New Mexico-Based Extremist Training Camp for Children Leads to Terrorism Convictions
A federal judge sentenced four family members to life in prison March 6 for their roles in a 2017 terrorism and kidnapping plot that involved an extremist training camp for children and the death of a Georgia toddler. A jury convicted Siraj Wahhaj, the deceased boy’s father, and Lucas Morton, Wahhaj’s brother-in-law, on terrorism and kidnapping charges. The jury also found Wahhaj’s sisters, Hujrah and Subhanah, guilty of kidnapping charges. In 2018, authorities raided a northern New Mexico compound, the site of an extremist training ground, where they discovered the remains of Wahhaj’s son, Abdul-Ghani Wahhaj, 3, in an underground tunnel. Documents show the group was plotting and training children to carry out attacks on FBI agents and government institutions. The judge sentenced a fifth defendant, Jany Leveille, a Haitian national and spiritual leader of the group, to a 15-year prison term after she pleaded guilty to a terrorism charge and to possessing a firearm while unlawfully in the U.S. A year before the raid, the group, led by Leveille, kidnapped the boy from his mother in Georgia and brought him to the compound where he underwent exorcism rituals and eventually died. The group believed a resurrected Abdul-Ghani would instruct the family as to which corrupt government and private institutions to eliminate.
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Italian Police Arrest 3 Suspected Terrorists for Reportedly Planning Suicide Attacks
On March 11, police arrested three suspected terrorists, based in central Italy, for allegedly planning attacks in an unspecified European country. The three unnamed Palestinians, who live in L’Aquila, approximately 75 miles northeast of Rome, established a cell linked to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization. According to police, “The suspects engaged in proselytism and propaganda...and planned attacks, including suicide attacks, against civilian and military targets on foreign territory.” Authorities charged the men with criminal conspiracy for terrorism purposes or subversion of the democratic order, which carries jail terms of up to 15 years. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades did not comment on the arrests.
FBI: Terrorists Using Fake IDs to Cross Southern Border
Known or suspected terrorists are using fake identification to enter the U.S. illegally at the southern border posing “a big concern” for the national intelligence community, FBI Director Christopher Wray reported to a U.S. House intelligence committee March 12. The fake documents, often accepted at the southern border, are then used for air travel within the U.S., amplifying national security concerns. The strained relationships between the U.S. and nearly 170 countries exacerbates the complexity of verifying migrants’ identities and backgrounds. This challenge is further compounded by the fact that border agents do not have access to comprehensive criminal databases, hindering their ability to conduct effective screening. In addition to the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border, Wray, and other intelligence and national security officials, noted a significant increase in threats against the U.S. by China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.
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