2015 Boston beheading plot

Last updated
2015 Boston beheading plot
Location Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
DateJune 2015
Target Pamela Geller
Police officers
Attack type
Plotted beheading
Deaths1 (one of the perpetrators)
Injured0
PerpetratorsUsaama Rahim, David Wright, Nicholas Rovinski

An attack was plotted by Boston-area resident Usaama Rahim. Rahim initially planned to behead Pamela Geller but when that proved too difficult, he told his nephew David Wright on June 2, 2015, that he had decided to behead a police officer instead. However, Rahim was under 24-hour police surveillance, and the police moved that day to arrest Rahim. During the attempted arrest, the police shot and killed Rahim. Wright was arrested and initially charged with attempting to destroy evidence. Later, a third man, Nicholas Rovinski, was arrested, and both Wright and Rovinski were charged with conspiracy to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). [1] [2] [3] [4]

Contents

Investigation

The FBI said that Rahim had been under surveillance since at least late May, when he bought three knives on Amazon.com. On May 26, investigators recorded Rahim telling Wright that he had bought a knife that was "good for carving" and referring to "thinking with your head on your chest", which the FBI said was a reference to beheading. Investigators said both Wright and Rahim were followers of a violent form of Islamic extremism. Chairman Michael McCaul of the House Homeland Security Committee said that Rahim had been under investigation because he had been communicating with ISIS and spreading ISIS propaganda online. [1] According to CNN, his Twitter feed showed that he had been communicating with Mujahid Miksi, an alias for Mohamed Abdullahi Hasan, a Minnesota man fighting with Al-Shabaab. [5] According to a court affidavit, Wright later told investigators that he agreed with Rahim's plot and supported it. [6]

Jihadist connections

According to The Atlantic , although Wright, Rahim and Rovinski were regarded as isolated, lone wolf actors at the time of their arrests, it later emerged that the three were "part of a wider network that was in communication with Islamic State operatives in Syria." In 2015 Rahim and Wright provided the arrangements and raised the funds that enabled American would-be jihadi Zulfi Hoxha to travel to Syria, where he became a significant figure in ISIS. [7]

Shooting

At 7 a.m. on June 2, 2015, Rahim was walking to a bus stop and then approached by six plainclothes law enforcement officers at a CVS Pharmacy parking lot in the Roslindale neighborhood in Boston. The officers attempted to serve Rahim an arrest warrant for alleged threats against police officers. Rahim was reportedly wielding a military-style knife at the officers, and the officers backed away. Two officers, a police officer and an FBI agent, discharged their firearms. Three shots were fired, striking Rahim. The shooting was recorded inside a nearby Burger King restaurant, and shows Rahim being obscured by a light pole when he was shot. Authorities have stated that the officers made demands that Rahim drop his weapon but he refused. Rahim's family stated that he was shot in the back, although authorities said Rahim lunged at the officers and was the aggressor in the altercation. [8]

Aftermath

After Usaama Rahim was shot, his brother Ibrahim Rahim wrote on Facebook that Usaama was confronted by police at a bus stop while on a cell phone with their father. Ibrahim also wrote that Usaama had been shot three times in the back. That post began gaining acceptance, but police countered it by stating that Usaama Rahim had lunged at officers with a large knife and was shot in the front. Police Commissioner William Evans said the video showed the police retreating 15 or 20 yards while ordering Usaama to drop his weapon. The police showed community leaders a video of the shooting. After watching the video, Darnell Williams, president of the Urban League, said the video corroborated the police account—that Rahim was not on his cell phone and had not been shot in the back. Ibrahim Rahim also backed away from his earlier post after seeing the video. [1] [5] [9]

Nicholas Rovinski arrest

On June 11, 2015, the FBI arrested Nicholas Rovinski, also known as Nuh Amriki and Nuh al Andalusi, in relation to the plot. Both Wright, also known as Dawud Sharif Abdul Khaliq, and Rovinski were charged with conspiracy to provide material support to ISIL [4] [10] [11]

On September 20, 2016, Rovinski's lawyer William W. Fick announced that his client would change his plea to "guilty" as he had "renounced violence and disavowed any sympathy for" the Islamic State, describing him as "a vulnerable young man who fell deep into a rabbit hole of extremist ideology." Fick was quoted as saying, "Nicholas is prepared to accept personal responsibility for the conspiracy crimes charged and to face the grave penalties that will follow," and "Nicholas hopes he will have opportunities in the future to help others reject twisted ideas and avoid making the same mistakes he did." [12] [13]

Sentencing

On 19 December 2017, David Wright was sentenced to 28 years imprisonment by US District Court Judge William G. Young. Pamela Geller and acting U.S. Attorney William Weinreb had urged that Wright be sentenced to life imprisonment while the defense had called for Wright to be sentenced to 16 years, followed by a lifetime of supervised release. In October 2017, Wright had been found guilty of five charges including conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization and obstruction of justice. During the sentencing, Wright apologized to Geller and law enforcement and stated that he had renounced ISIS. [14] [15]

Related Research Articles

Terrorism in Australia deals with terrorist acts in Australia as well as steps taken by the Australian government to counter the threat of terrorism. In 2004 the Australian government has identified transnational terrorism as also a threat to Australia and to Australian citizens overseas. Australia has experienced acts of modern terrorism since the 1960s, while the federal parliament, since the 1970s, has enacted legislation seeking to target terrorism.

