TRAITOR MUSLIM SOLDIERS
‘We Have Won’: Fort Hood Jihad Murderer
Congratulates Taliban
BY ROBERT SPENCER SEP
10, 2021
PJ Media
Nidal Malik
Hasan, who was at the time a major in the U.S. Army, in November 2009 opened
fire at Fort Hood while screaming “Allahu akbar,”
murdering 14 people and injuring 43. Now he is now on death row at Fort
Leavenworth in Kansas, and he is having a good month: Hasan is thrilled that the Taliban
have taken over Afghanistan.
It was
revealed Wednesday that on August 18, Hasan wrote a letter addressing the
Taliban, crowing “WE HAVE WON” and adding: “Congratulations on your victory
over those who hate for the Laws of All-Mighty God to be supreme on the land. I
pray to Allah that He helps you implement Shariah Law full, correctly and
fairly.”
Hasan asked
his attorney, retired Army Col. John Galligan, to get his letter to the
Taliban. Galligan, who has dealt with this monster for a long time, said: “I’m
not at all surprised by Maj. Nidal Hasan’s recent statement — he’s always been
consistent in the terms of his support for the governments to be rooted upon
Sharia law. Given the Taliban victory in Afghanistan and President Biden’s
apparent capitulation on many fronts, Nidal Hasan and I are anxious to see
what, if any, action will be taken with respect to the individuals still
incarcerated at Guantanamo.”
Indeed. But
the strange case of Nidal Malik Hasan shows that Biden isn’t the first to have
capitulated. In fact, Hasan’s career trajectory neatly encapsulates much of the
failure and wishful thinking that has characterized our response to the 9/11
attacks. As is detailed in Arab Winter Comes to America, Hasan rose through Army ranks
even as he justified jihad suicide bombing and spouted hatred for America, and
he did so with extraordinarily positive recommendations. In an evaluation dated March 13, 2009,
just short of eight months before his jihad attack, Hasan’s superiors said that
he should be put into a position “that allows others to learn from his
perspectives” and declared that his “unique insights into the dimensions of
Islam” and his “moral reasoning” could be of “great potential interest and
strategic importance to the U.S. Army.”
A July 1,
2009, report went even farther, saying that Hasan had “a keen
interest in Islamic culture and faith and has shown capacity to contribute to
our psychological understanding of Islamic nationalism and how it may relate to
events of national security and Army interest in the Middle East and Asia.”
It is likely,
given the fact that Hasan had aroused the alarm of his colleagues with his talk
of jihad, that these glowing recommendations stemmed more from the fear of
those who wrote them that they would be accused of “Islamophobia” than from a
genuine and honest assessment of Hasan’s capabilities. Even in 2009, Army
officials knew that to register suspicion that a Muslim military officer was a
jihadi was to commit career suicide and risk being plastered all over CNN and
the New York Times as an example of the “Islamophobia” that had to be
rooted out of the military.
And so,
ultimately, Hasan did indeed “contribute to our psychological understanding of
Islamic nationalism and how it may relate to events of national security,” but
not in the way the author of this fulsome evaluation expected, and not even in
a way that military and intelligence officials are able to capitalize upon.
They can’t capitalize upon it because they are hamstrung by a politically
correct willful ignorance about the nature and magnitude of the jihad threat –
a willful ignorance that became official Obama administration policy in 2010,
at the behest of Leftist and Islamic groups.
Not long after
the Fort Hood massacre, then-Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano declared: “This was an individual who does not represent the
Muslim faith” – despite the fact that Hasan’s repeated explanations and
justifications of his murders were based wholly and solely on Islamic teaching.
Army Chief of Staff George Casey even went so far as to say that barring
Muslims from the military or subjecting them to additional scrutiny would be
worse than the massacre itself: “Our diversity, not only in our Army, but in
our country, is a strength. And as horrific as this tragedy was, if our
diversity becomes a casualty, I think that’s worse.”
All these
years later, Nidal Hasan himself has succinctly summed up what all that means:
“We have won.” Twelve years after Hasan committed mass murder for Allah, the
U.S. government remains institutionally committed to ignoring and denying who
the “we” are that he meant. The denial and willful ignorance regarding the
global jihad is near-total. It’s absolute madness, and
it only ensures that there will be more Nidal Malik Hasans
in the future.
‘Islamic
State-inspired’ US soldier arrested over alleged plot to bomb American troops
and attack NYC 9/11 Memorial
19 Jan, 2021
RT
An American soldier
has been arrested on terrorism charges, including suggesting wiring explosives
into buildings as part of an Islamic State plot to kill US troops, as well as
allegedly planning an attack on the 9/11 Memorial.
Ohio man Cole
James Bridges, 20, was held in Georgia on Tuesday, and is charged with the
assistance of a foreign terrorist organization and the attempted murder of US
military service members, the US Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
The private
first class, also known as Cole Gonzales, had expressed his support for the
terrorist Islamic State group (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) on social media,
according to the criminal complaint unsealed on Tuesday in Manhattan Federal
Court.
After joining
the US Army in late 2019, Bridges began unknowingly communicating with a member
of the FBI in October last year, with the bureau employee posing as an IS
supporter who claimed to be in touch with the terrorist group in the Middle
East.
The soldier is
then said to have used his army training to guide supposed IS fighters about
potential attacks in New York City, including on the 9/11 Memorial.
In December
2020, Bridges allegedly provided diagrams of “specific military
maneuvers” to help IS fighters “maximize the lethality of attacks on
US troops” while also pledging his allegiance to the terrorist group in
videos. He suggested militants should wire particular buildings with
explosives in order to kill American troops, the charges claim.
“As alleged,
Cole Bridges betrayed the oath he swore to defend the United States by
attempting to provide ISIS with tactical military advice to ambush and kill his
fellow service members,” said Manhattan US Attorney Audrey Strauss.
If convicted,
Bridges faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for each of his alleged
crimes. He is set to appear in a federal court in Georgia on Thursday.
Germany accuses army linguist of spying for
Iran over Afghan missions
15 January 2019
BBC
Federal
prosecutors named the army linguist only as Abdul Hamid S. He is understood to
have known details of German military operations in Afghanistan.
Prosecutors
said he was suspected of "having passed on his knowledge to an Iranian
intelligence service".
The EU
has imposed sanctions on Iran for various alleged spying operations.
This month the EU put a unit of the Iranian intelligence agency and two
individuals on the EU terrorist list, freezing their financial assets.
Iran
says the accusations were fabricated to damage EU-Iran relations.
Abdul
Hamid S. was arrested in Rhineland-Palatinate state in south-west Germany and,
according to the Spiegel website, he is suspected of having worked for Iran for
several years.
The
German armed forces (Bundeswehr) have up to 1,300 personnel in the
international security force in Afghanistan, with a mandate currently running
until the end of March.
Based
in Mazar-e-Sharif, a northern city, the German contingent's job is to train
Afghan government troops, carry out surveillance and protect humanitarian
missions. They have been involved in clashes with Taliban insurgents.
The
Iranian state has been linked to several attacks and plots against Iranian
dissidents in Europe, though Tehran rejects this.
In October, a German court backed the extradition of an Iranian diplomat
suspected of involvement in a Paris bomb plot.
Hawaii-based
soldier who tried to help Islamic State gets 25-year sentence
By: Jennifer Sinco
Kelleher, The Associated Press
December 4,
2018
HONOLULU — A
soldier based in Hawaii was sentenced Tuesday to 25 years in prison for trying
to help the Islamic State group.
