Islamic Jihadi Attacks On US Soil
H/T: The Guardian, list compilation December 2016
October 2002
John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo killed 10 people and critically injured three others in Washington DC, Baltimore, and Virginia. They may have also carried out shootings in Maryland, Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, and Washington state. Even though they never directly admitted jihadi goals, trial evidence revealed that the pair had jihad-related images in their possession.
March 2006
At UNC-Chapel Hill, Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar injured six people when he drove an SUV into a group of pedestrians “to avenge the deaths or murders of Muslims around the world”. He pleaded guilty to nine counts of attempted first degree murder. In 2008 he was sentenced to 33 years in prison.
June 2009
Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad shot and killed one soldier and injured another in a drive-by shooting at a military recruiting office in Little Rock, Arkansas. Muhammad, a convert to Islam, had visited Yemen for 16 months where he spent time in prison and became radicalised. He said he was part of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula and was upset over the US killing Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2011 he pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to life in prison.
November 2009
US Army Maj Nidal Malik Hasan killed 13 people and wounded at least 30 at the Fort Hood, Texas . In 2013, Hasan was convicted by a military tribunal. He defended himself during the proceedings and took responsibility for the attack saying his motive was jihad, to fight “illegal and immoral aggression against Muslims”. The US government , in their infinite wisdom, has not called the shooting a terrorist attack. The government characterisies it as “workplace violence”. Hasan was sentenced to death.
April 2013
Chechen brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev detonated two pressure-cooker bombs near the finish line of the Boston marathon, killing three people and injuring more than 260. After the bombing, they shot and killed an MIT campus police officer while he was sitting in his squad car, before hijacking an SUV and fleeing to nearby Watertown, Massachusetts. A huge police chase ensued, resulting in a shootout during which several IED’s were thrown by the brothers.
Tamerlan was shot and killed at the scene. The younger Dzhokhar was later discovered inside a boat parked in a driveway less than three blocks away. He was taken into custody after another exchange of gunfire and arraigned on federal terrorism charges. A note written by Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, on the boat where he was captured, said the bombings were in retaliation for US actions in Iraq and Afghanistan against Muslims. In 2015 he was found guilty on all 30 counts related to the bombing and shootout with police, and sentenced to death.
October 2014
Zale Thompson injured two NYPD Officers with an 18in hatchet on a crowded sidewalk in Queens. Four officers were posing for a photograph when Thompson charged them. They opened fire killing Thompson and injuring a civilian. Thompson, who converted to Islam two years before the attack, was a frequent visitor of websites that promoted jihad, but police said he had no ties to any international terror group.
May 2015
Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi opened fire outside a Muhammad art exhibit event at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas. The event featured the first inaugural “draw the prophet” contest. A Garland school district police officer was injured. Both gunmen were killed by police. Isis later claimed responsibility for the attack.
July 2015
Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez began firing on two military installations in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Four Marines and one sailor were killed and a police officer was injured. Abdulazeez was killed by police in a gunfight following a high-speed chase. He was a naturalised US citizen born in Kuwait. The FBI has yet to determine whether it was an act of terrorism.
December 2015
Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik opened fire at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California, killing 14 people and injuring 17 others. Farook had been at the centre for a Christmas party earlier but left following an argument. The pair fled in an SUV but were later killed by police. Bomb equipment, weapons and thousands of rounds of ammunition were found in their home. The FBI said it was investigating the shootings as “horrific acts of terrorism” after it emerged the couple had apparent links to Isis.
June 2016
Omar Mateen, 29, opened fire at a gay nightclub, killing 49 and injuring 53 in Orlando, Florida, June 12, 2016. Mateen had been investigated by the FBI, but was never subject to any legal action. Mateen used his Facebook page to pledge his alliance to Abu bakr al Baghdadi (ISIS leader) after committing the murders at the Pulse Nightclub. Authorities believe Mateen was “self-radicalized and say he posted “the real Muslims will never accept the filthy ways of the west.” Read NPR’s coverage for latest updates.
September 2016
Dahir Ahmed Adan used a steak knife to hack at shoppers at a St. Cloud Minnesota Mall on September 17, 2016, injuring nine before he was killed by Jason Falconer, an off-duty police officer. Witnesses told the FBI that Adan was yelling “Allahu akbar” and “Islam, Islam” while attacking the people and stabbing them in their chest, neck and heads. Before attacking each victim, Adan asked if they were Muslim. According to the FBI, Adan had become “self-radicalized.
September 2016
Ahmad Khan Rahami, a 28-year-old naturalized citizen from Afghanistan, set off multiple bombs in New York and New Jersey on September 17, 2016. In Chelsea, his bomb resulted in the injury of over 30 people. In a journal, Rahami wrote “I pray to the beautiful wise Allah do not take jihad away from me”, and that he was connected to terrorist leaders. Rahami also wrote, “You continue your sluaghter against the holy warriors, be it in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Palestine …”
November 2016
Abdul Razak Ali Artan, a Somali refugee, attempted to run over fellow Ohio State students on the Columbus Ohio campus. When his car got stuck on a barrier, he got out of the vehicle and proceeded to hack people with a butcher knife. Before he was shot dead by a campus security officer, he had injured 11 people, one critcally. Artan was described as a “soldier of ISIS” by ISIS who claimed credit for the attack. A few minutes before the stabbing spree, Artan took to Facebook to proclaim that the “lone wolf attacks” will continue until America “give peace to the Muslims” and to praise Anwar Al-Awlaki as an al-Qaeda hero.
