Category: Terrorism

Is trust in our law enforcement ever an “acceptable loss” when it comes to terrorist threats against our public?

Washington DC, formally the District of Columbia, is the capital of the United States of America, and it has about a total of only 60 square land miles, which includes not only government buildings, but also universities, parks, businesses, residential areas, etc. It was designed around a very small physical area for easily over 1.5 million U.S. Government employees centrally located there, and even more thousands of those who work in the same area in associated jobs and support roles. Given the small geographic area, the amount of parking area is extremely limited and the roads are highly congested, in both Washington DC proper and the surrounding suburbs in what is known as Northern Virginia and Suburban Maryland.

The nation’s capital, Washington DC, is about roughly the same physical land size of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with possibly half of the actual usable land space for offices and residences, double the population in the city, vastly more working employees traveling around the city, and a fraction of the available parking spaces. In the American national capital, there is a really significant challenge in getting from one place to another, quickly, and for many – just to get to work. Not everyone is the president and gets chauffeured around in a limousine. There are then the rest of the 1.5 to 2 million workers who need to get from one place to another.

To accommodate these otherwise unmanageable travel logistics in America’s national capital, in 1976, the local area governments and the federal government worked together to build an area subway system administered by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) called the “Metro” subway. The Metro subway now has 1,126 railcars and 91 stations in the Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia. The Metro subway system stretches across 117 miles, nearly double the entire land miles of Washington DC itself.

Every day, there are an average of 836,800 riders on the Metro subway system. It is the second busiest subway in the United States, second only to New York City (which has 300+ land miles.) The DC Metro has an annual usage of 261,435,200 riders. Outside of the White House, the Pentagon, and the Capitol Building, it is probably the highest profile security threat in the nation’s capital, and unquestionable a threat to the Metro would have the highest threat to human life and safety. It is a massive choke point for the nation’s capital public and certainly for the nation’s homeland security. After the 9/11 attacks, the U.S. government regularly had tactical police with sub-machine gun rifles traveling on trains and around Metro stations. I know – I rode with them on the subways. Many residents had been trained in evacuation processes. But all of that was many years ago. The perceived need for security has greatly diminished.

To accommodate these nearly 1 million riders every day, WMATA has about 500 Metro Transit Police Department (MTPD) officers. That sounds like a lot, until you realize they have divide those police in multiple shifts, since the Metro runs from 5 AM to 12 PM Midnight. So for illustrative purposes, let’s divide that number in half – now there about 250 MTPD officers – over about 90 stations – that is about 2 to 3 MTPD officers on average per station – some stations will have more, some will have less. And every stop is carrying hundreds of thousands of people every day, whose safety is dependent on MTPD alertness.

Not so many police officers now, is it?

Could you imagine if one of those average of 2 or 3 MTPD officers per station, was working for the ISIS terrorist movement?

You know, the insane ISIS terrorist movement, which has launched terrorist attacks on trains, airports, restaurants, public places, houses of worship around the world, that has killed nearly 75 in America this year, who burn people alive, boil them in tar, poison with chemical gas, mutilate their bodies, etc? Yes, THAT ISIS. One could only imagine the massive of life if such a terrorist infiltrator to the Metro police acted on the vulnerable thousands of people traveling on the Metro subway.

But, that is exactly what was happening, one of the Metro Police was working for the ISIS terrorist movement, and our federal law enforcement knew about it – for years.

