flex." Monteilh claimed in interviews and court documents that he served the FBI as a paid informant from July 2006 to October 2007 and used concealed audio and video equipment to record thousands of hours of conversations with Muslims in homes, restaurants and mosques in Irvine, Tustin, Mission Viejo, and elsewhere.346 Monteilh has also claimed that he signed a non-disclosure agreement with the FBI in exchange for $25,000. The Washington Post reports that an FBI letter to Monteilh's attorney on file in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana says Monteilh signed the non-disclosure agreement in 2007.347 Additionally, the ACLU of Southern California and the Los Angeles chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which describes itself as an "Islamic advocacy group,"348 filed a lawsuit against the FBI regarding Monteilh's activities.349 The lawsuit alleges Monteilh's activity at the behest of his FBI handlers violated the religious freedom of people he monitored.350 In August 2012, a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit.351
While working for the FBI, Monteilh allegedly posed as a new convert and arrived at the Irvine Islamic Center in 2006. He purportedly wore robes and a long beard and used the name Farouk al-Aziz. Monteilh had a criminal record that included serving 16 months in state prison on two grand theft charges. Members of the Islamic Center of Irvine were reportedly alarmed about Monteilh and his talk of jihad and plans for a terrorist attack. The local chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations reported him to the Irvine police and obtained a three-year restraining order against him.352
Monteilh's role as an FBI informant was first revealed in a bail hearing for Ahmadullah Niazi, a U.S. citizen born in Afghanistan, who was accused in a February 2009 indictment of lying about ties to terrorist groups on immigration documents among other charges. Much of the evidence was FBI testimony about Niazi's recorded conversations with an FBI informant, who sources say was Monteilh.353 On September 30, 2010, prosecutors summarily moved to dismiss the case against Niazi, and a judge agreed. The U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles cited the lack of an overseas witness and "evidentiary issues." Sources familiar with the decision said Monteilh's role—and his potential testimony for the defense—was also a factor.354
An editorial in the Orange County Register, the largest circulation newspaper in the Southern California county where Monteilh's activities occurred, made the following points:
Everyone understands the need for legitimate undercover activities in response to credible evidence. But we cannot fathom the justification for fishing expeditions and entrapment.… Muslims are afraid to talk about politics or civil liberties issues within their mosques or even among their friends because of fear that it will draw attention from undercover agents … there should not be a presumption of guilt among an entire community."355
The use of informants can be a controversial issue, especially those with criminal records who may be working on behalf of authorities in exchange for reduced jail time. According to open source reports, confidential informants or undercover agents were used in 37 of the post-9/11 homegrown jihadist cases. In some of those cases, the informants had criminal histories. The use of informants poses the following risks:
Informants do not merely observe and collect data. They make things happen…. Informants can cause confusion and dissatisfaction among members of groups and communities they infiltrate, discrediting leaders, and fostering factionalism as people wonder if any of their colleagues are spies. Their handlers' structure of incentives—raises, promotions, transfers, financial rewards, waived jail time—creates a system where informants consciously or subconsciously create and then destroy terrorist threats that would not otherwise exist. These pressures can push them from passive observer to aggressive actor, with serious consequences for constitutionally protected free speech. Another unplanned result: government loses legitimacy and support in the eyes of targeted communities, if they feel they have been manipulated.356
Acknowledging the challenge, then-FBI Director Robert Mueller said in 2009, "Oftentimes, the communities from which we need the most help are those who trust us the least. But it is in these communities that we ... must redouble our efforts."357 Then-FBI spokesman John Miller has said the agency values its relationships with Muslims and has worked hard on outreach efforts that range from town hall meetings to diversity training for FBI agents.358 Miller said there is no factual basis for claims the FBI infiltrates mosques or conducts blanket surveillance of Muslim leaders. "Based on information of a threat of violence or a crime, we investigate individuals, and those investigations may take us to the places those individual go."359
Former FBI agents and federal prosecutors note that informants are "still one of the government's best weapons to thwart terrorists and that the benefit to national security is likely to far outweigh any embarrassment to the agency." They claim that "although the law places almost no constraints on the use of informants, the agency takes sending an informant into a mosque very seriously and imposes a higher threshold for such requests."360 Former FBI counterterrorism chief Robert Blitzer states that "What matters to the FBI is preventing a massive attack that might be planned by some people ... using the mosque or church as a shield because they believe they're safe there. That is what the American people want the FBI to do. They don't want some type of attack happening on U.S. soil because the FBI didn't act on information."361
Maher Hathout from the Muslim Public Affairs Council counters by saying that "People cannot be suspects and partners at the same time. Unless the FBI's style changes, the partnership with the Muslim community will not be fruitful."362 The Homeland Security Advisory Council's Countering Violent Extremism Working Group also cautions that "Law enforcement should be sensitive to the fact that perceptions regarding enforcement actions and intelligence gathering can impact community-oriented policing goals."363
Although many public officials support engagement with U.S. Muslim communities, significant challenges may exist in the development of programs that foster substantive relationships rather than token discussions or community relations events. Many of these challenges revolve around balancing security and liberty. These challenges focus on the ability of government officials to develop policies and programs that address terrorism both publicly in the marketplace of ideas and secretively in the realm of counterterrorism investigations. Depending on local communities to provide critical information to further proactive policing while simultaneously building trust and preserving the freedoms of community members is seen as difficult within this context. Law enforcement investigative tactics may pose particular complications in community engagement. Especially challenging are policing efforts perceived by community members to be unfairly targeting law-abiding citizens or infringing on speech, religion, assembly, or due process rights.
The use of informants—essential to many law enforcement investigations—is one technique that may pose obstacles when police officials attempt to engage the same populations their agencies investigate. For example, some Muslim community activists fear that law enforcement coerces immigrants into becoming informants, especially those with legal problems or those applying for green cards. Others fear that informants target and potentially entice impressionable youth into fictitious terrorist plots. There has also been public discussion of the trustworthiness of informants with criminal backgrounds. In considering the tradeoff between security and liberty, policy makers face a key judgment call in cases when investigative tactics might inflame members of a particular community. Will the controversy surrounding an investigative tactic outweigh its usefulness in bringing terrorists to justice?
In Appendix A that follows, details about each of the post-9/11 homegrown jihadist plots and attacks are provided in reverse chronological order.
Appendix A. Summary of Post-9/11 Homegrown Violent Jihadist Terrorist Plots364
Terry Lee Loewen—Plot to Detonate Car Bomb at Wichita Mid-Continent Airport, December 2013
In December 2013, law enforcement officers arrested Terry Lee Loewen on charges of attempting to
- use a weapon of mass destruction,
- damage property by means of an explosive,
- and provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) alleges that Loewen had plotted to trigger an explosive device at Wichita Mid-Continent Airport.365 As reported, the 58-year-old avionics technician and U.S. citizen worked at the airport.366The Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI, the Bureau) case on the would-be bomber began in the early summer of 2013. It evolved into a sting operation culminating in Loewen's failed attempt to drive what he thought was a functional car bomb into a secure area of the airport and detonate the explosive while still in the vehicle.367
The plot started with an online interchange. It is unclear if and when he became a Muslim, but DOJ asserts that by the summer of 2013, the would-be terrorist was conversing online with an FBI undercover employee about violent jihad.368 Investigators claim that Loewen believed that this acquaintance was an individual tied to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). According to the criminal complaint in the case, in October 2013, Loewen sent his ersatz friend "photographs of his airport access badge, entrance gates to the tarmac, and the devices used to access the gates."369 Loewen also allegedly claimed that Osama Bin Laden and Anwar al-Awlaki were "a great inspiration" to him and that he had read significant screeds related to violent jihad.370 The pen pals began fleshing out details for an attack at the airport and also worked through at least one misgiving Loewen had—the killing of children.371 Loewen's online companion eventually placed him in direct contact with another FBI undercover employee who posed as a member of AQAP. The would-be bomber met with this second undercover operative, and the two planned the specifics of a car bomb attack and assembled the explosive device.372
Basit Javed Sheikh—Attempt to Join the Nusra Front to Fight Against the Bashar al Asad Regime in Syria, November 2013
In November 2013, law enforcement officers arrested Basit Javed Sheikh as he attempted to board a plane at the Raleigh-Durham International Airport in North Carolina. DOJ alleges that Sheikh was destined for Syria, where he intended to join the Nusra Front, a terrorist organization opposing the Bashar al Asad regime in Syria's civil war.373 Sheikh, a Pakistani immigrant, lawful permanent resident of the United States, and 29 years old at the time of his arrest, resided in Cary, NC.374 He reputedly used Facebook accounts to post material related to violent jihad and to contact sympathizers. Via his online activity, he purportedly came into contact with an informant working for the FBI. DOJ has stated that the informant steered Sheikh toward an individual online who claimed to be affiliated with the Nusra Front. In reality, this person was an FBI online covert employee who appears to have played a central role in the sting operation that ended up nabbing him.375
Reportedly, Sheikh had tried to travel to Syria in 2012, getting as far as nearby Turkey, where he grew disillusioned by what he saw as the materialism of some of the revolutionaries confronting the Asad regime and returned home. He also booked a flight to Istanbul, Turkey, in September 2013, but did not go to the airport. Sheikh had grown worried, because he could not reach his reputed contact in Turkey. The criminal complaint in the case also notes that he felt that he "could not muster the strength to leave his parents." 376 DOJ notes that Sheikh wanted to either provide the Nusra Front with logistical support or actually fight in the conflict. He also was not opposed to martyrdom.377
Sinh Vinh Ngo Nguyen—Attempt to Join Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, October 2013
According to news coverage, DOJ has asserted that, after his October 2013 arrest, Sinh Vinh Ngo Nguyen confessed to trying to travel to Pakistan and join Al Qaeda. The indictment leveled against Nguyen charged him with making a false statement on a passport application and providing material support to a terrorist organization.378 In December 2013, Nguyen pled guilty to the latter.379 Authorities allegedly apprehended him in Santa Ana, CA, as he "prepared to board a bus for Mexico with plane tickets to Pakistan," where he hoped to train terrorists.380 Additionally, Nguyen admitted to prosecutors that during 2012 he was involved in the conflict between rebel groups and the Bashar al Asad Regime in Syria.381 It is unclear for whom he fought—it may have been the Free Syrian Army. Media reports have indicated that the FBI used an undercover investigation to nab Nguyen, who had purportedly described his Syrian exploits on Facebook.382 In one newspaper account, his mother claimed that the 24-year-old terrorism suspect converted from Catholicism to Islam about two years ago.383
Shelton Thomas Bell—Attempt to Join Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, July 2013
DOJ claims that Shelton Thomas Bell traveled abroad to join the terrorist organization Ansar al Sharia, otherwise known as Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).384 As a result, Bell was charged "with conspiring and attempting to provide material support to terrorists."385 Bell is from Jacksonville, Florida, and was 19 years old when his indictment was made public in July 2013.386 Reportedly, he had been in jail since January 2013 on charges of grand theft and organized fraud. It is not clear whether these charges stem from a sham business he allegedly ran to help fund his plot.387 It is also unclear what caused the FBI to start its case on Bell. According to media sources, in 2012, leaders from a Jacksonville mosque contacted the FBI when they discovered that Bell may have been talking about violent jihad with the son of a congregant.388 Reputedly, Bell, who is said to have converted to Islam, attended prayers at the mosque but was not a member.389
DOJ claims that Bell spent much of 2012 preparing to become a foreign fighter. He obtained a U.S. passport and tried to recruit additional individuals to join him. Bell and others (not named in the indictment) also trained with firearms.390 In July 2012, Bell and someone else damaged religious statues at a Jacksonville cemetery in a nighttime "mission" in which the duo "dressed in dark clothing, wore masks and gloves, [and] wrapped their footwear in tape."391 They recorded the incident to use as a recruitment tool.392 Also, according to DOJ, he and a juvenile393 purchased supplies—including gauze pads, batteries, athletic tape, and razors—for their planned trip to wage violent jihad in Yemen. As described in the indictment, in late September, they left the United States, traveling as far as Amman, Jordan.394 How Bell was apprehended is unclear.
Abdella Ahmad Tounisi—Attempt to Join the Nusra Front to Fight against the Bashar al Asad Regime in Syria, April 2013
According to DOJ, Abdella Ahmad Tounisi, 18 years old at the time of his arrest in April 2013, was apprehended at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport while he tried to board a flight for Istanbul, Turkey. Tounisi, a U.S. citizen, allegedly intended to travel to Syria to join the Nusra Front.395 Between January and April 2013, he purportedly researched violent jihadist activity, foreign travel, and the Nusra front online.396
The FBI claims to have employed a sting operation to build its case against Tounisi and apprehend him.397 The Bureau allegedly developed a fake website espousing violent jihadist sentiments and had an undercover FBI employee act as a Nusra recruiter to entice Tounisi.398 In March 2013, according to DOJ, the undercover FBI employee exchanged emails with Tounisi, "in which Tounisi shared his plan to get to Syria by way of Turkey, as well as his willingness to die for the cause."399 According to DOJ, the undercover operative also gave Tounisi a bus ticket for travel from Istanbul to Turkey's border with Syria. The would-be foreign fighter was charged "with one count of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization."400
DOJ also alleges that Tounisi was friends with Adel Daoud, who was arrested in September 2012 (described below) for plotting to trigger a bomb near a Chicago bar. DOJ asserts that the duo discussed potential targets but that Tounisi was not involved in the execution of Daoud's scheme.401 Reportedly, Tounisi decided to end his role in the plot. He was concerned that a third plotter was a law enforcement officer. Also, religious leaders at the mosque Tounisi attended appear to have partly dissuaded him. He may have been worried about killing civilians.402 Tounisi's concerns about the third individual involved in the plot were justified. The person proved to be an undercover agent.403
Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev—Bombing of Boston Marathon, April 2013
On April 15, 2013, two bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. They claimed the lives of three individuals and injured more than 200 people. The alleged perpetrators were Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (respectively ages 26 and 19 on the day of the bombing). Prior to the bombing, the ethnic Chechen duo lived for several years in the Boston area, primarily in Cambridge, Massachusetts.404 Tamerlan died after the duo, using firearms and explosives, reportedly battled law enforcement officers in the early morning hours of April 19.405 Authorities arrested Dzhokhar in the evening of April 19, 2013. In June 2013, he was charged "with the use of a weapon of mass destruction resulting in death and conspiracy; bombing of a place of public use resulting in death and conspiracy; malicious destruction of property resulting in death and conspiracy; use of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence; use of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence causing death; carjacking resulting in serious bodily injury; interference with commerce by threats or violence; and aiding and abetting."406
In a criminal complaint and an indictment, DOJ has identified Tamerlan and Dzhokhar as the bombers who set off the explosions at the Boston Marathon.407 Some media outlets have reported that the brothers may have initially planned to attack the festivities marking Independence Day (the 4th of July) in Boston.408 According to unnamed officials quoted in press reports, the duo moved up the date of their attack and targeted the Marathon, because they completed building their explosive devices sooner than they had initially planned.409 They also purportedly chose not to use suicide as a tactic in the Marathon bombing.410 Dzhokhar reportedly indicated to authorities that the brothers selected the Marathon as a target only one or two days prior to the event.411
In the aftermath of the bombing, on April 18, the FBI released video and still images of two individuals that the Bureau suspected were the bombers. Dzhokhar reputedly indicated to authorities that once the brothers realized that these were images of them, they decided to travel to New York City's Times Square to detonate the remaining explosive devices they had made.412 According to DOJ, at about 10:00 PM on April 18, the brothers armed themselves with a semiautomatic handgun, five explosive devices, a machete, and a hunting knife.413 Late in the evening of April 18, the Tsarnaev brothers allegedly killed an on-duty police officer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.414 That night, the duo also supposedly carjacked a sport utility vehicle (SUV) in the Boston neighborhood of Brighton.415 Wielding a handgun, Tamerlan reportedly threatened the driver of the SUV and ordered him to drive as Dzhokhar trailed in another vehicle. Tamerlan and his captive are said to have eventually picked up Dzhokhar. The two alleged bombers appear to have discussed going to New York City, used the victim's automated teller machine card to withdraw money, and purchased gasoline for the SUV in nearby Cambridge. According to the hostage's own account, at this point—after 90 minutes under the control of the Tsarnaevs—the hostage escaped and called police.416 The Tsarnaevs' hostage had left his cellphone in the vehicle, however.
Purportedly, authorities used the carjacking victim's cellphone to determine that the brothers were in nearby Watertown, Massachusetts. Early in the morning of April 19, a local police officer identified the brothers driving the stolen SUV and another car. The brothers and law enforcement officials quickly became embroiled in a gunfight. The Tsarnaevs lobbed explosive devices during the incident, which claimed Tamerlan's life and led to the wounding of a transit police officer. Dzhokhar reportedly got away in the stolen SUV, quickly abandoned it, and fled on foot. Police found unexploded bombs at the site of the confrontation.417 The younger Tsarnaev brother was discovered on the evening of the 19th hiding in a boat parked in a residential neighborhood in Watertown. Law enforcement officers opened fire on the boat and apprehended Dzhokhar. At the time of his arrest, he had gunshot wounds to "the head, neck, legs, and hand."418
Allegedly, some of the bombs used by the brothers were assembled in the Cambridge apartment that Tamerlan shared with his daughter and his wife, Katherine Russell.419 Reportedly, some of these explosive devices were built out of pressure cookers.420 Media reports have suggested that jihadist material has been found on a computer belonging to Russell. She has not been charged in the bombing case. It is unclear if she shared the computer with Tamerlan.421
Dzhokhar reputedly admitted to law enforcement officials that he and his brother had relied on the English language violent jihadist magazine, Inspire, for bomb-making instructions.422 One month prior to the Marathon bombing, Inspire published its "Lone Mujahid Pocketbook," a guide that included directions for assembling a pressure cooker bomb using explosives gleaned from fireworks.423 DOJ claims that Dzhokhar had downloaded a copy of Inspire's first volume from 2010 that also included instructions for assembling a bomb with components including a pressure cooker.424 The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security have noted that such devices "contain[ing] the initiator, switch, and explosive charge frequently have been used in Afghanistan, India, Nepal, and Pakistan."425
At least four additional people have been linked to this case. Two men, 19 years old at the time of their arrests, Dias Kadyrbayev and Azamat Tazhayakov, "both of New Bedford [Massachusetts], were charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice by conspiring to destroy, conceal, and cover up tangible objects belonging to suspected marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev."426 Robel Phillipos, from Cambridge and also 19 at the time of his arrest, was charged with "willfully making materially false statements to federal law enforcement officials during a terrorism investigation."427 Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov are citizens of Kazakhstan. They were visiting the United States on student visas when arrested. Phillipos is a U.S. citizen.428 The three and Dzhokhar were friends while attending the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth.429
DOJ alleges that on the evening of April 18, the trio removed a backpack and laptop owned by Dzhokhar from the alleged bomber's dorm room. DOJ argues that Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov also "admitted that they agreed to get rid of [the backpack] after concluding from news reports that Tsarnaev was one of the Boston Marathon bombers."430 The backpack, which DOJ asserts Kadyrbayev threw out, contained fireworks that had been "opened and emptied of powder."431 In the room, Dzhokhar's friends also purportedly found a jar of Vaseline that they thought might have been used in bomb making. According to DOJ, a month before the bombing, Dzhokhar had told Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov that he knew how to fashion an explosive device. On April 26, law enforcement agents found the backpack (including the emptied fireworks and jar of Vaseline) in a landfill in New Bedford.432 Dzhokhar's laptop has not been recovered.
It appears that Ibragim Todashev (age 27), another individual linked to the investigation, was killed while FBI and other law enforcement officials interviewed him in Orlando, Florida, during the early hours of May 22, 2013.433 The FBI claims that Todashev initiated the violent confrontation.434 Media reports have described Todashev as a Chechen immigrant who had been granted political asylum in the United States. These reports have speculated that he was tied to an illegal drug-related triple homicide in Waltham, Massachusetts, in 2011, alleging that just before he was killed, Todashev may have implicated Tamerlan in the Waltham crime.435
Based on publicly available sources, prior to 2011, the Tsarnaev brothers had not come to law enforcement attention. In 2011, at the request of the Russian government, both the FBI and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) examined the backgrounds of Tamerlan and his mother, Zubeidat. The FBI claims that the Russian request indicated that Tamerlan "was a follower of radical Islam and a strong believer, and that he had changed drastically since 2010 as he prepared to leave the United States for travel to the country's region to join unspecified underground groups."436
The FBI responded to the Russian request by opening an assessment437 on Tamerlan and his mother.438 A Customs and Border Protection officer detailed to the Boston Joint Terrorism Taskforce (JTTF) also added Tamerlan's identity to the Treasury Enforcement Communications System (TECS). This process would potentially alert customs officials and law enforcement about Tamerlan's international travel.439 Additionally, Tamerlan's identity entered the FBI's Guardian threat tracking system—a classified tool used by the FBI to store information about terrorism-related suspicious activity.440
As part of its assessment, the Bureau allegedly interviewed Tamerlan (as well as other family members), visited the community college Tamerlan attended, and checked databases441 for information about possible links he or his mother had to terrorists. The FBI found no such ties. Investigators also reputedly conducted surveillance of the Tsarnaev apartment in Cambridge.442 By June 2011, the Bureau closed its assessment. In August 2011, the FBI provided the assessment's results to the Russian government.443 The Bureau also asked the Russian government for more details but purportedly received nothing else.444 In congressional testimony, Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis claimed that the FBI did not share the fact that they investigated Tsarnaev with the Boston Police Department.445 It is unclear what impact, if any, such sharing may have had on subsequent events.
In September 2011, the Russian government also provided the CIA with the same information on Tamerlan and his mother that it had given to the FBI.446 The CIA turned over this information to the National Counterterrorism Center, and in October 2011, Tamerlan and his mother were added to the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment (TIDE), the U.S. government's "central repository of information on international terrorist identities."447 The names were also entered into the Terrorist Screening Database (TSDB). Administered by the FBI, this database contains the names of foreign and domestic "individuals who are known or reasonably suspected to be or have been engaged in conduct constituting, in preparation for, in aid of, or related to terrorism."448 It is used as the basis for narrower screening processes, including the No Fly and Selectee lists used by the Transportation Security Administration for air passenger screening.449 It appears that neither Tamerlan nor his mother was included in any other lists aside from TIDE, the TSDB, and TECS.450
In January 2012, Tamerlan traveled to Russia. While there, he allegedly visited the Russian Republic of Dagestan. Reportedly, three days prior to his flight from the United States to Russia, the TECS system—as it is designed to do—notified the FBI that Tamerlan was set to travel. However, a second designed follow-up notification meant to alert authorities the day of travel failed to happen, possibly because of a misspelling of his name by an airline employee that occurred as Tsarnaev checked in for his flight.451 When Tamerlan returned to the United States in July 2012, the Boston JTTF received a TECS notification, but this information was not widely shared within the JTTF.452
It is unclear exactly when, why, or how Tamerlan and Dzhokhar may have radicalized. There is the possibility that one or both of the brothers had contact or ties to foreign terrorists. However, U.S. officials, including President Obama, have suggested that the Tsarnaev brothers radicalized on their own.453 At the very least, Dzhokhar radicalized in the United States. Unlike his brother, he did not travel abroad in 2012.
