They live among us

[Gob]

A teenager who converted to Islam less than a year ago and idolised the killers of Fusilier Lee Rigby is facing a lengthy jail term after being found guilty of plotting to behead a British soldier.



Brusthom Ziamani, 19, was believed to be on his way to carry out his plan when he was arrested in east London in August last year carrying a 12in knife and a hammer in a rucksack.

He had previously researched the location of army cadet bases in the south-east of the capital. His arrest came after he showed his ex-girlfriend his weapons, described Rigby’s killer Michael Adebolajo as a legend and told her he would kill soldiers.

A jury of seven women and four men at the Old Bailey, in London, convicted him on Thursday of preparing an act of terrorism on or before 20 August last year after deliberating for a day and a half.

Speaking after the verdict, Commander Richard Walton, from the counter terrorism command, said his officers supported by MI5 had “probably prevented a horrific terrorist attack taking place on the streets of London”.

He said: “This case starkly illustrates one of the threats we currently face in the UK. Ziamani was an impressionable young man who became radicalised then rapidly developed an extremist, violent mindset. Over a series of months he ultimately developed a desire to carry out a terrorist attack on British soldiers.”

“He said that he was going to behead the soldier and hold that soldier’s head up in the air so that a friend could take a photograph with the severed head of the soldier,” Darlow told the court.

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Ziamani, of Camberwell, south London, was born to Congolese parents. His mother worked as a nursery nurse and his father was a psychiatric nurse.

He said he first became interested in Islam at the age of 15 through rap music and decided to convert in the months before he was first arrested. He turned to extremists in the Muslim group al-Muhajiroun after being kicked out of his home when when his Jehovah’s Witness parents discovered his newfound religion.

Ziamani was given money, clothes and a place to stay by the group, attended their talks in the basement of a Halal sweet shop in Whitechapel and bought a black flag to take on their demonstrations.

His Facebook posts charted a rapid descent into extremism after his “reversion”, which is believed to have taken place in April last year. He posted comments saying that he was “willing to die in the cause of Allah” and: “Sharia law on its way on our streets. We will implement it, it’s part of our religion.”

Ziamani was first arrested on an unrelated matter in June last year, when police found a ripped-up letter in his jeans pocket in which he wrote about mounting an attack on a British soldier and expressed the desire to die a martyr.

He expressed his anger at the situations in Syria and Iraq and wrote that because he did not have the means to get to these countries, he would wage war against the British government instead. In another part of the letter he stated that “we should do a 9/11, 7/7 and a Woolwich all in one day”.

Ziamani admitted writing the letter and was arrested on suspicion of committing an offence contrary to section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006 before being bailed under strict conditions.

But he claimed in court he had been “ranting and raging about the situation in Muslim countries which was described in these talks. I did not believe it at all.” And he said his Facebook postings were designed to fit in with al-Muhajiroun because it had provided him with a place to stay, describing the group’s views on sharia law as “extreme what they would do to someone when they steal or commit a sin”.

[oldr_n_wsr]

Never should have let him out the first time. Especially when he is going to go back to living in that extreme environment.
But good for the authorities who got him before he could carry out his plan.
I hope they are taking a close look at whoever else is frequenting the basement of that halal shop.

[Lord Jim]

Three missing London schoolgirls 'travelling to Syria to join Isil'

Police are appealing for help to find three schoolgirls who have gone missing and are thought to have travelled to Turkey with the intention of crossing the border into Syria.

They are Shamima Begum, 15, who could be using the name Acklina Begum, and 16-year-old Kadiza Sultana. The third girl, 15, is not being named at the request of her family, Scotland Yard said.

Police fear the girls, all pupils at the Bethnal Green Academy, in east London, might be heading to join terror group Isil - Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, also known as Islamic State.

They travelled from their homes on Tuesday, February 17 and boarded a Turkish Airlines flight to Istanbul.

Commander Richard Walton, of Scotland Yard's counter terrorism unit, described the girls as "straight A students" and "normal girls".

He added: "If we are able to locate these girls while they are in Turkey, there is a possibility we can bring them home to their families."

Police said the girls were all close friends with a 15-year-old travelled to Syria in December.

The girls left their homes before 8am, giving their families plausible reasons as to why they would be out for the day, police said.