We discovered this on August 2, 2016 in the afternoon, when the local news media announced that Nicholas Young, one of the Metro Police had been arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). We discovered that the FBI had arrested Nicholas Young for providing material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist group, who turned out to be ISIS. We also learned that the FBI had been investigating Nicholas Young for SIX YEARS. He was originally investigated in September 2010 for his involvement with Zachary Chesser who had been arrested in 2010 for supporting the brutal terrorist organization Al-Shabaab in Somalia. Over the next 6 years, Nicholas Young continued on the Metro Police. MTPD’s Nicholas Young talked plenty over the intervening 6 years – he talked about attacking the FBI, about beheading people, about bringing guns into a courtroom. He planned kidnaps and torture, he met with terrorists in the Washington DC area, he went to Libya and met with terrorists there in 2011, brought body armor and military items on his flight to Libya to go help terrorists. Back in Wasihington DC, Young met with convicted terrorist Amine El Khalifi regarding missions for terror, the same Khalifi arrested in February 2012 and “charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction (an improvised electonic device) in connection with his attempt to detonate himself in the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.”  In 2014, he traveled to Turkey to meet up and join with the ISIS terrorist movement. He then regularly communicated with those who he knew in the ISIS terrorist movement as well as FBI informants, cheering about terrorist attacks killing people in France. He then planned to provide funds to support ISIS. The terrorist supporter Nicholas Young brought his AK-47 to Metro Police training events. But he was still working as an MTPD police officer all this time. Over the course of the year in 2016, he finally was persuaded to purchase gift cards for ISIS to pay for mobile messaging accounts, and it was only that which then was the basis on which the FBI arrested him in August 2016.

For context, hundreds of thousands of passengers Metro traveled under the watchful eye of MTPD officer and ISIS terrorist Nicholas Young, every day, for over the 6 years while he was under active investigation for association with terrorist organizations.

The WMATA chairman, who stated that he also knew about this ISIS terrorist on the MTPD police, is still there running the Metro subway. No one was else was fired and no one resigned – other than MTPD officer Nicholas Young – after he was actually arrested for terrorist support, 6 years later. No one complained to the FBI or whether the agents investigating could have acted sooner. There have absolutely no consequences for this reckless approach to the safety of untold thousands of people at any time, on any day of the week. God only knows who else this ISIS terrorist has been working with in Washington DC or even within the MTPD police force. Our FBI has ensured us that there was no risk to the public, and that ISIS terrorist Nicholas Young, who planned kidnapping, murder, and who actively worked with ISIS terrorists overseas – was no real threat to the American public.

I want to believe that the agent in charge of the investigation, struggled with his conscience, had sleepless nights, wondering if they were doing the right thing, if today was the day that this insane terrorist Nicholas Young would snap, and kill thousands of unsuspecting people who looked at him and trusted him as “the police.” I want to believe that someone in an investigative review looked at this, and shouted in exasperation, “Are you crazy?”, when told that they were keeping this terrorist suspect on the MTPD police force. But these federal cases don’t take place in a vacuum. They are reviewed, regularly, and by multiple senior people in law enforcement. This wasn’t the judgment of one or two people. I would like to believe the chairman of WMATA would plead with the FBI, “how can I keep an ISIS terrorist on my police force?,” and would demand that there just had to be another way to do this investigation.

Official U.S. government will essentially shrug its shoulders over this, since after all “no one got killed,” and the Washington Post conveniently swept the story under the rug after a brief report on this. But the risk in ineffective handling of terrorist threats is not only to our lives. The risk is also to our TRUST. We have to be able to TRUST our police. We cannot be wondering – is that police officer really an ISIS terrorist? We cannot be wondering, if our police are infiltrated by the ISIS terrorist movement, will our FBI do anything about it? These are staggering questions of trust that we can not simply let floating in the air, while we shrug, and go back to our routine lives.

Of all of the so-called “acceptable losses” that we cannot afford, we cannot afford to lose TRUST in law enforcement. This is where ISIS terrorist Nicholas Young succeeded without firing a shot, without exploding a bomb, simply by being allowed by our law enforcement authorities to endanger the lives of thousands of Americans, without a second thought. Without killing anyone, Nicholas Young has still achieved his goal. This is precisely how terrorists win. It is not just the people they kill or the property damage they do. While those are the obvious and horrible crimes in our society, the very worst crime to social cohesion is the damage terrorists due to TRUST. They get us to question whether we can trust one another, and worst of all whether we can even trust those who are supposed to protect us. That is the greatest damage that terrorism achieves.

We cannot simply forget that thousands and thousands of American lives were endangered for YEARS every day by this investigation. If MTBD police officer and ISIS terrorist Nicholas Young had committed a successful attack or attacks on the Washington Metro, the death toll could have easily staggered the 9/11 attacks by many times. How can we trust the people who thought this risk was acceptable? But official Washington not only is not “outraged” over this, they really don’t see it as much of a concern at all. What more do you really need to know?

