On Monday morning Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad drove his black SUV up to the front of a military recruiting center in Little Rock and opened fire with an SKS assault rifle, killing one recruiter and seriously injuring another before driving off. Like the conspirators in the recent planned attacks in New York and Florida and other terrorists plots like the Virginia Jihad Network case in 2003, Muhammad was an African-American convert to Islam with a history of attempting to contact terrorist groups in the middle east. Unlike the conspirators in other recent cases he is believed to have acted alone.
Muhammad, who legally changed his name just over a month ago from Carlos Bledsoe, was arraigned Tuesday on one count of first-degree murder and 15 counts of engaging in a terrorist act. He entered a plea of not guilty.
Like the terrorists in the other two recent cases, Muhammad was under investigation by the FBI, but in this case they were unable to intervene to prevent the attack. Covert intervention was made more difficult because Muhammad was acting alone rather than as part of a group. Muhammad drew the attention of the FBI when he traveled to Yemen and was arrested by local authorities for using a forged Somali passport. His possession of the forged documents suggests some contact with terrorist groups in the region. While in Yemen he may have been studying with radical Salafi scholar Yahya Hajoori who is part of a group which has trained other Americans involved in jihadist activity.
Like other recent domestic Muslim terrorists, Muhammad specifically targeted the military because of anger over the deaths of Muslims at the hands of the US military in the middle east. After the arraignment prosecutor Larry Jegley observed: "It's my understanding that after his conversion to Islam he decided that he had a bone to pick with the military officers because of what he perceived to be mistreatment of Muslims around the world." The arrest report states that at the time of his arrest he commented that "he would have killed more soldiers if they had been on the parking lot.”
Article comments
1 - El Bicho
I know they are slightly deranged so there's no sense looking for sense in their actions, by why don't we hear about Muslims' anger over the deaths of Muslims at the hands of other Muslims in the Middle East?
2 - Dave Nalle
Because then they'd have to engage in self-examination and question the tenets of their faith and no one likes to do that. So much easier to blame the outsider and the faceless enemy infidel.
Dave
3 - zingzing
does anyone know this guy's background? the four in nyc all came out of prison, where they were indoctrinated by radical islamic prisoners. it's no surprise that prisoners would hate their country, or at least it's no surprise that radical islam would take on this form in prison.
of course, that's not to say that because it's a black guy who shot two people after converting to islam, he had to have been in prison... but i'm wondering if that is part of the "pattern."
4 - Cindy
Because then they'd have to engage in self-examination and question the tenets of their faith and no one likes to do that. So much easier to blame the outsider and the faceless enemy...
Something truthful I think Dave has here...whether one applies it to Muslims or just everyone.
5 - Dave Nalle
Zing, he's only 23 and apparently converted to Islam when he was 17. Juvenile records are sealed and they aren't saying anything about it in the news -- initial reports didn't even mention that he was a muslim -- but I bet he was in Juvie when he converted.
Dave
6 - Dave Nalle
The backstory on Muhammed is guilding up. He was arrested on drug and weapon charges in Knoxville in 2004 but the charges were dropped. There's some suspicion he has a juvenile record which was expunged. I'm giving the press about 24 hours before that becomes part of the story.
Dave
7 - Fawnstock
Also troubling is the act of terror carried out on Dr. Tiller.
8 - Dave Nalle
Fawn, we have several other threads for that. The subjects are really unreleated.
Dave
9 - Jordan Richardson
why don't we hear about Muslims' anger over the deaths of Muslims at the hands of other Muslims in the Middle East?
Because the MSM (both "sides" of it) is helping fight a propaganda war against Muslim countries. It's easier to develop hatred and mistrust when you don't hear about the humanity of your "enemies."