The brothers may have been motivated by U.S. military activity in Iraq and Afghanistan.454 A note allegedly left by Dzhokhar in the boat where he was captured appears to support this claim. The note—purportedly penned on a wall inside the boat—also suggests that the alleged bombers viewed the civilians they killed as "collateral damage."455
Eric Harroun—Fighting with Nusra Front Members against the Bashar al Asad Regime in Syria, March 2013
In March 2013, Eric Harroun, of Phoenix, Arizona, was arrested for "conspiring to use a rocket propelled grenade (RPG) [a weapon of mass destruction] while fighting with the al Nusrah Front."456 According to DOJ, on March 27, 2013, Harroun arrived at Dulles International Airport in northern Virginia after spending several months abroad, including time in Syria and Turkey.457 Shortly after Harroun's return to the United States, the FBI reportedly took the 30-year-old U.S. citizen, self-described convert to Islam, and former U.S. Army soldier into custody.458 He was indicted in June 2013 for conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and conspiracy to use destructive devices overseas.459
It appears that in building its case, the FBI relied on Harroun's own portrayals of what he did while in Syria. According to DOJ, before his arrest, Harroun voluntarily submitted to an FBI interview at a hotel in northern Virginia. During it, he allegedly admitted to being part of a Nusra "RPG team" and engaging in combat.460 Prior to his meeting with the FBI in Virginia, Harroun also voluntarily participated in three interviews with the Bureau at the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. During the sessions in Turkey, he allegedly claimed to have initially fought with the Free Syrian Army (a Syrian opposition group), only falling in with the Nusra Front after he, his Free Syrian Army comrades, and a band of Nusra fighters engaged in a skirmish against Syrian regime forces.461 Additionally, the FBI searched Harroun's Facebook account in March 2013. The Bureau states that it found photographs of him holding RPGs and other weapons.462 Before his arrest, it appears that media outlets also interviewed Harroun, who openly discussed with them his purported exploits involving the Nusra Front.463 Harroun described himself as a freedom fighter in one of these interviews.464
Reaz Qadir Khan—Support of 2009 Suicide Attack near the Headquarters of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Directorate Headquarters, March 2013
In March 2013, Reaz Qadir Khan, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Portland, Oregon, was arrested on material support charges. These were related to a terrorist strike near ISI headquarters in Lahore, Pakistan, in 2009. DOJ claims that Khan provided advice and money to one of the three people involved in the attack, Ali Jaleel.465 According to DOJ, between 2005 and 2008, Kahn exchanged emails with Jaleel. They are said to have corresponded about martyrdom and how to get Jaleel from the Maldives, where he lived, to Pakistan to participate in violent jihad.466 The duo also allegedly discussed how Khan was to support Jaleel's family after the latter had died. The U.S. government purports that Khan sent Jaleel $2,450 to facilitate his entrance into a terrorist training camp and forwarded an additional $750 to Jaleel's family.467 The 2009 attack, which included the detonation of an explosive-laden van as well as gunfire, killed more than 30 people.468 Al Qaeda released a video in which Jaleel claimed responsibility for the attack.469
Matthew Aaron Llaneza—Oakland, California, Plot to Blow up a Bank, February 2013
In February 2013, DOJ charged Matthew Aaron Llaneza with "attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction against property used in an activity that affects interstate or foreign commerce."470 Llaneza, 28 years old at the time of his arrest, reportedly a former Marine, a convert to Islam, and a resident of San Jose, California, allegedly conspired to detonate a car bomb near a Bank of America branch in Oakland, California.471 DOJ asserts that he built a bomb and devised a plot to trigger the device with a man he thought was tied to the Taliban. This individual was an FBI undercover agent, and the bomb was inert.472 Llaneza allegedly
proposed structuring the attack to make it appear that the responsible party was an umbrella organization for a loose collection of anti-government militias and their sympathizers. Llaneza's stated goal was to trigger a governmental crackdown, which he expected would trigger a right-wing counter-response against the government followed by, he hoped, civil war.473
With the undercover agent, Llaneza also reputedly discussed plans to travel to Pakistan once he had successfully executed his plot in the United States.474 Llaneza was apprehended after he purportedly tried to trigger the bomb in front of the bank.475
News reports and court documents suggest that Llaneza had a troubled past. In 2011, after a police investigation, Matthew Llaneza was convicted in California for illegally transporting an AK-47 rifle and high-capacity magazines. He had stated to police that he had legally purchased these items in Arizona.476 Llaneza's father alerted authorities to concerns he had about his son's behavior—namely, that he was suicidal.477 As part of the weapons-related criminal case, California probation officers noted in official paperwork that Matthew Llaneza suffered suicidal tendencies, believed that drug cartels were hunting him, and had received mental health treatment.478
Erwin Antonio Rios—Plot to Travel Overseas to Wage Jihad, February 2013
A criminal complaint issued in federal court in February 2013 claimed that Erwin Antonio Rios considered himself to be a believer in "the ideology of Radical Islamic Extremism," who hoped to participate in violent jihad abroad.479 During the course of the FBI's investigation into Rios's activities, he allegedly discussed the writing of now-deceased radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki with an informant.480 In May 2013, Rios, a 19-year-old resident of Fayetteville, North Carolina, pled guilty "to possession of a stolen firearm."481 DOJ asserts that he plotted to obtain a firearm so he could "commit violent robberies within North Carolina."482 He also purportedly considered attacking law enforcement officials.483 In February 2013, Rios purchased what he thought was a stolen firearm from a Bureau confidential informant—the culmination of an FBI sting operation.484 Rios was subsequently detained by FBI agents.485
Marcos Alonso Zea and Justin Kaliebe—Plotting to Travel Overseas to Join Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, January 2012, October 2013
According to DOJ, Marcos Alonso Zea and Justin Kaliebe conspired to join Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). In October 2013, terrorism-related federal grand jury charges were leveled against Zea, 25 years old at the time. DOJ alleges that in January 2012, Zea, a U.S. citizen from Brentwood, on Long Island in New York, tried to fly from New York City to Yemen via London. However, customs officials in the United Kingdom intercepted him and returned him to the United States. Reportedly, this did not stop Zea's violent jihadist ambitions. Subsequently, he encouraged Kaliebe's efforts to join AQAP by advising him, giving him money, and trying to inspire him as well. During their investigation, federal officials found "an assortment of violent Islamic extremist materials" on Zea's computer hard drive, including issues of Inspire magazine.486 Zea converted from Catholicism to Islam several years ago according to a news report citing the alleged terrorist's father.487
Kaliebe was 18 years old at the time the terrorism charges against him were made public in June 2013, in a separate indictment. Kaliebe is a U.S. citizen and convert to Islam who had lived in Babylon and Bay Shore on Long Island in New York.488 According to DOJ, Kaliebe tried to travel to Yemen to join AQAP.489 One of Kaliebe's attorneys has suggested that the young man suffers from autism and did not comprehend his own efforts to join a terrorist organization.490 Kaliebe was arrested while trying to start his trip at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport in January 2013. In February 2013, he pled guilty "to attempting to provide material support to [AQAP] and attempting to provide material support to terrorists."491 DOJ has noted that Kaliebe was in high school during the investigation into his activities. These activities included revealing to undercover investigators that he was interested in waging violent jihad, swearing loyalty to AQAP and Al Qaeda leaders (including Anwar al- Awlaki), purchasing airline tickets, and procuring a passport.492
Mohammad Abdul Rahman Abukhdair and Randy Wilson—Mobile, Alabama, Plot to Wage Jihad in Africa, December 2012
DOJ claims that Mohammad Abdul Rahman Abukhdair and Randy Wilson conspired to provide material support to terrorists by plotting to travel to Africa and engage in violent jihad. Both were 25 years old and living in Mobile, Alabama, when arrested in December 2012. U.S. citizens, the two were apprehended en route to Mauritania. They had discussed traveling from there to Mali to join a terrorist organization, perhaps Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.493
According to DOJ, the two met online in 2010. At the time, Wilson resided in Mobile and Abukhdair was in Egypt. (Abukhdair had moved to Egypt in 2007 to study Arabic.) DOJ claims that both had ties to suspected terrorists prior to meeting. Allegedly, Wilson knew Omar Hammami, and Egyptian officials ended up arresting Abukhdair on terrorism charges in 2010.494 Egyptian authorities kept him in prison for two months and then deported him to the United States in early 2011. He moved to Mobile in October 2011 and lived with Wilson and his family.495 It is unclear whether Abukhdair radicalized in the United States or abroad or how his experience in an Egyptian prison shaped his outlook. The criminal complaint describes one conversation in which the plotters discussed attacking targets in the United States, however, it appears that their scheme almost completely revolved around joining a foreign terrorist group.496 At one point, Abukhdair and Wilson even raised money for, opened, and briefly operated a men's fragrance store to appear more legitimate after they began to suspect that they were under law enforcement surveillance. In fact, the FBI used an undercover employee and an informant during the investigation.497 It appears that Abukhdair and Wilson never considered that these particular individuals worked for investigators. In April 2013, Wilson pled guilty to conspiracy to provide material support.498 Abukhdair pled guilty in August 2013.499
Qazi Brothers—Florida Plot, November 2012
Two brothers residing in Broward County, Florida, were arrested in November 2012. Little is known about the plot, aside from some basic details regarding the brothers and the charges they face. The duo was charged with "conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction (explosives)."500 The two suspects are Raees Alam Qazi (age 20 at the time of his arrest and a naturalized U.S. citizen from Pakistan) and Sheheryar Alam Qazi (age 30 at the time of his arrest and a naturalized U.S. citizen from Pakistan). The brothers pled not guilty to the charges. The case reportedly did not involve an FBI sting operation but did include confidential informants. Raees Qazi allegedly scouted targets in New York City over Thanksgiving weekend 2012, and he possessed articles from Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's magazine, Inspire, detailing how to assemble bomb components, some of which he may have been gathering.501 It is not clear whether the duo had ties to a specific terrorist organization, but their plotting stemmed back to at least July 2011.502
Four California Men Attempt to Join Al Qaeda and the Taliban, November 2012
On November 19, 2012, DOJ announced a federal criminal complaint implicating four men from Southern California in a plot to join either Al Qaeda or the Taliban. The alleged plotters include
- Sohiel Omar Kabir—age 34 at the time of arrest; a former resident of Pomona, California; a naturalized U.S. citizen; and born in Afghanistan.
- Ralph Deleon—age 23 at the time of arrest; from Ontario, California; a lawful permanent resident alien; and born in the Philippines.
- Miguel Alejandro Santana Vidriales—age 21 at the time of arrest; from Upland, California; and a lawful permanent resident born in Mexico, whose application for citizenship is pending in the United States.
- Arifeen David Gojali—age 21 at the time of arrest; from Riverside, California; and a U.S. citizen.503
DOJ alleges that in 2010, Kabir "influenced Santana and Deleon to convert to Islam and introduced [them] to radical and violent Islamic doctrine.... " This purportedly included posting items online and perusing violent jihadist material on the web.504 DOJ asserts that Kabir listed content related to Al Qaeda on his Facebook page and that, in turn, Santana and Deleon used the Facebook "like" function to highlight some of these links via their own Facebook accounts.505 Some of the jihadist material that members of the group reputedly accessed included propaganda developed by Anwar al-Awlaki. DOJ notes that in January 2012, while crossing from Mexico into the United States at the San Ysidro, California, port of entry, Santana admitted to carrying a copy of Inspire Magazine that he had downloaded. Kabir reportedly introduced Santana to Inspire.506 The FBI used an undercover operative online to evaluate the threat posed by at least one suspect.507
According to DOJ, all four suspects planned to join Al Qaeda or Taliban training camps in Afghanistan, and Kabir traveled to the country, where he was apprehended.508 While Kabir lived in Afghanistan, he allegedly communicated with the other conspirators in the plot. DOJ describes some of the plotters discussing the targeting of the U.S. military abroad as well as suicide missions.509 Additionally, DOJ asserts that Santana, Deleon, Gojali (who was brought into the group by Deleon), and an FBI informant practiced shooting AK-47 and M16-styled rifles at a shooting range in Los Angeles, California. These four also purportedly visited a paintball facility in Corona, California, to engage in what they viewed as training for their violent jihad.510
Adel Daoud—Plot to Bomb a Chicago, Illinois, Bar, September 2012
On September 14, 2012, Adel Daoud was arrested after he allegedly attempted to trigger what he thought was a car bomb in front of a bar in downtown Chicago. He was charged with one count of attempt to use of a weapon of mass destruction and one count of attempt to damage and destroy a building by means of an explosive. The bomb was a dud supplied by an FBI undercover agent. A U.S. citizen, Daoud was 18 years old at the time of his arrest. He attracted law enforcement attention after purportedly distributing items related to violent jihad online such as photographs, a PowerPoint presentation, and emails. He reputedly accessed and distributed electronic information related to radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki. The Department of Justice (DOJ) asserts that in May 2012, FBI online undercover employees began communicating with Daoud, and by June 2012, introduced him to an undercover agent posing as a terrorist. According to DOJ, the suspect proceeded to develop "a list of approximately 29 potential targets, including military recruiting centers, bars, malls, and other tourist attractions in the Chicago area. He then selected, researched and surveilled a target [the bar] for attack ... " On September 14, about a block away from the targeted establishment, Daoud allegedly attempted to remotely detonate the fake car bomb.511 Additionally, in August 2013, DOJ implicated Daoud in an attempt to solicit the murder of an undercover FBI agent who had been involved in the terrorism case targeting the would-be bomber. Daoud "was charged with one count each of solicitation of murder or attempted murder of a federal agent, murder-for-hire, and obstruction of justice."512
Amine El Khalifi—Plot to Attack U.S. Capitol Building, February 2012
On February 17, 2012, Amine El Khalifi was arrested in Washington, DC, for "allegedly attempting to detonate a bomb in a suicide attack on the U.S. Capitol building as part of what he intended to be a terrorist operation."513 El Khalifi, a Moroccan citizen, who was 29 years old at the time of his arrest, entered the United States in 1999 on a B2 (tourism) visa. He remained in the country illegally after his visa expired in 1999.514
El Khalifi's arrest resulted from an undercover investigation by the FBI. During the course of the investigation, El Khalifi reputedly discussed targeting a synagogue and cased a restaurant in preparation to bomb it. DOJ has asserted that he intended to kill U.S. military personnel who frequented the eatery, and he purportedly thought his efforts were part of a larger Al Qaeda plan targeting a nearby military installation.515 According to the criminal complaint filed in the case, El Khalifi changed his mind and opted to detonate a suicide vest in the U.S. Capitol instead of attacking the restaurant.516 He conducted surveillance of the building and was arrested after taking possession of a firearm and suicide vest rendered inoperable by law enforcement.517 In June 2012, El Khalifi pled guilty to one count of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction against U.S. property.518
Jamshid Muhtorov—Plot to Join Islamic Jihad Union (IJU), January 2012
According to DOJ, Jamshid Muhtorov, a refugee from Uzbekistan living in Aurora, Colorado, prior to his arrest on January 21, 2012, "planned to travel overseas where he intended to fight on behalf of the Islamic Jihad Union (IJU), a designated foreign terrorist organization."519 Muhtorov allegedly communicated with a website administrator linked to the IJU, and this brought him to the FBI's attention. According to DOJ, Muhtorov professed his allegiance to IJU and noted that he was "ready for any task, even with the risk of dying."520 In March 2012, the FBI arrested one of Muhtorov's associates, Bakhtiyor Jumaev, in Philadelphia on one count of conspiracy to provide material support to the IJU. Jumaev allegedly sent funds intended for the IJU to Muhtorov.521
Sami Osmakac—Plot to Bomb Locations in Tampa, Florida, January 2012
On January 7, 2012, the FBI arrested Sami Osmakac, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in the former Yugoslavia (Kosovo) on one count of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.522 The FBI used a sting operation to apprehend Osmakac, who was 25 years old at the time of his arrest.523
According to FBI investigators, in September 2011, an FBI source reported that Osmakac and another person had asked about the availability of Al Qaeda-related flags at the source's business. The source continued to interact with Osmakac and report to the Bureau about his activities.524 Osmakac allegedly expressed interest in obtaining firearms and explosives for attacks he was planning in the Tampa area, and the source introduced him to an FBI undercover employee reputed to have access to such materials.525 The undercover employee supplied Osmakac with hand grenades, an assault rifle, a pistol, a car bomb, and an explosive belt. Osmakac was unaware that the items actually did not work.526 In the course of his plotting Osmakac purportedly discussed targets such as "night clubs in the Ybor City area of Tampa, the Operations Center of the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office in Ybor City, and a business in ... South Tampa ... "527 Muslims in Tampa reportedly aided the FBI in its investigation. Osmakac purportedly expressed extremist views prompting at least one local Muslim to tell authorities about him. According to news reports, the Islamic Society of Pinellas County, a mosque in the Tampa area, had expelled Osmakac.528
Craig Baxam—Attempt to Join Al al-Shabaab, January 2012
On January 6, 2012, the FBI arrested Craig Baxam as he returned to the United States from travels in Africa, where he attempted to join al-Shabaab.529 Baxam was 24 at the time of his arrest and a resident of Laurel, Maryland. DOJ alleges that in December 2011 he traveled from the United States to Kenya, intending to eventually transit into Somalia via bus routes and taxis.530 Kenyan police reportedly arrested Baxam before he could leave the country to join al-Shabaab.531 According to court documents, between 2007 and July 2011, Baxam, a U.S. citizen, served as a soldier in the U.S. Army. He converted to Islam shortly before leaving the service. Baxam hoped to join al-Shabaab to live under and defend its moral strictures.532 In January 2014, he pled guilty to "destroying records that might be used in a terrorism investigation."533 Baxam admitted that he had destroyed and discarded his personal computer to thwart investigators before he left the United States.534
Jose Pimentel—Plot to Bomb New York City Targets and Troops Returning from Combat Overseas, November 2011
On November 19, 2011, New York City police arrested naturalized U.S. citizen, convert to Islam, and New York state resident, Jose Pimentel on terrorism charges.535 According to then New York City Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly, Pimentel purportedly discussed "killing U.S. military personnel returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan," in conjunction with "bombing post offices in and around Washington Heights and police cars in New York City, as well as a police station in Bayonne, N.J."536 The would-be bomber was said to be building explosive devices when he was arrested after two years of surveillance by the New York City Police Department (NYPD).537 In February 2014, Pimentel pled guilty to a state charge, "attempted criminal possession of a weapon in the first degree as a crime of terrorism."538 DOJ did not bring federal charges against Pimentel.539
Pimentel discussed his plans with an individual he did not know was an NYPD criminal informant. Pimentel appears to have sympathized with Al Qaeda and drawn inspiration from radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki. The would-be bomber purportedly tried but failed to correspond with Awlaki via email, and the cleric's death may have sped up Pimentel's plotting.540 According to the criminal complaint filed in the case, the NYPD tracked Pimentel's internet activity.541 Commissioner Kelly publicly noted that Pimentel had posted online pro-Al Qaeda material as well as an article detailing how to make a bomb from Inspire Magazine.542 Working in the apartment of an NYPD criminal informant, Pimentel followed Inspire's bomb making instructions, scraping match heads, collecting the incendiary material, as well as drilling holes in three pipes, among other steps.543 A native of the Dominican Republic, Pimentel lived in Manhattan most of his life and resided in Schenectady, New York, for five years.544
Rezwan Ferdaus—Plot to Attack U.S. Capitol and Pentagon—September 2011
On September 28, 2011, Rezwan Ferdaus, a U.S. citizen from Ashland, Massachusetts, was arrested on terrorism charges. In July 2012, Ferdaus pled guilty to attempting to damage and destroy a federal building by using explosives and attempting to provide material support to terrorists.545 He plotted to attack the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol with explosives-laden remote-controlled airplanes. According to DOJ, he planned a ground assault in conjunction with his aerial attack, intending to use firearms and to involve six conspirators in this phase of his plot. Ferdaus also attempted to provide Al Qaeda with modified cell phones he believed would be used as detonators for improvised explosive devices intended to harm U.S. soldiers abroad. As described by DOJ, FBI undercover employees acting as members of Al Qaeda supplied Ferdaus with money, fake explosives for the airplanes, firearms, and hand grenades. In turn, (among other things) Ferdaus provided the cell phone detonators to these phony Al Qaeda recruiters as well as a training video on how to construct them.546
Ferdaus reportedly began plotting in 2010. In January 2011, he discussed his plans with an FBI informant. In May 2011, he visited the Washington, DC, area to conduct surveillance of his targets and view the site from which he intended to launch his remote-controlled airplanes.547 According to the FBI, Ferdaus believed that one of his airplanes could collapse the Capitol dome. It appears that Ferdaus did not view his domestic plot as a suicide mission. The FBI stated that in April 2011, it recorded Ferdaus discussing his desire to go abroad once he completed his attack in the United States. Aside from the undercover aspects of the sting operation, the Bureau also relied on Ferdaus's email and telephone records to build its case.548
Agron Hasbajrami—Plot to Fight in Pakistan—September 2011
On September 6, 2011, Agron Hasbajrami was arrested at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City as he tried to board a flight to Turkey. According to DOJ, Hasbajrami, a lawful permanent resident in the United States and an Albanian citizen, planned to join a jihadist fighting group in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. He also sent more than $1,000 to Pakistan to support the efforts of a militant with whom he communicated.549 In April 2012, Hasbajrami pled guilty to attempting to provide material support to terrorists.550
Naser Abdo—Plot to Attack Targets near Fort Hood—July 2011
On July 27, 2011, U.S. Army Private Naser Abdo was arrested near Fort Hood in Texas for plotting a shooting spree and bombing in the area—near the same place where Army Major Nidal Hasan killed 13 individuals in 2009. In May 2012, Abdo was convicted of one count of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction, one count of attempted murder of officers or employees of the United States, two counts of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a federal crime of violence, and two counts of possession of a destructive device in furtherance of a federal crime of violence.551
Abdo, described in the media as a Muslim soldier in the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, was reportedly absent without leave from the Army after applying for conscientious objector status.552
According to media reports, Abdo purchased gunpowder, shotgun ammunition, and a magazine for a semi-automatic pistol at a gun store near Fort Hood.553 An employee at the gun store supposedly brought Abdo to the attention of law enforcement officers. Federal officials noted that Abdo possessed a .40 caliber handgun, bomb making materials, and an article on how to construct an explosive device, among other items. The article was from Inspire, an English-language magazine produced by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.554
Ulugbek Kodirov—Plot to Assassinate President Obama, July 2011
Law enforcement authorities arrested Ulugbek Kodirov near Birmingham, Alabama, on July 13, 2011, for plotting to assassinate President Barak Obama. On July 26, 2011, a federal grand jury indicted Kodirov for threatening the President's life and illegally possessing weapons.555 Additionally on February 9, 2012, Kodirov was charged with material support of terrorism.556 The would-be assassin pled guilty to the three charges the following day.557
As part of his plotting, Kodirov admitted to communicating with someone he thought was a member of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, a terrorist organization designated by the Department of State.558 He also watched jihadist videos on his laptop computer with an individual and told the person that "he wanted to assist others in jihad overseas."559 Kodirov met with an undercover agent from whom he obtained disassembled hand grenades and a fully automatic machine gun to use in his planned assassination of the President.560 After Kodirov took possession of the weapons, agents arrested him.561 Reportedly, at the time of his arrest, he was in the country illegally and had come to the United States in 2009 on a student visa that was revoked when he failed to enroll in school.562 Investigators reportedly received assistance from local Muslim community members during the case.563
Emerson Begolly—Plot to Encourage Jihadist Acts in the United States—July 2011
On July 14, 2011, Emerson Begolly, a U.S. citizen from New Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was indicted for allegedly attempting to encourage jihadists to commit acts of terrorism within the United States and distributing information related to explosives online. In August 2011, he pled guilty to "soliciting others to engage in acts of terrorism within the United States and to using a firearm during and in relation to an assault on FBI agents."564 According to DOJ, Begolly posted "links to a 101-page document that contain[ed] information on how to set up a laboratory, conduct basic chemistry, and manufacture explosives." Also, according to the federal government, Begolly had bitten two FBI agents attempting to execute search warrants in January 2011, and during the altercation, he was in possession of a concealed firearm.565
Abu Khalid Abdul-Latif and Walli Mujahidh—Plot to Attack Seattle, Washington, Military Processing Center—June 2011
On June 22, 2011, Abu Khalid Abdul-Latif and Walli Mujahidh, were arrested on terrorism and firearms charges for plotting to attack a Seattle military processing center. According to DOJ, law enforcement first learned of the duo's plotting from a citizen who reported their activities, and an FBI sting operation apprehended the two as they took possession of machine guns they had purchased for the plot. The firearms had been rendered inert as part of the sting. The Assistant Attorney General for National Security described the plot as, "driven by a violent, extreme ideology."566 While the two reportedly had not worked out all of the details of their plot, they allegedly were frustrated by "American war policies" and hoped for an attack that would garner wide attention.567 In December 2011, Mujahidh pled guilty to "conspiracy to murder officers and agents of the United States, conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction, and unlawful possession of a firearm."568
Yonathan Melaku—Plot to Shoot Targets in Washington, DC, Area—June 2011
On June 23, 2011, DOJ announced that Yonathan Melaku, an Ethiopian native living in Alexandria, Virginia, had been charged with destruction of property and firearm violations. These charges stemmed from five shootings at military installations in Northern Virginia between October and November 2010. No one was harmed in the shootings.569 It is unclear to what extent Melaku, a Marine Corps reservist, was driven by jihadist motivations; however, investigators linked Melaku to a "spiral notebook with numerous Arabic statements referencing the Taliban, Al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, 'The Path to Jihad,' as well as a list of several other individuals associated with foreign terrorist organizations."570 Law enforcement officials also found a video when they searched Melaku's bedroom. It reportedly depicted "Melaku in an automobile driving near what appears to be the U.S. Marine Corps Heritage Museum and repeatedly firing a handgun out the passenger-side window." In the video, he allegedly states, "that's my target. That's the military building. It's going to be attacked," and then he shouts, "Allahu Akbar."571 In January 2012, Melaku pled "guilty to a three-count information that included injuring property of the United States, use of a firearm during a crime of violence and attempted injury to veterans' memorials on U.S. property."572
Ahmed Ferhani and Mohamed Mamdouh—Plot to Attack New York City Targets—May 2011
On May 12, 2011, Ahmed Ferhani (an Algerian native living in Queens, New York) and Mohamed Mamdouh (a naturalized U.S. citizen from Morocco) were arrested for plotting to blow up a synagogue as well as churches in New York City. However, the duo had not chosen a specific target. New York City officials alleged that Ferhani was "driven by a hatred of Jews and a belief that Muslims are mistreated the world over." He and Mamdouh allegedly had purchased firearms and a hand grenade from an undercover detective posing as a gun dealer. The two were charged under a New York state terrorism statute and do not face federal charges.573
Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari—Plot to Bomb U.S. Targets—February 2011
On February 23, 2011, FBI agents arrested Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari, a citizen of Saudi Arabia and resident of Lubbock, Texas. He was charged with attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction. The federal government also argued that he plotted to purchase material to make an improvised explosive device and had researched potential U.S. targets. A chemical supplier provided information to the FBI about a suspicious attempted purchase by Aldawsari.574 Prosecutors also stated that Aldawsari documented his interest in violent jihad and martyrdom in blog postings and a personal journal.575 According to DOJ, among the targets Aldawsari researched were "the names and home addresses of three American citizens who had previously served in the U.S. military and had been stationed for a time at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq."576 In June 2012, Aldawsari was found guilty of one count of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.577
Antonio Martinez—Plot to Attack an Armed Forces Recruiting Station in Maryland—December 2010
On December 8, 2010, federal officials charged Antonio Martinez, a Muslim convert, with the attempted murder of federal officers and employees and attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction against federal property. Caught by the FBI in a sting operation, Martinez allegedly planned to attack an Armed Forces recruiting station in Maryland using a sport utility vehicle (SUV) loaded with what he believed was a bomb.578 According to DOJ, in late September 2010, Martinez had posted a statement on his Facebook account, "calling for violence to stop the oppression of Muslims."579 During the course of his plot, he also allegedly tried to recruit others to join him, discussed martyrdom, and praised Anwar al-Awlaki, among other things.580 In January 2012, Martinez pled guilty to attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.581
Mohamed Osman Mohamud—Plot to Detonate Van Packed with Explosives in Portland, Oregon—November 2010
Mohamed Osman Mohamud, a Somali-born naturalized U.S. citizen, was arrested on November 26, 2010, moments after he tried to detonate a van he allegedly believed was packed with explosives in Portland's Pioneer Courthouse Square. The square was crowded with thousands of people who had gathered for an annual Christmas tree lighting event.582
According to federal officials, Mohamud came to the attention of the FBI after a tip from the Muslim community. This led officials to discover an email exchange that occurred in 2009 between Mohamud and an unindicted associate located in Pakistan. The two communicated regularly, and in December 2009 it is alleged that they discussed the possibility of Mohamud traveling there to prepare for violent jihad583 presumably targeting U.S. troops.
