Tuesday, June 18, 2019

About Revolution Muslim

About Revolution Muslim --- ===


GW fellow/former terrorist arrested for solicitation, drugs Kara Zupkus Washington D.C. Campus Correspondent Jan 25, 2017 at 5:57 PM EDT
Jesse Morton, a former al Qaeda recruiter turned FBI informant turned fellow at The George Washington University, has been arrested for possession of cocaine while attempting to meet a prostitute.

According to The Washington Post, Jesse Morton was arrested on December 28 as part of a Fairfax, Virginia police sting operation after responding to an ad for a prostitute on backpage.com. Upon his arrest, police found cocaine and a glass pipe in his vehicle.

A GW spokesperson confirmed that Morton is no longer working as a research fellow at the university.    Tweet This
[RELATED: VIDEO: Students have mixed feelings about former terrorist joining faculty]

Morton was the center of controversy after it was announced in the fall that he would be hired as a Homeland Security expert at The George Washington University’s Program on Extremism, conducting research on terrorist ideology.

At one time as a recruiter for al Qaeda, he ran the website Revolution Muslim and was even sentenced to 11.5 years in prison for threatening South Park writers after depicting the Prophet Mohammad in a bear suit. Morton also praised Nidal Hasan for his attack on the Fort Hood military base, killing 13 people.  Morton only served 3 of those years in prison, becoming an FBI informant and devoting himself to the study of extremism as a way to, as he put it, “make amends” for his past.

Revolution Muslim - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolution_Muslim
Revolution Muslim (RM) was an organization based in New York City that advocated the establishment of a traditionalist Islamic state through the removal of the ...
Revolution Muslim (RM) was an organization based in New York City that advocated the establishment of a traditionalist Islamic state through the removal of the current rulers in Muslim-majority nations and an end to what they consider "Western imperialism". It was founded in 2007 by two American Muslim men Jesse Curtis Morton and Yousef Al-Khattab.
They operated both on their website "RevolutionMuslim.com" and through street preaching and protests. They frequently protested outside the Islamic Cultural Center of New York, a moderate Muslim mosque.[1][2]
The website was eventually shut down on November 2010, shortly after the arrest of one of the leaders. One of the leaders announced the group was reforming as a new organization called "Islam Policy", to be a think tank on Islamic issues.[3] He was operating the website for Islam Policy from Morocco.
By November, 2013, Jesse Curtis Morton, Zachary Adam Chesser and Yousef al-Khattab —the organization's leaders—had all been arrested and convicted in US courts.[4] Jesse Curtis Morton BOP reg # 79274-083 became a government informant and was released before serving the mandatory 85% of his sentence. Near or around May 23, 2015 Jesse violated his probation and served another 3 months and was re-released on April 23, 2017. Although Jesse Curtis Morton occasionally posted to the Islam Policy website from prison, the arrests dismantled the organization.[4] On May 23, 2015, it was announced on the Islam Policy website that Jesse Curtis Morton had been released from imprisonment.[5] Zachary Adam Chesser BOP reg # 76715-083 is serving his full sentence at USP Florence with a release date of 06/16/2032.[6] Yousef al-Khattab BOP Reg # 83258-083 Served 85% of his 30 month sentence and was released on August 2, 2016.[7]

History[edit]

The group of 5–10 members was co-founded in 2007 and run by two American converts to Islam, Yousef al-Khattab (born Joseph Cohen) and Jesse Curtis Morton (who used the pen-name Younes Abdullah Mohammed), who said their spiritual leader was Abdullah al-Faisal. al-Khattab had been born to a secular Jewish family from Atlantic City, New Jersey. He later became an Orthodox Jew and moved to Israel, where he studied at an Orthodox rabbinical school. The family converted to Islam and moved to the Palestinian Territories as well as East Jerusalem. [8][9] He is said to have worked driving a taxi,[10] operating a pedicab,[11] or running a restaurant.[12] At that time, he took the Muslim name, Yousef al-Khattab. Jesse Curtis Morton, a Columbia University graduate,[13] was a friend of al-Khattab's. As he embraced Islam, he used the pen-name Younes Abdullah Mohammed. The group promoted propaganda against the United States, Jews, Israel and others on its website, including moderate Muslims. The website was largely run by member Jesse Curtis Morton, aka Younes Abdullah Mohammed, a New York resident, but other contributors were from outside New York.
In addition to propagandizing via the website and blogs, the group has distributed anti-Israeli literature and regularly protested outside moderate mosques in New York City.[8] The mosques have called the police several times because of RM activities, but its members have not caused violence at the mosques.[14] The website also served as a source for threats against Jews and Jewish organizations, particularly from al-Khattab.[4] Legal and law enforcement officials in the US monitored the group, and described its activities at the time as protected by the First Amendment.[8] The Anti-Defamation League has monitored the group and its members since 2006.[15] A later terrorist influenced by Revolution Muslim was Terry Lee Loewen, who attempted to bomb the Wichita, Kansas airport in December 2013.[16]
In December 2009, al-Khattab expressed support on the website for Nidal Malik Hasan, the US Army psychiatrist accused of the Fort Hood shooting in November of that year.[17] The Department of Defense classified the events as "workplace violence", pending Hasan's court-martial. On December 12, 2009 al-Khattab posted a video on the group's website announcing that he had retired and was moving to Morocco, and that the group would be run by Abdullah as-Sayf Jones.[18] According to a video Jones made, he was born David Scott Jones and grew up in Brevard County, Florida. He converted to Islam at the age of 16, taking the name Abdullah as-Sayf. After following the group online, in 2009, Jones moved to New York in 2009 and joined RM.
In April 2010, Abdullah as-Sayf Jones publicly left the group; he announced having become a practitioner of Shia Islam.[17] He has since spoken out frequently against Revolution Muslim and radical extremism. He has counseled Muslim youths against being attracted to extremist organizations.[17]
In April 2010, Revolution Muslim posted a statement on its blog from Anwar al-Awlaki, a prominent American-Yemeni cleric then in hiding in Yemen. US officials have alleged that he was connected to various terrorists, including the 9/11 hijackers and the Christmas Day 2009 bomber. The Fort Hood shooter had communicated with him when doing research on Muslims in the American military. Alwaki said in that statement, "America cannot and will not win. The tables have turned and there is no rolling back of the worldwide Jihad movement."[19]
On October 30, 2013, al-Khattab pleaded guilty to using his position as a leader of the "Revolution Muslim" websites to use the Internet to place others in fear of serious bodily injury. This related to postings made in January 2009, in which he encouraged visitors to the website to seek out the leaders of Jewish Federation chapters in the U.S. and "deal with them directly at their homes." Al-Khattab gave the names and addresses of synagogues in New York and another Jewish organization in Brooklyn. He also posted maps and directions to various Jewish facilities, and a link to The Anarchist Cookbook. Al-Khattab was sentenced to three years in prison in April 2014.[20]

