Trial offers reminder of radicalization dangers

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A federal jury in Minneapolis convicted Mahamud Said Omar on multiple counts relating to terrorist activities, according to a report in Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin.

Omar, a Somali national, recruited or assisted at least 20 individuals from the Somali community in Minneapolis for the Islamist group al-Shabaab in Somalia – at least some who were American citizens. And while the guilty verdict for Omar may be a small victory for the U.S., it is a reminder that the threat of American citizens becoming Islamist terrorists remains unresolved and will continue resulting in terrorism in the U.S. and around the world.

American citizens joining with Islamist terrorists have been a regular occurrence since John Walker Lindh fought with the Taliban soon after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

The Heritage Foundation has tracked the number of known, thwarted terrorist plots inside the United States since Sept. 11, 2001.

As of October 17, Heritage has documented 53 known, disrupted terrorist plots. Most, but not all, of the thwarted plots involve U.S. citizens or residents, and most allegedly involved Islamists.

Omar is not a U.S. citizen. However, the men of Somali descent in Minneapolis he was convicted of recruiting or assisting on behalf of al-Shabaab included American citizens.

Furthermore, Omar’s conviction is only one of multiple newsworthy stories in October about American citizens who are fighting with Islamist terrorists abroad and domestically.

Other stories include:

• On October 3 the FBI, “announced a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to the arrest of Ahmad Abousamra, a U.S. citizen from Massachusetts charged with traveling to Pakistan and Yemen to seek military training so he could kill American soldiers.”
• The BBC reported on October 9 that an American was arrested in Ataq, Yemen, on suspicions of having ties to al-Qaida.
• In mid-October, Islamist Colleen LaRose (colloquially known as, “Jihad Jane”) of the Philadelphia area pleaded guilty to charges of planning to kill a Swedish artist.
• On October 17, American citizen Manssor Arbabsiar pleaded guilty to plotting with Iranian military officials to assassinate the Saudi Arabia ambassador to the U.S.
• On October 20, The Long War Journal reported that Omar Hammami, an American associated with al-Shabaab, pleaded to al-Qaida leadership to solve internal problems of al-Shabaab.

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