2009 Little Rock recruiting office shooting
Encyclopedia
The 2009 Little Rock recruiting office shooting took place on June 1, 2009, when Muslim
convert Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, aka Carlos Leon Bledsoe, opened fire with a rifle in a drive-by shooting
on soldiers in front of a United States military recruiting office in Little Rock, Arkansas
, in a jihad
attack. He killed Private William Long, and wounded Private Quinton Ezeagwula. This is considered to be a case of homegrown terrorism
.
After his arrest, Muhammad acknowledged shooting the men. He told police that he had intended to kill as many Army personnel as possible. He had an SKS
rifle, a Mossberg International 702 rifle, two handguns, 562 rounds of ammunition, and military books in his car.
He said that he had been sent by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
, and that "the attack was justified according to Islamic Laws and the Islamic Religion. Jihad—to fight those who wage war on Islam and Muslims.” He had recently returned from 16 months in Yemen, and it was the first of two gunfire attacks in 2009 on US military facilities by Muslims with links to radical clerics in Yemen, who were upset at U.S. military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Muhammad is charged with capital murder, attempted capital murder, and 10 counts of unlawful discharge of a weapon. Muhammad also reportedly faced 15 counts of engaging in a terrorist act. Muhammad is pleading guilty, and awaiting a February 2011 jury trial.
Muhammad drove by the Little Rock U.S. Army recruiting center at 9112 North Rodney Parham Road near Reservoir Road in a black 2003 Ford Explorer Sport Trac
at 10:19 a.m. on June 1, 2009. Private William Andrew "Andy" Long, 23, of Conway, Arkansas
, and Private Quinton I. Ezeagwula, 18, of Jacksonville, Arkansas
, were standing outside the recruiting center in uniform, smoking cigarettes. Muhammad saw them, approached, stopped his vehicle, and shot them with an SKS rifle. The two victims had just completed basic training
two weeks prior, and volunteered to work as recruiters, which was not their regular assignment.
A witness, Lance P. Luplow, heard approximately seven loud bangs and then saw a black truck with tinted windows speeding away, with its tailgate down spilling bottles of water onto the street. Luplow ran to Long, who had been shot several times, and was lying still in a pool of blood on the sidewalk. Ezeagwula was crawling to the door, holding a bloodied ear. Ezeagwula exclaimed: "Tell me this isn’t real, tell me this isn’t real". Other soldiers came to treat the wounded, and performed CPR on Long. Long was dead upon arrival at a hospital. Ezeagwula, who was shot in his back, head, and buttocks, was rushed into surgery at Baptist Hospital in critical condition
.
Long's father later remarked: "They weren't on the battlefield; but apparently, the battlefield's here."
, where he intended to switch cars. After a short pursuit, Muhammad took a wrong turn in a construction zone, and local police officers captured him eight miles from the recruiting center, near the intersection of Interstate 30
and Interstate 630
near downtown Little Rock, where he surrendered to Little Rock police officers without incident. He stepped out of his SUV, wearing a green ammo belt. He said: "It's a war going on against Muslims, and that is why I did it". He used language "indicating an association with Jihad", and claimed that there were explosives, but none were found.
He was found to be in possession of an SKS rifle, a Mossberg
International 702 rifle with scope and laser sight, a .22 caliber handgun
, a Lorcin L-380 semi-automatic handgun, 562 rounds of ammunition loaded in magazine
s, homemade sound suppressors
, binoculars, a "suspicious" package, and two military books. A search of his apartment turned up Molotov cocktail
s, homemade sound suppressors, and compact discs with Arabic writing.
Muhammad said that he did not regard his action as murder
, because American military actions in the Middle East justify the slaying of Americans. "I do feel I'm not guilty," he said to the Associated Press
, "I don't think it was murder because murder is when a person kills another person without justified reason." Little Rock Police Chief Stuart Thomas said, "At this point it appears that he specifically targeted military personnel."
According to law enforcement officials, Muhammad "had conducted research on other targets, including military sites, government facilities, and Jewish institutions" throughout the country.
Press accounts noted New York City military facilities such as the Times Square Recruiting Station which was bombed March 6, 2008, had been previously targeted by violence.
in Memphis, Tennessee
, in 2003 and attended Tennessee State University
in Nashville, Tennessee
, for three semesters.