Sgt. 1st Class
Ikaika Kang, 35, pleaded guilty in August to four counts of
attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. He
provided classified military documents, a drone and other help, he said.
"Your
honor, I know what I did was wrong," Kang said before Senior U.S. District
Judge Susan Oki Mollway imposed a sentence that
includes 20 years of supervised release. "When I'm released
I won't do it again."
The sentence
is part of a plea agreement. If convicted at a trial, Kang, 35, could have
faced life in prison.
He provided the
support to undercover agents Kang believed were part of the Islamic State
group, which is also known as ISIS.
"The
conduct that you committed was extremely serious," Mollway
said. "It had the potential to be disastrous."
More than six
years ago, Kang became sympathetic to the group and to terrorism, Mollway said, and that by 2016 he talked about wanting to
join and commit violence.
Kang watched
hours of videos daily of violence, including beheadings,
shootings, suicide bombings and child soldiers, Mollway
said.
Kang provided
voluminous, digital documents that had sensitive information including the U.S.
military's weapons file, details about a sensitive mobile airspace management
system, various military manuals and documents containing personal information
about U.S. service members, prosecutors said.
Trained as an
air traffic controller with a secret security clearance, Kang also provided
documents including call signs, mission procedures and radio frequencies,
prosecutors said.
"You had
a distinguished career in the United States Army. And you had access and
training that would have been valuable to the people associated with
ISIS," Mollway said.
At one of the
meetings with agents Kang believed were part of the Islamic State, he swore
loyalty to the group in Arabic and English and kissed an Islamic State flag
given to him by a purported Islamic State sheikh, prosecutors said.
He then said
he wanted to get his rifle and fight — "just go to downtown Honolulu and
Waikiki strip and start shooting," prosecutors said in a news release in
August.
Soon after
Kang's arrest, defense attorney Birney Bervar said
his client may suffer from service-related mental health issues that the
government was aware of but neglected to treat.
Several
letters of support filed in court allude to mental health concerns. An older
sister wrote that Kang grew up in an abusive home and that the violence
increased when their mother started using crystal methamphetamine.
The sister,
who cried as she watched the sentencing hearing, declined to comment afterward.
Letters by
former Army colleagues described how Kang seemed easily influenced.
Kang would stare
at a wall for hours and would say, "I'm just listening to the sound of the
blood running through my veins," wrote retired Sgt. 1st Class Thomas Maia,
who was Kang's supervisor when they were stationed at Fort Rucker, Alabama.
Maia described
another incident when Kang got agitated by seeing a cat that he said "was
talking to him and trying to take his soul."
Bervar requested Kang be sent to a detention
facility where he can receive mental health help.
Kang is still
in the Army, but he isn’t being paid while in civilian confinement. Bervar said he expects the Army will soon move to discharge
him.
Former soldier sparks major terror alert with ‘killing
unbelievers’ text
August 30, 2017
By
Sarah Bruce
The
Press and Journal
Alexander Tiffin, who had been to Saudi Arabia and Turkey earlier this year,
sent disturbing text messages to a member of his mosque five days after the
London Bridge attack in June.
The recipient, Shakibur Khan, discussed the tirade
with other members of the committee and told the police.
But after a thorough police investigation into Tiffin’s background, computer
and contacts, it was concluded that he was not a terrorist – but “an idiot”.
Yesterday at Inverness Sheriff Court, Tiffin, of Kilmuir Place, Invergordon.
admitted behaving in a threatening manner on June 8.
Fiscal depute Roderick Urquhart described how Tiffin, 29, had converted to
Islam less than a year ago. At about 2.45am on the day in question, Mr Khan received a series of text messages from Tiffin’s
phone number.
He added: “The first of these messages indicated that he was drunk, but the
third said, “I decided to kill the unbelievables”,
followed by a text simply stating, “Unbelievers” and another saying, “Allahu
Akbar”.
“He was alarmed by the terms of these messages. As he was at that time at the
Masjid (mosque) for first prayers, he asked Tiffin to come to the Masjid to
talk but received no response.
“After discussing the texts with members of the Masjid Committee and having
received a message from one reporting that a red Volvo car such as Tiffin was
known to drive had been seen in Inverness, Mr Khan
went to Burnett Road Police Station to report his concerns.”
The court heard police launched an investigation and Tiffin was taken into
custody. he confirmed the mobile phone number was his, said that he had been
exceptionally drunk the night before but accepted that he must have sent the
message.
Tiffin told officers he could see why it had would cause so much concern, but
claimed to have no memory of having sent it.
He said the text was “the polar opposite” of his beliefs, could not explain why
he sent it and apologised.
Mr Urquhart explained that extensive police inquiries
established no links to terrorist oranisations,
adding: “The conclusion has been that he was an idiot, not a terrorist.”
Sentence was deferred for a background report until September 22 and Tififn was granted bail by Sheriff Margaret Neilson.
Defence lawyer Roger Webb said his client was in a
wheelchair due to a psychiatric disorder.
Mr Webb added: “He has spent 75 days in custody to
consider what an idiot he has been.”
Co-founder of the Inverness mosque Waheed
Khan said last night: “He had a complex social, medical including mental health
backgrounds and he had episodes of mood swings and highs and lows in his life.
“I hope he begins a new life. We’ll be very supportive of the long-term
rehabilitation.”
Hawaii soldier remains in federal custody, accused of trying to help ISIS
Monday, July 10th 2017
HONOLULU
(HawaiiNewsNow) –
An active duty Hawaii soldier remains in federal
custody after he was arrested for allegedly trying to provide material support
and training to the Islamic State group.
A criminal complaint alleges that Ikaika Erik Kang, 34, was arrested at his
Waipahu apartment Saturday, shortly after pledging his loyalty to ISIS and
telling an undercover federal agent that he wanted to kill "a bunch of
people."
"A probable cause arrest was made in the interest of public safety,"
Honolulu FBI Special Agent in Charge Paul D. Delacourt
said Monday, after Kang's first appearance in federal court.
He added, "We believe that Kang was a lone actor and was not associated
with others who present a threat to Hawaii."
Delacourt said Kang's arrest came after an investigation
that lasted for more than a year, and involved multiple agencies.
Kang, who has two registered firearms and extensive combat training, is
assigned to the 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks.
The criminal complaint says that he "attempted to provide material support
to ISIS by providing both classified military documents, and other sensitive
but unclassified military documents, to persons he believed would pass the
documents to ISIS."
FBI officials said no classified materials actually ended up in the hands of
the terrorist group.
But the complaint also alleges that Kang expressed interest in fighting
overseas for ISIS, and offered an undercover agent purporting to be a member of
the group training and other support.
Defense attorney Birney Bervar said Monday that he
had limited contact with Kang before the hearing, but described him as
cooperative.
“It would appear that Sgt. Kang, a decorated veteran of two deployments to the
Middle East, may suffer from service-related mental health issues, which the
government was aware of but neglected to treat," he told Hawaii News Now.
'I'm just in shock'
Kang, a 2001 graduate of Kaiser High School, enlisted in the Army in December
2001, just months after the 9/11 attacks.
His father, Clifford, said he's shocked by the allegations against his son.
"I'm just in shock. He's a great kid. He's not real outgoing, he's never
been, but neither was I," Kang told Hawaii News Now. "But other than
that, he's a great kid, a normal kid who grew up in Waimanalo."
His father also believes his son may be suffering from PTSD from his tours
overseas.
Ikaika Kang was deployed to Iraq in 2010, and served in Afghanistan in 2014,
according to his military service record.
He also was a recipient of the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal. He worked
as an air traffic control operator with the Army.