The FBI subsequently developed a sting operation that involved recorded meetings between Mohamud and undercover FBI operatives beginning in the summer of 2010. According to DOJ, in an August 2010, meeting with two FBI undercover operatives, Mohamud stated that "he had been thinking of committing some form of violent jihad since the age of fifteen."584 As part of the sting, the undercover agents purportedly went along with Mohamud's plotting for a terrorist attack. This included a "trial run" where Mohamud and the undercover operatives detonated a bomb in a backpack in a remote Oregon location. In addition, Mohamud reportedly bought various bomb components and mailed them to the undercover agents.585
According to DOJ, during another meeting with an undercover operative, Mohamud identified Portland's Pioneer Courthouse Square Christmas lighting event as a potential target for a bomb. When the undercover operative pointed out that "there would be lots of children at such an event … Mohamud replied he was looking for a 'huge mass that will … be attacked in their own element with their families celebrating the holidays.'"586
On November 26, undercover operatives showed Mohamud a white van with a dummy explosive device inside that was actually supplied by the FBI. He was reported to have said the device looked "beautiful."587 They later drove the van to Pioneer Courthouse Square where Mohamud allegedly attempted to detonate the device on two separate occasions using a cell phone. After the second attempt he was taken into custody. Officials stated that at no time did the device pose a danger to the public.588
At a hearing in Federal District Court in Portland on November 29, 2010, Mohamud plead not guilty to the charges. His lawyers suggested that the government might be "manufacturing crime" and accused authorities of timing the plot for maximum publicity and effect.589 Attorney General Eric Holder was quoted as saying of the case, "I am confident that there is no entrapment here, and no entrapment claim will be found to be successful."590 In January 2013, Mohamud was found guilty of "attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction."591 In November 2013, DOJ revealed that warrantless electronic foreign intelligence surveillance authorized under U.S. law had been employed in the case against Mohamud.592
Farooque Ahmed—Plot to Bomb Washington, DC, Subway Stations—October 2010
Farooque Ahmed, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Pakistan, was arrested on October 27, 2010, and charged with conspiring with others he believed to be al Qaeda operatives to bomb subway stations in Washington, DC. In fact, his co-conspirators were really undercover law enforcement officers. They provided Ahmed with a Quran including code words for locations of future meetings which were held in various hotel rooms in the Northern Virginia area and recorded by the FBI.593 In April 2011, Ahmed was sentenced to 23 years in prison for his plotting.594
The allegations against Ahmed were contained in an indictment unsealed on October 27, 2010.595 According to the indictment, between April and October of 2010, Ahmed met with individuals he thought were representatives of a terrorist organization at several Northern Virginia hotels. At these meetings, Ahmed agreed to conduct surveillance and assess the security of Washington, DC, Metrorail stations in the Arlington County area. He allegedly wanted to "kill as many military personnel as possible." Ahmed later gave to undercover operatives posing as terrorists a thumb drive containing video images of some of the stations as well as sketches of the stations. He also discussed at these meetings the best time and location for an attack in order to cause the most casualties.596
According to court documents, Ahmed told undercover operatives that "he wished to fight in jihad himself, and has trained to do so using various firearms." He also claimed to have studied martial arts for four years and learned knife, gun, and disarming techniques. He is alleged to have said that he planned to travel to engage in jihad after participating in the Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca). Court documents allege that Ahmed also "discussed his desire to provide financial assistance" to jihadists fighting abroad.597
Ahmed emigrated with his family from Pakistan in 1993. He graduated from the College of Staten Island in New York. He is a married father of one who was working for a telecommunications company in Northern Virginia at the time of his arrest. The FBI and White House have said the public was never in danger because FBI agents had Ahmed under tight surveillance before the sting began and until his arrest. Law enforcement officials have also said that the tip that led the FBI to Ahmed came from a source in the Muslim community.598
Abdel Hameed Shehadeh—Travel Abroad to Wage Jihad—October 2010
Abdel Hameed Shehadeh, a U.S. citizen born in New York City to a Palestinian American family, was arrested on October 22, 2010, in Honolulu, Hawaii. Among the accusations against him was that he tried to join the U.S. military so he could be deployed to Iraq but would desert and fight with anti-American insurgency forces.
A criminal complaint unsealed on October 25, 2010, accused Shehadeh of making false statements in a matter involving international terrorism.599 According to the complaint, in early 2008 Shehadeh devised a plan to travel to Pakistan in order to join the Taliban or a similar fighting group. In furtherance of his plan, on June 13, 2008, Shehadeh flew on a one-way airline ticket from John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), New York, to Islamabad, Pakistan. Upon landing in Pakistan, Shehadeh was denied entry into the country by Pakistani officials and he returned to the United States. He was questioned by FBI agents and New York Police Department (NYPD) detectives on multiple occasions about the purpose of his trip to Pakistan. He told them that he had traveled to Pakistan in order to visit an Islamic university and to attend a friend's wedding. The complaint alleges that Shehadeh subsequently admitted to FBI agents in Hawaii that the true purpose of his trip to Pakistan was to join a fighting group such as the Taliban.
According to the complaint, several weeks after Shehadeh was denied entry to Pakistan, he attempted to enlist in the U.S. Army at the Times Square recruiting station in New York City. Shehadeh's application was denied when it was discovered that he had concealed his prior trip to Pakistan. Although Shehadeh claimed that he attempted to enlist for career opportunities and benefits, the complaint alleges that his true motive was to deploy to Iraq, where he intended to desert and fight against the U.S. military alongside Iraqi insurgent forces.600
In addition, the complaint alleges that Shehadeh created and administered multiple websites dedicated to spreading violent jihadist ideology. The content of these websites included, among other things, speeches from known Al Qaeda leaders such as Abu Yahya al-Libi and Ayman al-Zawahiri. In December 2010 Shehadeh was indicted for lying to FBI agents.601
The New York Times reported that relatives of Shehadeh were surprised by the charges. Although he seemed "confused and lost," according to one relative, he was nevertheless aware, as was the whole family, that he was being tracked by investigators. "He was trying to outsmart the FBI," said the relative, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "He thought it was a game."602 A federal court in Brooklyn, New York, ordered Shehadeh held without bail.603
Omar Hammami—al-Shabaab Figure—August 2010
In an indictment unsealed in August 2010,604 Omar Hammami, an American citizen from Daphne, Alabama, was accused of supporting al-Shabaab. According to public reports, Hammami appeared in several propaganda videos on behalf of al-Shabaab that were distributed worldwide. One showed him allegedly instructing recruits in urban warfare. His time with al-Shabaab possibly included involvement in the group's recruitment strategy and financial management as well as other operational responsibilities.605 In March 2012, experts noted that Hammami may have been caught up in power struggle within al-Shabaab.606 In September 2013, he publicly renounced his ties to al-Shabaab and Al Qaeda, and news reports indicated that he was killed by assassins from the terrorist group.607
According to press accounts, as a child, Hammami lived between the Christian world of his American mother and the Muslim beliefs of his Syrian-born father. He converted to Islam in high school, and while a student at the University of South Alabama, led the Muslim Student Association and began adhering to Salafi doctrine. His Salafism sprang in part from a desire to rebel against his father. In 2002, he dropped out of school, and by 2004 he had found his way to Toronto, Canada, where the American involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan encouraged him to reconsider his nonviolent Salafi views. One of his friends alleges that Hammami began surfing the web for information on jihad. While in Canada, he married a Somali woman. In 2005 they moved to Cairo, and by late 2006 he purportedly was in Somalia pursuing violent jihad.608
Jehad Mostafa—Attempted Travel to Somalia to Fight—August 2010
Few details are publicly available about Jehad Mostafa, a U.S. citizen who grew up in San Diego, California, and allegedly left the United States to fight with al-Shabaab in Somalia. The indictment in Mostafa's case mentions little specifically about his alleged terrorist activity but ties him to al-Shabaab between March 2008 and June 2009. News sources suggest that he left the United States in December 2005.609
Shaker Masri—Attempted Travel to Somalia or Afghanistan to Fight—July 2010
Shaker Masri, a U.S. citizen born in Alabama but raised abroad, was arrested by the FBI on August 3, 2010, just before he was allegedly planning to travel to Somalia or Afghanistan to join either al-Shabaab or Al Qaeda. The FBI used a cooperating source who met Masri in November 2008 and subsequently consensually recorded conversations with him for the investigation. According to court documents,610 Masri encouraged the cooperating source to "review speeches" by Anwar al-Awlaki. In July 2012, Masri pled guilty to material support charges for his planned travel to Somalia.611
Zachary Chesser—Attempted Travel to Somali to Fight, Encouraging Violent Jihadists to Kill U.S. Citizens—July 2010
On July 21, 2010, Zachary Chesser, a U.S. citizen from Fairfax County, Virginia, was arrested on terrorism-related charges. According to DOJ, Chesser told FBI agents that on two occasions he tried to travel to Somalia to join al-Shabaab. In his last attempt, Chesser brought his infant son with him to John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York City to potentially disguise his intentions.612
Three months later, on October 20, 2010, Chesser pled guilty to charges that he communicated threats against the writers of the "South Park" television show, solicited violent jihadists to desensitize law enforcement, and attempted to provide material support to al-Shabaab.613 He received a 25-year sentence.614 DOJ described Chesser first showing interest in Islam in 2008 and developing a fascination with extremist views, sending Anwar al-Awlaki emails and receiving two replies from the radical cleric. He also started his own YouTube.com account and operated his own blog where he promoted violent jihad.615
According to court documents filed with his plea agreement, "Chesser maintained several online profiles dedicated to extremist jihadist propaganda ... took repeated steps in April 2010 to encourage violent jihadists to attack the writers of South Park for their depiction of Muhammad … solicit[ed] others to desensitize law enforcement by placing suspicious-looking but innocent packages in public places … and twice attempt[ed] to leave the United States and travel to Somalia for the purpose of joining al-Shabaab and engage in violent jihad as a foreign fighter."616
Federal investigators have linked three others to Chesser's activities. His wife, Proscovia Kampire Nzabanita, pled guilty to making a false statement to an FBI agent during the course of the Bureau's investigation of her husband.617 Jesse Curtis Morton (aka Younus Mohammad) and Yousef Mohamid Al-Khattab (aka Joseph Cohen) were implicated in the threats to the creators of South Park. In May 2011, Morton , a onetime Brooklyn resident and co-founder of the extremist group Revolution Muslim, was also charged with threatening the writers of South Park online. According to press reports, he and Chesser cooperated in drafting a "clarification statement" regarding Chesser's initial postings targeting the writers of South Park. In court documents, DOJ argues that the "clarification statement" was actually a threat.618 Morton was arrested by Moroccan officials in May 2011.619 In February 2012, he pled guilty in federal court to "using his position as a leader of the Revolution Muslim Organization's Internet sites to conspire to solicit murder, make threatening communications, and use the Internet to place others in fear."620 In October 2013, Al-Khattab, who administered Revolution Muslim's website and other internet platforms, pled guilty to "us[ing] the Internet to place others in fear of serious bodily injury."621 For example, as part of Al-Khattab's online efforts, in January 2009, he posted a video and photo of the headquarters of a Jewish organization in Brooklyn. He included "a map and directions to specific facilities." Al-Khattab also posted "a link to The Anarchist Cookbook, which is a manual for (among other things) constructing and using explosive devices."622
Paul Rockwood, Jr. and Nadia Rockwood—Plot to Kill People on a Hit List—July 2010
On July 21, 2010, Paul Rockwood, Jr., a U.S. citizen and Muslim convert, pled guilty to making false statements to the FBI in connection with a terrorism investigation. On the same day, Rockwood's wife, Nadia Rockwood, also pled guilty to making false statements related to her husband's case.
According to DOJ, Paul Rockwood, Jr. converted to Islam in late 2001 or early 2002 while living in Virginia and followed the teachings of radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki.623 Authorities allege that after Rockwood moved to Alaska in 2006, he visited websites to research explosive components, assembly of remote triggering devices, and construction of bombs. In 2009, he reportedly began discussing using mail bombs and possibly shooting people in the head. By early 2010, Rockwood had allegedly formalized a list of targets he wanted to kill."624
Paul Rockwood received the maximum sentence of eight years in prison, consistent with his plea agreement. His wife was allowed to return to the United Kingdom and serve five years of probation there and may not return to the United States without prior approval.625
Mohamed Alessa and Carlos Almonte—Attempted Travel to Somalia to Fight—June 2010
On June 5, 2010, two New Jersey residents Mohamed Alessa (a U.S. citizen from a Palestinian American family) and Carlos Almonte (a Dominican American and Muslim convert)—were arrested at JFK in New York prior to boarding separate flights to Egypt. Authorities allege the two had hoped to eventually link up with al-Shabaab in Somalia.626 The following day, they were charged with conspiracy to kill Americans abroad. They are alleged to have vowed to "slice up" troops in "a thousand pieces," according to the criminal complaint which cites conversations secretly recorded by a NYPD undercover officer.627 In March 2011, the duo pled guilty to conspiring to murder individuals overseas on behalf of al-Shabaab.628
Law enforcement interest in Alessa and Almonte began when an email tip was received by the FBI on October 9, 2006. It suggested that the two young men were engaged in radical behavior, perusing jihadist websites, and discussing terrorist activity.629 They were then monitored by authorities for the next four years. Initially it was unclear whether the pair was just engaged in radical talk or actually planning for violent jihad. However, in 2007, the two traveled to Jordan where they wanted to be recruited to fight in Iraq, but were rejected and "were upset at the individuals who failed to recruit them."630 By 2009, the case included an undercover investigator from the NYPD interacting with the two suspects.631
In the criminal complaint, the two allegedly participated in several activities that had officials concerned that they were moving further from radicalization to violent extremism. This included lifting weights and rehearsing combat techniques using paintball guns, and gathering equipment, including tactical-brand flashlights and combat boots, among other things.632 According to officials, when the duo booked separate flights in June 2010 to Egypt, they were arrested because they were preparing to leave the country to fight overseas.633
Faisal Shahzad—Attempted Car Bombing in Times Square, New York City—May 1, 2010
On May 1, 2010, Faisal Shahzad—a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Pakistan—parked his Nissan Pathfinder SUV containing a crude incendiary device along West 45th Street near Times Square in New York City. A t-shirt vendor in the area observed smoke coming from the vehicle and alerted police. The device within the SUV did not explode and was subsequently rendered safe by the New York City Police bomb squad.634
Shahzad was arrested three days later at JFK after he had boarded an Emirates Air flight bound for Dubai. At a news conference to announce the arrest, Attorney General Eric Holder stated "[i]t was clear that the intent behind this terrorist act was to kill Americans." Law enforcement officials reported that the information that led to Shahzad's arrest centered on evidence gathered about the sale of the Nissan Pathfinder that was used in the attempted attack. Police discovered that Shahzad had purchased the vehicle through an Internet listing. Although he gave the seller a false name, police were able to trace back to him a disposable cell phone number that he also gave the seller.635
On June 21, 2010, Shahzad pled guilty to 10 terrorism charges that were contained in a superseding indictment handed down by a grand jury in New York and which added five additional counts to the original May 5, 2010, indictment.636 He was charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries, use of a destructive device in connection with criminal violence, transporting and receiving explosives, and damaging and destroying property by means of fire.637 Since his arrest, DOJ reports that Shahzad has not only admitted his role in the plot, but continued to cooperate with authorities, and provided valuable intelligence.638
Shortly after the failed attack, the terrorist organization Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility in a message on an audiotape posted on the Internet.639 Days later, U.S. officials said that investigators had developed evidence to support the TTP claim.640 According to press accounts, Pakistani authorities arrested or detained at least 13 people in Pakistan in connection with the case. One of those arrested was reported to have provided an "independent stream" of evidence that the Pakistani Taliban was behind the attempt and has admitted to helping Faisal Shahzad travel into Pakistan's tribal belt for bomb training.641
In the courtroom where he pled guilty, Shahzad admitted to having received explosives training from the TTP at a camp in Pakistan's Waziristan region.642 However the device found inside the Nissan Pathfinder was crudely constructed. It consisted of three 20-gallon propane tanks, 152 M-88 (consumer-grade) fireworks, one 4-foot by 2-foot metal gun locker filled with 250 pounds of urea-based fertilizer, and two alarm clocks connected by wires.643 The fertilizer was inert and not usable as an explosive. Had the device been viable, police say it could have produced a "significant fireball" and sprayed shrapnel with enough force to kill pedestrians and knock out windows in the crowded theater district in midtown Manhattan.644
Two other individuals were indicted in the United States in connection with this terrorist plot:
- Mohammad Younis, of Long Island, New York, was arrested in September 2010 and accused of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business which provided funds to Faisal Shahzad. There were no allegations, however, that Younis was aware of the intended use of the money. In the indictment, he was charged with operating an unlicensed money transfer business between the United States and Pakistan and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transfer business. In August 2011, he pled guilty to the former charge.645
- Aftab Ali, a Pakistani citizen residing in Watertown, Massachusetts, was charged in a criminal complaint in November 2010 with immigration fraud and making false statements.646 The complaint alleges that Ali entered the United States in August 2009 and began working at a gas station without obtaining a work permit. It also alleges that Ali provided $4,900 to Shahzad in February 2010 as part of a hawala647 transaction. The complaint does not allege that Ali was aware of the intended use of the $4,900 by Shahzad. In April 2011, Ali pled guilty to charges of unlicensed money transmitting and immigration document fraud. He was sentenced to time served and ordered to be deported.648
Colleen LaRose ("Jihad Jane")—Conspiracy to Kill and Material Support to Terrorism—March 2010
On March 4, 2010, a Pennsylvania woman, Colleen LaRose, was charged with providing material support to terrorism, conspiracy to commit murder outside the United States, lying to federal agents, and transferring a U.S. passport for the purposes of facilitating a terrorist act.649 LaRose was arrested in October 2009, but her case was kept under seal until 2010. She is alleged to have used the Internet to recruit others to "wage violent jihad" where she was known by the aliases, "Jihad Jane" and "Fatima LaRose." She has also been tied to a plot to assassinate a Swedish cartoonist who depicted the prophet Muhammad atop the body of a dog.650 In February 2011, LaRose pled guilty "to all counts of a superseding indictment charging her with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, conspiracy to kill in a foreign country, making false statements, and attempted identity theft."651
Three others have been publicly linked to the case. In March 2011, a Colorado woman, Jamie Paulin-Ramirez, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists.652 According to the indictment, LaRose recruited Paulin-Ramirez to join the plot to kill the Swedish cartoonist and invited her to Europe to attend a "training camp."653 Mohammed Khalid—a citizen of Pakistan, a U.S. lawful permanent resident, and a minor at the time of his reported arrest—conspired with LaRose. In May 2012, Khalid pled guilty to conspiring to provide material support to terrorists.654 As part of his alleged support role, Khalid hid a U.S. passport that LaRose had stolen and was purportedly asked by another conspirator, Algerian national Ali Damache, to recruit supporters online. Damache resided in Ireland at the time of his arrest.655 DOJ further asserts that "Paulin-Ramirez married Damache on the day she arrived with her minor child in Europe to live and train with jihadists, even though she had never met Damache in person."656
Five Northern Virginian Men Convicted of Terrorism Offenses in Pakistan—December 2009
Five men from Northern Virginia were convicted of terrorism charges on June 24, 2010, by a special Pakistani anti-terrorism court and sentenced to 10 years in prison.657 They were arrested in Sarghoda (near Lahore), Pakistan, in December 2009, where they were alleged to have traveled hoping to work with jihadist groups and battle U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Prosecutors say they were in the planning stages of attacks against a Pakistani nuclear plant, an air base, and other targets in Afghanistan as well as "territories of the United States."658 Police reportedly recovered jihadist literature, laptop computers, and maps of parts of Pakistan when the men were arrested near Lahore. The maps included areas where the Taliban train.