That is the state of our law enforcement’s ability to protect us from terrorist threats. Our law enforcement really believes that they are doing the right thing. They are handicapped by an obscenely outdated and ineffective criminal code, based mostly on criminal conduct and life in the last century, and dependent on laws written largely by people who long passed on from this life. Our law enforcement is working with “horse and buggy” level laws, while terrorists and criminals are running rings around them with state-of-the-art global behavior. The terrorist enemy has foreign support, 24 x 7, 365 days a week, while our federal law enforcement has forms to complete, antiquated statutes to follow, and a nation that expects them to act like real-life is an action movie. When you really think about it, it is a miracle that they catch any terrorists at all.

When it comes down to it, however, our mostly last-century laws are not designed for the world today. There is no real federal crime for terrorism other than for designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs). Even if we know someone is planning a terrorist attack, our federal law enforcement need to find a charge and build a case to a specific federal weapons violation, providing specific support, or material support to a designated FTO group. If the terrorist does not have detailed proof of a case to a specific FTO terrorist group, then there really is no other terrorist crime to charge then on. Furthermore, for extremist groups not listed as FTOs, especially any “domestic” groups, there really is very little to charge them on, as we have no real legally binding “domestic” terrorist organizations defined, that we can use in criminal prosecution. This forces the federal (or local) law enforcement to try to find a prosecutable charge in a specific weapons crime, some illegal financial transaction, or other prosecutable offense, otherwise we really don’t have laws designed to STOP terrorism.

Unlike the United Kingdom and other nations, we also have a very limited domestic intelligence gathering capability. While our headlines scream about fears of privacy invasions from the National Security Agency (NSA), the reality is that and the very finite FBI Counterterrorism Division (CTD), which does perform operations analysis and significant financial analysis, we really do not have have a separate domestic intelligence organization. Combining what America has in terms of a limited “domestic intelligence agency” into one body the FBI has positives and negatives. The positive is that it provides both intelligence and ability to perform law enforcement functions, unlike the U.K.’s MI-5 which can only perform intelligence functions. This eliminates “handoffs,” but on the other hand it also makes American “domestic intelligence” highly sensitive to only collecting information which can be used in a specific case for a criminal prosecution. Based on our outdated laws on terrorism, while this provides a maximum protection for American Civil Rights and judicial oversight, the ability of law enforcement to actually protect us from known terrorist threats (such as the ISIS terrorist working on the MTPD police) is dependent only on what they can currently prosecute such terrorists on. While our intelligence community and law enforcement rightly does claim that the goal to prevent such attacks, the incredible risk and damage to the public trust that the current laws present is a disaster waiting to happen.

Furthermore, our federal law enforcement is highly dependent on informants to address terrorist threats, and the very convenient Internet-based operations by ISIS terrorists publicly and boldly declaring their goals and plots on the public Internet through social media. This is where social media works against such terrorists and extremists, to the extent that they are stupid enough (and many are) to provide specific and prosecutable information in public sight, which federal law enforcement are able to use to build and document a case using the existing outdated laws. This is mostly dependent on such terrorists being stupid, and thankfully for law-abiding citizens, many of them are, which gives our otherwise-handicapped law enforcement ready documentation to make arrests. In addition, our federal law enforcement depends on a reported cadre of 15,000 informants, some of whom are paid, and who provide information on some cases and sometimes serve as “Confidential Human Source” or a “CHS” to talk to extremists, including to help set up “sting cases” where extremists are enticed to say enough that they can provide a prosecutable offense.

But migrating a police organization into having semi-domestic intelligence functions is a complex endeavor.

There is a sense of detachment which inevitably occurs, and various informants and open intelligence sources (e.g., public Internet postings) become pieces in an intelligence chess game. Rather than being outraged at the willingness of terrorists to plan and plot to kill Americans, as I have read in one federal law enforcement affidavit after another a sense that, we need to go on, and see if we can get some more information, and get them to incriminate themselves more and more and more.