FBI: Kang wanted to fight for ISIS
The criminal complaint filed in federal court Monday said an FBI forensic
review of Kang's computer found classified military documents and hundreds of
items that referenced ISIS and violence.
Kang allegedly told an undercover FBI agent that he wanted to travel overseas
to fight for ISIS.
"People still say it's illegal to join them, but the way I look at it is
they're just fighting people who are committing genocide there," Kang told
the undercover agent, according to the complaint. "I'm just going to go
there ... and fight these guys who are committing genocide."
Kang allegedly swore a pledge of loyalty to ISIS on Saturday with an undercover
agent.
Additionally, the FBI said, Kang contributed to the purchase of a drone that he
thought would be used by ISIS. And he allegedly offered training to an
undercover agent who purported to be a member of the terrorist group.
'He had no filter'
The federal complaint against Kang paints a portrait of a troubled man with a
history of making violent statements.
Authorities said that the Army reprimanded Kang several times for
"threatening to hurt or kill other service members, and for arguing
pro-ISIS views while at work and on-post."
In 2012, his security clearance was revoked because of his behavior, but it was
reinstated the following year.
Chris Sanders, who was deployed with Kang in Iraq from 2010 to 2011, said he
recalls the soldier having frequent outbursts. At one point, Sanders said, Kang
threatened his platoon sergeant.
"It's almost like he had no filter. he would just say -- literally --
whatever was on his mind and it's like he couldn't recognize that it made other
people feel uncomfortable," Sanders said.
"When we got near the end of our deployment, me and a couple of my buddies
who were over there, we were actually all talking and were like man, this guy
is gonna be on the news one day."
But Sanders also said that he thought Kang was kind of a "harmless
dude."
"I never thought it would get to this level," he said.
It was last year that authorities saw a growing number of red flags surrounding
Kang, who they believed was becoming radicalized. In August 2016, the Army
referred the case to the FBI.
The federal complaint says Kang was far from closeted about his support for
ISIS.
In March, Kang told an FBI source that he'd been doing research on "the
most effective and painful ways people had been tortured."
The federal complaint continues: "Kang added that he was still angry at a
civilian who had taken away his air traffic controller's license, and that he
wanted to torture him. Kang said that if he ever saw him again, he would tie
him down and pour Drano in his eyes."
Also that month, the source told the FBI, Kang
appeared to sympathized with the gunman in the 2016 Orlando Pulse Nightclub
shooting, the worst terrorist attack in the United States since 9/11. Kang
allegedly said the Pulse shooter "did what he had to do."
And, the source said, Kang told him that "Hitler was right, saying he
believed in the mass killing of Jews," the complaint alleges.
FORT LAUDERDALE AIRPORT SHOOTER CONVERTED TO ISLAM BEFORE HE JOINED ARMY
Why wasn’t he stopped?
January 16, 2017
Robert
Spencer
Frontpage
Mag
It has now been definitively established that Esteban Santiago, who opened fire
in the baggage claim area of the Fort Lauderdale Airport on January 6,
murdering five people, was a convert to Islam who took the name Aashiq Hammad, downloaded jihadist material and recorded
himself singing the Islamic confession of faith. The universal mainstream media
indifference to these facts is yet another indication of how the prevailing
denial and willful ignorance about the jihad threat is hamstringing our
opposition to it.
The new revelations came after it was discovered that Santiago/Hammad had told the
FBI, in a bizarre incident, that he was being forced to fight for the Islamic
State (ISIS). He was also photographed making the one-finger sign that
signifies one’s adherence to Islamic monotheism, and which has come to be
associated with allegiance to ISIS.
Santiago’s aunt, Maria Ruiz Rivera, claimed that it was all about his mental
problems: after he served in the U.S. army in Iraq, she said, “He lost his
mind.” But this only raises a larger question: why was he able to join the army
in the first place, since Santiago’s enlistment came after his Muslim alter
ego, Aashiq Hammad, had downloaded jihad propaganda?
The obvious answer is that to bar him from the army on those grounds would have
been “Islamophobic.” Recall that the Fort Hood jihad mass murderer, army Major
Nidal Malik Hasan, had been in repeated contact with jihad mastermind Anwar
al-Awlaki. But when the FBI agent who was monitoring Hasan’s communications
reported these contacts to his superiors, they told him again and again that
they had no interest. After the agent persisted, he was told that the bureau
“doesn’t go out and interview every Muslim guy who visits extremist websites.”
Why not?
Hasan, in any case, remained on active duty until, screaming “Allahu akbar,” he massacred 13 people at Fort Hood on November 5,
2009.
Esteban Santiago was likewise not stopped. Nor was he by any means singular in
this. After an Islamic jihadist set off bombs in New York City and New Jersey
in September 2016, the New York Post reported: “It happened again: The FBI had
the future Chelsea bomber on its radar — for a while, anyway — but let him slip
through. Just as officials had done with men who became the perps in at least
eight other terror attacks.”
Terror researcher Patrick Poole, who for years has tracked what he has dubbed
the “known wolf” phenomenon – that is, jihad attacks perpetrated by people who
were known to authorities who had turned a blind eye to the threat they posed –
details one incident that is as disquieting as it is emblematic:
When the problem of terror recruitment amongst the U.S. Somali community by
al-Shabaab became an issue in 2008 and 2009, there were reports in my hometown
of Columbus, Ohio, which has the second largest Somali population in the
country, that al-Shabaab operative Dahir Gurey was fundraising and recruiting for the terrorist
group in the area. He later showed up in Minneapolis.
When we told the FBI about it, the response was that our information couldn’t
be accurate, because if it were true they would have
heard about it from their local Muslim outreach partners.
This indicates a level of credulity on the part of law enforcement authorities
that is truly breathtaking. Many who are aware of the nature and magnitude of
the jihad threat blandly assume that officials parrot the party line about
Islam being a religion of peace and “extremism” being a problem among people of
all faiths in public, but in private are aware of the jihad threat and working
to counter it. Poole’s account, however – and there are many other similar
accounts – shows that they really believe the nonsense they purvey in public.
The establishment media, meanwhile, is no better. Three days after the Aashiq Hammad story broke, ABC News reported, in the 26th
paragraph of a story about the Fort Lauderdale shooting, that “since the
attack, investigators recovered his computer from a pawn shop, and the FBI is
examining it to determine whether the alleged shooter created a jihadist
identity for himself using the name Aashiq Hammad,
according to officials familiar with the case.” That’s it, as far as the
mainstream media is concerned.
Imagine, in order to put this into perspective, imagine if Santiago had put up
a webpage some years ago indicating that he had joined the KKK, and had
downloaded white supremacist literature. Do you think the establishment media
would be so indifferent to this as a possible indication of a motive for the
Fort Lauderdale Airport shootings? Neither do I.
Esteban Santiago/Aashiq Hammad could have been
stopped before he killed anyone. But that would have required an entirely
different culture within law enforcement and the media. If such a sea change is
not forthcoming, there will be many more Aashiq Hammads.
US-trained sniper now ‘minister of war’ for ISIS
By Jamie Schram
September
7, 2016
New
York Post
An American-trained sniper has been promoted to a top position in the Islamic
State war machine.
Gulmurod Khalimov, a
41-year-old colonel who underwent US special arms training while heading the
Tajikistan special police force, was tapped to be ISIS’s minister of war,
according to a new report.
The US State Department reportedly has put a $3 million bounty on Khalimov, who has become one of the world’s most wanted
men, news.com.au reported.
Khalimov has replaced the infamous red-bearded Tarhan Batirashvili, better known
as “Omar the Chechen,” who rose through the ranks of ISIS before he was killed
in a US airstrike in July.