Instead they met and travelled to Gatwick airport. They boarded a Turkish Airlines flight, TK1966, which left for Istanbul, in Turkey, at 12.40pm.

Mr Walton said: “We are extremely concerned for the safety of these young girls and would urge anyone with information to come forward and speak to police.

"Our priority is the safe return of these girls to their families.

"We are reaching out to the girls using the Turkish media and social media in the hope that Shamima, Kadiza and their friend hear our messages, hear our concerns for their safety and have the courage to return now, back to their families who are so worried about them."

He added: "We are concerned about the numbers of girls and young women who have or are intending to travel to the part of Syria that is controlled by the terrorist group calling themselves Islamic State.

"It is an extremely dangerous place and we have seen reports of what life is like for them and how restricted their lives become. It is not uncommon for girls or women to be prevented from being allowed out of their houses or if allowed out, only when accompanied by a guardian.

"The choice of returning home from Syria is often taken away from those under the control of Islamic State, leaving their families in the UK devastated and with very few options to secure their safe return.

"If we are able to locate these girls whilst they are still in Turkey, we have a good possibility of being able to bring them home to their families."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... Syria.html

From the same article:

Last year, twin teenage sisters, Zahra and Salma Halane, disappeared from their home in Manchester and flew to Istanbul, bound for Syria.

It is thought the girls, who were just 16 at the time and were academic high fliers, followed their older brother who is believed to be a jihadist fighter in the region.

The pair, who had dreamed of pursuing medical careers, later became jihadi brides, but were widowed when both their husbands were killed fighting for Isil.

Earlier this month, one of the sisters posted images from Syria showing her completing self-defence training with AK47s and handguns.

In December, it was revealed that a 15-year-old girl had been prevented from joining Isil after police dramatically stopped her flight on the runway at Heathrow.

The teenager, from Tower Hamlets, London, had secretly saved up money for her flight to Turkey, without her parents’ knowledge in the hope of travelling on to Syria.

But counter-terrorism officers, who had been tipped over about her plans, raced to the airport and stopped her plane which had already begun taxiing on to the runway.

[Gob]

They won't be missed.

[Lord Jim]

The pair, who had dreamed of pursuing medical careers, later became jihadi brides, but were widowed when both their husbands were killed fighting for Isil.

Turning "jihadi brides" into widows is an activity I heartily approve of...

[Gob]

I was wrong;

In a statement, Shamima's family said: "We miss you terribly and are extremely worried about you.

"Syria is a dangerous place and we don't want you to go there. Get in touch with the police and they will help to bring you home.

"We understand that you have strong feelings and want to help those you believe are suffering in Syria.

"You can help from home, you don't have to put yourself in danger. Please don't cross the border."

Kadiza's family said: "In your absence, we, as a family, are feeling completely distressed and cannot make sense of why you left home.

"Due to the speculation that you may be travelling towards Syria, we are extremely worried about your safety."

[Econoline]

I can almost understand--or at least imagine--how certain disaffected and/or depressed and/or psychotic and/or sociopathic and/or just-plain-nutso young males in their teens or early 20s might be attracted to a cause like this, and a dramatic death...

But young women????????????? In order to become "jihadi brides"????????????????????

W?????????? T?????????? F??????????

[rubato]

The teenage brain is just different. Both male and female. They don't have the grounding in experience, in concrete reality, which adults do and live in a wash of intense emotion which is more easily manipulated by romanticized ideas.

They don't parse the fact that these can be life-changing tragedies, that the next 50 years can be wiped out or made into needless suffering.

It will no doubt make some uncomfortable to admit it but it is the same drive which caused so many US 18-yearolds to enlist after 9-11. It is to some degree a matter of accident that some made choices you approve of and some that you do not.


yrs,
rubato

[Gob]

A teenager who planned to behead a British soldier has been jailed for 22 years by a judge at the Old Bailey.

Brusthom Ziamani, 19, from Camberwell, south London, was found guilty last month of preparing an act of terrorism.

The court heard he was inspired by the murder of Fusilier Lee Rigby and used the internet to research cadet bases.

He converted to Islam in 2014 and became radicalised. Months later he was arrested in east London in a possession of a 12in knife and a hammer.