For example, in a recent FBI affidavit that I read about the case of James Gonzalo Medina, who was arrested on May 2, 2016, after a long and extensive plot in a terrorist attack on a synagogue in Hollywood, Florida, planning to a mass-casualty terrorist attack. The FBI became aware of this in March 2016, and over two months, they had repeated undercover police meetings with James Gonzalo Medina, discussing different ways to commit the mass-casualty terrorist attack against Jewish worshipers using guns, bombs, and finally getting Medina to agree to use a fake bomb, which is how they were finally able to arrest him. During all of this time, Medina could have decided on his own, that he had gotten tired of waiting and committed the terrorist attack.  All this time, the people of the local Jewish synagogue were oblivious to the threat, and regularly worshiping with their families and children, unknown to them that their federal law enforcement was having regular meetings talking to a terrorist about the most effective way to mass murder them.

But the FBI and federal law enforcement apparently have such antiquated laws and such confused priorities in domestic intelligence gathering on terrorist attacks that even when a person comes up and tells you, a federal police officer, that they plan to commit a terrorist attack on a house of worship, that is not enough to get you arrested and taken off the street. Once again, federal law enforcement got “lucky” and they managed to dissuade Medina from using an automatic weapon, so that they could substitute a fake bomb in time, and arrested in the course of committing what he thought would be a terrorist act.

But how many times is our federal law enforcement going to get “lucky” on such cases?

And what is the cost to our TRUST in allowing such an ineffective criminal code that allows people to go free after telling our police about their plans to commit terrorism against us?

Our next U.S. federal government administration needs to re-assess the laws that we need and the law enforcement and domestic intelligence resources we need to stop and arrest terrorists. Eventually our outdated laws and approach are going to end up in more than an attack on our trust, but will end up in an attack that will cost many American lives.

The George Washington University (GWU)’s Center for Cyber and Homeland Security (CCHS) has hired a convicted terrorist supporter, whose terrorist website promoted Al Qaeda, Taliban, Osama Bin Laden, Anwar Al Awlaki, and others, and who was actively involved with U.S.-based terrorists planning attacks on the United States. The GWU CCHS Program on Extremism (POE) hired this convicted terrorist supporter, slightly over a year after he made a May 2015 announcement of his early release from prison.

The new GWU counterterrorism analyst, Younus Abdullah Muhammad, aka Jesse Morton, was released after serving only 3.5 years of a 12 year prison sentence for promoting terrorism, including promoting terrorist attacks on U.S. soldiers and involvement with individuals plotting terrorist attacks in the United States homeland on the Pentagon, the Capitol, and individuals threatening attacks on U.S. television writers. He was convicted of “conspiracy to solicit murder, make threatening communications, and use the Internet to place others in fear.”

Seamus Hughes, deputy director of the GWU’s Program on Extremism at the CCHS, told CNN that the convicted terrorist Younus Abdullah Muhammad brings a “unique perspective.” Nearly 15 years after the 9/11 attacks in 2001 on the United States, Mr. Hughes also stated that “we haven’t figured out how to reach that individual who’s going down the path of radicalization.”

Per the FBI’s February 9, 2012 press release, Younus Abdullah Muhammad operated “Internet platforms and websites to encourage Muslims to support Usama bin Laden, Anwar Al Awlaki, al Qaida, the Taliban, and others engaged in or espousing violent jihad.”

The FBI stated in 2012 that: “‘Jesse Morton operated Revolution Muslim to radicalize those who saw and heard his materials online and to incite them to engage in violence against those they believed to be enemies of Islam,’ said U.S. Attorney MacBride. ‘We may never know all of those who were inspired to engage in terrorism because of Revolution Muslim, but the string of recent terrorism cases with ties to Morton’s organization demonstrates the threat it posed to our national security. We’re grateful to the FBI, NYPD, and their law enforcement partners throughout the world who made today’s conviction possible.'”

The FBI press release also stated: “‘Individuals such as Morton who encourage violence and create fear over the Internet are a danger to our society and to the freedoms we enjoy as citizens,’ said Assistant Director in Charge McJunkin. ‘Today’s plea, and other recent cases of those associated with Morton’s organization, demonstrate the widespread nature of this danger. Together with our partner law enforcement agencies, and with the assistance of the community, the FBI will continue to pursue those who promulgate violent extremism and promote the radicalization of others.'”

At the time of his prosecution, prosecutors described Jesse Morton as dangerous: “Morton not only endangered the lives of innocent people, but he also contributed to the destruction of the very freedoms on which our society is based.”