“The Tajik has been appointed as the successor to the dead terrorist Tarhan Batirashvili who (was)
also known as Abu Omar al-Shishani (Omar the
Chechen),” according to the Iraqi News, citing an unnamed Iraqi security
source.
“The Tajik Golmurud Khalimov
was elected as the first military commander in ISIS. The organization did not
announce it officially because it fears that once mentioned, there might be a
series of airstrikes against them,” Iraqi News said.
Khalimov, a father of eight, became radicalized
fairly recently.
He joined the Islamic State in 2015 after disappearing while serving as chief
of Tajikistan’s special police force last April.
A month later, he resurfaced in an ISIS video in which he pledged to carry out
jihadist attacks against Tajikistan, Russia and the US.
During his 10-minute rant, Khalimov said he
participated in five counter-terrorism training courses in the US and
Tajikistan from 2003 to 2014.
The State Department’s Diplomatic Security/Anti-Terrorism Assistance program
organized the courses, which were also taught by Academi
— the private American military company formerly known as Blackwater.
In the video, Khalimov also bragged that he received
military training in Russia while Tajikistan’s police chief.
His second wife, an ex-press secretary for Tajikistan’s customs service,
reportedly has stayed by his side and is also wanted by the authorities.
Interpol has issued a Red Notice for his arrest and extradition to Tajikistan,
where he is being sought for treason.
FBI arrests US army deserter who said he was an ISIS soldier and called Osama
bin Laden ‘a diamond’ and a ‘beautiful man’.
• Daniel Seth Franey, 33, of
Montesano, Washington has been charged with illegally possessing firearms,
including machine guns
• According to authorities, he was behaving erratically
in recent weeks including telling undercover agent 'I do really wanna kill agents'
• An investigation began last year after police were told he
had been making pro-Islamic State statements
• He reportedly described ISIS as 'the best people on Earth'
and that he considered himself an ISIS soldier
• Franey had been banned from
having guns in 2014 but joined an undercover agent in making 'black-market gun
deliveries,' complaint said
• Franey, who served in the army
for six years, faces weapons and machine gun possession charges
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
8
February 2016
A U.S. Army deserter who called Osama bin Laden 'a beautiful man,' made
pro-Islamic State statements and called for the death of American troops has
been arrested on weapons charges, federal prosecutors said.
Daniel Seth Franey, 33, of Montesano, Washington was
banned from having guns because he was subject to a protection order taken out
by his former partner in 2014.
However, he nevertheless joined an undercover agent in making what he believed
were black-market gun deliveries, according to a criminal complaint unsealed in
U.S. District Court in Tacoma.
At one point, he fired an AK-47 at a remote campground with the agent, the
complaint said.
Franey was arrested without incident on Saturday as
agents served a 'no-knock' search warrant at his home.
An affidavit filed in support of the warrant alleged that he had behaved
increasingly erratically in recent weeks.
He was seen driving slowly in a parking lot at the non-operational Satsop
Nuclear Power Plant; his visits to the homes of two neighbors prompted calls to
911; he made apparent references to attacking a nearby campground that's only
open to military members, retirees and their families; and he told the
undercover agent on January 29, 'I do really wanna
kill agents,' the affidavit said.
'Franey has repeatedly stated that he wants to
attack, fight and kill law enforcement officers if and when they made entry
into his residence,' the agent wrote in asking for the warrant.
'Although we believe Franey does not currently
possess any firearms, this is by no means a certainty.'
The investigation began last year, after several people complained to law
enforcement that Franey was making pro-Islamic State
statements, an agent with the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force wrote.
One person said Franey tried to buy his or her AK-47
and insisted that the person should fly an IS flag at home — a confrontation
that ended only after the person grabbed a shotgun and called police, the
documents said.
At one point, Franey allegedly told the undercover
FBI agent that he considered himself an ISIS soldier 'as much as the brothers
over there,' according to ABC News.
He also is said to have described Osama bin Laden as a 'diamond' and called
ISIS 'the best people on Earth,' according to the FBI.
Franey made an initial court appearance on Monday and
was ordered detained pending further proceedings, Emily Langlie,
a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office, said.
He faces five counts of unlawful gun possession but no terrorism charges.
He was represented by a public defender who did not immediately return a
message seeking comment.
Following the complaints about Franey, the undercover
agent posed as a black-market gun dealer, and Franey
joined him on trips as a 'lookout' who was paid a few hundred dollars for his services,
charging papers said.
In recorded conversations, he made reference to possibly attacking soldiers at
Joint Base Lewis-McChord and traveling overseas to join the radical militants.
However, he variously said he did not want to kill anyone and that he only
wanted a gun to have at home for protection from law enforcement, the court
papers said.
He also reportedly said the trip to the campground near Naches, northwest of
Yakima, was the first time he had fired a gun in about six years.
The gun possession charges stem from his handling of weapons on the
gun-delivery trips, including to eastern Washington and California, which were
set up by the agent and involved other undercover officers, the charging
documents say.
Franey constantly asked the agent to procure guns for
him, without success, authorities said.
'This defendant possessed firearms, including machine guns, even though he knew
he was prohibited from doing so,' Seattle U.S. Attorney Annette Hayes said.
'He also discussed attacking members of the military and law enforcement.'
Franey served in the Army from 2002 to 2008 and was
stationed in Texas and South Korea, the complaint said, adding that he told
various people — including an undercover officer — that he had deserted
military, and that Department of Defense records corroborated that.
He had been living in western Washington for roughly three years, sometimes
finding work as a commercial fisherman in Westport, the complaint said.
He has a partner and two young children, as well as children with another
woman, who obtained a permanent protection order against him in Lake County,
Illinois, in 2014.
The protection order bars him from possessing guns under federal law, the
documents said.
National Guard soldier 'who planned Paris-style attack on US soil' to kill 150
people facing 30 years in prison and a $500,000 fine after pleading guilty to
trying to join ISIS
• Hasan Edmonds
told undercover FBI agents he wanted to join ISIS in Iraq
• The 23-year-old was serving in the National Guard Armory in
Joliet, Illinois
• His cousin Jonas Edmonds, 30, wanted to attack National
Guard soldiers
• He planned to borrow Hasan's uniform and kill national
guard members
• For full news coverage of the Islamic State visit www.dailymail.co.uk/isis
By DARREN BOYLE FOR MAILONLINE
DailyMail.com
15 December 2015
A National Guard soldier who conspired with is cousin to join ISIS and massacre
up to 150 people at his military base is facing up to 30 years in prison after
pleading guilty to providing support to a terrorist organisation.
Hasan Edmonds, 23, of Aurora, Illinois, pleaded guilty to one count of
conspiring to provide material support to ISIS and one count of attempting to
provide material support to the same organisation.
His cousin Jonas Edmonds, 30, also admitted the conspiracy charge as well as
one count of making a false statement to authorities regarding international
terrorism. He is facing a maximum jail term of 23 years when he reappears in
court for sentence next year.
Hasan Edmonds, made contact with an undercover FBI agent whom he believed was
an ISIS terrorist in Libya.
He requested advice on 'how to fight and defeat the US military'. At the time,
Hasan Edmonds was serving with the Illinois National Guard in Joliet. He told
undercover agents were willing to attack the United States.
Both cousins later met with another undercover agent in March who pretended to
help the younger Edmonds travel to Mosul in Iraq to join ISIS.
They also discussed a plan for Jonas Edmonds, 30, to use his cousin's military
uniforms to attack the base in Joliet, Illinois where Hasan Edmonds was
assigned.