Ziamani, who was 18 when held on the street in August last year as part of a joint police and MI5 intelligence operation, also had a black "Islamic flag" in his bag.

Police say he visited his former girlfriend earlier that day, when he showed her his weapons and told her he intended to attack and kill soldiers.

My god, whatever next? A reasonable sentence. I thought he would have got a new council home, a better social worker, and $3000 from the public purse.

[Lord Jim]

Yes, they do live among us:

Air Force Veteran Pleads Not Guilty in ISIS Case

An Air Force veteran from New Jersey accused of trying to support the Islamic State pleaded not guilty on Wednesday in Federal District Court in Brooklyn.

The man, Tairod Nathan Webster Pugh, 47, gave his name in staccato tones; it was his only utterance.

His head was shaved, he had a full beard, and he was dressed in khaki pants and a short-sleeved navy scrub shirt. He has been in jail since his arrest in January.

His lawyer, Michael K. Schneider, said Mr. Pugh pleaded not guilty to the charges against him: attempting to provide material support to terrorists and obstruction of justice.

Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis told the lawyers and Mr. Pugh to plan on a trial starting in July, which would be an unusually fast pace.

“It seems that the charges here are pretty straightforward,” Judge Garaufis said. “I’m prepared to go to trial at the earliest possible time.”

He added, “Don’t make any vacation plans.”

Mr. Pugh, who served in the Air Force from 1986 to 1990, had worked as an airplane mechanic and most recently lived in the Middle East. In January, he flew from Egypt to Turkey, and the authorities believed he planned to go into Syria and join the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, prosecutors said in court documents.

Turkish authorities, however, became suspicious and sent him back to Egypt, where he was held in preparation for deportation to the United States.

In Egypt, he told the authorities that he was going to Turkey to try to find a job and did not plan on going to Syria, according to court documents. He had with him several electronic devices, including a computer, flash drives and an iPod, and they had been tampered with, the government said.

Mr. Pugh was sent back to the United States. A day after his arrival at Kennedy International Airport, he was arrested in Asbury Park, N.J., close to his last known United States address, in Neptune, N.J.

By the time of his arrest, agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation had examined Mr. Pugh’s electronic devices and found a letter, apparently to his new wife in Egypt, in which he discussed becoming a martyr, according to government documents filed in court. On the devices, they also found 180 jihadist videos that included an Islamic State video of beheadings and a chart of crossing points from Turkey into Syria, according to the court documents

At the arraignment, Mr. Schneider said he would need to have forensic experts review the data from the computer, and perhaps bring in witnesses from Egypt and Turkey.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/19/nyreg ... uilty.html

[Gob]

The FBI has arrested two women on suspicion of planning a terrorist attack, similar to the Boston bombing.

A Brooklyn court charged Asia Siddiqui and Noelle Velentzas with conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction. The two women, US citizens, spoke only to say they understood the charges.
They had referred to themselves as "citizens of the Islamic State", prosecutors allege, and Ms Siddiqui had several gas tanks and instructions on turning them into bombs. "My client will enter a plea of not guilty, if and when there is an indictment. I know it's a serious case, but we're going to fight it out in court," said Ms Siddiqui's lawyer, Thomas Dunn.
Ms Siddiqui "had repeated contact with members of the foreign terrorist organisation al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula" the court documents said.

Her accomplice, Ms Velentzas, referred to Osama Bin Laden as a hero, according to the US Department of Justice.

"The defendants allegedly plotted to wreak terror by creating explosive devices and even researching the pressure cooker bombs used during the Boston Marathon bombing," said Assistant Director in Charge Diego Rodriguez, of the FBI's New York Field Office. The justice department said the two women have plotted to build an explosive device since at least August of last year and studied chemistry and electricity. They did not have a specific target but at one point considered Herald Square in Manhattan, according to the court documents.

[Lord Jim]

UK Police Arrest Teenage Boy and Girl on Terrorism Charges

British police say a teenage boy and girl have been arrested on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts.

Greater Manchester Police said Sunday a 14-year-old boy and 16-year-old girl have been arrested following two separate police raids that took place Thursday and Friday. Police say they had warrants for both searches.

The two teens have not been named and both have been freed on bail until a May 28 court hearing.