U.S. Attorney Neil MacBride stated about Morton: “We may never know all of those who were inspired to engage in terrorism because of Revolution Muslim, but the string of recent terrorism cases with ties to Morton’s organization demonstrates the threat it posed to our national security.”

According to the Washington Post, “Morton pleaded guilty in 2012 to conspiring to solicit murder, making threatening communications and using the Internet to place others in fear. In announcing his plea, federal authorities said his website helped radicalize people across the world, and he had contact with some who had specific, violent plots in mind. For example, he worked with Zachary Chesser — an Oakton High School graduate who tried to join an al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group in Somalia — to promote attacks on the writers of ‘South Park,’ according to his plea. He also was in touch with Rezwan Ferdaus, who admitted to plotting to attack the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol, and with Jose Pimentel, who was arrested in a plot to kill members of the U.S. military returning from active duty in Afghanistan.”

The same Washington Post report also stated in February 2016 that “the 37-year-old is out and being paid by the FBI, according to government records and an attorney who says Morton helped federal officials build a case against a client accused of trying to join the Islamic State.”

CNN reported that in 2009, Jesse Morton’s Revolution Muslim website “praised Nadal Hasan for his attack at Fort Hood, Texas, which left 13 people dead and 32 others wounded. They called Hassan ‘an officer and a gentleman.’ ”

Younus Abdullah Muhammad aka Jesse Morton announced his freedom just barely over a year ago on a website dated May 23, 2015, with a group that he founded called IslamPolicy.com (now archived).

On his Islam Policy website, Younus Abdullah Muhammad also provided links to the “philosophy” of his “Islam Policy” group, described in a document “On Crafting Islamic Policy: the Methodology of Islamic Social Science,” where he writes “Islam Policy proceeds thereby to continue this call and intends to advance in such a manner that the viral nature of the Islamic worldview can create the type of conditions under which a tipping point of transition can occur and the ideas of Islam can spread to influence every household.” Younus Abdullah Muhammad continues to have this “Islam Policy” philosophy posted on the Internet.

Younus Abdullah Muhammad stated the call for this Islamic worldview was based on “Syed Qutb, Islamist theoretician and initiator of this call,” which Younus Abdullah Muhammad states is described for the “the modern era explained in Milestones” for the vanguard of those seeking to advance “the viral nature of the Islamic worldview.” (Reference: page 20, Younus Abdullah Muhammad, “On Crafting Islamic Policy: the Methodology of Islamic Social Science.”) In this same “philosophy” statement (Reference: page 5), Younus Abdullah Muhammad also points out how “Islam has entered almost every home in the world despite it being declared not so long ago that Islam would never rise again,” and cross-references this to mistaken views by the British regarding the “defeat of the Ottoman Khilafah.”

Syed Qutb, also spelled Sayyid Qutb, was the leading member of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1966, Syed Qutb was convicted of plotting the assassination of Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser and was executed by hanging.

Based on his self-documented philosophy promoted on his Islam Policy website at the time of his announcement from release in 2015, it appears that Younus Abdullah Muhammad remains a supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood ideology, and continues to promote the vision of the Muslim Brotherhood leadership. (This website is no longer visible to the public, except through archive access.) However, GWU counterterrorism analyst Younus Abdullah Muhammad retains his pro-Muslim Brotherhood “Islam Policy” statement posted on Scribd.  He has continued to post such “Islam Policy” documents on Scribd, as recently as September 2015, after announcing his release from prison.  (Younus Abdullah Muhammad has 35 documents posted on his Scribd account. )

[NOTE: His “Islam Policy” Scribd account also continues to include documents from his terrorist “Revolution Muslim” website, including one which states: “It is time for the mujahedeen who cut off the head to cut off the hands. There are indications that we will now see movements against the regimes, but we must also formulate a coherent vision of what the Islamic State may look like and develop and advance the battle for hearts and minds. This is evident in the ideologies espoused by the leaders of the jihad. It is time to advance to another stage of the struggle and lose the noose of kufr that controls the land. It is time to begin to think about the necessary next steps that must predicate the conquering of Rome.”]

On a Facebook page with Younus Abdullah Muhammad’s name, photo, and link to his website and IslamPolicy announcement of his release from prison, there continue to be radical followers on Facebook, including one praising and quoting Anwar Al-Aliki.