He converted to Islam
in 2004 at the age of 19 at Masjid As-Salam, a Memphis mosque
. He said "I've loved jihad
every since I became Muslim." He became more religious, and prayed regularly at the Islamic Center of Nashville, wearing Arab-style clothing. By 2007 he was a deeply religious Muslim and jihadist, and had legally changed his name.
on the sixth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2007 and stayed there for about 16 months, ostensibly visiting to teach English (at an institute called The British Academy, and other places in Aden
and Sana'a
), learn Arabic, and further his understanding of Islam. However, according to Jihad Watch
, he studied jihad with a local Islamic scholar. While there, he married a woman from South Yemen named Reena Abdullah Ahmed Farag, who worked as an elementary school teacher.
He knew people who showed him around and helped him get started, but didn't say who they were or how he met them, declining to do so for what he referred to as "security reasons." He was "asked many times to carry out a martyrdom operation in America", but "didn't have proper training in regards to explosives." He tried to travel to Somalia for weapons and bomb-making training, particularly car-bomb-making. He said later, "[H]ad I got this training my story would have ended a lot differently than it's going to end now. My drive-by would have been a drive-in, with no one escaping the aftermath!!"
He was arrested at a roadside checkpoint on November 14, 2008, two months after his marriage.
He had overstayed his visa, lacked the proper government permissions to travel, and was holding a fraudulent Somali passport
. He also had explosive manuals that included tips such as how to make gun silencers, literature by Anwar Al-Awlaki
(a former cleric in Yemen linked to Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
), videos and literature about the daily operations "by our Muslim soldiers in different parts of the world", and "people's numbers on my phone that were wanted in Saudi Arabia".
He was imprisoned for over two months. He was "maybe insulted in interrogation a few times, but not tortured". He began planning to carry out jihad against the U.S. while he was in prison. Muhammad's lawyer, James E. Hensley Jr., said that he was radicalized by Islamic fundamentalists while in prison. Under pressure from the U.S., Yemen deported Muhammad to the U.S. on January 29, 2008, before the shooting incident.
Because his original plan to travel to Somalia for bomb training had been foiled by his arrest in Yemen, he said he revised his plan "with the help of the Mujahideen … Al-Qaeda Organization in the Arabian Peninsula.
. The Task Force also investigated the suspect's visit to Columbus, Ohio
; authorities had monitored some Somali Americans traveling from there to Somalia to "wage jihad."
For weeks Muhammad planned his jihad attack. He bought several guns secondhand to avoid FBI scrutiny, stockpiling ammunition, practicing target shooting, and buying a .22-caliber rifle at Wal-Mart
to determine whether he was being watched.
Muhammad planned attacks in the U.S., that did not take place as intended. His initial plan was to assassinate "3 Zionist rabbis in Memphis, Little Rock, and Nashville. Then target recruitment centers, from the South to the nation's capital. And other Zionist organizations in the northeast." He used Google Maps
to investigate targeting recruiting centers in at least five states (including ones in New York, Atlanta, Louisville, and Philadelphia), Times Square
in New York City, Jewish institutions (including in Atlanta), a day-care center, a post office, and a Baptist church, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
He began his jihad in Little Rock, doing "something" there. He then drove to Nashville and threw a Molotov cocktail at the home of an orthodox rabbi, but it bounced off the target. He then drove to an Army recruiting center in Florence, Kentucky
, because "it was near an interstate and bordered Ohio. Easy to get away", but the center was closed.
He was indicted on 1 count of capital murder and 15 counts of terrorist
acts.
He is being held in the Pulaski County Detention Center, awaiting a February 2011 jury trial
. In a mental-health evaluation performed at the Arkansas State Hospital he was deemed competent to stand trial.
In January 2010, Arkansas Judge Herbert Wright ordered the State's Public Defenders Commission to pay part of the bill for Muhammad's private attorney.
That same month, in a two-page, handwritten letter to the judge presiding over his case, Muhammad changed his plea to guilty, said he was a "soldier in Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
", and described the recruiting office shooting as a "Jihadi attack." He said he was part of Abu Basir's Army, a reference to Naser Abdel-Karim al-Wahishi
, the Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula leader in Yemen. He affirmed that his sanity was intact, and that he was acting of his own volition in changing his plea.
Muhammad also said, “I wasn’t insane or post-traumatic, nor was I forced to do this Act. The attack was justified according to Islamic Laws and the Islamic Religion. Jihad—to fight those who wage war on Islam and Muslims.” Muhammad did not discuss his change in plea with his lawyers.
