The National Guard, no less.
Mohamad Bailor Jalloh later said he would like to carry out an attack in the style of Fort Hood mass murdering Muslim Nidal Hasan. He also praised Mohammad Youssef Abdulazee, who killed five U.S. service members in Chattanooga, Tenn., last year. And Jalloh wanted to assassinate “someone known for organizing contests for cartoons of the prophet Muhammad.”
“Former National Guardsman accused of plotting attack to support ISIS,” By Joe Heim, Washington Post, July 5:A former member of the Army National Guard living in Sterling, Va., is accused of trying to plan a domestic terrorist attack on behalf of the Islamic State.Mohamad Bailor Jalloh was arrested Sunday and charged with attempting to provide material support to the terrorist organization, according to papers filed in federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia. Jalloh, a native of Sierra Leone, is a U.S. citizen. He quit the National Guard after listening to the lectures of deceased radical Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, according to court documents, and became involved in planning a terrorist attack on U.S. soil.Moved to look up al-Awlaki’s lectures online after hearing the cleric referred to in the news media as a “hate preacher,” Jalloh found himself persuaded to take violent action, according to court papers. Jalloh later said he would like to carry out an attack in the style of Nidal Hasan, who killed 13 people in a 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Tex., according to the affidavit filed in federal court. He also praised Mohammad Youssef Abdulazee, who killed five U.S. service members in Chattanooga, Tenn., last year. And Jalloh at one point suggested that someone known for organizing contests for cartoons of the prophet Muhammad would make a good target.“You have to pick a action and take it cuz time is not on your side,” he wrote to an ally, according to the affidavit.Jalloh purchased a Glock handgun in February but was unsuccessful in trying to buy an assault rifle in Charlotte, N.C., last month, according to the documents.While under FBI surveillance on July 1, Jalloh visited Blue Ridge Arsenal, a gun store and indoor target range in Chantilly, Va. He looked around for about 10 minutes and left.“As soon as he walked out the door, the FBI came in,” said Earl Curtis, the store’s owner, in an interview Tuesday. The FBI collected security camera footage and asked about Jalloh.The next day Jalloh returned and attempted to purchase a Bushmaster AR-15 but did not have the required three forms of identification and left to get them, according to the documents. FBI agents informed the store’s manager that when Jalloh returned, the store should sell the gun to him but make it inoperable before he took ownership, said Curtis.“They wanted to catch him in the act, so they said to go through with the purchase,” Curtis said. The store’s owner said Jalloh returned that evening and bought a different assault rifle for about $1,200. He test-fired the weapon at the range, after which an employee took the gun in the back and disabled it before returning it to Jalloh.Curtis said that he does not believe that Jalloh had visited his store prior to last weekend and that none of his employees recognized him. Jalloh did not buy any ammunition at the store.He also gave $500 to a federal agent he believed was working with the Islamic State, the affidavit said.Jalloh served as a specialist in the Virginia National Guard from April, 2009 to April, 2015. He was a combat engineer in the 276th Engineer Battalion, 91st Troop Command. The battalion deployed overseas during Jalloh’s tenure, but there are no records showing that he deployed with the battalion, said Virginia National Guard spokesman A.A. “Cotton” Puryear.According to the documents, federal authorities were alerted to Jalloh’s plans by a confidential source who was working with a now-deceased overseas co-conspirator. He was scheduled to appear in court for the first time Tuesday afternoon.Al-Awlaki’s rhetoric has been linked to several terrorist attacks and plots even after he was killed by a U.S. drone strike in Yemen in 2011. Hasan developed a relationship with the cleric after hearing him lecture at the Dar al-Hijrah mosque in Northern Virginia. Al-Awlaki is also believed to have inspired a Nigerian student accused of attempting to bomb a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas in 2009 and a Pakistani American man who tried to set off a car bomb in New York City in May 2010. Abdulazee had downloaded recordings of al-Awlaki’s speeches. Omar Mateen, who killed 49 people in a nightclub in Orlando last month, had watched videos of al-Awlaki.
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