The story of the five men from the Alexandria, Virginia area—Uman Chaudhry, Ramy Zamzam, Ahmad A. Minni, Waqar Khan, and Aman Hassan Yemer—became public when the Council on American-Islamic Relations got their families in touch with the FBI after the five left the United States without telling their families. The men were arrested at the home of Chaudhry's father, Khalid Farooq Chaudhry.659 Attorneys for the men contended that the five were tortured by Pakistani jailers.660 In addition, they alleged that police in Pakistan fabricated incriminating evidence.661
The motives for the group's trip to Pakistan are unclear. Zamzam claimed in a Pakistani court that the young men were not in the country to pursue terrorism and wanted to provide medical and financial assistance to Afghan Muslims.662 The group reportedly met with representatives from two militant organizations, Jaish-e-Muhammad (tied to Al Qaeda) and Jamaat-ud-Dawa.663 They were arrested in a house allegedly tied to Jaish-e-Muhammad after failing to link up with any terrorists. It has been reported that the two groups they approached rejected them because they lacked references from other trusted terrorists.664 According to a news report citing Pakistani investigators, the five communicated online and visited websites that included footage of reputed terrorist attacks on U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Families, neighbors, and friends of the five young men are reported to have had difficulty believing that the five had tried to link up with terrorist groups.665
Al-Shabaab Minnesota Recruits—2007-2011
"Operation Rhino" is an FBI investigation of al-Shabaab-related recruitment of individuals in Minnesota—the Minneapolis area has the largest community of Somali Americans in the United States.666 Reportedly, some of individuals indicted in the case began their terrorism-related activities in 2007, around the time al-Shabaab stepped up its insurgency against Somalia's transitional government and its Ethiopian supporters. The Minnesota recruits who traveled to Somalia received weapons training alongside individuals from other countries, including Britain, Australia, Sweden and Canada.667 The indicted American recruits face a variety of accusations including recruiting and raising funds for the trips, engaging in terrorist acts in Somalia, and perjury.668
Documents associated with the federal investigation into the recruitment of these individuals from the Minneapolis area reveal the importance of a local al-Shabaab support network that provided the organization financing and foot soldiers. It included older individuals who helped in the radicalization process and aided in supplying the young men with equipment and money to go to Somalia. At least six individuals appear to have played important roles:669
- In February 2012, Ahmed Hussein Mahamud pled guilty to conspiring to provide material support to al-Shabaab. He admitted that he helped raise funds for men from Minnesota to join the terrorist organization. He and his co-conspirators "claimed the money raised would be used for a local mosque or to help orphans in Somalia. In fact, the money collected was used to purchase airline tickets and to pay other expenses so men could travel from Minnesota to Somalia to join al Shabaab."670
- In July 2011, Omer Abdi Mohamed pled guilty to conspiring to provide material support to a conspiracy to murder, kidnap, and maim abroad. Among his activities, he helped some recruits obtain airplane tickets.671
- In October 2011, two women, Amina Ali and Hawo Hassan, were convicted as part of a scheme to raise money for al-Shabaab by soliciting funds door-to-door and via teleconferences. According to DOJ, in some instances, Ali raised money by misleading donors into believing the funds were destined for "the poor and needy."672 Ali and Hassan are both naturalized U.S. citizens from Somalia.673
- Mahamud Said Omar is a Somali citizen who was granted permanent U.S. resident status in 1994. In October 2012, Omar was found guilty on four charges related to providing material support to al-Shabaab.674 The government accused him of providing money to young men to travel from Minneapolis to Somalia to train with and fight for al-Shabaab. He also allegedly visited an al-Shabaab safe house and provided hundreds of dollars to fund the purchase of AK-47 rifles for the men.675 Omar was held in a high-security Dutch prison after his arrest at the request of the U.S. government in November 2009. In May 2010, a Rotterdam District Court ruled that Omar could be extradited to the United States.676
- Abdiweli Yassin Isse is a legal resident of the United States. An October 9, 2009, criminal complaint charged Isse with encouraging others to travel to Somalia to fight Ethiopians. At a gathering of co-conspirators, he purportedly described his plans to wage jihad against Ethiopians. He also raised money to buy airplane tickets for others to make the trip to Somalia for the same purpose. In raising that money, he allegedly misled community members into thinking they were contributing money to send young men to Saudi Arabia to study the Quran.677 Isse is still wanted by the FBI.678
- Cabdulaahi Ahmed Faarax is a Somali-born naturalized U.S. citizen. An affidavit filed in support of an October 9, 2009, criminal complaint states that in the fall of 2007, Faarax attended a meeting with co-conspirators at a Minneapolis residence, where he encouraged others to travel to Somalia to fight and told them how he had experienced true brotherhood while fighting a jihad in Somalia.679 He detailed his own experiences in guerilla combat and reassured his listeners that it was fun and not to be afraid. He further underscored that recruits would get the chance to use firearms.680 Faarax is still wanted by the FBI.681
In July 2012, concerns were renewed again as two new Minneapolis recruits reportedly joined al-Shabaab.682 However, there is some suggestion that interest among young U.S. citizens in joining al-Shabaab may be waning from a high point in 2007-2008 as reports of recruits who had died in terrorist actions reached U.S. Somali communities.683
In 2009, the Director of the National Counterterrorism Center told Congress that at least seven Americans had been killed in fighting in Somalia.684 In October 2008, Shirwa Ahmed, 27, a college student from Minneapolis, became the first known American suicide bomber when he drove an explosives-laden truck into a government building in Somalia, one of five simultaneous attacks that killed 22 U.N. aid workers and others.685 Additionally, Farah Mohamed Beledi was identified as a suicide bomber who died as he tried to detonate his suicide vest in a May 2011 attack in Mogadishu, Somalia.686 Also, according to media reports, al-Shabaab has claimed that Abdisalan Hussein Ali purportedly blew himself up while attacking African Union troops in Mogadishu in October 2011.687
Nidal Malik Hasan—Fort Hood, Texas, Shooting—November 5, 2009
A mass shooting took place on November 5, 2009, at the Soldier Readiness Center at the U.S. Army's Fort Hood, located outside Killeen, Texas.688 In August 2013, a military jury found U.S. Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan guilty of "13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder" resulting from the attack.689 In a court hearing in June 2013, Hasan, acting as his own attorney, had suggested that the attack resulted from his wish to defend Taliban leadership in Afghanistan from the U.S. Army.690 At the time of the shooting, Hasan was serving as a psychiatrist in the Army.
Hasan is reported to have fired 100 rounds at soldiers processing through cubicles in the center. He was seriously wounded in an exchange of gunfire during the incident. Hasan was armed with an FN FiveseveN® 5.7 millimeter pistol691 and an older model Smith and Wesson .357 revolver. However, law enforcement officials do not believe the latter gun was fired by Hasan.692
Hasan is the son of Palestinian immigrants and was born and grew up in Virginia.693 He is reported to have expressed radical beliefs on several occasions during his Army career. In a 2007 presentation to Walter Reed physicians, Hasan said that the Army should allow Muslim soldiers to claim conscientious objector status to forgo fighting other Muslims. However, there is no record of disciplinary action having been taken by the U.S. Army nor did they ever consider him unfit for duty or a security threat. A Pentagon review found that officers failed to comply with applicable policies in Hasan's career evaluations.694
The FBI discovered email correspondence between Hasan and Anwar al-Awlaki. Over the course of several months, Hasan sent 16 emails to Awlaki (who reportedly replied to only two of them). The email exchange was assessed by investigators to be in line with the psychiatrist's research into Muslim U.S. soldiers' reactions to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.695 After the Fort Hood shootings, Awlaki issued a statement dubbing him a hero but denying that he had incited Hasan.696
David Headley—Plots to Attack Offices of Newspaper in Copenhagen and Support Mumbai Terrorist Attacks—October 2009
On March 18, 2010, David Coleman Headley pled guilty to numerous criminal charges including a plot to attack employees of the Jyllands-Posten newspaper in Copenhagen, Denmark; helping plan the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack; and providing material support to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a militant Pakistani Islamist group. As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors would not pursue the death penalty against him if he cooperates with law enforcement and intelligence officials.697
Headley was born Daood Sayed Gilani in Washington, DC, to a Pakistani father and an American mother. He reportedly changed his Muslim name to a Judeo-Christian name to hide his Muslim identity. Arrested in October 2009, Headley allegedly attended LeT terrorism training camps in Pakistan in 2002 and 2003 and also conducted extensive surveillance for both the Copenhagen and Mumbai plots. In late 2005 a LeT handler and another LeT-linked individual conspired with Headley to have him perform advanced surveillance and scouting for the Mumbai attacks. The LeT personnel discussed the idea of opening an immigration office in Mumbai as cover for his scouting activities. Using the sham office as cover, between September 2006 and July 2008, Headley made five trips to the city, photographed and videotaped potential targets following the instructions of LeT. He also received an additional $3,000 and a GPS device from LeT. In November 2008, LeT attacked Mumbai targets killing 164 individuals.698
Headley was also involved in a plot to attack the facilities of Danish newspaper, Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten. The plot involved attacking an editor and a cartoonist involved in the publication of controversial editorial cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad which sparked protests throughout the Muslim world. Headley met with an LeT member in Pakistan in 2008 to discuss surveillance of the newspaper. In January 2009 he cased the newspaper and met with its representatives. In July and August 2009, he met in Europe with contacts of Ilyas Kashmiri, a member of a terrorist organization in Pakistan, to conduct additional surveillance.699
Three others alleged to have collaborated with Headley have been charged by U.S. authorities in the Mumbai and Copenhagen plots:
- Tahawwur Hussain Rana is a Canadian citizen who emigrated from Pakistan, was trained as a physician, and resided in Chicago until his arrest in October 2009. According to Headley's plea agreement, he shared with Rana—a longtime friend—details of his trips to Pakistan and his association with LeT.700 In turn, Rana helped Headley disguise his surveillance activity in India.701 Rana also provided cover for Headley's reconnaissance work in Denmark.702 In June 2011, Rana was convicted of conspiracy in the Danish plot and for providing material support to LeT. However, he was acquitted of involvement in the Mumbai plot.703
- Ilyas Kashmiri was killed in June 2011, reportedly in a missile strike by a U.S. unmanned aerial vehicle.704 He had been a leader of Harakat-ul Jihad Islami a terrorist organization in Pakistan and was believed to be in contact with Al Qaeda leaders. In February 2009, he allegedly met with Headley in Waziristan. He also purportedly reviewed Headley's Denmark surveillance footage and suggested the use of a truck bomb. According to DOJ, he met with Headley again in May 2009 and directed him to link up with his operatives in Europe. He also advised cutting out LeT from the operation. LeT reportedly agreed.705 Kashmiri was charged in the plots.
- Abdur Rehman Hashim Syed is a retired major in the Pakistani military and is alleged to have coordinated Headley's travel to Denmark and helped plan the attack. He connected Headley with Kashmiri.706 Syed has been charged in the plot but is not in U.S. custody.
Apparently Headley's life swung widely between the strictures of conservative Islam and the wide-open excesses of the West. Born in 1960 in Washington, DC, he is the son of a Pakistani father, Syed Saleem Gilani, who worked at the Pakistani Embassy. Headley's mother, Serrill Headley, a Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania native, also worked at the embassy. Soon after David/Daood was born, the family moved to Pakistan. But Serrill left Syed and Pakistan in 1968, because she could not abide by their conservative views of married women. She returned to Philadelphia in the early 1970s and opened up a bar called Khyber Pass.
In 1977, after Pakistan suffered a military coup, Headley's mother brought David/Daood back to the United States. He struggled to fit in, at times espousing extremist views while developing a heroin habit. In 1985, his mother made him manager of the bar she owned. He reportedly failed at this role and his mother was forced to sell the bar. That same year, he married a bartender whom he divorced in 1987 because of cultural differences. His wife at that time said that David/Daood was torn between two cultures—calling Indians "infidels," for example. A Khyber Pass employee remembered him discussing infidels and Islam taking over the world. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) nabbed him twice (1988 and 1997) on heroin smuggling charges, and he worked as an informant for them and served prison sentences.707
Tarek Mehanna—Plot to Assassinate Politicians and Attack Shopping Malls—October 2009
Tarek Mehanna, a dual U.S. and Egyptian citizen,708 from the Boston suburb of Sudbury, Massachusetts, was arrested on October 21, 2009, on charges that he plotted to kill two prominent U.S. politicians and shoot people at American shopping malls. He was accused of conspiring with two other men—Ahmad Abousamra, a friend from childhood who authorities say is now in Syria and, presumably, Kareem Abu-zahra, who received immunity from prosecution related to the case by cooperating with authorities. At Mehanna's trial, prosecutors argued that he traveled to Yemen to look for a terrorist camp. Unsuccessful in his attempts, he returned to the U.S. and plotted to provide material support to Al Qaeda.709 In December 2011, Mehanna was convicted of "conspiracy to provide material support to al-Qaeda; providing material support to terrorists (and conspiracy to do so); conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country; conspiracy to make false statements to the FBI and two counts of making false statements."710
Much of the case against Mehanna involved material support to terrorism.711 According to DOJ, "Beginning in or about 2001, and continuing until in or about May 2008, Mehanna conspired with Ahmad Abousamra, and others to provide material support and resources for use in carrying out a conspiracy to kill, kidnap, maim or injure persons or damage property in a foreign country and extraterritorial homicide of a U.S. national."712 Specifically, the complaint affidavit alleges that Mehanna and co-conspirators discussed their desire to participate in violent jihad against American interests and that they would talk about fighting jihad and their desire to die on the battlefield. The complaint further alleges that the co-conspirators attempted to radicalize others and inspire each other by, among other things, watching and distributing jihadi videos.713
At the time of his 2009 arrest Mehanna was free on bail from an earlier arrest that occurred in November 2008, at Logan International Airport in Boston. In the prior incident, he was charged with lying to federal investigators during a 2006 interview about his ties to Daniel Maldonado, who subsequently pled guilty to participating in terrorism training in Somalia. Maldonado is serving a 10-year prison sentence on that charge.714 According to court documents, the conspirators had
multiple conversations about obtaining automatic weapons and randomly shooting people in a shopping mall, and that the conversations went so far as to discuss the logistics of a mall attack, including coordination, weapons needed and the possibility of attacking emergency responders. It is alleged that the plan was ultimately abandoned, because of their inability to obtain the automatic weapons they deemed necessary to effectively carry out the attacks.715
Mehanna graduated from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy in 2008 where his father is a professor. Mehanna and his co-conspirators were said to have found inspiration in the 2002 Washington, DC, sniper attacks.716 Mehanna taught math and religion at a Muslim school in Worcester, Massachusetts.717
Abousamra is the son of a physician who worked at Massachusetts General Hospital for 21 years and was president of the Islamic Center of New England before moving to the Detroit area in 2007. Abousamra was named in an affidavit filed in October 2009, in federal court in Boston as a conspirator with Mehanna. He allegedly fled to Syria after being questioned by the FBI. The affidavit asserts Abousamra tried to join a terrorist training camp in Pakistan in 2002 and 2003, but was rejected by the Taliban because of a "lack of experience.''718 In October 2012, the Bureau offered a reward for his capture.719
Hosam Smadi—Plot to Bomb a Dallas, Texas, Skyscraper—September 2009
On September 24, 2009, Hosam Maher Husein Smadi, a Jordanian citizen who is reported to have remained in the United States illegally for one year after his visa expired, parked an SUV packed with what he thought were explosives outside Fountain Place, a 60-story office tower at Ross Avenue and Field Street in Dallas, Texas. When Smadi dialed a cell phone that he thought would detonate the "truck bomb," he was arrested by undercover FBI agents who had been posing as fellow anti-American terrorists.
The arrest was part of an FBI sting operation that began after an agent monitoring an online extremist website discovered Smadi espousing jihad against the United States. Smadi was charged on October 7, 2009, with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, reported that "The Criminal complaint alleges that Hosam Smadi sought and attempted to bomb the Fountain Place office tower, but a coordinated undercover law enforcement action was able to thwart his efforts and ensure no one was harmed."720 Undercover FBI agents, posing as members of an Al Qaeda "sleeper cell" were introduced to Smadi, who repeatedly indicated to them that he came to the U.S. for the specific purpose of committing "Jihad for the sake of God." Smadi clarified that he was interested in "self-jihad" because it was "the best type of jihad." The investigation determined Smadi was not associated with other terrorist organizations.721
DOJ also claims that "undercover FBI agents repeatedly encouraged Smadi to reevaluate his interpretation of jihad, counseling him that the obligation of jihad can be satisfied in many ways. Every time this interaction occurred, Smadi aggressively responded that he was going to commit significant, conspicuous acts of violence as his jihad."722
In late August 2009, while meeting with one of the undercover FBI agents in Dallas, authorities allege that
Smadi discussed the logistics and timing of the bombing, stating that he would have preferred to do the attack on "11 September," but decided to wait until after the month of Ramadan, which ended on September 20, 2009. At the conclusion of the meeting, Smadi decided that a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) would be placed at the foundation of the Fountain Place office tower. Unbeknownst to Smadi, the FBI ensured the VBIED contained only an inert/inactive explosive device which contained no explosive materials.723
Tom Leppert, Dallas mayor at the time of the plot, said local authorities were notified of the operation before it happened. "We were clearly communicated to that there was not going to be danger to anybody."724
On May 26, 2010, Smadi pled guilty to one count of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction. He was sentenced on October 20, 2010, to 24 years in prison.725
Michael Finton—Plot to Bomb the Springfield, Illinois, Federal Building—September 2009
On September 23, 2009, Michael C. Finton, who had converted to Islam and changed his name to Talib Islam, was arrested after he drove a van he thought was loaded with explosives—but was actually provided to him by the FBI—to the Paul Findley Federal Building in Springfield, Illinois. Prosecutors say he parked and locked the vehicle, then moved a few blocks away before twice making cell phone calls he believed would trigger a blast that would kill or injure people inside the building. In May 2011, he pled guilty to attempting to bomb the building and was sentenced to 28 years in prison.726
Finton reportedly had converted to Islam while in an Illinois prison from 2001 to 2006, serving a sentence for aggravated robbery and aggravated battery. He came to the attention of federal authorities in August 2007 when a search of his vehicle turned up a letter about his dreams of being a shahid, or martyr.