Jonas said he wanted the undercover agent to help him achieve a 'body count' of
100 to 150 people.
Hasan Edmonds took his cousin and the undercover agent to the base on March 24
to conduct surveillance and retrieve a training schedule in order to pick the
best time to attack, the plea agreement said.
Jonas Edmonds drove his cousin to the airport the next day, but Hasan Edmonds
was arrested before he could board the flight to Egypt. Jonas Edmonds drove
from the airport to his cousin's house but was arrested before he could
retrieve the uniforms.
John Carlin, Assistant Attorney General for National Security said: 'Thanks to
the efforts of many prosecutors, agents and analysts, we were able to ensure
these plotters did not attain their violent endgames, and with these guilty
pleas, they will be held accountable.
'Counterterrorism remains the (Justice) Department's highest priority, and we
will continue (to) use all available tools to combat ISIL, a foreign terrorist
organization that rapes, murders and enslaves Muslims and non-Muslims alike.'
Mr Carlin said: 'Hasan and Jonas Edmonds conspired to
provide material support to ISIL.
'They admitted planning to wage violence on behalf of ISIL in the Middle East
and to conduct an attack on our soil. Thanks to the efforts of many
prosecutors, agents and analysts, we were able to ensure these plotters did not
attain their violent endgames, and with these guilty pleas, they will be held
accountable.
'Counterterrorism remains the department’s highest priority, and we will
continue use all available tools to combat ISIL, a foreign terrorist
organization that rapes, murders and enslaves Muslims and non-Muslims alike.'
According to the FBI Hasan Edmonds is facing a maximum combined sentence of 30
years and a $500,000 fine. He will be sentenced on March 18, 2016.
Jonas Edmonds will reappear in court on January 27, 2016. He faces a maximum
term of 23 years.
Bergdahl's team leader: Intercepted radio chatter said he sought talks with the
Taliban
June 3rd, 2014
(CNN) - Former Army Sgt. Evan Buetow was the team
leader with Bowe Bergdahl the night Bergdahl disappeared. "Bergdahl is a
deserter, and he's not a hero," says Buetow.
"He needs to answer for what he did."
Within days of his disappearance, says Buetow, teams
monitoring radio chatter and cell phone communications intercepted an alarming
message: The American is in Yahya Khel (a village two miles away). He's looking
for someone who speaks English so he can talk to the Taliban.
"I heard it straight from the interpreter's lips as he heard it over the
radio," said Buetow. "There's a lot more to
this story than a soldier walking away."
The Army will review the case of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl "in
a comprehensive, coordinated effort," Secretary of the Army John McHugh
said Tuesday.
The review will include speaking with Bergdahl "to better learn from him
the circumstances of his disappearance and captivity," he said.
The night Bergdahl disappeared, says Buetow, the
platoon was at a small outpost, consisting of two bunkers and a perimeter of
military trucks. Buetow was in one of the bunkers,
and Bergdahl was supposed to be in a tent by one of the trucks.
Then a call came through on the radio.
"I'll never forget that line, 'Has anyone seen Bergdahl?'" says Buetow.
Firsthand accounts from soldiers in his platoon say Bergdahl disappeared while
he was on guard duty.
Buetow says Bergdahl was about to go on guard duty, but
when a fellow soldier went to wake him, he was not in his tent. He had left
behind his weapons, his bullet-proof vest, and night vision gear.
"I immediately knew, I said, 'He walked away. He walked away,'" said Buetow.
Bergdahl walked off the observation post with nothing more than a compass, a
knife, water, a digital camera and a diary, according to firsthand accounts
from soldiers in his platoon.
Buetow was involved in the immediate search for
Bergdahl, pushing a patrol into a nearby local village.
"Immediately as we left the base, two small boys walked up to us, and they
told us that they saw an American crawling in the weeds by himself," said
the former Army sergeant. The search followed that lead, and others, for
months.
"For 60 days or more, I remember, just straight, all we did was search for
Bergdahl," said Buetow, "essentially
chasing a ghost because we never came up with anything."
At least six soldiers were killed in subsequent searches for him, according to
soldiers involved in those operations.
The Pentagon was not able to provide details on specific operations in which
any soldiers were killed during that time were involved.
Buetow says even though those operations were not
"directed missions" to search for Bergdahl, there was an underlying
premise of acting on intelligence to find the missing soldier.
"The fact of the matter is, when those soldiers were killed, they would
not have been where they were at if Bergdahl hadn't left," says Buetow. "Bergdahl leaving changed the mission."
Many soldiers in Bergdahl's platoon said attacks seemed to increase against the
United States in Paktika province in the days and weeks following his
disappearance.
"Following his disappearance, IEDs started going off directly under the
trucks. They were getting perfect hits every time. Their ambushes were very
calculated, very methodical," said Buetow.
It was "very suspicious," says Buetow,
noting that Bergdahl knew sensitive information about the movement of U.S.
trucks, the weaponry on those trucks, and how soldiers would react to attacks.
"We were incredibly worried" that Bergdahl was giving up information,
either under torture, or otherwise, says Buetow.
President Barack Obama said Tuesday that no matter what the circumstances of an
American soldier's capture, the United States has a duty to get him or her
back.
"It's great that he’s back and that we can have that very small victory,
if you can even call it a victory. Because I believe what we gave up for that -
we gave up a lot for what we got back," says Buetow.
Ex-Soldier From Md. to Plead Guilty to Terrorism
January 9, 2014
CBS
News
WASHINGTON — A former Army soldier accused of trying to provide support to a
terrorist organization in Somalia after he left the military intends to plead
guilty in connection with the case, court documents show.
Craig Baxam of Laurel, Md., was arrested in Kenya in
late 2011, and prosecutors said he was on his way to neighboring Somalia to
join the terrorist group al-Shabab. Baxam was
ultimately charged with attempting to provide material support and resources to
the group. Baxam’s trial in federal court in
Greenbelt, Md., was set to begin Monday, but this week prosecutors filed a
court document signaling his intention to plead guilty in the case.
The 1-page document, called an “information,” suggests Baxam
will plead guilty to obstruction of justice, destroying records “in
contemplation of a federal investigation.” Baxam, 26,
destroyed his computer before leaving from Africa and, according to a court
document, told FBI agents that he did so because he “did not want anything on
his record and it would help him to keep a low profile.”
The information says Baxam destroyed computer records
“with the intent to obstruct, influence and impede a terrorism investigation”
he believed would be conducted after he left for Somalia. The document does not
say what will happen with the terrorism charge, though it will likely be
dismissed at a hearing Monday.
Baxam’s lawyer, Linda Moreno, confirmed the
document’s filing but said she could not comment on what will happen in court.
She said it was not her client’s intent to support terrorism and said what her
client did was “a long way from material support” of a terrorist group.
“It’s a different universe,” Moreno said.
Court documents say Baxam served in the Army from
2007 to 2011 and received intelligence training before serving in Iraq and
Korea. He converted to Islam shortly before leaving the Army. Months later, he
cashed out his savings and left for Africa. He told FBI agents who interviewed
him in Kenya that he set out with $600 and $700 and planned to give the money
to al-Shabab. Asked what he thought his role would be with al-Shabab, he told
FBI agents “he would just be another body there.” He also allegedly said he was
“looking for dying with a gun in my hand.”
Baxam’s attorney, however, previously argued in court
papers that he was traveling to Somalia because he wanted to go live in a place
governed by Islamic law. She argued that the charge against him should be
dismissed for a number of reasons, including that he never contacted or
attempted to contact al-Shabab. A judge allowed the case to go forward.