Discussing his affiliation with the Al-Qaeda group in Yemen led by al-Awlaki and al-Wahishi, he said:
His statement of affiliation was not independently confirmed. Muhammad's father said he doubted whether Muhammad actually had any such ties. Muhammad's father described his son as being so "brainwashed" that he wanted to tie his act to the terrorist group so he could face execution, thus becoming a martyr.
The lead prosecutor for Pulaski County initially believed Muhammad acted alone, as did some other law enforcement officials: "If you strip away what he says, self-serving or not, it’s just an awful killing, it’s like a lot of other killings we have." They and his father said there was no evidence Muhammad was ever in contact with Anwar al-Awlaki
, the al-Qaeda imam in Yemen linked to many attacks on American soldiers and citizens by Muslims with radicalized views, such as the Fort Hood shooter and Christmas Day bomber.
In June 2010, Muhammad was charged with assaulting an inmate with a weapon fashioned out of eyeglasses, and a similar attack on a jail officer in April.
The Fall 2010 issue of the English language online magazine published by al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, called Inspire, contained an article encouraging Americans to "fight jihad on U.S. soil", citing Muhammad as an example:
, Colonel Terry Lee mentioned that after the Little Rock shooting, Nidal Malik Hasan
had commented to him that he was almost "sort of happy about it", and in response to officers who questioned how he could make such a statement, he replied that "maybe we should get out, and this is what Muslims should do, they should stand up to the aggressor."
The suspect was noted in press accounts as one of series of recent Muslim converts planning or carrying out violent attacks that security experts called a disturbing new domestic trend. The attack came less than two weeks after a foiled bomb plot on two synagogues in Riverdale, New York, led by four men who converted to Islam in prison or shortly after their incarceration. The New York Times
noted of his alleged ties to Al-Qaeda, "If evidence emerges that his claim is true, it will give the June 1, 2009, shooting in Little Rock new significance at a time when Yemen is being more closely scrutinized as a source of terrorist plots against the United States."
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
convert Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, aka Carlos Leon Bledsoe, opened fire with a rifle in a drive-by shooting
Drive-by shooting
A drive-by shooting is a form of hit-and-run tactic, a personal attack carried out by an individual or individuals from a moving or momentarily stopped vehicle without use of headlights to avoid being noticed. It often results in bystanders being shot instead of, or as well as, the intended target...
on soldiers in front of a United States military recruiting office in Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...
, in a jihad
Jihad
Jihad , an Islamic term, is a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic, the word jihād translates as a noun meaning "struggle". Jihad appears 41 times in the Quran and frequently in the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of God ". A person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid; the plural is...
attack. He killed Private William Long, and wounded Private Quinton Ezeagwula. This is considered to be a case of homegrown terrorism
Homegrown terrorism
Homegrown terrorism is commonly associated with an international organization rather than being a ‘lone wolf’ act committed by isolated and disturbed individuals. It constitutes terrorist attacks from within the target nation, often Western...
.
After his arrest, Muhammad acknowledged shooting the men. He told police that he had intended to kill as many Army personnel as possible. He had an SKS
SKS
The SKS is a Soviet semi-automatic rifle chambered for the 7.62x39mm round, designed in 1943 by Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov. SKS-45 is an acronym for Samozaryadnyj Karabin sistemy Simonova, 1945 Simonov system, 1945), or SKS 45. The Sks is a scaled down version of the PTRS-41 anti-tank rifle also...
rifle, a Mossberg International 702 rifle, two handguns, 562 rounds of ammunition, and military books in his car.
He said that he had been sent by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is a militant Islamist organization, primarily active in Yemen and Saudi Arabia. It was named for al-Qaeda, and says it is subordinate to that group and its now-deceased leader Osama bin Laden, a Saudi citizen whose father was born in Yemen...
, and that "the attack was justified according to Islamic Laws and the Islamic Religion. Jihad—to fight those who wage war on Islam and Muslims.” He had recently returned from 16 months in Yemen, and it was the first of two gunfire attacks in 2009 on US military facilities by Muslims with links to radical clerics in Yemen, who were upset at U.S. military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Muhammad is charged with capital murder, attempted capital murder, and 10 counts of unlawful discharge of a weapon. Muhammad also reportedly faced 15 counts of engaging in a terrorist act. Muhammad is pleading guilty, and awaiting a February 2011 jury trial.