According to the affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, "after his arrest it was discovered that Finton had written a letter to John Walker Lindh, an American who was captured fighting for the Taliban and is imprisoned on terrorism violations. In a January 2008 interview with the FBI after his release from prison on a parole violation, Finton allegedly explained that he idolized Lindh. The affidavit further alleges that, in March 2008, Finton received funds from an individual in Saudi Arabia that he used to travel to Saudi Arabia the following month. He returned to the United States in May 2008."727
In February 2009, an FBI special agent posing as a member of Al Qaeda was introduced to Finton. The affidavit alleges that in the ensuing months, Finton discussed possibly targeting locations in the United States and ultimately suggested the Paul Findley Federal Building and Courthouse in downtown Springfield as a primary target. He conducted surveillance of the building and proposed a remotely detonated car bomb for the attack. Further, according to the affidavit, Finton observed that U.S. Congressman Aaron Schock's office, located at the corner of East Monroe and 6th Streets, would be a secondary target."728
On September 1, 2009, Finton met with the undercover FBI officer and was told that the vehicle for the attack would be carrying close to one ton of explosives. According to the affidavit, Finton indicated awareness that the bomb would cause civilian casualties, but expressed his view that such casualties were justified. Unbeknownst to him, the FBI ensured that the vehicle for the attack contained no actual explosive materials.729
Najibullah Zazi—Plot to Bomb the New York City Subway—September 2009
Najibullah Zazi, a citizen of Afghanistan and a legal resident of the United States, has admitted that he plotted to bomb New York City subway trains in September 2009. Zazi told investigators that he and two friends planned to strap explosives to their bodies, board trains at the Grand Central and Times Square stations—two of the busiest in New York City—and explode their bombs during the crowded rush hour.730
On February 22, 2010, Zazi pled guilty to conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction, conspiracy to commit murder overseas, and providing material support for a terrorist organization. There is no complete picture of Zazi's radicalization process, but there are details regarding his plot. In his youth, he may have listened to the radical messages of Saifur Rahman Halimi—an Imam who advocated jihad, attended the same mosque as Zazi's family, and lived in the same Queens building.731 Zazi has admitted that he and others agreed to travel to Afghanistan to join Taliban forces. In August 2008, he and his accomplices flew from Newark to Peshawar, Pakistan, and instead of training with the Taliban, Al Qaeda recruited and trained them in the Waziristan region of Pakistan. Al Qaeda asked Zazi and his companions to return to the United States and engage in suicide operations.732
While training, Zazi received instruction on explosives, discussed specific targets, and took detailed notes. He returned to the United States in January 2009 and moved to Colorado, taking a job driving a shuttle bus at Denver International Airport. Between July and early September, he and accomplices purchased chemicals at beauty supply stores in Denver. Investigators suggest that Zazi used the same hotel suite twice to try and produce bomb-making chemicals using handwritten bomb making notes developed while in Pakistan to guide his production of triacetone triperoxide (TATP).733 He even supposedly contacted an individual for production guidance. In the hotel's ventilation system, the FBI gathered residue from the chemicals Zazi had heated. Beauty store surveillance footage also recorded Zazi's activities.734 He also searched the website of a Queens store that carried muriatic acid, which can be used to develop TATP.
On September 8, 2009, Zazi rented a car and departed for New York the next day. Upon arriving in New York City on September 10, Zazi's car was stopped by Port Authority of New York Police at the behest of the FBI as he crossed the George Washington Bridge. It has been reported that to avoid tipping him off, the police pretended the stop was a random drug checkpoint.735 Authorities initially stated that they found nothing incriminating. However, court papers indicated that law enforcement subsequently found a laptop in the car containing an image of nine pages of handwritten notes on how to make and handle bombs. When FBI agents interviewed Zazi, he claimed that he drove to New York from Aurora, Colorado, to deal with an issue involving a coffee cart business his family operated in Manhattan. He then falsely stated he had never seen the notes.736 Zazi has subsequently admitted that he planned to finish bomb construction over the September 12-13 weekend, and then target New York's subway lines on September 14, 15, or 16. However, when he suspected that the police were on to him, he claimed he shut down the operation.737
During this time, the NYPD was showing Zazi's photograph to people in his old neighborhoods in Queens and, at one point, the police towed Zazi's car. The New York Times reported that with their interest exposed, "law enforcement agents feared that some part of a plot they had not yet uncovered might be aborted and evidence destroyed. They moved fast, raiding four homes in Queens beginning late in the night on Sept. 20."738 Zazi was arrested and charged on September 24, with one count of conspiring with others to use weapons of mass destruction, including bombs or other explosives.739
Others arrested in this case are
- Mohammed Wali Zazi, Najibullah Zazi's father, a naturalized U.S. citizen, was arrested in the fall of 2009 for lying to investigators. On February 1, 2010, he was indicted for conspiring to dispose of his son's bomb-making materials and chemicals. In an eight-count superseding indictment unsealed on November 29, 2010, he was also charged with obstruction of justice, witness tampering, making false statements, and visa fraud.740 In July 2011, the elder Zazi was found guilty in federal court on one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice and one count of obstruction of justice.741
- Ahmad Wais Afzali, a Queens Imam, was arrested for informing Zazi of the FBI investigation. Afzali had been a source of information for federal and New York City investigators in the past.742 On March 4, 2010, Afzali, pled guilty to lying to federal officials. He stated in court that he lied about a conversation he had with Zazi tipping him off to the FBI's investigation. Afzali hoped to protect himself, not Zazi. Afzali claimed that during his phone conversation with Zazi, he simply cautioned him not to "get involved in Afghanistan garbage."743 During sentencing on April 15, 2010, Afzali told the judge, "Honest to God, it was never my intention to help those idiots for what they do in the name of Islam."744 On July 5, 2010, he left the United States as specified in his plea agreement. He may not return without special permission.745
- Naqib Jaji, Zazi's uncle, was secretly arrested in the case.746 In 2010, he pled guilty to obstructing justice in the investigation.747
- Zarein Ahmedzay and Adis Medunjanin, who were classmates of Zazi's at Flushing High School in Queens, New York, were also indicted in the case. They allegedly accompanied Zazi on a flight from Newark to Peshawar, Pakistan, in late August 2008 where it is claimed they received military-style training from Al Qaeda. Ahmedzay and Medunjanin, both U.S. citizens, were charged in a five-count superseding indictment unsealed on February 25, 2010, with conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction (explosive devices) against persons or property in the United States. Specifically, they were charged with conspiring with Zazi to conduct an attack on Manhattan subway lines.748 In April 2010, Ahmedzay pled guilty to the charges. In May 2012, Medunjanin "was convicted of conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction, conspiring to commit murder of U.S. military personnel abroad, providing and conspiring to provide material support to al Qaeda, receiving military training from al Qaeda, conspiring and attempting to commit an act of terrorism transcending national boundaries, and using firearms and a destructive devices in relation to these offenses."749
- In March 2011, DOJ announced the unsealing of an indictment charging Ferid Imam—a Canadian citizen—with aiding in Zazi, Ahmedzay, and Medunjanin's receipt of training from al Qaeda when the three men traveled to Pakistan in 2008.750
On July 7, 2010, DOJ announced the indictments of four additional men in the plot and revealed that it was directed by senior al-Qaeda leadership in Pakistan, and was related to a scheme by al-Qaeda plotters in Pakistan to use Western operatives to attack a target in the United Kingdom.751 The superseding indictment charged Adnan El Shukrijumah, Abid Naseer; Tariq Ur Rehman; and a defendant known as "Ahmad," "Sohaib" or "Zahid" with several terrorism offenses.752
It is alleged that the plot was organized by el-Shukrijumah and two others—Saleh al-Somali and Rashid Rauf, who were described as leaders of Al Qaeda's "external operations" program dedicated to terrorist attacks in the United States and other Western countries.753 The Saudi-born, El-Shukrijumah, is a naturalized U.S. citizen who has been sought for several years by U.S. authorities who have offered $5 million for information leading to his capture.754 Specifically he is alleged to have recruited Zazi and Zazi's co-conspirators, Adis Medunjanin and Zarein Ahmedzay. Al-Somali and Rauf are believed to have been killed in U.S. drone attacks.755
Abid Naseer, a British citizen, is alleged to have exchanged coded emails with the same account that "Ahmad" was using to communicate with the Zazi cell. He and Tariq Ur Rehman were arrested in Britain in April 2009. A search of their residences yielded large amounts of flour and oil in addition to surveillance photos and maps of public areas of Manchester, England.756
Betim Kaziu—Plot to Join Foreign Jihadist Groups—August 2009
In July 2011, Betim Kaziu, a U.S. citizen from Brooklyn, New York, was convicted on charges related to his attempts to join Al Qaeda-linked groups. In February 2009, Kaziu and a friend named Sulejah Hadzovic (also a U.S. citizen and Brooklyn native) traveled to Cairo, Egypt, where they planned to link up with either al-Shabaab or other terrorist organizations operating in places such as Iraq, Afghanistan, or Pakistan. Believing he had made a mistake, Hadzovic returned home and cooperated with federal officials. Kaziu journeyed to Kosovo where he was apprehended by the Kosovo Police Service in August 2009.757
Daniel Boyd and Others—Plot to Attack Quantico Marine Base and Conspiracy to Commit Murder Abroad—July 2009
In 2009, Daniel Patrick Boyd, members of his family, and others were charged with plotting to attack the U.S. Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia, and for providing material support to terrorists and conspiring to murder persons abroad.
On July 22, 2009, a federal grand jury in North Carolina indicted the following eight individuals, charging them with conspiring to provide material support to terrorists and conspiring to murder, kidnap, maim, and injure persons abroad:
- Daniel Patrick Boyd, a U.S. citizen and resident of North Carolina;
- Hysen Sherifi, a native of Kosovo and a U.S. lawful permanent resident located in North Carolina;
- Anes Subasic, a naturalized U.S. citizen and resident of North Carolina;
- Zakariya Boyd, a U.S. citizen and resident of North Carolina;
- Dylan Boyd, a U.S. citizen and resident of North Carolina;
- Mohammad Omar Aly Hassan, a U.S. citizen and resident of North Carolina;
- Ziyad Yaghi, a U.S. citizen and resident of North Carolina; and
- Jude Kenan Mohammad, a U.S. citizen.
The indictment alleges that Daniel Boyd is a veteran of terrorist training camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan who conspired with others to recruit and help young men travel overseas in order to kill.758
According to the indictment, during the period from 1989 through 1992, Daniel Boyd traveled to Pakistan and Afghanistan where he received military-style training in terrorist training camps for the purpose of engaging in violent jihad. Following this training, he allegedly fought in Afghanistan. From roughly November 2006 through at least July 2009, the indictment alleges that Daniel Boyd and the other defendants conspired to provide material support and resources to terrorists, including currency, training, transportation, and personnel. The defendants also conspired to murder, kidnap, maim, and injure persons abroad during this period. The object of the conspiracy, according to the indictment, was to advance violent jihad, including supporting and participating in terrorist activities abroad and committing acts of murder, kidnapping, or maiming persons abroad.759 The indictment also alleges that Daniel Boyd obtained a variety of weapons in furtherance of the conspiracy to murder persons overseas and provide material support to terrorists.
In a superseding indictment unsealed on September 24, 2009, additional charges were made against Boyd, his son Zakariya, and Hysen Sherifi. They are accused in a plot to attack the Marine Corps Base at Quantico, Virginia. Charges included conspiracy to murder U.S. military personnel, possession of weapons in furtherance of a crime of violence, and providing weapons to a convicted felon. The superseding indictment alleges, among other things, that as part of the conspiracy, Boyd undertook reconnaissance of the Marine Corps Base in Quantico, and obtained maps of the base in order to plan an attack. It also alleges that Boyd possessed armor piercing ammunition, stating it was "to attack the Americans."760
In an April 19, 2010, criminal complaint unsealed in June 2010, a ninth person, Bajram Asilani, was charged with being a member of the conspiracy involving the above defendants. He was arrested by authorities in Kosovo on June 17, 2010, at the request of the United States, which sought his extradition to Raleigh, North Carolina, to stand trial.761 However, a Judge of the European Union Rule of Law Mission denied the extradition request, ruling that Kosovo does not have an extradition treaty with the United States.762
In February 2011, Daniel Boyd pled guilty to conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and conspiracy to murder, kidnap, maim, and injure persons in a foreign country.763 In June 2011, Zakariya Boyd pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists.764 In September 2011, Dylan Boyd pled guilty to one count of aiding and abetting a conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists.765 In October 2011, Hassan, Yaghi, and Sherifi were found guilty of their involvement in the plot.766 Sherifi had also been accused of conspiring to kill witnesses in his case and was found guilty in the matter in November 2012.767 His younger brother, Shkumbin, and another suspect, Nevine Aly Elshiekh, also pled guilty in this subsequent plot.768 In June 2012, Subasic was found guilty of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists and conspiring to murder, kidnap, maim and injure persons abroad.769 In 2011, Mohammad was killed in a U.S. counterterrorism operation in Pakistan.770
Abdulhakim Muhammad—Shooting at the Little Rock, Arkansas, Military Recruiting Center—June 1, 2009
On June 1, 2009, Abdulhakim Muhammad was arrested in connection with a shooting at the U.S. Army-Navy Career Center in Little Rock, Arkansas, that killed one soldier and wounded another. The police recovered from Muhammad's SUV a Mossberg rifle with a scope and rifle sight, an SKS assault rifle,771 and a Lorcin L380 semiautomatic handgun.772 The Little Rock resident and Muslim convert who changed his name from Carlos Leon Bledsoe, was charged with capital murder, attempted capital murder, and 10 counts of unlawful discharge of a firearm.773 In Arkansas state court, in July 2011, Muhammad pled guilty to these charges. He did so to avoid the death penalty.774
Muhammad called the June 1, 2009, shooting another "Jihadi Attack." "I wasn't insane or post traumatic nor was I forced to do this Act," he stated in a January 12, 2010, handwritten note to the presiding judge in his court case. In the letter, he claimed ties to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and dubbed himself a soldier for them. His father is a Memphis businessman who doubts that his son had ties to AQAP but could have been radicalized in Yemen.775 His sister, who was stunned by the shooting, has stated publicly that a week before the shooting he seemed upbeat. In press reporting, his family has described Muhammad as a "happy-go-lucky" teen who had become a "deeply observant Muslim in college."776
In seven handwritten letters he sent to the Memphis, Tennessee, Commercial Appeal newspaper between May-October 2010, Muhammad provided insights into his motivation for the June 2009 shooting:
It's a war against Islam and Muslims and I'm on the side of the Muslims point blank….The U.S. has to pay for the rape, murder, bloodshed, blasphemy it has done and still doing to the Muslims and Islam. So consider this a small retaliation the best to come Allah willing. This is not the first attack and won't be the last.777
Muhammad spent 16 months in Yemen starting in the fall of 2007. While he was in the country, he married a woman from South Yemen. He allegedly taught English and learned Arabic while there. Yemeni officials imprisoned him in November 2008 on a visa overstay, and he also supposedly possessed a fraudulent Somali visa.778 Yemen deported him to the United States in January 2009.779
The FBI is reported to have interviewed him before the shooting, including while he was in prison in Yemen and then again in Nashville soon after he returned.780 According to law enforcement officials, the episode in Yemen prompted a preliminary inquiry by the FBI and other American law enforcement agencies into whether he had ties to extremist groups. But that investigation was inconclusive reportedly leaving the FBI with insufficient evidence to wiretap his phone or place him under surveillance.781
The Newburgh Four—Plot to Bomb Bronx, New York, Synagogue and Jewish Center, and Attack Stewart Air National Guard Base—May 2009
On May 20, 2009, the FBI and the NYPD arrested four men for plotting to blow up a Bronx synagogue and Jewish Center while simultaneously shooting a plane out of the sky. The men allegedly parked car bombs wired to cell phones outside the Riverdale Temple and nearby Riverdale Jewish Center in the Bronx. They were also heading to Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh, New York.782 However, the explosives in the car bombs and Stinger missile they intended to use in the attack were phony. The explosives had been supplied by undercover agents posing as Pakistani militants linked to Al Qaeda. The four "were petty criminals who appeared to be acting alone, not in concert with any terrorist organization," according to the New York City Police Commissioner.783
The suspects were three U.S.-born citizens—James Cromitie, David Williams, and Onta Williams (no relation to David)—and one Haitian immigrant, Laguerre Payen. At least three of the four were said to be jailhouse converts to Islam and were reportedly angry about the deaths of Muslims in Afghanistan.
An FBI cooperating witness played a key role in the quartet's efforts to obtain the explosives and missile components for the planned attacks. According to the indictment in the case,784 the four defendants met with the cooperating witness repeatedly beginning in October 2008 and discussed attacking military aircraft at the Air National Guard base. Starting in April 2009, the four selected the synagogue, the Jewish community center, and the air base as targets. They cased their targets, taking photographs and developing plans. Together with the cooperating witness, they purchased cell phones and a handgun for the operation. The cooperating witness also helped them obtain three improvised explosive devices (IED) containing fake C-4 explosives and gave the group an inactive stinger missile, informing them that it came from Jaish-e-Mohammed, a Pakistan-based terrorist group.785
Some questioned whether the Newburgh Four were actually capable of pulling off the terrorist plot without the involvement of the cooperating witness, a Pakistani man named Shahed Hussain, who agreed to work for the FBI to obtain leniency after he was arrested in 2002 for fraud.786 One commentator described the Newburgh Four as a group of struggling, disaffected petty criminals, who bonded at a Newburgh mosque over having spent time in prison and were taken in by a Pakistani immigrant looking to win leniency for a crime of his own. "There's little doubt the bumbling would-be bombers went far enough with the plot to demonstrate that they had the intention to commit terror, and for that they'll pay the price. But the whole tale comes off perhaps more as a sad glimpse into the lives of a loose group of aimless and obscurely embittered Americans than as a dire illustration of the threat of home-grown terrorism."787
Graham Ravman, writing in the Village Voice, suggests that the Newburgh Four were smalltime felons who had no grand terrorist ambitions until Hussain plied them with cash and suggestions. Moreover, this was not the first time [Hussain] went undercover to help the government. "He played a similar role four years ago in an Albany case, in which he helped the FBI arrest a man named Mohammed Hossain, a cash-poor pizzeria owner, and his Imam, Yassin Aref, after persuading them to launder $50,000 in a made-up plot to bring a missile to the United States and assassinate a Pakistani prime minister [the target of the invented plot was actually against the Pakistani United Nations Representative]…. In both cases, it is claimed that [Hussain] did not stumble upon active terror cells plotting to bring destruction on American soil [rather he] needed long periods of time to recruit his Muslim contacts, spin elaborate tales about his terror contacts, and develop solid plans of action, all the while providing the defendants with large amounts of resources and cash incentives."788
The trial of the four began on August 24, 2010. It had been delayed earlier in the summer by the federal judge in the case saying prosecutors had failed to turn over information that should have been given to the defense. In June 2010, prosecutors turned over to defense attorneys a 2008 memorandum from the FBI written by the lead agent on the case. The agent reportedly wrote that he had told officials at Stewart Airport that James Cromitie, the alleged leader of the Newburgh Four, would be looking over the airport for a potential attack but that he would pose no danger without the assistance of the informant. U.S. District Court Judge Colleen McMahon said the memorandum should have been turned over to the defense months earlier.789
Defense attorneys at the trial argued that the case crossed the line into entrapment. But the jury rejected the entrapment defense and convicted the four on October 18, 2010.790
Bryant Neal Vinas—Plot to Bomb Long Island Railroad, Rocket Attack on U.S. Base in Afghanistan—September 2008
In a November 22, 2008, sealed indictment791 (unsealed on July 22, 2009), Bryant Vinas, an American Muslim convert who grew up on Long Island, New York, was charged with conspiracy to murder U.S. nationals, providing material support to Al Qaeda, and receiving military-type training from Al Qaeda. He pled guilty to all three counts on January 28, 2009.792
The charges stem from Vinas's activities in Pakistan from his arrival in the fall of 2007 until his arrest by Pakistani police in November 2008 following a tip provided by U.S. authorities. Vinas was subsequently extradited to the United States and has cooperated extensively with counterterrorism officials.793 Vinas has admitted that he met with Al Qaeda leaders in Pakistan and, between March and July 2008, attended three Al Qaeda training courses focused on weapons, explosives, and rocket-based or propelled weaponry.794 In September 2008, he took part in firing rockets at a U.S. military base in Afghanistan. He told officials, "Although we intended to hit the military base and kill American soldiers, I was informed the rockets missed and the attack failed."795 Vinas also testified in court, "I consulted with a senior Al Qaeda leader and provided detailed information about the operation of the Long Island Railroad system, which I knew because I had ridden the railroad on so many occasions ... the purpose of providing information was to help plan a bomb attack on the Long Island Railroad system."796 This led U.S. officials to issue a security alert in November 2008 and beefed up security on the New York area commuter rail system.797
The arrest of Vinas was kept secret until his indictment was unsealed in July 2009 probably because of the significance of the information he has provided to U.S. counterterrorism authorities. That information has reportedly helped U.S. forces target Al Qaeda camps with drone attacks and understand how Al Qaeda provides its members with training in assassinations, poison, kidnappings, forgery, and advanced bomb-making.798 Vinas has also submitted a witness statement that was entered into evidence in the trial of an alleged Belgian Al Qaeda cell in Brussels.799
Vinas is the son of immigrants from Peru and Argentina, who was raised as a Catholic and loved to play baseball. After 9/11, he joined the Army but was discharged before completing basic training. Reportedly dispirited after returning to Long Island, he met the relative of a friend who was a Muslim convert. Shortly thereafter, Vinas also converted. He eventually began visiting extremist websites and was reported to have become increasingly influenced by another religiously conservative acquaintance. One of the websites led Vinas to the Islamic Thinkers Society, an extremist group in New York reportedly supportive of Al Qaeda. His acquaintance was already a member, and Vinas began to move within its circles.800
Plot to Bomb Jet Fuel Artery at Kennedy International Airport in New York—June 2007
On June 2, 2007, authorities announced they had broken up a plot by four men to blow up a jet fuel artery that runs through residential neighborhoods to the JFK Airport in New York. Russell Defreitas, a U.S. citizen originally from Guyana, was arrested as the ring leader of the plot.801 Defreitas had worked as a cargo handler at JFK until 1995, but was described as hapless and episodically homeless. Friends say he supported himself by selling incense on street corners and collecting welfare.802
The others charged in the plot are Abdul Kadir, a citizen of Guyana and former member of its parliament, Kareem Ibrahim, a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago; and Abdel Nur, a citizen of Guyana.803 The latter three were arrested in Trinidad and eventually extradited to the United States in June 2008. All four were indicted with conspiracy to cause death, serious bodily injury and extensive destruction.804
The FBI said the alleged plot never got beyond the planning stages805 and there is some dispute over how serious any attack against the 40-mile pipeline would have been. The pipeline originates in Linden, New Jersey, crosses Staten Island, and goes underwater to Brooklyn traveling mostly along the Long Island Rail Road right-of-way to the airport. Because of their thickness and safeguards, such pipelines are difficult to damage, an official said.806
However, at a news conference announcing the arrests, U.S. Attorney, Roslynn Mauskopf called it "one of the most chilling plots imaginable. Had the plot been carried out, it could have resulted in unfathomable damage, deaths and destruction."807 But safety experts have criticized the government's description of the plot's danger. John Goglia, a former member of the National Transportation Safety Board, describes the plot as a "fantasy," saying, "You could definitely reach the tank, definitely start a fire, but to get the kind of explosion they were thinking they were going to get ... this is virtually impossible to do."808
The Washington Post reported that the alleged conspirators were initially detected via information gathered by the CIA in South America and the Caribbean. That led federal and local authorities in the New York region to launch a 16-month sting operation focused on the activities of Defreitas. According to the complaint filed in the case, Defreitas conducted surveillance of the airport four times in January, focusing on fuel tanks, noting security precautions and reviewing an escape plan.809
Defreitas was apparently unaware that one of the plotters with him much of the time was a law enforcement informant who recorded much of what he said. It has been reported that Defreitas said in one recorded conversation, "Any time you hit Kennedy, it is the most hurtful thing to the United States.... To hit John F. Kennedy, wow ... they love John F. Kennedy like he's the man ... if you hit that, this whole country will be mourning. You can kill the man twice."810
According to The Smoking Gun, which obtained and posted on its website a copy of the criminal complaint in the case, a paid "confidential source" was credited with infiltrating the terror cell and gathering critical information on the alleged plot—via tape recordings, documents, videos, and photographs. The government informant is a longtime New York City drug trafficker who began cooperating with federal investigators after NYPD detectives arrested him on a Bronx street and charged him with possession of about $2 million in cocaine. A footnote in the criminal complaint notes that the source had two prior drug convictions and was, through his cooperation, seeking leniency in sentencing on the drug trafficking charge.811
In opening arguments for the July 2010 trial of two of the defendants—Defreitas and Kadir—Defreitas' attorney accused prosecutors of being "overzealous." The government, he said, took a "poor lonely, bitter old man that talked big game," and, through an informant, nudged him into incriminating himself. "Without the government, Russell Defreitas is nothing. His words were 'all sizzle and no steak.'"812 After five days of deliberation, however, the jury convicted both men of five counts of conspiring to commit acts of terrorism.813
In June 2010, Nur pled guilty to providing material support to terrorism.814 In August 2010, Defreitas and Kadir were convicted for their involvement in the plot.815 Kareem Ibrahim was tried separately and in May 2011 was convicted of involvement in the conspiracy.816
Plot to Attack Soldiers at Fort Dix, New Jersey—May 2007
Six men were arrested in a plot against Fort Dix, a U.S. Army base in New Jersey. In December 2008, a jury found five of the six guilty of conspiring to kill military personnel but cleared them of attempted murder. Four received life sentences without parole and the other received a 33-year sentence. A sixth man pled guilty to a lesser charge and was sentenced to 20 months in prison. As far as is known, the group had no connection to any foreign terrorist organization.
