In 2019, Safiyya Amira Shaikh, a supporter of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), plotted to suicide bomb St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London, United Kingdom. [1] [2]
Shaikh was born Michelle Ramsden in 1983 and has a daughter. [1] [2] [3] She is from a very dysfunctional family and became a drug addict. [1] She converted to Islam in 2007 and became estranged from her family. [1] [2] [3] She became radicalised during the mid-2010s into supporting ISIL and was in online contact with other Islamists. [1] She was investigated for her online extremism by the police, who had online conversations with her. [1] [2] She met an undercover police officer in west London in September 2019 and was arrested the following month. [1] [2] In February 2020 at the Old Bailey, Shaikh pleaded guilty to preparing an act of terrorism, which she intended to carry out on April 12, 2020, (Easter Sunday), using an explosive belt. [1] [2] On 3 July 2020, Shaikh, who lived in Hayes, west London, wore a black hijab as she was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 14 years. [1] [3]
Shaikh also planned to plant a bomb at a Central London hotel and planned a suicide bombing on the London Underground. [4]
Abdullah el-Faisal is a Jamaican Muslim cleric who preached in the United Kingdom until he was convicted of stirring up racial hatred and urging his followers to murder Jews, Hindus, Christians, Americans and other "unbelievers".
The 2006 Ontario terrorism case is the plotting of a series of attacks against targets in Southern Ontario, Canada, and the June 2, 2006 counter-terrorism raids in and around the Greater Toronto Area that resulted in the arrest of 14 adults and 4 youths . These individuals have been characterized as having been inspired by al-Qaeda.
Mubin Shaikh is a Canadian former security intelligence and counter terrorism operative, currently a Professor of Public Safety at Seneca College and also Counter Extremism Specialist for the U.S.-based NGO, Parents for Peace.
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 John F. Kennedy International Airport attack plot was an alleged Islamist terrorist plot to blow up a system of jet fuel supply tanks and pipelines that feed fuel to John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in Queens, New York. These pipelines travel throughout the undergrounds of New York City in densely populated areas. The alleged plot was foiled when an undercover law enforcement official was recruited to the homegrown terrorist cell.
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.
Michael C. Finton, also known as Talib Islam, is an American convert to Islam and a part-time cook who attempted to bomb the Paul Findley Federal Building and the adjacent offices of Congressman Aaron Schock in downtown Springfield, Illinois, on 24 September 2009. He pleaded guilty in federal court on 9 May 2011 and was sentenced to 28 years in prison.
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.
Colleen Renée LaRose, also known as Jihad Jane and Fatima LaRose, is an American citizen who was convicted and sentenced to 10 years for terrorism-related crimes, including conspiracy to commit murder and providing material support to terrorists.
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.
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.
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.
Islamic terrorism in Europe has been carried out by the Islamic State (ISIL) or Al-Qaeda as well as Islamist lone wolves since the late 20th century. Europol, which releases the annual EU Terrorism Situation and Trend report (TE-SAT), used the term "Islamist terrorism" in the years 2006–2010, "religiously inspired terrorism" 2011–2014, and has used "jihadist terrorism" since 2015. Europol defines jihadism as "a violent ideology exploiting traditional Islamic concepts".
On 4 September 2016, a car containing seven canisters of gas and pages with Arabic writing was found parked near Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral in Paris.
Aine Lesley Davis, also known as Jihadi Paul, is a British convert to Islam who was convicted in a Turkish court of being a member of a terrorist group while serving as a fighter for the ISIL.
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.
Safiyya Amira Shaikh, formerly Michelle Ramsden, is a British woman convicted of plotting to bomb St Paul's Cathedral in London. She is thought to be the first lone female Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) bomb plotter in the UK. She was sentenced to life imprisonment in July 2020.