Attack
Ford Explorer Sport Trac
The Ford Explorer Sport Trac, also known just as the Ford Sport Trac, is a mid-size sport utility vehicle with a pickup truck bed that was sold mostly in North America. The Sport Trac was based on the Ford Ranger pickup and was built by the Ford Motor Company from 2000 to 2010. The pickup truck...
at 10:19 a.m. on June 1, 2009. Private William Andrew "Andy" Long, 23, of Conway, Arkansas
Conway, Arkansas
Conway is the county seat of Faulkner County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 58,908 at the 2010 census, making Conway the seventh most populous city in Arkansas. It is a principal city of the Little Rock–North Little Rock–Conway Metropolitan Statistical Area which had...
, and Private Quinton I. Ezeagwula, 18, of Jacksonville, Arkansas
Jacksonville, Arkansas
Jacksonville is a city in Pulaski County, Arkansas, United States, and a suburb of Little Rock. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city was 28,364. It is part of the Little Rock–North Little Rock–Conway Metropolitan Statistical Area....
, were standing outside the recruiting center in uniform, smoking cigarettes. Muhammad saw them, approached, stopped his vehicle, and shot them with an SKS rifle. The two victims had just completed basic training
Basic Training
Basic Training may refer to:* Basic Training, a 1971 American documentary directed by Frederick Wiseman* Basic Training , an American sex comedy* Recruit training...
two weeks prior, and volunteered to work as recruiters, which was not their regular assignment.
A witness, Lance P. Luplow, heard approximately seven loud bangs and then saw a black truck with tinted windows speeding away, with its tailgate down spilling bottles of water onto the street. Luplow ran to Long, who had been shot several times, and was lying still in a pool of blood on the sidewalk. Ezeagwula was crawling to the door, holding a bloodied ear. Ezeagwula exclaimed: "Tell me this isn’t real, tell me this isn’t real". Other soldiers came to treat the wounded, and performed CPR on Long. Long was dead upon arrival at a hospital. Ezeagwula, who was shot in his back, head, and buttocks, was rushed into surgery at Baptist Hospital in critical condition
Critical Condition
Critical condition is a medical state.Critical Condition may also be:* Critical Condition , an episode of the television series Sex and the City* Critical Condition , a 1987 comedy film...
.
Long's father later remarked: "They weren't on the battlefield; but apparently, the battlefield's here."
Attempted escape
Muhammad sped away, hoping to drive 150 miles to Memphis, TennesseeMemphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
, where he intended to switch cars. After a short pursuit, Muhammad took a wrong turn in a construction zone, and local police officers captured him eight miles from the recruiting center, near the intersection of Interstate 30
Interstate 30
Interstate 30 is an Interstate Highway in the southern United States. I-30 runs from Interstate 20 west of Fort Worth, Texas, northeast via Dallas, Texas, and Texarkana, Texas, to Interstate 40 in North Little Rock, Arkansas. The route parallels U.S. Route 67 except for the portion west of...
and Interstate 630
Interstate 630
Interstate 630 in Arkansas is an east–west connector within Little Rock. It is also known as the Wilbur D. Mills Freeway and starts at Interstate 30/US Route 65/US Route 67/US Route 167 traveling west through downtown Little Rock to Interstate 430 and an at-grade intersection with...
near downtown Little Rock, where he surrendered to Little Rock police officers without incident. He stepped out of his SUV, wearing a green ammo belt. He said: "It's a war going on against Muslims, and that is why I did it". He used language "indicating an association with Jihad", and claimed that there were explosives, but none were found.
He was found to be in possession of an SKS rifle, a Mossberg
O.F. Mossberg & Sons
O.F. Mossberg & Sons is an American firearms manufacturer, specializing in shotguns, rifles, scopes and firearm accessories. From the 1940s through the 1960s, it also produced a line of .22 caliber target and sporting rifles....
International 702 rifle with scope and laser sight, a .22 caliber handgun
.22 Short
.22 Short is a variety of .22 caliber rimfire ammunition. Developed in 1857 for the first Smith and Wesson revolver, the .22 rimfire was the first American metallic cartridge....
, a Lorcin L-380 semi-automatic handgun, 562 rounds of ammunition loaded in magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
s, homemade sound suppressors
Suppressor
A suppressor, sound suppressor, sound moderator, or silencer, is a device attached to or part of the barrel of a firearm which reduces the amount of noise and flash generated by firing the weapon....