The arrests were made after a 16-month FBI operation that included infiltrating the group. The investigation began in January 2006 with a tip from an electronics store clerk in Mount Laurel, Pennsylvania. Two men dropped off an 8-millimeter tape and wanted it converted to a DVD. The tape showed the defendants firing rifles and shouting Islamic battle cries. The clerk called police. FBI agents and two paid informants who had criminal records spent the next 15 months shadowing the suspects, recording conversations and searching their computers. During the investigation, authorities recorded hundreds of conversations with the defendants with help from the two informants.817
The plotters and verdicts in their cases:
- Mohamad Ibrahim Shnewer, a U.S. citizen born in Jordan. Guilty of conspiracy to kill military personnel, not guilty of attempted murder and guilty of possession or attempted possession of a firearm in furtherance of the conspiracy. Sentenced to life in prison without parole.818
- Dritan "Tony" Duka, illegal immigrant born in the former Yugoslavia. Guilty of conspiracy to kill military personnel, not guilty of attempted murder, guilty of possession or attempted possession of a firearm in furtherance of the conspiracy, guilty of possession or attempted possession of a machine gun and guilty of two counts of possession or attempted possession of a firearm by an illegal alien. Sentenced to life in prison without parole.819
- Eljvir Duka, illegal immigrant born in the former Yugoslavia. Guilty of conspiracy to kill military personnel, not guilty of attempted murder, not guilty of possession or attempted possession of a firearm in furtherance of the conspiracy and guilty of possession or attempted possession of a firearm by an illegal alien. Sentenced to life in prison without parole.820
- Shain Duka, illegal immigrant born in the former Yugoslavia. Guilty of conspiracy to kill military personnel, not guilty of attempted murder, guilty of possession or attempted possession of a firearm in furtherance of the conspiracy, guilty of possession or attempted possession of a machine gun and guilty of two counts of possession or attempted possession of a firearm by an illegal alien. Sentenced to life in prison without parole.821
- Serdar Tatar, a Turkish-born lawful permanent resident of the United States. Guilty of conspiracy to kill military personnel and not guilty of attempted murder. Sentenced to 33 years in prison.822
- Agron Abdullahu, a Kosovo-Albanian who arrived with his family as a refugee from Kosovo (ironically, first arriving in the United States at a refugee center at Fort Dix). He was charged with letting the brothers Dritan, Eljvir and Shain Duka shoot various weapons at a firing range in Pennsylvania. The indictment states that the weapons used were an SKS semi-automatic rifle, a Beretta Storm semi-automatic rifle, a Mossberg 12-gauge pump and a 9mm Beretta handgun. These were all firearms that Abdullahu owned legally. However, it is a crime for illegal immigrants like the Duka brothers to possess guns. He pled guilty to the charge and was sentenced March 31, 2008, to 20 months in prison.823
Daniel Maldonado—Training with Al Qaeda in Somalia—February 2007
An indictment unsealed on February 14, 2007, charged Daniel Joseph Maldonado with receiving training from a foreign terrorist organization and conspiring to use an explosive device outside the United States. According to a Justice Department official, "This case represents the first criminal prosecution of an American suspected of joining forces with Islamic extremist fighters in Somalia."824
Maldonado had been captured by the Kenyan military on January 21, 2007, as he fled into Kenya to avoid Ethiopian and Somali forces. He was turned over to American authorities the following month. On April 19, 2007, Maldonado pled guilty to receiving training from a foreign terrorist organization in exchange for prosecutors agreeing not to file any more federal charges against him.825 In June 2007, Maldonado was sentenced to 10 years in prison.826
According to DOJ, Maldonado admitted that in November 2005 he had traveled from Houston, Texas, to Africa, eventually making it to Somalia in December 2006 to join the Islamic Courts Union (ICU)827 and elements of Al Qaeda to fight "jihad" against the Somali Transitional Federal Government. While in Somalia, authorities say Maldonado was provided an AK-47, equipped with military combat uniforms and boots in Mogadishu, and participated in training camps in Kismaayo and Jilib, Somalia. The camps included physical fitness, firearms and explosives training all in preparation to go to the front to fight for the ICU. Al Qaeda members were present at the training camps. The ICU and Al Qaeda worked together to train fighters in the camps to fight jihad to establish an independent Islamic state in Somalia.828
The criminal complaint in the case alleges that Maldonado admitted that while training at camps in Somalia, he watched and learned techniques for manufacturing small explosive devices. He also admitted to participating in the interrogation of a spy who was later killed—a flight attendant who had a cell phone camera and was observed taking pictures of jihadis as they arrived by airplane in Kismaayo, Somalia. Maldonado also admitted that he would be willing to become a suicide bomber if he were wounded and could not otherwise fight.829
Derrick Shareef—Plot to Attack Shopping Mall in Rockford, Illinois—December 2006
On December 6, 2006, Derrick Shareef, an American Muslim convert, was arrested in Rockford, Illinois, after he attempted to swap two stereo speakers for four (non-functioning) hand grenades, a 9mm handgun, and several rounds of (non-functioning) ammunition with an undercover FBI agent posing as a weapons dealer. Prior to his arrest, Shareef had plotted to set off hand grenades in a garbage can at the CherryVale Shopping Mall near Rockford on the Friday before Christmas 2006. Shareef was charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction against persons and property and with attempting to maliciously damage and destroy, by means of fire and an explosive, a building and real and personal property used in interstate commerce.830
The case began in September 2006, when the FBI assigned a cooperating witness, William "Jamaal" Chrisman, to befriend Shareef. Chrisman had converted to Islam in prison where he served time for armed robbery and car theft convictions.831 Chrisman claimed that he decided to help the government because "after 9/11 Muslim scholars in Saudi Arabia and Morocco said that it was incumbent on Muslims to stop terrorists."832 They met at the video store where Shareef was working and hours later moved into Chrisman's home. According to Chrisman, "He was supposed to move in with his manager. I told him he was better off staying with me, a Muslim staying with a Muslim."833
Shareef was unaware that Chrisman was secretly recording their conversations which included his confiding to Chrisman that he wanted to commit acts of violent jihad against civilians. Shareef also discussed shooting a judge in DeKalb, Illinois, and attacking local buildings including city hall, the federal courthouse and the shopping center.834 Shareef also told Chrisman that he wanted to obtain weapons to commit violent jihad. Chrisman said he had a friend who could do so and would introduce them. However, the "friend" was an undercover FBI agent.835
On November 30, and December 1, 2006, Shareef and Chrisman cased the CherryVale mall and allegedly plotted a grenade attack. The following day, Shareef and Chrisman made video tapes that included a last will and testament for each. On the video, Shareef again mentioned jihad and said, "This is a warning to those who disbelieve, that we are here for you and I am ready to give my life."836 On December 6, 2006, Shareef and the undercover agent met in the mall parking lot to exchange the speakers for four dud grenades and the handgun and ammunition. After the exchange, Shareef was arrested.
During an FBI interview on December 7, 2006, Shareef told FBI agents that he had been "pushing himself to conduct the attack on the mall" and that "no one could have stopped" him, "not even his mother." He believed "it was the right jihad." But he also told the agents that he "viewed his arrest by the FBI as a blessing from Allah because the FBI stopped him from doing something that Allah would have chastised him for." Aware that "he does not have the authority to speak on behalf of Islam," Shareef asserted that he would "rather spend the rest of his life in jail than live with the torment of having killed innocent people and having acted against Allah's desires."837
On November 28, 2007, Shareef pled guilty to one count of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. He was sentenced on September 30, 2008, to 35 years in prison.
Houston Taliban Plot—November 2006
In November 2006, the government alleged that four men—Kobie Diallo Williams, an American Muslim convert; and three foreign national students, Adnan Baber Mirza, Syed Maaz Shah, and Shiraz Syed Qazi—conspired to support the Taliban, unlawfully possess firearms, and to train with firearms to prepare to join the Taliban "to engage in battlefield jihad."838 Specifically they were accused of meeting at shooting ranges and camp sites in Texas on at least eight occasions in 2005 and 2006 "for the purpose of conducting firearms and paramilitary training to hone their skills with weapons and to assist fighters engaging United States forces in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq." They were also accused of making a contribution of goods and services to the Taliban.839
The government used two informants to build the case against the four. One of the informants told federal agents he was concerned that some of the men were preparing for armed conflict overseas. A 2005 camping trip was part of a government setup using the informants to catch the men.840
- Kobie Diallo Williams, a former University of Houston student, pled guilty soon after his arrest to conspiring to unlawfully possess firearms and supporting the Taliban.841
- Syed Maaz Shah, a Pakistani national studying at the University of Texas, Dallas, was convicted in May 2007 on firearms charges.842
- Shiraz Syed Qazi, a Pakistani national, who was a student at Houston Community College, was convicted in January 2007 on a firearms charge.843
- Adnan Baber Mirza, a Pakistani national, who was a student at Houston Community College but had overstayed his student visa, was convicted in May 2010 of two conspiracy counts and seven firearms violations.844
The Liberty City Seven—Plot to Bomb Sears Tower in Chicago—June 2006
On June 22, 2006, seven men—Narseal Batiste, Patrick Abraham, Stanley Grant Phanor, Naudimar Herrera, Burson Augustin, Lyglenson Lemorin, and Rotschild Augustine—were arrested for allegedly plotting to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago, the FBI building in North Miami Beach, and other government buildings in Miami-Dade County. Five of the men are U.S. citizens, Abraham is a lawful permanent resident from Haiti, and Lemorin is a Haitian national illegally present in the United States. Each was charged with four counts: conspiracy to provide material support to a terrorist organization, namely Al Qaeda; conspiracy to provide material support and resources to terrorists; conspiracy to maliciously damage and destroy buildings by means of an explosive device; and conspiracy to levy war against the government of the United States.845
The indictment alleges that Batiste intended to recruit and supervise individuals to organize and train for a mission of war against the United States, which included a plot to destroy by explosives the Sears Tower in Chicago, Illinois.846 It also alleges that Batiste and his co-conspirators attempted to obtain the support of Al Qaeda for their plot.847 The indictment further alleges that Batiste detailed (to an FBI informant posing as an 'Al Qaeda representative') "his mission to wage a 'full ground war' against the United States in order to 'kill all the devils we can,' in a mission that would 'be just as good or better than 9/11,' beginning with the destruction of the Sears Tower."848
The arrests resulted from an investigation involving two FBI informants and recordings and videotapes of the conspirators discussing their plot. The Washington Post cites court papers that indicate that one of the informants took a key role in the plotting. "Not only did government informants provide money and a meeting place for Batiste and his followers, but they also gave them video cameras for conducting surveillance, as well as cell phones, and suggested that their first target be a Miami FBI office."849 Both informants were paid for their services, and one was given approval of his petition for political asylum in the United States.850
Defense attorneys for the Liberty City Seven men called the case an outrageous example of government entrapment claiming they had neither the will nor the means to carry out the crimes.851 In 2007, the jury in the first trial of the defendants acquitted Lyglenson Lemorin of all charges, but could not reach a verdict on the others. Lemorin was subsequently taken into immigration custody and was ordered deported in 2009. A second trial was held in 2008 and again the jury failed to reach verdicts against the six remaining defendants.
A third trial was held in 2009. The jury in that trial acquitted Naudimar Herrera of all charges, but convicted alleged ringleader Narseal Batiste on all four counts; Patrick Abraham on three counts; and Stanley Grant Phanor, Burson Augustin, and Rotschild Augustine on two counts each.852 In November 2009, Narseal Batiste was sentenced to 13-1/2 years in prison. Burson Augustin and Rotschild Augustine were sentenced to six and seven years, respectively. Stanley Phanor and Patrick Abraham were sentenced to eight and nine years, respectively. In November 2011, a federal appeals court upheld the convictions of all five men.853
Ehsanul Islam Sadequee and Syed Haris Ahmed—Plot to Attack Buildings in Washington, DC—April 2006
Two men living in Atlanta, Georgia—Ehsanul Islam Sadequee, a U.S. citizen born in Virginia, and Syed Haris Ahmed, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Pakistan, were charged in April 2006 with conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization and lying to the FBI. Prosecutors alleged that in 2005, when Ahmed and Sadequee were ages 18 and 20 respectively, they discussed violent jihad on several web forums which later grew into an active conspiracy to commit terrorist acts. Specifically, they were accused of traveling to Canada to discuss potential terrorist targets with members of the "Toronto 18,"854 a group alleged by the government of Canada to be members of an Islamic terrorist cell that had plotted a series of attacks against targets in Ontario until their arrests in June 2006.855
According to a Canadian Security Intelligence Service informant, the two Americans also discussed with the group whether they would be able to hide in Canada if they were to carry out attacks in the United States.856 Sadequee and Ahmed were also alleged to have videotaped potential targets in the Washington, DC, area including the U.S. Capitol and the World Bank headquarters, the Masonic Temple, and a fuel farm. Later, Sadequee sent several of the videos to Younis Tsouli, a propagandist and recruiter for Al Qaeda and Asbid Hussein Khan, a facilitator for Lashkar-e-Taiba, both of whom are serving prison sentences in Great Britain for terrorism-related offenses.857
The two men pled not guilty to the charges, but were convicted in separate trials in August 2009. In December, Sadequee was sentenced to 17 years and Ahmed to 13 years in prison.858
Mohammed Reza Taheri-Azar—Attempted Vehicular Murder at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill—March 2006
On March 3, 2006, Mohammed Reza Taheri-Azar, a naturalized American citizen from Iran, drove his SUV into a crowd at The Pit, a popular student gathering spot at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The SUV struck several people, although none were injured seriously. Taheri-Azar was charged the next day with nine counts of attempted murder.
It was reported that police found a letter in Taheri-Azar's apartment that said he wanted revenge for the deaths of Muslims overseas that he said were caused by the United States. He said he rented a Jeep Cherokee because it was better equipped for what he planned to do.859 The chief of the University's police department confirmed that Taheri-Azar told investigators that he wanted to "avenge the deaths or murders of Muslims around the world."860
Taheri-Azar pled guilty to two counts of attempted murder. On August 26, 2008, he was sentenced to 33 years in prison.861
Toledo, Ohio Plotters—Travel Abroad to Kill Americans—February 2006
On February 21, 2006, three residents of Toledo, Ohio—Mohammad Zaki Amawi, a dual U.S. and Jordanian citizen; Marwan Othman El-Hindi, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Jordan; and Wassim I. Mazloum, a lawful permanent resident from Lebanon, were charged with conspiracy to kill or maim persons in locations outside the United States, to include U.S. Armed Forces personnel serving in Iraq.862 The indictment alleges several overt acts in furtherance of the conspiracy. These acts included meeting another individual called "the trainer" (who was actually an undercover informant) to discuss and plan violent jihadist training. Following those meetings, the informant engaged in an instructional session on the construction and use of improvised explosive devices and timing devices, sought explosives, and participated in weapons training and practiced target shooting on several occasions.863
During a news conference announcing the charges, the agent in charge of the FBI's Cleveland office credited the Muslim and Arab American community for passing along the information that ultimately led to the arrest of the three. He said individuals within Toledo's Muslim community contacted the FBI about what he termed the "violent and radical views" the suspects were articulating.864
On June 13, 2008, a federal jury convicted all three of conspiring to commit terrorist acts against Americans overseas and providing material support to terrorists. On October 21, 2009, Amawi was sentenced to 20 years in prison, El-Hindi to 12 years in prison, and Mazloum to 8 years, 4 months in prison.865
Two cousins from Illinois, Zubair Ahmed and Khaleel Ahmed, who had connections to the three Toledo men, pled guilty on January 15, 2009, to one count of conspiracy to provide material support or resources to terrorists. It was alleged that Marwan Othman El-Hindi introduced the two men to the undercover informant known as "the trainer." During this meeting, the cousins allegedly discussed sniper tactics and surveillance techniques, and said they were willing to travel abroad to carry out terror attacks.866 In 2004, both had traveled to Cairo hoping to eventually go to Afghanistan or Iraq, but returned home after Zubair's father, Haris Ahmed, learned of their intentions. On July 12, 2010, Zubair Ahmed was sentenced to 10 years in prison, while Khaleel Ahmed received an 8-year, 4-month sentence.867
Jamiyyat Ul-Islam Is-Saheeh (JIS)—Plot to Attack Targets in Southern California—August 2005
Kevin James, Levar Haley Washington, Gregory Vernon Patterson, and Hammad Riaz Samana, were arrested and charged in August 2005 for their involvement in a plot to attack Jewish institutions and other targets in the Los Angeles area, including synagogues, the Israeli Consulate, Los Angeles International Airport, U.S. military recruiting offices, and military bases.868
- Kevin James, the apparent leader of the terror cell, pled guilty to conspiring to levy war against the United States and was sentenced on March 6, 2009, to 16 years in prison.869
- Levar Washington pled guilty to levy war against the United States through terrorism and conspiracy to possess and discharge firearms and was sentenced to 22 years in prison. He was sentenced to an additional 22 years in prison on August 25, 2008, on related robbery and weapons charges.870
- Gregory Patterson pled guilty to conspiracy to levy war against the United States through terrorism and conspiracy to possess and discharge firearms and was sentenced to 12 years in prison.871
- Hammad Samana, a legal U.S. resident from Pakistan, conducted Internet-based research of the targets and was the getaway driver for at least one of the gas station robberies (see below), according to a U.S. federal judge. He was later convicted and sentenced in August 2009 to 70 months in prison.872
In 1997, James founded Jam'iyyat Ul-Islam Is-Saheeh (JIS)—Arabic for Assembly of Authentic Islam—a group based on his interpretation of Islam, according to court documents. James' views are apparent in several documents he wrote in prison, including a 104-page document titled the JIS Protocol. In this document, James supports the establishment of an Islamic Caliphate in the U.S. and describes "Jihad [as] the only true 'anti-terrorist action' [,] a defensive battle against the aggression of theological imposters led by Zionism."873 The document also advocated the killing of "lawful targets," including non-Muslims.
James met Washington in prison in 2004 and introduced him to JIS and its beliefs. Washington, who converted to Islam while he was in prison, recruited Patterson, an employee at Los Angeles International Airport, and a fourth defendant, Hammad Riaz Samana, at the Jamaat-E-Masijudal mosque in Inglewood, California, where they all worshipped. Both Patterson and Samana swore allegiance to Washington and pledged to serve as "mujahideen," according to court documents.874
According to the indictment, in July 2005, the men engaged in firearms training and physical training at a park in Los Angeles in preparation for the attacks. In addition, the defendants purchased weapons or otherwise tried to acquire weapons in furtherance of their terrorist conspiracy and made efforts to raise money by robbing gas stations. The indictment alleges that eleven times beginning on May 30, 2005, the defendants—armed with shotguns—robbed or attempted to rob gas stations in several cities and towns in Southern California, including Los Angeles, Torrance, Playa Del Ray, Bellflower, Pico Rivera, Walnut, Orange, Playa Vista, and Fullerton.875
Part of the funds obtained in these robberies was directly linked by the FBI to Patterson's purchase of a .223 caliber rifle. The men were arrested by the Torrance police after Patterson dropped his cell phone at the scene of one of the robberies in July 2005. Police were able to connect the robberies to the larger terror plot after authorities searched Washington and Patterson's apartment and discovered various Jihadist documents.876
Lodi, California, Case—the Hayats—Travel to Terrorist Training Camp—June 2005
In Lodi, California, Umer Hayat and Hamid Hayat, a Pakistani immigrant and his American son, were arrested on June 5, 2005, after allegedly lying to the FBI about the son's attendance at a terrorist training camp in Pakistan. The son, Hamid Hayat was found guilty on April 25, 2006, of one count of providing material support or resources to terrorists, and three counts of making false statements to the FBI in matters related to international/domestic terrorism.
Prosecutors alleged that between October 2003 and November, 2004, Hayat attended a jihadi training camp in Pakistan and ultimately returned to the United States with the intent to wage violent jihad upon receipt of orders.877 Hayat confessed to FBI agents that he had attended a terrorist training camp but his attorneys later argued that his admissions were fabrications intended to appease the federal agents he hoped would let him go home. The nine-week trial was reported to rely on that contested confession and conversations secretly taped by an FBI informant who had been paid $200,000 to infiltrate Lodi's large Muslim community after the 9/11 attacks.878
DOJ issued a press release stating:
According to evidence adduced at trial, between March, 2003 and August, 2003, defendant Hayat, during the course of numerous recorded conversations with a cooperating witness, pledged his belief in [violent] jihad, indicated that jihad was the duty of every Muslim, indicated that he had knowledge of jihadi camps including Jaish-e-Muhammed camps in the Balakot/Mansehar area, pledged to go to a jihadi training camp, and indicated that he, in fact, was going to jihadi training after Ramadan in 2003 (which was to occur at the end of November, 2003).879
In his closing comments to the jury, the Assistant U.S. Attorney stated: "Hamid Hayat had a jihadi heart and a jihadi mind."880 In interviews, several jurors said Hayat's confession and evidence of what the jury foreman called "un-Americanism" convinced them that he posed a danger.881 In September 2006, Hamid Hayat was sentenced to 24 years in prison.