Nidal Hasan, Fort Hood Shooting Suspect, Renounces Citizenship
8-1-13
FORT HOOD, Texas – (AP) Days before he's set to go on trial, the Army
psychiatrist charged in the Fort Hood shooting rampage released more of his
writings about America and Islam.
Foxnews.com on Thursday posted documents in which Maj. Nidal Hasan renounced
his U.S. citizenship and soldier's oath and denounced democracy. Hasan is
charged in the November 2009 rampage that killed 13 soldiers and wounded more
than 30 people at the Texas Army post. His court-martial is scheduled to start
Tuesday.
The renunciation of U.S. citizenship is contained in a handwritten note dated
Oct. 18, 2012, Fox News reported. A typewritten note that does not have a date
says it is not "permissible" for someone to prefer American democracy
over traditional Islamic Sharia law, the network also reported. Hasan wrote
that Muslims should not "compromise their beliefs" for the sake of
non-Muslims.
Hasan also wrote about Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical U.S.-born Islamic cleric
killed by a drone strike in Yemen in 2011. The government has said that Hasan,
a U.S.-born Muslim, had sent more than a dozen emails to al-Awlaki starting in
December 2008. Hasan described al-Awlaki as his "teacher, mentor and
friend," Fox News reported.
The documents were released by Hasan through his attorney for civil issues,
John Galligan. The Belton, Texas, attorney confirmed to The Associated Press
that he provided the writings to Fox News at Hasan's direction. Galligan said
his client did not authorize release of the documents to other news media
outlets.
Hasan is charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of
attempted premeditated murder. Hasan, who faces the death penalty if convicted,
is serving as his own attorney in his court-martial.
Army vet charged with fighting with al-Qaida
By Matthew Barakat - The Associated
Press
Posted :
Thursday Mar 28, 2013
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A U.S. Army veteran, who boasted on Facebook of his military
adventures with Syrian rebels, was charged Thursday with firing rocket
propelled grenades as part of an attack led by an al-Qaida group against the
government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Eric Harroun, 30, of Phoenix, was charged in U.S.
District Court in Alexandria with conspiring to use a weapon of mass
destruction — specifically, a rocket propelled grenade launcher — outside the
U.S.
According to an FBI affidavit, Harroun, who served
three years in the Army before being medically discharged, was engaged in
military action in Syria, siding with rebel forces against the Syrian
government, from January to March of this year.
Harroun told FBI investigators that he traveled to
Turkey in November hoping to join the Free Syrian Army, a rebel group. In
January, he crossed the border and made contact with the Free Syrian Army,
which outfitted him two Russian rifles, according to the affidavit.
Within days, Harroun participated in an attack on a
Syrian army encampment that was carried out jointly by the Free Syrian Army and
the al-Nusrah Front, commonly known as “al-Qaida in
Iraq” and designated a terrorist group by the U.S., according to the affidavit.
After that battle, Harroun retreated in the back of
an al-Nusrah truck. Harroun
told the FBI that at the al-Nusrah camp, he was
initially treated like a prisoner but was later accepted by the other members
and participated in several attacks with them, according to the affidavit.
Harroun said al-Nusrah
fighters would ask him why the U.S. had designated them as terrorists,
according to the affidavit.
Harroun used RPG launchers in the attacks and once,
on his Facebook page, claimed credit for downing a Syrian helicopter. According
to the affidavit, Harroun told the FBI that he shot
an estimated 10 people in his various battles, though he was unsure if he had
ever killed anyone.
On the Facebook page, Harroun also stated that “the
only good Zionist is a dead Zionist” and that he intended to travel to the
Palestinian territory because of Israeli atrocities there, according to the
affidavit. The affidavit states that Harroun served
in the Army from 2000 to 2003, when he received a medical discharge after he
was injured in a car accident.
An Army spokesman said Harroun served at Fort Leonard
Wood in Missouri and Fort Riley in Kansas, and that his record listed no
overseas deployments.
The federal public defender was appointed to represent Harroun
at an initial public appearance Thursday, and a detention hearing was scheduled
for Tuesday. Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Peterson said Harroun
faces up to life in prison.
Harroun flew back to the U.S. Wednesday through
Dulles International Airport. He was arrested after being questioned by FBI
agents there.
The public defender for the Eastern District of Virginia, Michael Nachmanoff, declined comment Thursday, saying he had not
yet had time to review the case in any depth.
Last year, Nachmanoff’s office represented a northern
Virginia man, Mohamad Soueid, who pleaded guilty to
spying on U.S.-based Syrian dissidents on behalf of the Assad regime. Soueid said he was motivated to help the Syrian government
because of his fear that Islamic extremists would take hold in Syria if Assad’s
secular regime were overthrown.
Harroun is not charged with providing material
support to a terrorist group, but instead conspiring to use a weapon of mass
destruction outside the U.S., a law that applies to U.S. nationals operating
anywhere in the world. The statute makes no distinction or exception for an
individual who may be fighting a hostile regime.
Harroun appeared to make no effort to hide his
activities in Syria. His Facebook page includes multiple photos of him wielding
military rifles and a photo of Assad, with the caption “Wanted Dead or NOT
alive!!!!”
Harroun gave several interviews through Skype to
journalists Greg Tepper and Ilan Ben Zion, who wrote
articles for Foreign Policy magazine and Fox News.
In one interview, Harroun described himself as a
“freedom fighter” and said joining up with al-Nusrah
is “not rocket science.” At other times, though, he disputed a connection with
the group.
His father, Darryl Harroun, told FoxNews.com the car
accident that led to his son’s military discharge left him with a steel plate
in his head, and exacerbated depression from which his son already suffered.
Darryl Harroun said that family and friends call his
son “Arizona Jones.”
Efforts by AP to reach Darryl Harroun Thursday were
not immediately successful.
Fort Hood suspect's trial on hold over beard
By Angela K. Brown, Associated Press
August
15, 2012
FORT HOOD, Texas – The trial for an Army psychiatrist charged in the deadly
2009 Fort Hood shooting has been put on hold while an appeals court considers
his objections to being forcibly shaved.
Maj. Nidal Hasan had been scheduled to enter a plea Wednesday to charges in the
attack at the Texas Army post, but all court proceedings were put on hold
before he could do that.
According to a defense motion, Hasan indicated he wanted to plead guilty for
religious reasons. Hasan is an American-born Muslim.
But the judge, Col. Gregory Gross, said he could not accept a guilty plea on
the 13 charges of premeditated murder. That's because the charges carry death
as the maximum punishment and the government is pursuing the death penalty in
Hasan's case.
The trial that was to start Monday will be on hold until the Army appeals court
rules on Hasan's objection to being shaved.
Hasan's attorneys have said he won't shave because the beard he has grown in
violation of Army regulations is an expression of his Muslim faith. But Gross
said Hasan would be forcibly shaved at some point before the trial if he didn't
shave the beard himself. He said he wants Hasan in the courtroom during the
court-martial to prevent a possible appeal on the issue if he is convicted.
Gross previously delayed Hasan's trial from March to June and then to August.
On Tuesday, he refused defense attorneys' request to delay the start of the
trial again and said it would begin with jury selection as scheduled Monday.
Defense attorneys argued in their latest request that they had not been able to
look through 26 boxes of documents, including thousands of pages of Hasan's medical
records and jail logs — which prosecutors said they will not use during the
trial.
Prosecutors have a 265-person witness list for Hasan's trial, including a
terrorism consultant who says the American-born Muslim meets several factors
indicating he's a home-grown terrorist.