If Younus Abdullah Muhammad has since rejected this pro-Muslim Brotherhood world view, it has not been clearly expressed, and was not expressed in his announcement of his early release from prison for his terrorist conviction, nor has he removed his Islam Policy philosophy statement on this, despite other updates to his Scribd Internet web postings, after his release from prison and post-release postings to IslamPolicy.com.

While this may seem surprising to those not aware of establishment U.S. government counterterrorism expert views, U.S. government support for the Muslim Brotherhood has been a common and regular fixture in meetings at various levels of U.S. Government counterterrorism and foreign policy organizations. The Muslim Brotherhood, whose motto is “Jihad is our way,” has been viewed as one that should be engaged with, at the highest levels of U.S. government. Even the distinguished West Point Counterterrorism Center (CTC) has published articles calling for engagement and cooperation with the Muslim Brotherhood. George Mason University Professor Peter Mandaville used the CTC Sentinel to call for engagement with the Muslim Brotherhood.

The concept behind such tactics is to “engage” with the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood and legitimize its anti-freedom ideology, as a trade-off for preventing violent terrorist attacks.

The tactic fails to grasp the Human Rights imperative of providing a counter-narrative in support of shared human rights that challenges anti-freedom ideologies, in the false belief, that a weakened commitment to freedom will allow for short term improvements in security measures.

However, Chapter 2 of The 9/11 Commission Report (2004), “The Foundation of the New Terrorism,” cites Muslim Brotherhood leader Syed Qutb for influencing Osama Bin Laden’s worldview in these terms: Qutb “dismissed Western achievements as entirely material, arguing that ‘nothing will satisfy its own conscience and justify its existence.'” “Three basic themes emerge from Qutb’s writings. First, he claimed that the world was beset with barbarism, licentiousness, and unbelief (a condition he called jahiliyya, the religious term for the period of ignorance prior to the revelations given to the Prophet Mohammed). Qutb argued that humans can choose only between Islam and jahiliyya. Second, he warned that more people, including Muslims, were attracted to jahiliyya and its material comforts than to his view of Islam; jahiliyya could therefore triumph over Islam. Third, no middle ground exists in what Qutb conceived as a struggle between God and Satan. All Muslim – as he defined them – therefore must take up arms in this fight. Any Muslim who rejects his ideas is just one more nonbeliever worthy of destruction.”

In his May 23, 2015 announcement of his release from prison, Younus Abdullah Muhammad aka Jesse Morton stated he was “particularly intrigued by what has been classified as countering violent extremism (CVE),” and that he rejected ” the conception that terrorism is justified.” He stated “If we are to truly stand for the ummah’s liberation, we will have to locate a balanced position between the day’s extremes.”

He stated that he would “remain staunchly opposed to the national security or counterterrorism state and its connection to the elite, neoliberal order.”

He stated that his “primary interests presently include a concentration on the role of hadith interpretation and its influence on contemporary Islamic movements, on U.S. foreign policy in the Muslim world, the state of Islam and Muslims in America, the actual principles embodied in an American system that has been erased from contemporary conceptions (no not the false patriotic fascism promoted by FoxNews), and Islamic politics, economics and society generally.”

On a Facebook page with Younus Abdullah Muhammad’s name, photo, and link to his website and IslamPolicy announcement of his release from prison, this Facebook page provides cover art for his “IslamPolicy.com” website, including a man waving an ISIS flag. This was where there was a link to the announcement of his release from prison in May 2015.

In August 2016, another member of the GWU CCHS Program on Extremism, Amarnath Amarasingam, was linked to association with an ISIS-inspired terrorist Aaron Driver, who set off a partial explosion in Strathroy (near Toronto) in Canada. Mr. Amarasingam stated that he was surprised that ISIS terrorist Aaron Driver would commit violence, and he stated that he was trying to discourage him from radical views.

Additional notes: the FBI Press Release on the conviction of Younus Abdullah Muhammad also stated his association with the following terrorist individuals, who were quoted or inspired by his Revolution Muslim website. This included terrorist individuals throughout the United States of America in Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Massachusetts.