The 2007 Fort Dix attack plot involved a group of six radicalized individuals who were found guilty of conspiring to stage an attack against U.S. Military personnel stationed at Fort Dix, New Jersey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terrorism in the United States</span> Systematic or threatened use of violence to create a general climate of fear

In the United States, a common definition of terrorism is the systematic or threatened use of violence in order to create a general climate of fear to intimidate a population or government and thereby effect political, religious, or ideological change. This article serves as a list and a compilation of acts of terrorism, attempts to commit acts of terrorism, and other such items which pertain to terrorist activities which are engaged in by non-state actors or spies who are acting in the interests of state actors or persons who are acting without the approval of foreign governments within the domestic borders of the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Security incidents involving Barack Obama</span> Assassination attempts and threats against the 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama

Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States, was involved in multiple security incidents, including several assassination threats and plots, starting from when he became a presidential candidate in 2007. Secret Service protection for Obama began after he received a death threat in 2007, while serving as the junior United States senator from Illinois and running for president. This marked the earliest time a candidate received such protection before being nominated. Security was increased early for Obama due to fears of possible assassination attempts by white supremacist or other racist groups or individuals against the first African American major party presidential nominee.

On June 5, 2010, in a covert American anti-terrorism operation named "Operation Arabian Knight", two American citizens Mohamed Mahmood Alessa and Carlos "Omar" Eduardo Almonte, New Jersey residents, were arrested at Kennedy International Airport in New York City. The men were in the process of boarding booked, separate flights to Egypt. According to the affidavit filed in support of the federal criminal complaint, they planned to travel to Somalia to join Al-Shabab, an Al Qaeda-linked terrorist group recruiting foreigners for its civil war. They intended to join them in killing American troops in Somalia, although few Americans are stationed there. The two men were charged with conspiring to kill, maim, and kidnap people outside the U.S.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pamela Geller</span> American activist, blogger, commentator

Pamela Geller is an American anti-Muslim, far-right political activist, blogger and commentator. Geller promoted birther conspiracy theories about President Barack Obama, saying that he was born in Kenya and that he is a Muslim. She has denied genocides where Muslims were victims, including the Bosnian genocide and the Rohingya genocide.

Rezwan Ferdaus is a United States citizen of Bangladeshi descent who is serving a federal prison sentence after pleading guilty to terrorism charges in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boston Marathon bombing</span> 2013 domestic terrorist attack in Boston, Massachusetts

The Boston Marathon bombing was a domestic terrorist attack that took place during the annual Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013. Brothers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev planted two homemade pressure cooker bombs, which detonated near the finish line of the race 14 seconds and 210 yards (190 m) apart. Three people were killed and hundreds injured, including 17 who lost limbs.

On the morning of 18 September 2014, police in Australia carried out the biggest counter-terrorism operation in the nation's history, with over 800 heavily armed officers targeting households in the cities of Sydney and Brisbane. It came days after the Australian government raised the terror threat from medium to high due to concerns about Australian citizens returning to the country after fighting with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Following the raids, two people were charged, one with terrorism offences and the other for possession of an unauthorised firearm. One of the two arrestees became one of only two men on remand at the highest security prison in Australia, as he is considered an "AA" security risk.

On September 25, 2014, Alton Nolen attacked two employees at the Vaughan Foods food processing plant in Moore, Oklahoma, United States, with a knife. He beheaded Colleen Hufford, and also stabbed another employee, Traci Johnson, who was critically injured. Nolen, who the plant had fired prior to the attack, was shot and wounded by Vaughan Foods chief operating officer Mark Vaughan. The attack came to national attention due to its gruesome nature, which followed a well-publicized recent series of beheadings carried out by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Curtis Culwell Center attack</span> 2015 failed Texas terrorist attack

The Curtis Culwell Center attack was a failed terrorist attack on an exhibit featuring cartoon images of Muhammad at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas on May 3, 2015, which ended in a shootout with police guarding the event, and the deaths of the two perpetrators. The attackers shot an unarmed Garland Independent School District (GISD) security officer in the ankle. Shortly after opening fire, both attackers were shot by an off-duty Garland police officer and killed by SWAT.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint-Quentin-Fallavier attack</span> 2015 Islamist attack in southeastern France

A terrorist attack took place on 26 June 2015 in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier, near Lyon, France, when a man, Yassin Salhi, decapitated his employer Hervé Cornara and drove his van into gas cylinders at a gas factory in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier near Lyon, France, which caused an explosion that injured two other people. Salhi was arrested and charged with murder and attempted murder linked to terrorism. Three other people were questioned by the police but released without charge. Salhi committed suicide at Fleury-Mérogis Prison in December that year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joshua Ryne Goldberg</span> American Internet troll

Joshua Ryne Goldberg is an American internet troll, convicted of attempting a bombing on the 14th anniversary of the September 11 attacks while posing as an Islamic terrorist affiliated with ISIS.