, binoculars, a "suspicious" package, and two military books. A search of his apartment turned up Molotov cocktail
Molotov cocktail
The Molotov cocktail, also known as the petrol bomb, gasoline bomb, Molotov bomb, fire bottle, fire bomb, or simply Molotov, is a generic name used for a variety of improvised incendiary weapons...
s, homemade sound suppressors, and compact discs with Arabic writing.
Motive and other targets
Muhammad said later: "I was trying to kill them." He said he would have killed more soldiers, had more been there.Muhammad said that he did not regard his action as murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
, because American military actions in the Middle East justify the slaying of Americans. "I do feel I'm not guilty," he said to the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
, "I don't think it was murder because murder is when a person kills another person without justified reason." Little Rock Police Chief Stuart Thomas said, "At this point it appears that he specifically targeted military personnel."
According to law enforcement officials, Muhammad "had conducted research on other targets, including military sites, government facilities, and Jewish institutions" throughout the country.
Press accounts noted New York City military facilities such as the Times Square Recruiting Station which was bombed March 6, 2008, had been previously targeted by violence.
The suspect
The suspect, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, previously known as Carlos Leon Bledsoe, was born on July 9, 1985. He graduated from Craigmont High SchoolCraigmont High School
Craigmont High School is a public high school located in Memphis, Tennessee, in the Raleigh community. It is part of the Memphis City Schools district. It is home to the city's only International Studies Program. The school first opened in 1974 for only 7th through 10th grade students, but each...
in Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
, in 2003 and attended Tennessee State University
Tennessee State University
Tennessee State University is a land-grant university located in Nashville, Tennessee. TSU is the only state-funded historically black university in Tennessee.-History:...
in Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
, for three semesters.
He converted to Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
in 2004 at the age of 19 at Masjid As-Salam, a Memphis mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
. He said "I've loved jihad
Jihad
Jihad , an Islamic term, is a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic, the word jihād translates as a noun meaning "struggle". Jihad appears 41 times in the Quran and frequently in the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of God ". A person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid; the plural is...
every since I became Muslim." He became more religious, and prayed regularly at the Islamic Center of Nashville, wearing Arab-style clothing. By 2007 he was a deeply religious Muslim and jihadist, and had legally changed his name.
Yemen (September 2007 – January 2009)
Muhammad left to visit YemenYemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
on the sixth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2007 and stayed there for about 16 months, ostensibly visiting to teach English (at an institute called The British Academy, and other places in Aden
Aden
Aden is a seaport city in Yemen, located by the eastern approach to the Red Sea , some 170 kilometres east of Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000. Aden's ancient, natural harbour lies in the crater of an extinct volcano which now forms a peninsula, joined to the mainland by a...
and Sana'a
Sana'a
-Districts:*Al Wahdah District*As Sabain District*Assafi'yah District*At Tahrir District*Ath'thaorah District*Az'zal District*Bani Al Harith District*Ma'ain District*Old City District*Shu'aub District-Old City:...
), learn Arabic, and further his understanding of Islam. However, according to Jihad Watch
Jihad Watch
Jihad Watch is a blog affiliated with the David Horowitz Freedom Center, which is run independently by American author Robert Spencer. It is considered an important platform for the counterjihad movement....
, he studied jihad with a local Islamic scholar. While there, he married a woman from South Yemen named Reena Abdullah Ahmed Farag, who worked as an elementary school teacher.
He knew people who showed him around and helped him get started, but didn't say who they were or how he met them, declining to do so for what he referred to as "security reasons." He was "asked many times to carry out a martyrdom operation in America", but "didn't have proper training in regards to explosives." He tried to travel to Somalia for weapons and bomb-making training, particularly car-bomb-making. He said later, "[H]ad I got this training my story would have ended a lot differently than it's going to end now. My drive-by would have been a drive-in, with no one escaping the aftermath!!"
He was arrested at a roadside checkpoint on November 14, 2008, two months after his marriage.
He had overstayed his visa, lacked the proper government permissions to travel, and was holding a fraudulent Somali passport
Somali passport
The Somali passport is a passport issued to citizens of Somalia for international travel.-Overview:Somalia's former socialist government originally used to issue a non-biometric Green Passport...
. He also had explosive manuals that included tips such as how to make gun silencers, literature by Anwar Al-Awlaki
Anwar al-Awlaki
Anwar al-Awlaki was an American and Yemeni imam who was an engineer and educator by training. According to U.S. government officials, he was a senior talent recruiter and motivator who was involved with planning operations for the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda...