The FBI stated the following:

In his statement of facts, Morton admitted that the Revolution Muslim websites contained the writings of and/or contributed to the radicalization of individuals who were inclined to engage in violence, including the following:

Samir Khan, previously of Charlotte, N.C., before moving to Yemen in 2009, was authorized by Morton to post materials on Revolution Muslim, and Morton provided Khan with two articles for the first two online editions of Jihad Recollections, an online magazine dedicated to violent extremism. In July 2010, Morton posted the first edition of Inspire magazine, an English-language magazine supporting al Qaeda that Morton believed to be the product of Khan. The magazine included an eight-page article titled “Make a bomb in the kitchen of Your Mom,” with detailed instructions regarding the construction of an explosive device.

Bilal Zaheer Ahmad, of the United Kingdom, was provided the password to Revolution Muslim by Morton and given permission to post messages. In November 2010, Ahmad praised Roshonara Choundhry for attempting to kill a British member of parliament over his support for the Iraq war and posted a list of 383 members of parliament who had voted for the Iraq war, along with suggestions on how to get in to see them and a link to a store selling a weapon similar to that used in Choundhry’s attack. Ahmad told Morton that the purpose of the post was to “make those MPs fearful.”

Abdel Hameed Shehedah, a former resident of Staten Island, N.Y., who was charged in October 2010 of making false statements involving his alleged attempt to travel to Pakistan to join a fighting group such as the Taliban. The statement of facts states that Shehedah attended Revolution Muslim meetings, made his website, civiljihad.com, a feeder site for Revolution Muslim and eventually arranged for all visitors to his website be routed automatically to Revolution Muslim.com.

Rezwan Ferdaus, of Ashland, Mass., was charged in September 2011 with plotting to attack the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol using large remote controlled aircraft filled with C-4 plastic explosives. The statement of facts states that in February 2010, Ferdaus e-mailed Morton asking for counsel regarding his duties as a Muslim and whether martyrdom operations were proper practice. Morton replied that martyrdom operations must be judged by intention but can have “enormous benfits (sic) in a war of attrition.”

Colleen R. LaRose, aka “Jihad Jane,” of Montgomery County, Pa., was charged in March 2010 with a variety of terrorism-related offenses, including plotting to kill Lars Vilks, a Swedish cartoonist who has been the subject of several murder threats based on his artwork depicting Muhammad. According to the statement of facts, Morton notified Sheikh Abdullah Faisal, a Muslim cleric convicted in the United Kingdom of soliciting murder, that LaRose was a subscriber to Revolution Muslim YouTube accounts.

Antonio Benjamin Martinez, of Baltimore, Md., was arrested and charged with plotting to bomb a military recruiting station in December 2010. The statement of facts states that one month prior to his arrest, Martinez viewed a video of Osama bin Laden and multiple terror training camp video clips on the Revolution Muslim website.

Jose Pimental, of New York City, was arrested and charged in November 2011 in connection with a plot to build and use a bomb to assassinate members of the U.S. military returning from active duty in Afghanistan. According to the statement of facts, Pimental contacted Morton saying that he was a big fan of Revolution Muslim, and that Morton recommended that Pimentel stay away from an individual because “there is high probability that he is working for the FBI.”

Mohamed Hamoud Alessa and Carlos Eduardo Almonte, both of New Jersey, were arrested in June 2010 on their way to Somalia to join a terrorist organization to kill individuals whose beliefs and practices did not accord with their ideology. The statement of facts states that both Alessa and Almonte were associates of Morton’s within the Revolution Muslim organization, and Morton was interviewed by investigators from the New York City Police Department on the day of their arrest.

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Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) believes that all individuals deserve a second chance in life, and that we can all change our views on issues challenging human rights. However, R.E.A.L. does not believe that the continued support for Muslim Brotherhood anti-freedom philosophy, which inspired terrorists in the past, provides the answer for ending terrorist violence in the future, and it certainly does not respect our shared Universal Human Rights for all.

On January 7, 2015, Aws Mohammed Younis Al-Jayab, 23, a Palestinian born in Iraq, who came to the United States of America reportedly as a refugee, was arrested in Sacramento, California and charged with making false statements in a terrorist investigation. The U.S. Department of Justice states Aws Mohammed Younis Al-Jayab was a supporter of a terrorist rival group to ISIS, “Ansar al-Islam.”