Umer Hayat, Hamid's father, was tried by a separate federal jury in early 2006 for two counts of making false statements to the FBI about having first-hand knowledge of terrorist training camps in Pakistan and that his son had attended a jihadist training camp in Pakistan. That proceeding ended in a mistrial when the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict. Umer Hayat later pled guilty to making a false statement to the FBI and U.S. Customs and Border Protection about his attempt to carry $28,000 into Pakistan. He was sentenced to time served.882
Albany, New York, Mosque Plot—August 2004
Two Albany, New York, residents, Yassin M. Aref, an Imam at the Masjid As Salam in the city, and Mohammed Mosharref Hossain, a pizzeria owner, were convicted of conspiring to aid a terrorist group and provide support for a weapon of mass destruction, as well as money-laundering and supporting a foreign terrorist organization. They were sentenced to 15 years in prison. Aref is a refugee from Iraqi Kurdistan and Hossain is an immigrant from Bangladesh who has lived in the United States for over two decades.
The case was the result of a sting operation by the FBI which had been watching the Masjid As Salam since 2002 after one of its founders had been deported following the 9/11 attacks. The FBI had an undercover informant befriend Hossain, a member of the mosque who was reported to be having financial problems with his pizza business. The informant was a Pakistani immigrant facing a long prison sentence and deportation after he had pled guilty to one felony count of engaging in the production and transfer of false government identification documents. After a period of time, Hossain asked the informant for a loan. The informant proposed a scheme to launder through Hossain's pizza shop and real estate holdings the proceeds of the sale of a shoulder-fired surface-to-air missile, which was purportedly to be used in a fictitious plot to assassinate Pakistan's United Nations envoy.883
According to court records, the Kurdish Imam, Yassan Aref, was not approached by the informant. Rather, Aref was enlisted by Hossain to witness the transactions under Muslim tradition.884 However, federal authorities admitted that Aref was the "ultimate target" of the sting operation. Two months after the sting began, American military forces found Aref's name and phone number in a notebook at a bombed out encampment in Iraq that the government contended was occupied by "terrorists."885 The notebook was said to contain a reference in the Kurdish language to Aref as "commander" which led prosecutors to believe that Aref might be connected to the Ansar al-Islam terrorist group. It was also cited by the judge in the case as grounds for denying bail to the defendants.886
Later, however, federal prosecutors admitted to making an error and acknowledged that the word in question could be translated as "brother," rather than "commander." The U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York was quoted as saying that the translation discrepancy was not terribly significant. He said the heart of the case had to do with Mr. Aref's and Mr. Hossain's failure to turn away from the fake plot even after they knew the intentions of the government informer.887
Aref and Hossain were arrested on August 5, 2004, on a 19-count indictment charging them with money laundering. The government subsequently added more charges, including allegations the men conspired to provide material support to a Pakistani terrorist group.888
The case was not without controversy. Aref and Hossain maintained their innocence throughout their trials. Defense attorneys claimed the two were entrapped. Pakistan angrily protested to Washington over the FBI sting operation describing it as "a bizarre mission."889 Albany's two main daily newspapers—the Albany Times Union and the Schenectady Daily Gazette—ran editorials at the time of the sentencing asking for extreme leniency.890 Two of the columnists who had followed the trial closely were also very critical of the prosecution.891 And several inmates at the Rensselaer County Jail, where Aref and Hossain were being held, wrote letters to the judge in the case vouching for the defendants' good character and benign influence.892
After the indictment, an article in The New York Times quoted government officials as saying that Aref's case resulted from evidence gathered by the warrantless National Security Agency domestic wiretapping program. On January 5, 2006, defense attorneys filed a motion to suppress evidence and dismiss the indictment as the fruit of illegal surveillance.893 The district court denied that motion in a sealed ex parte opinion based on a sealed ex parte submission by the government. In July 2008, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York affirmed the district court's ruling.
Shahawar Matin Siraj and James Elshafay—Plot to Bomb Herald Square Subway Station in New York City—August 2004
Days before the 2004 Republican National Convention, which was held in New York City, James Elshafay, a U.S. citizen, and Shahawar Matin Siraj, a Pakistani immigrant, were arrested for plotting to bomb the Herald Square subway station in New York City. The station, near Madison Square Garden, is the third busiest in the city's transit system. The investigation was largely conducted by the NYPD's Intelligence Division which used a paid informant, Osama Eldawoody, an Egyptian-born nuclear engineer. Eldawoody testified that he volunteered to troll the city's mosques and Muslim communities out of patriotism and a desire to show that violent extremists are the exception rather than the rule in Islam.894 Prosecutors at the Siraj's trial played tapes secretly recorded by Eldawoody in which Siraj discusses the plot to bomb the subway station "at length and with great zeal."895
James Elshafay immediately agreed to cooperate with the government and pled guilty to involvement in the plot. Elshafay testified against Siraj at the latter's trial. He acknowledged taking medication for depression and schizophrenia and described the delusions that landed him in a psychiatric ward just months before he conspired with Siraj to bomb the subway station.896 Elshafay was sentenced to five years in prison.
Siraj rejected a plea agreement and went to trial. His attorneys argued that he was entrapped by the police informant, Osama Eldawoody. They also attacked the credibility of the informant on the grounds that he was paid a total of $100,000 by the police. However, prosecutors called an undercover detective who testified that he had had frequent conversations with Siraj long before he met Eldawoody. "The conversations, the detective said, were filled with Mr. Siraj's approval of suicide bombings and Osama bin Laden."897 The jury rejected the defense argument of entrapment and convicted Siraj on four counts of conspiracy, including plotting to bomb a public transportation system. He was sentenced in January 2007 to 30 years in prison.
Iyman Faris—Plot Against Brooklyn Bridge—June 2003
Iyman Faris, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Kashmir, Pakistan, and living in Columbus, Ohio, pled guilty on May 1, 2003, to casing the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City for Al Qaeda, and researching and providing information to Al Qaeda regarding the tools necessary for possible attacks on U.S. targets. According to DOJ,
Faris admitted that upon returning to the United States from Pakistan in April 2002, he researched "gas cutters"—the equipment for severing bridge suspension cables—and the New York City bridge on the Internet. Between April 2002 and March 2003, he sent several coded messages ... indicating he had been unsuccessful in his attempts to obtain the necessary equipment. Faris admitted to traveling to New York City in late 2002 to examine the bridge, and said he concluded that the plot to destroy the bridge by severing cables was unlikely to succeed because of the bridge's security and structure. In early 2003, he sent a message that "the weather is too hot"—a coded message indicating that the bridge plot was unlikely to succeed.898
He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Time Magazine reports that government officials were led to Faris by Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the high-ranking Al Qaeda operative and alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks who is in U.S. custody. Reportedly, after Mohammed's capture in Pakistan, agents discovered the coded, "the weather is too hot" email sent from the U.S. to one of his associates. The email was one of the factors that helped investigators pull Faris' name out of Mohammed during his interrogations by U.S. authorities. Faris was then secretly detained two weeks later. Faris acknowledged that he wrote the email and was referring to the impossibility of an Al Qaeda plot to bring down the sturdy, well-guarded Brooklyn Bridge by cutting its suspension cables.899
Sometime in March 2003, according to DOJ officials, FBI agents persuaded Faris to cooperate with the government. Time Magazine quotes law-enforcement officials who say that he was brought to a safe house in Virginia. "Faris sent messages to his bosses via cell phone and email. 'He was sitting in the safe house making calls for us,' says a senior Administration official. 'It was a huge triumph for law enforcement.'"900
Ahmed Omar Abu Ali—Plot to Assassinate President Bush—June 2003
Abu Ali, an American-born Muslim raised in Northern Virginia, was convicted on November 22, 2005, on nine terrorism charges, including conspiracy to assassinate President George W. Bush, conspiracy to commit air piracy, and providing material support to Al Qaeda. Ali was originally arrested by Saudi Arabian authorities in June 2003, while he was studying at the Islamic University of Medina.901 The arrest came one month after an Al Qaeda attack on three residential compounds in Riyadh had killed 27 foreign workers. He was held in Saudi custody for 20 months without charges or access to an attorney. U.S. officials did not request extradition; however, FBI agents participated in some of the interrogations.902
In the summer of 2004, Abu Ali's family brought a civil suit in U.S. District Court seeking a writ of habeas corpus. While that suit was pending, Abu Ali was returned to the United States and on February 22, 2005, an indictment was unsealed charging him with six terrorism counts.903 A superseding indictment added charges.
The government's case against Abu Ali was based primarily on evidence gathered by Saudi authorities that included a videotaped confession. Although the assassination and hijacking plots never got past the talking stage, it was alleged that between September 2002 and June 2003, Abu Ali had met with several unnamed co-conspirators, two of whom were later revealed to be leaders of an Al Qaeda cell in Medina—Sultan Jubran Sultan al-Qahtani, and Ali Abd al-Rahman al-Faq'asi al-Ghamdi.904 Among the discussions with the co-conspirators were "options for assassinating President Bush: (1) an operation in which Abu Ali would get close enough to the President to shoot him on the street, and (2) an operation in which Abu Ali would detonate a car bomb."905 At trial, Abu Ali's attorneys countered that while in Saudi custody their client had been beaten and whipped repeatedly until he agreed to confess.906 But, the judge, jury, and appellate court rejected that argument. A juror said after the trial that Abu Ali's videotaped confession was "chilling" and showed no sign of coercion.907
Abu Ali was originally sentenced to 30 years in prison. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld the conviction and sent the case back for resentencing. The U.S. District judge increased the sentence to life in prison, which he is serving at the federal "Supermax" prison in Florence, Colorado.
Virginia "Jihad" Network—June 2003
Eleven men from Northern Virginia were charged on June 27, 2003, with a variety of offenses including weapons counts, providing material support to terrorist groups, and for violating the Neutrality Act of 1939,908 which prohibits U.S. citizens and residents from attacking countries with which the United States is at peace. The men were accused of being part of a jihadist network whose objective was to wage holy war against nations deemed hostile to Islam. They were dubbed by some in the media as the "Paintball" terrorists because they were alleged to have used paintball games in the woods near Fredericksburg, Virginia, in 2000 and 2001 as military training.909
After the indictment, four of the 11 men pled guilty and cooperated with the government. In a superseding indictment on September 25, 2003, additional charges were levied against the seven remaining defendants, including conspiracy to support terrorist organizations, namely Al Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Taiba, (LeT) a Kashmiri-based group that has been designated by the U.S. government as a terrorist organization.910 Two of these remaining defendants pled guilty in January 2004.
In 2004 and 2005, charges were brought against two additional Northern Virginia residents. The alleged spiritual leader of the group, Ali al-Timimi, was indicted in September 2004 for counseling and inducing several of the other defendants to conspire to levy war against the United States along with other charges. He was found guilty on April 26, 2005, on 10 counts and sentenced to life in prison.911
The Washington Post reported that the heart of the government's evidence against al-Timimi was a meeting he attended in Fairfax, Virginia, five days after the 9/11 attacks. Al-Timimi told his followers that "the time had come for them to go abroad and join the mujaheddin engaged in violent jihad in Afghanistan," according to court papers.912 Defense lawyers claimed his rhetoric merely reflected his right to free speech. After seven days of deliberation, the jury rejected that argument. At sentencing, the judge said she was satisfied that the case did not "violate any of al-Timimi's First Amendment rights. This is not a case about speech. This is a case about intent."913
On September 15, 2005, prosecutors also charged Ali Asad Chandia as part of the Virginia Jihad Network conspiracy. Chandia, a former teacher at a Muslim school in Maryland, was accused of assisting an LeT operative, Mohammed Ajmal Khan, in procuring military-purpose equipment for use against India. Evidence was presented at trial that Chandia made a three-month trip to Pakistan in 2001-2002 where he met and allied with Khan who is currently serving a nine-year sentence in Britain for his terrorist activities.914 Chandia was convicted on June 6, 2006, and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
The following is a summary of the disposition of all of the accused defendants:915
- Ali Al-Timimi—an Iraqi American U.S. citizen, was convicted on April 26, 2005, and sentenced to life in prison for soliciting treason, counseling and inducing others to wage war against the United States, and using firearms and explosives in furtherance of those offenses.
- Ali Asad Chandia—a Pakistani American U.S. citizen, was convicted on June 6, 2006, and sentenced to 15 years, for providing material support to the LeT.
- Masaud Khan—a Pakistani American U.S. citizen, was convicted on March 4, 2004, and sentenced to life in prison for conspiring to wage war against the United States, providing material support to LeT, and using automatic weapons in furtherance of crimes of violence.
- Seifullah Chapman—a U.S. citizen, was convicted on March 4, 2004, and sentenced to 85 years (later reduced to 65 years) in prison for conspiring to provide material support to LeT, violating the Neutrality Act of 1939, using firearms in furtherance of crimes of violence, and using an automatic weapon in furtherance of crimes of violence.
- Caliph Basha Abdur-Raheem—a U.S. citizen, was acquitted of all charges on February 20, 2004.
- Randall Royer—a U.S. citizen, pled guilty in January 2004 and was sentenced to 20 years in prison for aiding and abetting the use and discharge of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, and of aiding and abetting the carrying of an explosive during the commission of a felony.
- Ibrahim Al-Hamdi—a Yemeni national, pled guilty in January 2004, and was sentenced to 17 years in prison for unlawfully possessing a firearm, possessing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, and carrying an explosive—specifically, a rocket-propelled grenade—during the commission of a crime.
- Yong Ki Kwon—a naturalized U.S. citizen from Korea, pled guilty in August 2003, and was sentenced to 11 years, 6 months for conspiring to commit an offense against the United States, using a firearm in connection with a crime of violence, and transferring a firearm for use in a crime of violence.
- Sabri Benkhala, a U.S. citizen, was acquitted in March 2004 of charges related to the original June 2003 indictment. He was then granted statutory immunity and testified twice before the grand jury, and submitted to interviews with the FBI. He was subsequently convicted in February 2007 of making materially false statements in 2004, both in his grand jury appearances and to the FBI. He was sentenced to 10 years, 1 month in prison.
- Khwaja Mahmood Hasan—a naturalized U.S. citizen from Pakistan, pled guilty in August 2003, and was sentenced to 11 years, 3 months in prison for conspiring to commit an offense against the United States, and using a firearm in connection with a crime of violence.
- Muhammed Aatique—a legal resident from Pakistan, pled guilty in September 2003, and was sentenced to 10 years, 2 months, for aiding others in commencing a military expedition against a friendly nation and using and discharging a firearm in relation to a crime of violence.
- Hammad Abdur-Raheem—a U.S. citizen (and no relation to acquitted defendant Caliph Basha Abdur-Raheem), was convicted on March 4, 2004, and was sentenced to 52 months in prison for conspiring to provide material support to LeT and violating the Neutrality Act of 1939.
- Donald Thomas Surratt—a U.S. citizen, pled guilty in August 2003, and was sentenced to three years, 10 months for conspiring to commit an offense against the United States and transporting a firearm in interstate commerce with reason to know a felony would be committed with it.
Hasan Akbar—Attack on Soldiers at U.S. Army Post in Kuwait—March 23, 2003
On March 23, 2003, two days after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, U.S. Army Sergeant Hasan Akbar killed two U.S. Army officers and wounded 14 others at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait, 25 miles from the Iraq border. At approximately 1:30 a.m., Akbar shut off the generator that lit the camp, then tossed grenades into three tents where officers were asleep or preparing for bed. He is reported to have yelled, "We are under attack." As soldiers rushed outside, he opened fire with an M-4 automatic rifle.916
Akbar was born Mark Fidel Kools in 1971. His mother said she changed his name to Hasan Akbar after she remarried when he was a young boy. The family into which she married were members of the Nation of Islam. In 1988, Akbar enrolled at the University of California, Davis, with a double major in aeronautical and mechanical engineering. He graduated nine years later with a bachelor's degree and joined the Army in 1998.917
The attack has been attributed to various motivations. Military criminal investigators reported that Akbar had been recently reprimanded for insubordination and was told he would not join his unit's push into Iraq. An Army spokesman said Akbar had been having "an attitude problem." Another spokesman stated that the motive in the attack "most likely was resentment."918
At his April 2005 court martial, Akbar's attorney argued that Akbar was concerned the invasion of Iraq would result in the deaths of Muslims and that U.S. soldiers would rape Iraqi women. He said the prosecution's depiction of Akbar as a cold-blooded killer ignored that the defendant was sufficiently mentally ill—though not insane—to be confused and fearful about the impending invasion of Iraq.919
Writing of his fellow soldiers in a diary entry dated February 4, 2003, he stated:
I suppose they want to punk me or just humiliate me. Perhaps they feel that I will not do anything about that. They are right about that. I am not going to do anything about it as long as I stay here. But as soon as I am in Iraq, I am going to try and kill as many of them as possible.
I will have to decide to kill my Muslim brothers fighting for Saddam Hussein or my battle buddies. I am hoping to get into a position so I don't have to take any crap from anyone anymore.920
On April 22, 2005, after two and one-half hours deliberation, a military jury at Fort Bragg convicted Akbar of two counts of premeditated murder and three counts of attempted premeditated murder. He was sentenced to death one week later. Akbar is the first American since the Vietnam era to be prosecuted on charges of murdering a fellow soldier during wartime.921
Lackawanna Six—Training at Al Qaeda Camp—September 2002
Six American citizens of Yemeni descent were arrested on September 13, 2002, and later charged with providing material support to a terrorist organization. The press dubbed the six suspects—Sahim Alwan, Yahya Goba, Shafal Mosed, Yasein Taher, Faysal Galab, and Mukhtar al-Bakri—the "Lackawanna Six" (also the "Buffalo Six" or "Buffalo Cell") because five of them were born and raised in Lackawanna, a suburb of Buffalo, New York.
Prosecutors alleged that in the spring of 2001, the men traveled to Afghanistan, where they attended Al Farooq training camp. Three of the men—Taher, Galab, and Mosed—traveled in one group in April 2001, going from Canada to Pakistan via London and the United Arab Emirates. The four others—Alwan, Goba, al-Bakri, and Elbaneh—allegedly traveled from New York to Pakistan in May 2001. Once in Pakistan, they allegedly crossed over the border in Afghanistan to attend the training camp. The men stayed for five to six weeks, except for Alwan, who left after 10 days.922 The men later admitted to authorities that while at Al Farooq camp they were trained in the use of automatic weapons, including Kalashnikovs, M-16 rifles, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, and explosives. They also met Osama bin Laden.923
The Lackawanna Six first came to the attention of authorities in the spring of 2001 when the FBI received an anonymous, handwritten letter apparently from someone in Lackawanna's Yemeni community. The letter said that a group has traveled to "meet bin Laden and stay in his camp for training."924 Subsequently, the FBI interviewed one of the men, Sahim Alwan, when he returned from abroad. Alwan, however, told the FBI that he only traveled to Pakistan for religious training.
Another member, Mukhtar Al-Bakri, came under increased surveillance after the U.S. government reviewed and analyzed an email he sent while traveling in Saudi Arabia. The email referred to an upcoming "big meal" that authorities interpreted as a code for an impending terrorist attack.925 Additional intelligence information was later received that suggested the Lackawanna suspects were the targets of an Al Qaeda recruitment operation.926 In the tense atmosphere after the 9/11 attacks, this led to concerns that the group may be a sleeper cell.927
When the FBI learned that al-Bakri had traveled to Bahrain to get married, they asked authorities there to detain him. During an interview with an Arabic-speaking FBI agent, a-Bakri admitted to having attended Al Farooq camp and named the other members of the Lackawanna Six, who were then subsequently arrested on September 13, 2002.
In their joint report, "Chasing the Sleeper Cell,"928 The New York Times and Public Broadcasting Service's (PBS's) Frontline summarized the disposition of the Lackawanna Six and others associated with the case:
- Sahim Alwan was a college-educated, married man with three children. After he arrived at Al Farooq camp, Alwan claimed he quickly had a change of heart and begged the camp authorities to let him return home. He was allowed to leave, but first was taken to a personal meeting with bin Laden, in which Al Qaeda's leader asked about the status of Muslims in the United States. He was also asked by a bin Laden associate to deliver two copies of a videotape showing the bombing of the USS Cole to a contact in Pakistan, which he did. After being confronted with information obtained from the arrest and interrogation of Mukhtar al-Bakri, Alwan confessed to the FBI and in April 2003, pled guilty to material support of terrorism. He was sentenced to nine and a half years in prison.
- Yahya Goba did not grow up in Lackawanna. He was born in The Bronx, was raised for a while in Yemen, and moved to Western New York in the late 1996. In his March 2003 guilty plea, Goba admitted having trained to use firearms, including a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, as well as explosives. He also said that Osama bin Laden had spoken at the camp of men "willing to become martyrs for the cause." In December 2003, Goba was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
- Shafal Mosed pled guilty in March 2003 to providing material support to Al Qaeda and was sentenced to eight years in prison.
- Yasein Taher pled guilty in May 2003 to providing material support to Al Qaeda and was sentenced to eight years in prison.
- Faysal Galab was the first of the Lackawanna Six to pled guilty to material support of terrorism in January 2003. In his plea, he admitted to traveling to the camp, knowing that the trip was illegal, and receiving weapons training. He also acknowledged Osama bin Laden had spoken at the camp. He was sentenced to seven years in prison.