In late December 2015, authorities in several countries announced the discovery of attack plots, organized by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), targeting New Year's celebrations. Police in North America and Europe were on high alert in December 2015 because of a series of terrorist attacks and attack plots, including the November 2015 Paris attacks, and because of information picked up by security agencies indicating that militants might plan to attack public New Year's Eve celebrations.

In the late evening of January 7, 2016, in a sudden attack with no precipitating event, Edward Archer rushed towards and shot Philadelphia police officer Jesse Hartnett while he drove his patrol car, inserting the gun into the window of the car and firing at point blank range. Despite being shot multiple times in the left arm, Hartnett was able to exit his car and shoot the fleeing suspect, Edward Archer. Later in the hospital, Archer claimed he pledged allegiance to ISIS. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigated the shooting as a terrorist attack.

Jaelyn Delshaun Young is an American woman, who with fellow Mississippi State University student and her fiancé, an American man named Muhammad Oda "Mo" Dakhlalla, attempted to join ISIS in 2015. The two were students at Mississippi State University in Starkville, Mississippi when they met, and later decided to travel to Syria to join the known terrorist organization, ISIS. Young was apprehended by the FBI and ultimately pleaded guilty to terrorism-related charges. U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock sentenced Young to 12 years in federal prison on August 11, 2016.

Ralph Kenneth Deleon is a Filipino, and legal permanent resident of the United States, who in 2015 was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder of members of the United States military and government, and providing material support for terrorists. Deleon is serving a 25-year sentence.

Zulfi Hoxha, also known by the nom de guerre (kunya) Abu Hamza al-Amriki, was an Albanian-American Islamic State (IS) senior commander and recruiter of foreign fighters fighting in Syria and in Iraq.

Naa'imur Zakariyah Rahman is an Islamic State terrorist who was convicted of plotting to kill the British prime minister, Theresa May; the plot was investigated by Counter Terrorism Command (CTC), part of the Metropolitan Police, under the name 'Operation Dowl'. Mark Heywood QC represented the Crown in this case involving the plot by two individuals to kill the Prime Minister. Rahman was originally from Birmingham, but lived in Finchley at the time of his sentencing. Rahman had planned to detonate bombs at the gates of Downing Street and then behead the Prime Minister, but was arrested beforehand due to an FBI and MI5 operation.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Bidgood, Jess; Phillips, Dave (3 June 2015). "Boston Terror Suspect's Shooting Highlights Concerns Over Reach of ISIS". The New York Times.
  2. ↑ "Boston terror suspects plotted to behead police officers, source says". Fox News. Archived from the original on 12 June 2015.
  3. ↑ "Boston suspects 'plotted beheading of police'". BBC News. 2015-06-03. Retrieved 2023-04-17.
  4. 1 2 "Two Men Charged with Conspiracy to Provide Material Support to Islamic State". The United States Department of Justice. June 12, 2015.
  5. 1 2 Brumfield, Ben; Sanchez, Ray (June 5, 2015). "Usaamah Rahim is buried, while Boston terror attack questions loom". CNN.
  6. ↑ Allen, Evan; Valencia, Milton J.; Cramer, Maria; Crimaldi, Laura; Wangsness, Lisa (June 3, 2015). "Prosecutors detail decapitation plot, a change in plans" . The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on 3 June 2015.
  7. ↑ Hughes, Seamus; Meleagrou-Hitchens, Alexander; Clifford, Bennett (13 January 2018). "A New American Leader Rises in ISIS" . The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 17 January 2018. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  8. ↑ "New video shows fatal shooting of Boston terror suspect". CBS News. 8 June 2015. Retrieved 2023-04-17.
  9. ↑ Allen, Evan; Sacchetti, Maria; Ellement, John R.; Finucane, Martin (3 June 2015). "Man wasn't shot in back, community leaders say" . The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on 8 June 2015.
  10. ↑ Herridge, Catherine (June 12, 2015). "Third man arrested in connection with Boston beheading plot". Foxnews.
  11. ↑ Woolf, Nicky (June 12, 2015). "Third man arrested in connection to alleged Pamela Geller beheading plot". The Guardian.
  12. ↑ Reynolds, Mark (September 20, 2016). "Warwick man to plead guilty in 2015 plot to kill blogger". The Providence Journal .
  13. ↑ Moore, Jack (September 23, 2016). "Rhode Island Man Guilty in ISIS Plot to Behead Conservative Blogger Pamela Geller". Newsweek.
  14. ↑ "U.S. judge sentences man to 28 years for Islamic State beheading plot". Reuters. 19 December 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  15. ↑ Tom, O'Connor (19 December 2017). "ISIS 'Soldier' David Wright who tried to kill Pamela Geller and 'take down' US Governments gets 28 years". Newsweek . Retrieved 19 December 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.