Muslim soldier convicted in failed plot to bomb Fort Hood troops in Texas
restaurant
By Associated Press
Friday,
May 25
WACO, Texas — Walking around a gun store one day last summer, the young man
never took off his sunglasses as he asked questions about items he piled on the
counter — behavior that struck the manager as odd.
Pfc. Naser Jason Abdo had already traveled hundreds of miles since going AWOL
from Fort Campbell, Ky., three weeks earlier. He bought a gun from an online
seller in Nashville and paid cash for thousands of dollars of bomb-making
components at a major Dallas-area retail store. Trying to avoid being caught,
he wore a baseball cap and sunglasses most of the time, never used credit cards
while staying in motels and traveling by bus or cab, and he had his roommate’s
driver’s license.
But his luck ran out in Killeen, a city about 150 miles southwest of Dallas and
near one of the nation’s largest Army posts — Fort Hood. Guns Galore manager
Cathy Cheadle “just had this feeling” about him. She and an employee talked
about it and then called police — who had Abdo in custody less than 24 hours
later at a motel, where authorities say he had started to build a bomb. Police
hadn’t even known his name or background until they detained him.
A federal jury Thursday convicted Abdo, a Muslim soldier, on six charges in
connection with his failed plot to blow up a Texas restaurant full of Fort Hood
troops, his religious mission to get “justice” for the people of Iraq and
Afghanistan.
“A disaster was averted because somebody picked up the phone and made a call,”
prosecutor Mark Frazier told The Associated Press after the trial. “The people
who work in businesses like this are vigilant ... and risked being embarrassed
if their suspicions turned out to be nothing, but that’s what we want people to
do.”
Abdo was convicted of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, attempted
murder of U.S. officers or employees, and four counts of possessing a weapon in
furtherance of a federal crime of violence. He faces up to life in prison. U.S.
District Judge Walter Smith is set to sentence Abdo in July.
Abdo, 22, did not stand with his attorneys when jurors and the judge entered
the room, and he showed no emotion when each of the six guilty verdicts was
read by the court clerk. Abdo, who’s been accused of spitting blood on
authorities escorting him and a jailer, wore a mask covering his nose and mouth
throughout the trial.
Abdo’s lead attorney, Zach Boyd, told jurors during closing arguments that he
should be acquitted because his plan never progressed beyond preparation.
When authorities detained Abdo at a Killeen motel July 27, they found
bomb-making components, a loaded gun, 143 rounds of ammunition, a stun gun and
magazine article on how to make an explosive device.
In a recorded police interview, Abdo said he was planning an attack in the Fort
Hood area “because I don’t appreciate what my unit did in Afghanistan.”
He told authorities he planned to put the bomb in a busy restaurant filled with
soldiers, wait outside and shoot anyone who survived — and become a martyr
after police killed him. Abdo told an investigator that he didn’t plan an
attack inside Fort Hood because he didn’t believe he would be able to get
through security at the gates, according to testimony.
During the four-day trial, a recorded jail conversation was played for jurors
in which Abdo told his mother his religion inspired his actions and he was
seeking “justice” for the people of Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Their suffering is my suffering,” he said.
Abdo became a Muslim when he was 17. He enlisted in the military in 2009,
thinking that the service wouldn’t conflict with his religious beliefs. But
according to his essay that was part of his conscientious objector status
application, Abdo reconsidered as he explored Islam further. That status was
put on hold after he was charged with possessing child pornography — about two
months before he went AWOL.
Soldier said he wanted to attack Fort Hood troops
By the CNN Wire Staff
July
28, 2011 6:04 p.m. EDT
Killeen, Texas (CNN) -- An AWOL Muslim American Army private arrested near Fort
Hood has told investigators that he wanted to attack fellow soldiers at the
military base, the police chief in Killeen, Texas, said Thursday.
"Military personnel were a target of this suspect," Chief Dennis
Baldwin told reporters about Pfc. Naser Jason Abdo, who is expected to face
federal charges. Baldwin said Abdo, who was arrested Wednesday, had no
accomplices, "as far as I know."
He added, "We are not aware of any additional threats to the safety of our
community."
FBI agents discovered potential bomb-making materials in Abdo's hotel room, FBI
spokesman Erik Vasys said. Abdo, 21, had refused to
deploy to Afghanistan and later went AWOL from Fort Campbell, Kentucky, after
being charged with possession of child pornography, Vasys
said.
After a tip-off on Tuesday from a local gun shop, Killeen police arrested Abdo
at a traffic stop, officials said. He was taken into custody without incident
and is being held in Killeen City Jail.
"He's a very dangerous individual and he is where he needs to be,"
Baldwin said.
Asked how close Abdo may have come to pulling off an attack, Baldwin said,
"I can tell you that we would probably be here today giving you a
different briefing had he not been stopped."
Fort Hood is the Texas military base where a 2009 shooting spree left 13 people
dead. Another Muslim American soldier, Maj. Nidal Hasan, has been charged in
those killings.
Killeen is also where, in 1991, George Hennard
crashed his pickup into a Luby's cafeteria, fatally
shot 23 people and wounded another 20 before killing himself.
"We've been through a lot in this community," Baldwin said. "But
I can tell you that's when the character of the community is more
obvious."
"Thanks to quick action by a Texas gun dealer in alerting local police to
a suspicious character, and a prompt and vigorous response by the Killeen
Police Department, we may well have averted a repeat of the tragic 2009 radical
Islamic terror attack on our nation's largest military installation," said
Rep. John Carter, R-Texas, the House Army Caucus chairman.
"We now have an example of what works to prevent these type attacks, and
as the coming days reveal more details about this attempt, we can determine
better ways to thwart similar efforts in the future," Carter said.
Carter's office said Killeen gun shop Guns Galore, the same store used by Hasan
to purchase weapons allegedly used in his attack, tipped off police concerning
a "suspicious male" who purchased gunpowder, shotgun ammunition, and
a magazine for a semiautomatic handgun.
Greg Ebert, a retired police officer who works at Guns Galore, said a young man
showed up in the store Tuesday afternoon and browsed for about 20 minutes. He
selected six one-pound canisters of smokeless gunpowder, Ebert said.
Then, Ebert said, the man asked the store owner questions about the nature of
smokeless powder.
"That is a red flag for me," Ebert said. "He should know. Why is
he buying that much?"
Ebert said the man also picked up one magazine and shotgun shells, and then
left in a cab. After discussing the matter at length with the owner, Ebert
called police.
The soldier also purchased uniforms with Fort Hood unit patches from a local
military surplus store, Carter's office said, citing police.
After Abdo's arrest, police searched his hotel room and backpack and found six
pounds of smokeless powder, Christmas lights and battery-operated clocks --
which were apparently intended to create a timing and triggering device --
sugar, shrapnel, a pressure cooker, and shotgun shells that were being
dismantled for raw explosives, a Defense Department official told CNN.
The materials were enough to make two bombs, the official said.
In the soldier's backpack, police also found "Islamic extremist
literature," a .40-caliber pistol and components that could be used in a
bomb, a law enforcement official said.
A statement on the Fort Hood website acknowledged Abdo's arrest but said it had
no connection to the base.
It said the private first class had been assigned to Company E of the 101st
Airborne Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team.
"Since he is in the custody of civilian authorities, jurisdiction over any
potential new charges is yet to be determined. If returned to military control,
he may face additional charges including AWOL," the statement said.
Fort Hood spokesman Chris Haug said base officials
have received no indication that Abdo tried to get onto Fort Hood between the
time he went AWOL and the time of his arrest.