Police say they were arrested on suspicion of preparing acts of terrorism as part of an ongoing investigation.

The number of terrorism-related arrests in Britain has surged in recent months as an increasing number of Britons try to travel to Syria to link up with Islamic State group extremists there.

Separately, police are questioning six people arrested earlier Friday in the port city of Dover, which has extensive ferry service linking England to France.

Five men and one woman in their 20s were arrested in a departure lounge there Friday night.

Police have been given permission to question the six until Friday before they have to charged, released, or subjected to another warrant for more questioning.

Earlier this week nine Britons from one family were arrested in Turkey trying to enter Syria. Police said the new arrests are not related to the detention of the family in Turkey.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wir ... s-30107656

[Lord Jim]

Gee they're happening so frequently, I missed this one from a little over a week ago:

National Guard soldier and his cousin plotted to join ISIL, attack Illinois, feds say

In public, Hasan Edmonds wore the uniform of the Illinois National Guard.

But in private, the 22-year-old allegedly answered to a different master.

“I wish only to serve in the army of Allah, alongside my true brothers,” the National Guard specialist from Aurora wrote in an email just two months ago, according to a federal complaint unsealed on Thursday.

That meant attempting to travel to Syria, to fight alongside Islamic State terrorists, the feds say. And it meant plotting with his cousin to kill 120 of his fellow U.S. soldiers right here, in Illinois.

Arrested Wednesday evening at Midway Airport as he attempted to fly to Cairo, Egypt, Hasan Edmonds served with the 634th Brigade Support Battalion in Joliet. After he left the country, his cousin, 29-year-old Jonas Edmonds, planned to disguise himself in Hasan’s uniform and attack the base where Hasan had been training, the feds say.

Jonas Edmonds was arrested without incident at his home in Aurora around the same time that his cousin was nabbed, authorities said. Hasan Edmonds had allegedly identified officers for him to target, telling him to “kill the head.”

Both men were denied bail during a brief court appearance Thursday. Jonas Edmonds appeared confused, scanning the courtroom before sitting facing his attorney at a side table. He repeatedly swiveled in his chair, yawned loudly and tugged at his long beard with both hands for several seconds. After the hearing, he shook the shackles on his feet several times, making a loud noise.

Hasan Edmonds, who has a shaved head and wore glasses, silently sat facing his cousin, but appeared less agitated.

The military training he received, along with his access to military facilities, appears to elevate the seriousness of his alleged threat well above those of several recently charged Chicago-area teenage plotters, who have been plausibly portrayed as, at worst, determined wannabes.

Facebook messages Hasan Edmonds sent to an undercover FBI agent show that he was willing to martyr himself for the ISIL cause and expected his cousin to do the same, according to the criminal complaint.

The cousins’ grandmother, Lubertha Bates, said the FBI, Homeland Security and police searched her home Wednesday night and left with computers. Both men’s homes were also searched by the feds Wednesday evening.

http://chicago.suntimes.com/news-chicag ... error-plot

[Lord Jim]

Wow, what a coincidence...

I guess they might just as easily have joined The Irish Republican Army, Or The Westboro Baptist Church:

Arrests of ISIS supporters in Minnesota shed light on recruiting, U.S. says

San Diego (CNN)A group of six young Minnesota men conspired to sneak into Syria and join ISIS "by any means necessary," federal prosecutors said Monday.

The group of friends, ages 19 to 21, were arrested Sunday.

"What's remarkable about this case was that nothing stopped these defendants from plotting their goal," said U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger of the District of Minnesota.

"They were not confused young men. They were not easily influenced. These are focused men who are intent on joining a terrorist organization by any means possible."

Recruiting for the ISIS terrorist network is a particular problem in Minnesota's community of Somali immigrants.

"We have a terror recruiting problem in Minnesota," U.S. Attorney for Minnesota Andrew Luger told a news conference.

"People often ask who is doing the recruiting and when will we catch the person responsible," Luger said. "But it is not that simple. In today's case, the answer is that this group of friends is recruiting each other. They're engaged in what we describe as peer-to-peer recruiting."

Zacharia Yusuf Abdurahman, 19; Adnan Farah, 19; Hanad Mustafe Musse, 19; and Guled Ali Omar, 20, were arrested in Minneapolis. Abdirahman Yasin Daud, 21, and Mohamed Abdihamid Farah, 21, were arrested in San Diego after driving there in hopes of crossing into Mexico, Luger said.