(a former cleric in Yemen linked to Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is a militant Islamist organization, primarily active in Yemen and Saudi Arabia. It was named for al-Qaeda, and says it is subordinate to that group and its now-deceased leader Osama bin Laden, a Saudi citizen whose father was born in Yemen...
), videos and literature about the daily operations "by our Muslim soldiers in different parts of the world", and "people's numbers on my phone that were wanted in Saudi Arabia".
He was imprisoned for over two months. He was "maybe insulted in interrogation a few times, but not tortured". He began planning to carry out jihad against the U.S. while he was in prison. Muhammad's lawyer, James E. Hensley Jr., said that he was radicalized by Islamic fundamentalists while in prison. Under pressure from the U.S., Yemen deported Muhammad to the U.S. on January 29, 2008, before the shooting incident.
Because his original plan to travel to Somalia for bomb training had been foiled by his arrest in Yemen, he said he revised his plan "with the help of the Mujahideen … Al-Qaeda Organization in the Arabian Peninsula.
Return to the U.S. (January 2009–present)
After his return, Muhammad initially stayed with his parents in Memphis. He then moved to Little Rock in April, where his parents ran a tour bus business ("Twin City Tours"), to work for his father as a driver. After his return he was investigated by the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task ForceJoint Terrorism Task Force
A Joint Terrorism Task Force is a partnership between various U.S. law enforcement agencies that is charged with taking action against terrorism, which includes the investigation of crimes such as wire fraud and identity theft...
. The Task Force also investigated the suspect's visit to Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
; authorities had monitored some Somali Americans traveling from there to Somalia to "wage jihad."
For weeks Muhammad planned his jihad attack. He bought several guns secondhand to avoid FBI scrutiny, stockpiling ammunition, practicing target shooting, and buying a .22-caliber rifle at Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...
to determine whether he was being watched.
Muhammad planned attacks in the U.S., that did not take place as intended. His initial plan was to assassinate "3 Zionist rabbis in Memphis, Little Rock, and Nashville. Then target recruitment centers, from the South to the nation's capital. And other Zionist organizations in the northeast." He used Google Maps
Google Maps
Google Maps is a web mapping service application and technology provided by Google, free , that powers many map-based services, including the Google Maps website, Google Ride Finder, Google Transit, and maps embedded on third-party websites via the Google Maps API...
to investigate targeting recruiting centers in at least five states (including ones in New York, Atlanta, Louisville, and Philadelphia), Times Square
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets...
in New York City, Jewish institutions (including in Atlanta), a day-care center, a post office, and a Baptist church, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
He began his jihad in Little Rock, doing "something" there. He then drove to Nashville and threw a Molotov cocktail at the home of an orthodox rabbi, but it bounced off the target. He then drove to an Army recruiting center in Florence, Kentucky
Florence, Kentucky
Florence is a city in Boone County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 29,951 at the 2010 census.-History:The Florence area was originally known as Crossroads, because of the convergence of several roads from Burlington and Union at Ridge Road...
, because "it was near an interstate and bordered Ohio. Easy to get away", but the center was closed.
He was indicted on 1 count of capital murder and 15 counts of terrorist
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
acts.
Mention in Congressional hearings
In a Congressional hearing addressing the issue of domestic radicalization of Muslims, Bledsoe's father Melvin, a business man from Memphis spoke of his son's descent into extremism. Bledsoe described his son's religious conversion and travels to Yemen where he had been “trained and programmed” to kill. Bledsoe then said, “Our children are in danger,” and that “It seems to me that Americans are sitting around doing nothing about radical extremists. This is a big elephant in the room.”Legal proceedings
Muhammad is charged with state charges of capital murder, attempted capital murder, and 10 counts of unlawful discharge of a weapon. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.He is being held in the Pulaski County Detention Center, awaiting a February 2011 jury trial
Jury trial
A jury trial is a legal proceeding in which a jury either makes a decision or makes findings of fact which are then applied by a judge...
. In a mental-health evaluation performed at the Arkansas State Hospital he was deemed competent to stand trial.
In January 2010, Arkansas Judge Herbert Wright ordered the State's Public Defenders Commission to pay part of the bill for Muhammad's private attorney.