Abdo, who joined the infantry in 2009, refused to deploy to Afghanistan on
religious grounds. The Army approved his request to be discharged as a
conscientious objector, but on May 13, he was charged with possession of child
pornography on his computer, according to the statement.
After a June 15 hearing, at which Abdo was recommended for court-martial, he went
AWOL.
In media interviews last year, Abdo said he felt compelled to remain true to
his faith.
"We have two things that I believe make us American, and that's freedom of
religion and freedom of choice," he said.
When he signed up for the military, Abdo said he had not thought that his
religious beliefs would be an issue. "I was under the impression that I
could serve both the U.S. Army and my God simultaneously," he said.
But as his deployment neared, he began to rethink things and eventually worked
up the courage to approach his unit and tell them how he felt, he said.
"Islam is a much more peaceful and tolerant religion than it is an
aggressive religion," he said. "I don't believe that Islam allows me
to operate in any kind of warfare at all, including the U.S. military and any
war it partakes in. I believe that our first duty as a Muslim is to serve
God."
After Abdo's arrest, Texas Gov. Rick Perry issued a statement calling it
"a sobering reminder of the importance of remaining vigilant in the ongoing
efforts to protect our communities from those that would do us harm."
Hasan, the prime suspect in the 2009 Fort Hood killings, could face the death
penalty. His trial is set to begin March 5, 2012.
Fort Hood shooter asked about killing Americans in 2008
(AFP)
December 23, 2009
WASHINGTON — Nidal Hasan, the US soldier who killed 13 people at an attack on Fort
Hood military base last month, sought advice about murdering US troops in 2008,
a Yemeni imam told Al-Jazeera on Wednesday.
Hasan, a Muslim Army psychiatrist, faces 13 counts of premeditated murder and
32 counts of attempted premeditated murder in connection with the November 5
shooting attack at the Texas military facility.
On Wednesday, Al-Jazeera's Arabic-language website published an interview with
US-Yemeni cleric Anwar al-Aulaqi, who said he and
Hasan communicated by email for over a year about the permissibility of killing
US soldiers and Israeli civilians.
"The first message I received from Nidal was on 17 December 2008," Aulaqi told the interviewer, adding that Hasan initiated
the email communication.
"He asked about killing American soldiers and officers and whether that
was legitimate or not," Aulaqi said.
Links between the Muslim cleric and Hasan are already being investigated, but
the interview reveals for the first time how long the two men knew each other
and communicated, and also offers insight into how early Hasan was thinking
about the possibility of attacking fellow servicemembers.
Aulaqi, a US-born preacher, said he met Hasan nine
years earlier at the Dar al-Hijrah Islamic Center in Washington, DC and the
pair begin communicating after Aulaqi left the United
States for Yemen.
"The first message was on the rules about a Muslim soldier who serves in
the American army and kills his fellow (soldiers)," Aulaqi
said.
"And in a group of his messages, Nidal explained his view on the killing
of Israeli civilians, which he supported," he added.
Aulaqi denied having suggested the attack on Fort
Hood, but said he supported Hasan's actions, adding that Hasan was motivated by
long-standing grievances against the US military.
"The target that Nidal targeted was a military target inside the United
States and not anything else," Aulaqi said.
"I didn't recruit Nidal Hasan and in fact America recruited him with its
crimes and injustices and that is something that America does not want to
recognize."
Hasan, who is paralyzed from the chest down after being shot by a police
officer during the attack, is being held at the Brooke Army Medical Center in
San Antonio pending trial.
The Pentagon has launched an investigation into the shootings to determine
whether warning signs were missed and to prevent such an assault from happening
again.
Twelve soldiers and one civilian were killed in the attack. Another 42 people
were wounded.
British soldier 'sent coded spy offer to Iran'
October 13, 2008
LONDON, England (AP) -- A British Army interpreter in Afghanistan sent a coded
message to an Iranian military attache offering to
spy for the country of his birth, prosecutors said at the opening of his trial
Monday.
Prosecutors said that Cpl. Daniel James -- who was working as a translator for
former Gen. David Richards, the NATO commander in Afghanistan -- sent the
message, which ended with the phrase, "I am at your service" to the attache in Kabul.
"The defendant's loyalty to this country wavered and his loyalties turned
to Iran, the country of his birth," prosecutor Mark Dennis told a jury at
London's Old Bailey court. "He turned his back on those with whom he was
serving in Afghanistan and sought to become an agent for a foreign power."
James, 45, denies communicating information useful to an enemy and collecting
the information -- two NATO situation reports -- on a USB memory device. He
also denies willful misconduct in public office.
James was born was born Esmail Mohammed Beigi Gamasai in Iran and moved
as a teenager to Britain, where he later changed his name and became a citizen.
He joined the British reserves in 1987, and was called up to serve a tour in
Afghanistan in March 2006.
Two months later, he was appointed translator for Richards, who was then the
overall commander of the International Security Assistance Force in
Afghanistan.
"This assignment gave the defendant a very trusted and sensitive
position," Dennis said in his opening statement, adding that James was
"something of a Walter Mitty character." The description refers to a
character who fantasized about being a hero in a story by the late American
author James Thurber.
In an interview with police after his arrest in December 2006, James complained
about his lack of promotion and officers who he said were racist and impeded
his progress, the prosecutor said.
Dennis said James sent coded messages to an Iranian military assistant based at
Tehran's embassy in Kabul. It wasn't clear if James was attempting to audition
for a position as an agent or if he'd already been accepted, the prosecutor
said.
"The concern is not so much the actual damage done by the known disclosure
of information, but in the potential damage that could have occurred if his
activities had not been curtailed by his early detection and arrest,"
Dennis said.
The trial is expected to last three or four weeks. Some portions are expected
to be heard in secret.
Al-Qaeda-link soldier gets life
From correspondents
in Seattle, Washington
A US National Guard soldier was
sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of trying to aid the al-Qaeda
network, authorities said today.
Specialist Ryan Anderson, who converted to Islam, was sentenced by a nine-officer
jury in a court martial at the Fort Lewis Army base south of Seattle, in the
northwestern state of Washington.
"He was sentenced to confinement for life with possibility of parole and a
dishonorable discharge, with reduction to the rank of private," a military
statement said.
The Army had decided before the court martial that it would not to seek the
death penalty.
The 27-year-old soldier was found guilty this week on five counts of attempting
to give intelligence and aid to al-Qaeda.
He was accused of seeking to collaborate with the terror group by sending it
information on US army tactics and strategies. He declared his innocence to the
five charges on August 9.
Anderson, who joined the National Guard in May 2002, was reported to have attempted
to make contact with al-Qaeda through Internet chat rooms.
His activities were uncovered by Shannen Rossmiller,
a municipal judge from Montana, who in her spare time sought to catch
terrorists on the Internet.
Judge Rossmiller told prosecutors that while she was monitoring a website
devoted to radical Muslims she happened upon an e-mail
posting from one "Amid Abdul Rashid", who turned out to be Anderson.
The judge, masquerading as an extremist Muslim, began to correspond with
Anderson. When she found out that he was a soldier, she contacted the Federal
Bureau of Investigation.
Anderson was arrested in February at his apartment in Lynnwood, Washington,
just before his unit was to deploy to Iraq. An undercover sting operation had
intercepted communications on January 23 and February 10.
Theodore Roosevelt's ideas on Immigrants and being an
AMERICAN in 1907
“In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here
in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be
treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to
discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But
this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and
nothing but an American... There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who
says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We
have room for but one flag, the American flag.... We have room for but one
language here, and that is the English language... and we have room for but one
sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.”