They plotted for 10 months, Luger said. "Even when their co-conspirators were caught and charged, they continued to seek new and creative ways to leave Minnesota to fight for a terror group."

One breaks from the group

Another friend, who was part of the group, changed his mind and became a cooperating witness for the FBI, even tape recording some meetings, Luger said.[The fact that we're able to do this kind of thing is what differentiates us from the problem they have in Europe]

The FBI investigation has previously netted Abdullahi Yusuf, who has pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide material support to ISIS, and Hamza Ahmed, who has been indicted on charges of conspiring and attempting to provide material support to ISIS and is now pending trial, according to the criminal complaint.

The complaint describes a man, identified only as "Nur," who has spent time in Syria and allegedly helped the six accused men.

All six of the men who were arrested appeared in federal court on Monday but did not enter pleas.

A detention hearing was scheduled for Wednesday for the men in custody in Minnesota and Friday for those in California.

Prosecutors will seek to have Farah and Daud moved to Minnesota for the case.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/20/us/fbi-terrorism-probe/

[Lord Jim]

The fact that we have a lesser problem with Islamic Radicalism in the US than they do in Europe, doesn't mean we have a "tiny" or "insignificant" problem ...

We have a lesser problem because people of Muslim faith are far better assimilated into the dominant culture (overall, educational and income levels for Muslims in this country are virtually identical to national averages; this is not the case in Europe)

We have a lesser problem because our society has a founding principle of inculcating immigrants; it is a part of our national ethos that even predates the establishment of our country more than 200 years ago...

For European countries by contrast, large influxes of foreign populations is a relatively new phenomena, dating only back to the post WWII post colonial period...

It's not a coincidence that most of the Radical Islamists in France come from Algeria, or that most of the Radical Islamists in the UK come from the "Trans Jordan" Arab area ceded to Great Britain from Turkey after the First World War...

It's a function of history...

[oldr_n_wsr]

"What's remarkable about this case was that nothing stopped these defendants from plotting their goal,"

At least they were stopped before "achieving" their goal.

[Gob]

Australian police have arrested a 17-year-old on terror charges in a Melbourne suburb and and say they have halted a plot to detonate three homemade bombs in the city.

A house was raided in the northern suburb of Greenvale on Friday. Five men were detained last month, also in Melbourne, for allegedly planning an attack on an Anzac Day ceremony. Last September saw the country's biggest counter-terrorism operation, with 15 people arrested.

The arrested youth has not been named, but is due to appear in court on Monday. The charges include "preparation for a terrorist act" and possessing "things connected with a terrorist act".
Police detonated three devices found during Friday's raid in Greenvale.

"There is evidence of a bomb plot that was in a reasonably advanced state of preparation," said Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Saturday. Police said they were unable to confirm what the target for the alleged attack was. "But let me tell you, something was going to happen," Australian Federal Police (AFP) Deputy Commissioner Mike Phelan told a press conference in Melbourne.

"As a result of Victoria police and AFP interception yesterday, some Victorians are going to be alive," he added.

[rubato]

Destruction and killing are easy. Before the internet most people didn't know how easy they were, but that is how it is with the loss of innocence. You can't go back to where you were before.

A social order based on the ideology of a cancer cell has a hard time telling its children why they should embrace love and not death.

And you act so convincingly surprised.

Really.

Yrs,
Rubato

[Gob]

LOL!! If you cannot dazzle them with brilliance...

[Lord Jim]

That post of his doesn't even qualify as "bullshit"....more like pure gibberish....

Usually I can tell what sort of toxic non-point rube is attempting to make, (he ain't exactly subtle) but his "thinking" in this:

A social order based on the ideology of a cancer cell has a hard time telling its children why they should embrace love and not death.

is so incoherent that he's completely lost me...

Apparently he believes that Australia has a "social order based on the ideology of a cancer cell", and this somehow makes it difficult to get kids not to want to kill people...

Obviously it's supposed to be insulting, (like 99.99% of what he posts) but I'll be damned if I can sort out what "the ideology of a cancer cell" is supposed to be, or how that would relate to Australia...