That same month, in a two-page, handwritten letter to the judge presiding over his case, Muhammad changed his plea to guilty, said he was a "soldier in Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is a militant Islamist organization, primarily active in Yemen and Saudi Arabia. It was named for al-Qaeda, and says it is subordinate to that group and its now-deceased leader Osama bin Laden, a Saudi citizen whose father was born in Yemen...
", and described the recruiting office shooting as a "Jihadi attack." He said he was part of Abu Basir's Army, a reference to Naser Abdel-Karim al-Wahishi
Nasir al-Wuhayshi
Nasir Abdel Karim al-Wuhayshi , alias Abu Basir, was a citizen of Yemen and a senior leader of Islamist militant group Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula . He once served as Osama bin Laden's secretary and presided over the January 2009 merger of the Saudi Arabian and Yemeni splinters of Al Qaeda...
, the Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula leader in Yemen. He affirmed that his sanity was intact, and that he was acting of his own volition in changing his plea.
Muhammad also said, “I wasn’t insane or post-traumatic, nor was I forced to do this Act. The attack was justified according to Islamic Laws and the Islamic Religion. Jihad—to fight those who wage war on Islam and Muslims.” Muhammad did not discuss his change in plea with his lawyers.
Discussing his affiliation with the Al-Qaeda group in Yemen led by al-Awlaki and al-Wahishi, he said:
Far as Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula ... yes, I'm affiliated with them.... Our goal is to rid the Islamic world of idols and idolaters, paganismPaganismPaganism is a blanket term, typically used to refer to non-Abrahamic, indigenous polytheistic religious traditions....
and pagans, infidelity and infidelInfidelAn infidel is one who has no religious beliefs, or who doubts or rejects the central tenets of a particular religion – especially in reference to Christianity or Islam....
s, hypocrisy and hypocrites, apostasyApostasyApostasy , 'a defection or revolt', from ἀπό, apo, 'away, apart', στάσις, stasis, 'stand, 'standing') is the formal disaffiliation from or abandonment or renunciation of a religion by a person. One who commits apostasy is known as an apostate. These terms have a pejorative implication in everyday...
and apostates, democracy and democrats, and relaunch the Islamic caliphateCaliphThe Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the ruler of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transcribed version of the Arabic word which means "successor" or "representative"...
… and to establish Islamic law (Shari'ah).
His statement of affiliation was not independently confirmed. Muhammad's father said he doubted whether Muhammad actually had any such ties. Muhammad's father described his son as being so "brainwashed" that he wanted to tie his act to the terrorist group so he could face execution, thus becoming a martyr.
The lead prosecutor for Pulaski County initially believed Muhammad acted alone, as did some other law enforcement officials: "If you strip away what he says, self-serving or not, it’s just an awful killing, it’s like a lot of other killings we have." They and his father said there was no evidence Muhammad was ever in contact with Anwar al-Awlaki
Anwar al-Awlaki
Anwar al-Awlaki was an American and Yemeni imam who was an engineer and educator by training. According to U.S. government officials, he was a senior talent recruiter and motivator who was involved with planning operations for the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda...
, the al-Qaeda imam in Yemen linked to many attacks on American soldiers and citizens by Muslims with radicalized views, such as the Fort Hood shooter and Christmas Day bomber.
In June 2010, Muhammad was charged with assaulting an inmate with a weapon fashioned out of eyeglasses, and a similar attack on a jail officer in April.
The Fall 2010 issue of the English language online magazine published by al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, called Inspire, contained an article encouraging Americans to "fight jihad on U.S. soil", citing Muhammad as an example:
The firearm option: Nidal Hasan and Abdul Hakim Mujahid Muhammad. It's the least suspicious if you already own a firearm. For this choose the best location. A random hit at a crowded restaurant in Washington, D.C. at lunch hour for example might end up knocking out a few government employees. Targeting such employees is paramount, and the location would also give the operation additional media attention.
Significance
In an interview shortly after the Fort Hood shootingFort Hood shooting
The Fort Hood shooting was a mass shooting that took place on November 5, 2009, at Fort Hood, the most populous U.S. military installation in the world, located just outside Killeen, Texas. In the course of the shooting, a single gunman killed 13 people and wounded 29 others...
, Colonel Terry Lee mentioned that after the Little Rock shooting, Nidal Malik Hasan
Nidal Malik Hasan
Nidal Malik Hasan, USA is a United States Army officer and sole suspect in the November 5, 2009, Fort Hood shooting, which occurred less than a month before he would have deployed to Afghanistan....
had commented to him that he was almost "sort of happy about it", and in response to officers who questioned how he could make such a statement, he replied that "maybe we should get out, and this is what Muslims should do, they should stand up to the aggressor."