His criminal complaint states that Aws Mohammed Younis Al-Jayab entered the United States as a refugee from Syria in October 2012.   It states that  “he remains in refugee status to the present date, and as such, he is subject to the jurisdiction of USCIS for  purposes of this offense.”  The criminal complaint states that Al-Jayab lied to the USCIS on whether he had been a member of or supported a “rebel group, militia, or insurgent organization.”   The criminal complaint states that he planned to return to Syria to support a terrorist group, either through   Al-Qaeda alias groups Jabhat al Nusrah (JAN) or  al Nusrah Front (ANF).

The U.S. Department of Justice reported:

California Man Arrested for Making False Statements in a Terrorism Investigation

A Sacramento, California, resident was arrested today on a federal charge of making a false statement involving international terrorism. Aws Mohammed Younis Al-Jayab, 23, is charged in a complaint that was unsealed today in the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of California following his arrest. He will have his initial appearance tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. PST in Sacramento.

The arrest was announced by Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin, U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner of the Eastern District of California and Special Agent in Charge Monica M. Miller of the FBI’s Sacramento Division.

“Aws Mohammed Younis Al-Jayab allegedly traveled overseas to fight alongside terrorist organizations and lied to U.S. authorities about his activities,” said Assistant Attorney General Carlin. “The National Security Division’s highest priority is protecting the nation from terrorism, and we will continue to hold accountable those who seek to join or aid the cause of terrorism, whether at home or abroad.”

“According to the allegations in the complaint, the defendant traveled to Syria to take up arms with terrorist organizations and concealed that conduct from immigration authorities,” said U.S. Attorney Wagner. “While he represented a potential safety threat, there is no indication that he planned any acts of terrorism in this country. I commend the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force for their dedicated work on this matter.”

“In today’s complex terrorism environment, our Joint Terrorism Task Force plays an important role in combating the threat of terrorism. The collaboration is stronger than ever and essential to protect our communities from harm,” said Special Agent in Charge Miller. “The public plays an equal, if not more important, role in protecting the community. We encourage those who encounter individuals who express an intent to do harm or claim allegiance to a terrorist group – whether in person or online – to voice their concerns to law enforcement.”

According to the complaint, Al-Jayab is a Palestinian born in Iraq, who came to the United States as an Iraqi refugee in October 2012. Between October 2012 and November 2013, while living in Arizona and Wisconsin, he communicated over social media with numerous other individuals about his intent to return to Syria to fight for terrorist organizations. In those communications, according to the complaint, Al-Jayab discussed his previous experience with firearms and with fighting against the regime in Syria. On Nov. 9, 2013, he flew from Chicago to Turkey, and then traveled to Syria. Between November 2013 and January 2014, Al-Jayab allegedly reported on social media that he was in Syria fighting with various terrorist organizations, including Ansar al-Islam, a designated foreign terrorist organization since 2004. He returned to the United States on Jan. 23, 2014, and settled in Sacramento.

The complaint alleges that on Oct. 6, 2014, Al-Jayab was interviewed by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and responded in the negative to numerous questions, including whether he had ever been a member of any rebel group or militia; whether he had ever provided material support for any person or group engaged in terrorist activity; and whether he had ever been a member of a group, or assisted in a group, which used or threatened the use of weapons against others. Al-Jayab also allegedly stated during the interview that he had traveled to Turkey in late 2013 and early 2014 to visit his grandmother. The complaint alleges that all of those answers were materially false.

If convicted, Al-Jayab faces a maximum statutory penalty of eight years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Any potential sentence will be determined by the court after review of factors unique to this case, including the defendant’s prior criminal history, if any, the defendant’s role in the offense and the characteristics of the violation.

The charges are only allegations; the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

The ongoing investigation is being conducted by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Thomas of the Eastern District of California and Trial Attorney Andrew Sigler of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.

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Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) stands in support of our universal human rights for all, and we stand in defiance against those, including terrorist and hate groups, which seek to attack such universal human rights, dignity, and security for all.

We cannot support human rights, if we also do not reject those who seek to rob our brothers and sisters in humanity of their lives and security, which are also our universal human rights.