- Mukhtar al-Bakri was arrested on his wedding night in a hotel room in Manama, Bahrain. During his FBI interview, he was the first to admit that the group had not attended religious training in Pakistan, but rather traveled to the terrorist training camp in Afghanistan. His confession paved the way for the FBI to bring charges against the Lackawanna men. He also admitted that he trained in the use of weapons and explosives at an Al Qaeda camp. In June 2003, he was the last of the six to pled guilty to material support and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Three other men were also implicated in the Lackawanna Six case. Authorities believe the three played roles in the recruitment of the Lackawanna Six:
- Kemal Derwish was born in Buffalo and raised in Saudi Arabia. He reportedly had trained in Al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan and fought with Muslims in Bosnia. U.S. intelligence sources say the Saudi government deported Derwish in 1997 for alleged extremist activities. He spent a year in Yemen before heading back to his hometown of Lackawanna in 1998 where he began giving informal talks at a local mosque. The group met in his apartment, where he reportedly told them that attacks on Muslims around the world obligate them to train for jihad to defend their Muslim brothers. Authorities believe that the trip by the group to Afghanistan grew out of religious discussions led by Derwish. He was reportedly killed in 2002 by a CIA Predator drone that was tracking Qaed Salim Sinan al Harethi, known as "Abu Ali," and believed to be one of the planners of the USS Cole bombing.929
- Juma Al Dosari is described as a Muslim fighter and itinerant Imam from Saudi Arabia, who is believed to have fought with Derwish in Bosnia. Upon his arrival in Lackawanna, the reportedly charismatic Al Dosari gave a sermon railing against Arab governments who do nothing while Muslims die on a daily basis. According to people in the community, the leaders of the Lackawanna mosque were so troubled by Al Dosari's militant tone that he was not invited back. Two weeks after the 9/11 attacks, Al Dosari left Lackawanna to fight with the Taliban in Afghanistan. He was captured sometime in the fall of 2001 and declared an enemy combatant. He was subsequently sent to the special prison camp at the U.S. Naval Base on Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. His interrogation there led to the information that the Lackawanna Six were the targets of an Al Qaeda recruitment operation. In 2007, after five years of the detention at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, he was released to Saudi Arabia, with no charges against him.930
- Jaber A. Elbaneh, a Yemeni American also attended Al Farooq training camp with al-Bakri, Alwan and Goba. At the camp, Elbaneh told Alwan that he wanted to fight with the Taliban and was willing to become a martyr. He never returned to the U.S. after his trip to Afghanistan and eventually fled to Yemen. In May 2003, the U.S. government unsealed an indictment charging him with providing material support to Al Qaeda. The FBI also put him on its list of world's most wanted terrorism suspects.931 It has been reported that he is in Yemeni custody, but because there is no extradition treaty between the United States and Yemen, it is not clear whether he will be returned for trial.932
Jose Padilla—Alleged "Dirty Bomb" Plot—May 2002
Jose Padilla, a former Chicago gang member and convert to Islam, was arrested on May 8, 2002, at O'Hare Airport in Chicago for suspicion of planning to explode a radiological dispersion device, or "dirty bomb" (an explosive containing radioactive material) in the United States. A month later, he would become the first American citizen arrested on U.S. soil to be declared an "enemy combatant," and then was held indefinitely without trial or charging him with a crime. This led to a legal confrontation between the Bush Administration and Padilla's attorneys as well as various civil liberties groups that lasted several years and reached all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The constitutional issues involved the extent to which the President, as commander-in-chief, has the authority to take extraordinary measures for the security of Americans even if those measures infringe on an accused citizen's access to legal counsel and relief from unlawful detention (habeas corpus).933
The government's initial suspicions about Padilla were based on information provided to interrogators by Abu Zubaydah, a senior official of Al Qaeda who was in American custody at an undisclosed location overseas. He did not name Mr. Padilla but described him physically and referred to him as a Latin American man who went by a Muslim name. Intelligence agents then were able to link the name given by Abu Zubaydah to "an Arab alias not mentioned by the detainee." That "alias" led the agent to Mr. Padilla's Florida driver's license. The photo on that license was shown to "a detainee," presumed to be Abu Zubaydah, who confirmed that Mr. Padilla was the "Latin American" he had been describing.934
Padilla remained in custody for one month after his arrest in May 2002 on a material witness warrant. But, Justice Department officials faced a deadline to release him pursuant to laws that protect U.S. citizens from indefinite detention. They were also confronted with the challenge of making a case against Padilla that would stand up in court without bringing Abu Zubaydah or other captured Al Qaeda officials into an American courtroom.935 Instead, on June 9, 2002, President George W. Bush approved Padilla's reclassification as an "enemy combatant," which would not entitle him to trial in civilian courts. He was transferred after midnight to the brig of a South Carolina naval base, where he was held incommunicado, not even allowed visits from his attorney, for over 3-1/2 years, most of which was spent in solitary confinement.936
In announcing Padilla's May arrest, then-Attorney General John Ashcroft announced at a June 10, 2002, news conference, "We have disrupted an unfolding terrorist plot to attack the United States by exploding a radioactive dirty bomb." He added that the government's suspicions about Padilla's plans came from "multiple, independent, corroborating sources."937
But shortly thereafter, CBS News reported that FBI sources were "backing off" Ashcroft's assertion that there was a specific, developed, and real plan to use a "dirty bomb" in the United States. According to one law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity, "FBI's investigation has produced no evidence that Padilla had begun preparations for an attack and little reason to believe he had any support from Al Qaeda to direct such a plot."938
Dale Watson, who was then FBI's executive assistant director for counterterrorism, read the complete file on Padilla and later said, "My recollection was that this was a rather weak case. There was some information, but it needed a lot more work on the investigative side to flesh out all the facts."939
On June 1, 2004, DOJ responded to a written request by Senator Orrin Hatch, then the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, "asking the Department of Justice and the Department of Defense to supply whatever information [they] could about American citizens being held as enemy combatants here in the United States."940 In addition, then-Deputy Attorney General James Comey held a news conference where he laid out a detailed summary of the government's case against Padilla. The case was largely derived from statements made by Padilla himself while he was interrogated in military custody, but which Comey claimed was substantiated by other sources. At the news conference, Comey traced Padilla's travel through Egypt, Yemen, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. He identified Al Qaeda officials he met, which included not only Abu Zubaydah, but Al Qaeda military commander Mohammed Atef and 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. He also described the training Padilla received and terrorist plots discussed including one to blow up apartment buildings in the United States using natural gas as well as an attack using a dirty bomb.941
Comey also noted that the government could not make a case against Padilla through the criminal justice system when he was originally arrested two years before "without jeopardizing intelligence sources."942 But, he went on to say that the questioning of Padilla was not undertaken to try and make a criminal case against him. "It was done to find out the truth about what he knew about Al Qaeda and threats to the United States."943
Soon after Padilla was declared an enemy combatant, his appointed counsel filed a habeas corpus petition on his behalf. The case eventually reached the Supreme Court, which held that Padilla had filed his habeas petition in the wrong court. In 2004, Padilla's counsel filed a new habeas corpus petition in the U.S. District Court for South Carolina. The District Court ruled that Padilla's detention had not been authorized by Congress and was therefore unlawful. The government appealed to the Fourth Circuit. On September 9, 2005, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, reversed the trial court's decision and held that the president was authorized to detain enemy combatants under the Authorization of Use of Military Force passed by Congress in the wake of September 11. Padilla then filed a petition for certiorari944 in the United States Supreme Court.945
In November 2005, while the Supreme Court was considering Padilla's petition for review, the Bush Administration suddenly announced that criminal charges had been filed against him in federal court in Miami. The new indictment made no mention of the dirty bomb or most of the other original charges. Instead, Padilla was charged with being part of a "North American support cell" that worked to support violent jihad campaigns in Afghanistan and elsewhere overseas from 1993 to 2001.946
The government then asked the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to vacate its decision upholding Padilla's confinement.947 The Fourth Circuit refused to vacate its order or approve of Padilla's transfer from military to civilian custody. In an opinion by Judge J. Michael Luttig, the Fourth Circuit worried about "an appearance that the government may be attempting to avoid consideration of our decision by the Supreme Court."948 Judge Luttig also "chastised the administration for using one set of facts to justify holding Padilla without charges and another set to persuade a grand jury in Florida to indict him."949
Padilla's attorneys, in the meantime, sought to have the criminal charges against him dismissed on the grounds that the psychological damage he suffered during his confinement from abuse and extreme isolation had left him incompetent to stand trial. The judge in the case denied the motion, without ruling on the merits of the defense accusations of abuse. The criminal trial began in September 2006.950
Padilla was convicted on August 16, 2007, along with two co-defendants, Adham Amin Hassoun and Kifah Wael Jayyousi, of conspiracy to murder, kidnap and maim people in a foreign country. In January 2008, Padilla was sentenced to 17 years and four months in prison while his co-defendants were given shorter sentences.951 In September 2011, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, in Atlanta vacated his sentence, deeming it too lenient.952
Portland Seven—Attempted Travel to Afghanistan to Support the Taliban—October 2001
In the days following the 9/11 attacks, six men reportedly met at various times in the Portland, Oregon, area, where they made plans to travel to Afghanistan to fight against the Armed Forces of the United States. They also conducted weapons training on two occasions at a gravel pit in Washougal, Washington. A seventh person, October Martinique Lewis, admitted that she transferred funds for the purpose of assisting her ex-husband who was one of the conspirators. The group, who came to be known as the "Portland Seven," called themselves, Katibat al Mawt—"The Squad of Death."953 They were954
- Habis Abdulla Al Saoub, a Jordanian-born man and reputed militant jihadist, was considered to be the de facto leader of the group.
- Patrice Lumumba Ford is a U.S. citizen who converted to Islam during a trip to China. He has been described as an intelligent, gentle, exemplary young man, well-known in Portland's African American community. But prior to the events of 9/11, was so upset by this country's Middle Eastern policy that he sent an email to Portland Mayor Vera Katz's office that was troubling enough in its anti-Semitism to be forwarded to the police.
- Ahmed Ibrahim Bilal and Muhammad Ibrahim Bilal are American- born brothers of Saudi descent.
- Jeffrey Leon Battle is a former cosmetics salesman who moved to the Portland area from Houston.
- Maher "Mike" Hawash is a software engineer and naturalized American citizen from the West Bank who grew up in Kuwait.
- October Martinique Lewis, Battle's ex-wife, moved with him from Houston.
Al Saoub, Ford, and Battle first came to the attention of law enforcement authorities on September 29, 2001, after they were seen engaged in shooting practice in a gravel pit in Skamania County, Washington, near Washougal. The group was discovered by a deputy sheriff who was acting on a tip from a neighbor who had heard gunfire in the pit. Deputy Mercer let the men go after taking their names and reported the incident to the FBI.955
Sometime after February 2002, the FBI reportedly linked a confidential informant with a member of the group, Jeffrey Battle. The informant was reported to be Khalid Mustafa, a small-time criminal who agreed to become a confidential FBI informant after being charged with drug and weapons offenses. Mustafa befriended Battle at the mosque where he prayed and then secretly recorded numerous conversations with Battle that included details about the group's trip to China. Battle is also recorded on tape talking about retaliating against Jews in Portland, "So if every time they hurt or harm a Muslim over there, you go into that synagogue and hurt one over here."956
Hundreds of email exchanges between Battle and other members of the Portland Seven provided further evidence of the conspiracy. The emails were reportedly obtained through provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act (P.L. 107-56) that allow prosecutors access to the data files of Internet service providers. In court documents, prosecutors acknowledged having taped at least 271 conversations and obtained 31 separate orders from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court.957
In October 2002, five of the men were indicted on multiple charges of aiding or attempting to join Al Qaeda. Maher Hawash was arrested in March 2003 on a material witness warrant and initially held without charges. He was subsequently charged with conspiring with the others to travel to China and join the Taliban. Lewis, the ex-wife of co-defendant Jeffrey Battle, was charged with money laundering.
Hawash pled guilty on September 6, 2003, to conspiracy to provide material support to the Taliban and agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors. At his sentencing in February 2004, he said, "I do not blame anyone else but myself. This action was done by me, based on a misguided judgment at the time, a high emotional time for me in my life."958 He was sentenced to seven years in prison and was released in early 2009.
Muhammad and Ahmed Bilal pled guilty on September 18, 2003, to conspiracy to contribute services to the Taliban, as well as federal weapons charges.959 They received 8- and 10-year sentences respectively.
October Martinique Lewis pled guilty on September 26, 2003, to six counts of money laundering for transferring money from the United States to a place outside of the country for the purpose of assisting her ex-husband, Jeffrey Battle, in willfully supplying services to the Taliban.960 She received a three-year sentence.
Jeffrey Battle and Patrice Lumumba Ford pled guilty on October 16, 2003, to the first of a 15-count indictment, a charge of conspiracy to levy war against the United States. Both defendants admitted that they and the other defendants flew to China in an unsuccessful attempt to gain entry into Pakistan, en route to Afghanistan. They also admitted in their plea that the purpose of the conspiracy was to travel to Afghanistan to fight alongside Al Qaeda and the Taliban against American and allied forces. They were each sentenced to 18-year prison terms.961
Habis al Saoub reportedly joined an Al Qaeda cell and was killed by Pakistani forces in Afghanistan in October 2003.
|
Plots and Attacks |
Lone Wolf |
Muslim Convert(s) |
Suicidal or Sought Martyrdom |
Radicalized in Prison |
Intended or actual Plotting or Training Abroad |
|
Terry Lee Loewen |
X |
X |
|||
|
Basit Javed Sheikh |
X |
X |
|||
|
Sinh Vinh Ngo Nguyen |
X |
X |
|||
|
Shelton Thomas Bell |
X |
X |
|||
|
Abdella Ahmad Tounisi |
|
|
X |
|
X |
|
Tsarnaev Brothers |
|
|
|
|
Unclear |
|
Eric Harroun |
|
X |
|
|
X |
|
Reaz Qadir Khan |
|
|
X |
|
X |
|
Matthew Aaron Llaneza |
|
X |
|
|
X |
|
Erwin Antonio Rios |
|
Unclear |
|
|
X |
|
Zea and Kaliebe |
|
X |
X |
|
X |
|
Abukhdair and Wilson |
|
X |
|
Unclear |
X |
|
Qazi Brothers |
|
|
|
|
|
|
California Al Qaeda/Taliban Plot |
|
X |
X |
|
X |
|
Adel Daoud |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Amine El Khalifi |
|
|
X |
|
|
|
Ulugbek Kodirov |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jamshid Muhtorov |
|
|
|
|
X |
|
Sami Osmakac |
|
|
X |
|
|
|
Craig Baxam |
|
X |
|
|
X |
|
Jose Pimentel |
|
X |
Unclear |
|
|
|
Rezwan Ferdaus |
|
|
|
|
X |
|
Agron Hasbajrami |
|
|
X |
|
X |
|
Naser Abdo |
X |
|
Unclear |
|
X |
|
Emerson Begolly |
|
X |
|
|
|
|
Abdul-Latif and Mujahidh |
|
X |
Unclear |
|
|
|
Yonathan Melaku |
X |
|
|
|
|
|
Ferhani and Mamdouh |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari |
X |
|
X |
|
|
|
Antonio Martinez |
|
X |
|
|
|
|
Mohamed Mohamud |
|
|
|
|
X |
|
Farooque Ahmed |
|
|
|
|
X |
|
Abdel Shehadeh |
|
|
|
|
X |
|
Omar Hammami |
|
X |
|
|
X |
|
Jehad Mostafa |
|
|
|
|
X |
|
Shaker Masri |
|
|
X |
|
X |
|
Zachary Chesser |
|
X |
|
|
X |
|
The Rockwoods |
|
X |
|
|
|
|
Alessa and Almonte |
|
X |
|
|
X |
|
Faisal Shahzad |
|
|
|
|
X |
|
Colleen LaRose |
|
X |
X |
|
|
|
Northern Virginia Five |
|
|
|
|
X |
|
al-Shabaab Recruiting |
|
|
X |
|
X |
|
Ft. Hood (Nidal Hasan) |
X |
|
X |
|
|
|
David Headley |
|
|
|
|
X |
|
Tarek Mehanna |
|
|
|
|
X |
|
Hosam Smadi |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Michael Finton |
|
X |
|
|
|
|
Najibullah Zazi |
|
|
X |
|
X |
|
Betim Kaziu |
|
|
X |
|
X |
|
Daniel Boyd, et al. |
|
X |
|
|
X |
|
Abdulhakim Muhammad |
X |
X |
|
|
|
|
Newburgh Four |
|
X |
|
|
|
|
Bryant Neal Vinas |
|
X |
X |
|
X |
|
JFK Airport Pipeline Plot |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fort Dix Six |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Daniel Maldonado |
|
X |
X |
|
X |
|
Derrick Shareef |
|
X |
|
|
|
|
Houston Taliban Plot |
|
X |
|
|
X |
|
Liberty City Seven |
|
X |
|
|
|
|
Mohammed Taheri-Azar |
X |
|
|
|
|
|
Sadequee and Ahmed |
|
|
|
|
X |
|
Toledo, Ohio Plotters |
|
|
|
|
X |
|
JIS Plotting in So. California |
|
X |
|
X |
|
|
Lodi Case (the Hayats) |
|
|
|
|
X |
|
Albany Plot |
|
|
|
|
|
|
New York City Subway |
|
X |
|
|
|
|
Iyman Faris |
|
|
|
|
X |
|
Ahmed Omar Abu Ali |
|
|
|
|
X |
|
Virginia Jihad Network |
|
X |
|
|
X |
|
Hasan Akbar |
X |
|
Unclear |
|
|
|
Lackawanna Six |
|
|
|
|
X |
|
Jose Padilla |
|
X |
|
|
X |
|
Portland Seven |
|
X |
|
|
X |
Source: CRS analysis of open source material related to homegrown violent jihadist plots since 9/11.
Notes: The plots and attacks are listed in reverse chronological order. The five attacks since 9/11 are
highlighted in bold and italics. The plots and attacks shaded in yellow (those below the "Newburgh Four" in the
figure) occurred after September 11, 2001, and through April 2009. The period after April 2009 has seen
heightened homegrown violent jihadist activity.
Table B-2. Homegrown Violent Jihadist Attacks and Plots since 9/11: Targets, Endgames, and Investigative Tools
|
Target |
Endgame |
Investigative Tools |
|||||
|
Plots and Attacks |
U.S. Target |
Foreign Target |
Firearms |
Explosives |
Foreign Fighter |
Informant or Undercover Agent |
Internet or Email Monitoring |
|
Terry Lee Loewen |
X |
X |
X |
X |
|||
|
Basit Javed Sheikh |
X |
X |
X |
X |
|||
|
Sinh Vinh Ngo Nguyen |
X |
X |
X |
X |
|||
|
Shelton Thomas Bell |
X |
X |
X |
||||
|
Abdella Ahmad Tounisi |
|
X |
|
|
X |
X |
X |
|
Tsarnaev Brothers |
X |
|
X |
X |
|
|
|
|
Eric Harroun |
|
X |
|
X |
X |
|
X |
|
Reaz Qadir Khan |
|
X |
X |
X |
X |
|
X |
|
Matthew Aaron Llaneza |
X |
|
|
X |
X |
X |
|
|
Erwin Antonio Rios |
X |
|
X |
|
X |
X |
Unclear |
|
Zea and Kaliebe |
|
X |
|
|
X |
X |
X |
|
Abukhdair and Wilson |
|
X |
|
|
X |
X |
X |
|
Qazi Brothers |
X |
|
|
X |
|
X |
Unclear |
|
California Al Qaeda/Taliban Plot |
|
X |
|
|
X |
X |
X |
|
Adel Daoud |
X |
|
|
X |
|
X |
X |
|
Amine El Khalifi |
X |
|
X |
X |
|
X |
X |
|
Ulugbek Kodirov |
X |
|
X |
X |
|
X |
|
|
Jamshid Muhtorov |
|
X |
|
|
X |
|
X |
|
Sami Osmakac |
X |
|
X |
X |
|
X |
|
|
Craig Baxam |
|
X |
|
|
X |
|
|
|
Jose Pimentel |
X |
|
|
X |
|
X |
X |
|
Rezwan Ferdaus |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
|
Agron Hasbajrami |
|
X |
|
|
X |
X |
X |
|
Naser Abdo |
X |
|
X |
X |
|
|
|
|
Emerson Begolly |
X |
|
X |
X |
|
|
X |
|
Abdul-Latif and Mujahidh |
X |
|
X |
X |
|
X |
|
|
Yonathan Melaku |
X |
|
X |
X |
|
|
|
|
Ferhani and Mamdouh |
X |
|
X |
X |
|
X |
|
|
Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari |
X |
|
|
X |
|
|
X |
|
Antonio Martinez |
X |
|
|
X |
|
X |
X |
|
Mohamed Mohamud |
X |
|
|
X |
|
X |
X |
|
Farooque Ahmed |
X |
|
|
X |
|
X |
X |
|
Abdel Shehadeh |
|
X |
|
|
X |
|
X |
|
Omar Hammami |
|
X |
|
|
X |
|
|
|
Jehad Mostafa |
|
X |
|
|
X |
|
|
|
Shaker Masri |
|
X |
|
|
X |
X |
X |
|
Zachary Chesser |
|
X |
|
|
X |
|
X |
|
The Rockwoods |
X |
|
X |
X |
|
|
|
|
Alessa and Almonte |
|
X |
|
|
X |
X |
X |
|
Faisal Shahzad |
X |
|
|
X |
|
|
|
|
Colleen LaRose |
|
X |
Unclear |
Unclear |
|
|
X |
|
Northern Virginia Five |
|
X |
|
|
X |
|
|
|
al-Shabaab Recruiting |
|
X |
|
|
X |
|
|
|
Ft. Hood (Nidal Hasan) |
X |
|
X |
|
|
|
X |
|
David Headley |
|
X |
X |
X |
|
|
X |
|
Tarek Mehanna |
X |
|
X |
|
X |
|
X |
|
Hosam Smadi |
X |
|
|
X |
|
X |
X |
|
Michael Finton |
X |
|
|
X |
|
X |
|
|
Najibullah Zazi |
X |
|
|
X |
|
|
X |
|
Betim Kaziu |
|
X |
|
|
X |
|
|
|
Daniel Boyd, et al. |
X |
X |
X |
|
X |
|
X |
|
Abdulhakim Muhammad |
X |
|
X |
|
|
|
|
|
Newburgh Four |
X |
|
|
X |
|
X |
|
|
Bryant Neal Vinas |
X |
X |
|
X |
X |
|
X |
|
JFK Airport Pipeline Plot |
X |
|
|
X |
|
X |
|
|
Fort Dix Six |
X |
|
X |
|
|
X |
|
|
Daniel Maldonado |
|
X |
|
|
X |
X |
|
|
Derrick Shareef |
X |
|
|
X |
|
X |
X |
|
Houston Taliban Plot |
|
X |
|
|
X |
X |
|
|
Liberty City Seven |
X |
|
|
X |
|
X |
|
|
Mohammed Taheri-Azar |
X |
|
Drove SUV into Crowd |
|
|
||
|
Sadequee and Ahmed |
X |
|
Unclear |
Unclear |
|
X |
X |
|
Toledo, Ohio Plotters |
|
X |
|
|
X |
X |
|
|
JIS Plotting in So. California |
X |
|
X |
X |
|
|
|
|
Lodi Case (the Hayats) |
X |
|
Unclear |
Unclear |
|
X |
|
|
Albany Plot |
X |
|
|
X |
|
X |
|
|
New York City Subway |
X |
|
|
X |
|
X |
|
|
Iyman Faris |
X |
|
Plot to Blow-Torch Bridge Cables |
|
|
||
|
Ahmed Omar Abu Ali |
X |
|
X |
X |
|
|
|
|
Virginia Jihad Network |
|
X |
|
|
X |
X |
|
|
Hasan Akbar |
X |
|
X |
X |
|
|
|
|
Lackawanna Six |
|
X |
|
|
X |
|
|
|
Jose Padilla |
X |
|
|
X |
|
|
|
|
Portland Seven |
|
X |
|
|
X |
X |
X |
Source: CRS analysis of open source material related to homegrown violent jihadist plots since 9/11. The results for the "Investigative Tools" columns particularly do not reflect classified information.
Notes: The plots and attacks are listed in reverse chronological order. The five attacks since 9/11 are
highlighted in bold and italics. The plots and attacks shaded in yellow (those below the "Newburgh Four" in the
figure) occurred after September 11, 2001, and through April 2009. The period after April 2009 has seen
heightened homegrown violent jihadist activity.