The suspect was noted in press accounts as one of series of recent Muslim converts planning or carrying out violent attacks that security experts called a disturbing new domestic trend. The attack came less than two weeks after a foiled bomb plot on two synagogues in Riverdale, New York, led by four men who converted to Islam in prison or shortly after their incarceration. The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
noted of his alleged ties to Al-Qaeda, "If evidence emerges that his claim is true, it will give the June 1, 2009, shooting in Little Rock new significance at a time when Yemen is being more closely scrutinized as a source of terrorist plots against the United States."
See also
- 2005 Los Angeles bomb plot2005 Los Angeles bomb plotThe 2005 Los Angeles bomb plot was a 2005 effort by a group of ex-convicts calling themselves Jamiyyat Ul-Islam Is-Saheed to bomb several military bases, a number of synagogues, and an Israeli consulate in California....
, jihadi plot to bomb several military bases, a number of synagogues, and an Israeli consulate in California. - 2007 Fort Dix attack plot2007 Fort Dix attack plotThe 2007 Fort Dix attack plot involved a group of six radical Islamist men who conspired to stage an attack against U.S. Military personnel stationed at Fort Dix, New Jersey. The alleged aim of the group was to "kill as many soldiers as possible"....
, jihadi plot to attack U.S. military personnel at Fort Dix, New Jersey. - 2009 terrorist incidents
- 2009 New York terrorism plot, jihadi plot to shoot down military planes flying out of an Air National Guard base in Newburgh, New York, and blow up two synagogues in the Bronx
- 2009 Fort Hood shootingFort Hood shootingThe Fort Hood shooting was a mass shooting that took place on November 5, 2009, at Fort Hood, the most populous U.S. military installation in the world, located just outside Killeen, Texas. In the course of the shooting, a single gunman killed 13 people and wounded 29 others...
, Hasan in the U.S. communicated with al-Awlaki in Yemen, and expressed approval of the Little Rock shooting - 2009 Christmas Day bomber, recruited by al-Awlaki and trained in Yemen
- Naser Jason AbdoNaser Jason AbdoNaser Jason Abdo is a Muslim US Army Private First Class who is currently being held without bond for possession of an unregistered firearm and allegedly planning to attack a restaurant frequented by soldiers from Fort Hood.-Early life:Abdo grew up in Garland, Texas and attended Richardson Terrace...
- Michael FintonMichael FintonMichael C. Finton, also known as Talib Islam , a convert to Islam and a part-time cook at a fish and chicken restaurant, attempted to bomb the Paul Findley Federal Building and the adjacent offices of Congressman Aaron Schock in downtown Springfield, Illinois, on September 24, 2009...
, American, attempted September 2009 bombing of U.S. target with FBI agent he thought was al-Qaeda member - Sharif MobleySharif MobleySharif Mobley is a suspected al-Qaeda and al-Shabab member who was arrested in Yemen in March 2010 by counter-terrorism officers following a shooting in which he was allegedly the perpetrator. Mobley had moved to Yemen two years prior...
, American traveled to Yemen to seek out al-Awlaki as mentor, and killed a guard in March 2010 escape attempt - Aafia SiddiquiAafia SiddiquiAafia Siddiqui is an American-educated Pakistani cognitive neuroscientist who was convicted of assault with intent to murder her U.S. interrogators in Afghanistan. The charges carried a maximum sentence of life in prison; in September 2010, she was sentenced by a United States district court to 86...
, alleged al-Qaeda member, former U.S. resident, convicted of attempting to kill U.S. personnel in 2008 - Bryant Neal VinasBryant Neal VinasBryant Neal Vinas is a Hispanic Muslim American convicted of participating in and supporting Al-Qaeda plots in Afghanistan and the U.S....
, American, convicted in 2009 of participating in/supporting Al-Qaeda plots in Afghanistan and the U.S. - Najibullah ZaziNajibullah ZaziNajibullah Zazi is an Afghan-American who was arrested in September 2009 as part of the 2009 U.S. Al Qaeda group accused of planning suicide bombings on the New York City subway system, and has pled guilty as have two other defendants. U.S...
, al-Qaeda member, U.S. resident, pleaded guilty in 2010 of planning suicide bombings on New York City subway system