Analysis[edit]

Mia Bloom, a political science professor at the Pennsylvania State University's International Center for the Study of Terrorism, says Revolution Muslim may look like amateurs when compared with other extremist websites, but is still a threat. She has studied the process of its attracting dissidents to the website. "It may lead people who become radicalized by it to turn to other, more dangerous Web sites," such as those run by terrorist organizations, she said, or to terrorist actions. She characterized the RM message as “narrow” and "misinformed" about Islam.[10]
Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American–Islamic Relations, said regarding the Revolution Muslim group,
"[It is] an extreme fringe group that has absolutely no credibility within the Muslim community, they also cuss you out. In fact, most Muslims suspect they were set up only to make Muslims look bad. We just have very deep suspicions. They say such outrageous, irresponsible things that it almost seems like they're doing it to smear Islam."[21]

Influences[edit]

Law enforcement organizations followed the website to keep track of posters and others attracted to it. Colleen LaRose, also known as "Jihad Jane", said she frequently watched Revolution Muslim videos on their YouTube channel.[22] The scholar Jarret Brachman, a specialist on terrorism and contributor to Foreign Policy magazine, said she was the type of person fascinated by jihad but not belonging to a terrorist organization; he coined the term "jihobbyist" for such people in his 2008 study of global terrorism.[23] He noted such activists may be motivated to take part in violence while not knowing much about the religion. A number of other prominent and lesser known terrorists were also associated with the site, including Samir Khan, Jose Pimentel and Carlos Eduardo Almonte.[4]
In November 2009 CNN published an interview about the organization and a video of Revolution Muslim protest activities from their website, which showed Younes Abdullah Mohammed saying, that U.S. troops were "legitimate targets – until America changes its nature in the international arena." He said that Osama bin Laden was a role model.[24] CNN aired the previously scheduled program the evening after the Fort Hood shootings; no connection has been made between the Revolution Muslim statements and the shooting.[24] Nidal Malik Hasan, the US Army psychiatrist charged in the shootings, was not a follower of the website.[citation needed]

Threats[edit]

Revolution Muslim wrote threats on its website against Matt Stone and Trey Parker, the creators of the TV cartoon series South Park,because one of their episodes depicted Muhammad in a way they described as insulting. Zachary Adam Chesser, under his user name of Abu Talhah al-Amrikee, wrote the threat and had been active in posting other inflammatory material on the website.[15] The Revolution Muslim website threatened the two men with violent retaliation and listed the addresses of both Comedy Central's New York office and Stone and Parker's production office in Los Angeles.[25][26]
The 20-year-old Chesser had a history over nearly two years of publicizing terrorist propaganda under his Muslim pen-name on websites and blogs, and promoting violence against non-Muslims.[15] A resident of Fairfax County, Virginia, he may have converted to Islam (The Fairfax Times and the Washington Post have published differing accounts). Friends and acquaintances said that in 2009, he became more extremist, adopting increasingly conservative views and traditional Islamic dress, and promoting them for others.
On July 21, 2010 Chesser was arrested on federal terrorism charges.[27] Earlier that month he had been barred from boarding a flight to Uganda; he intended to fly on to Somalia and join foreign "freedom fighters" with Al-Shabab. After the terrorist group claimed responsibility for bombing a World Cup semi-final in Uganda, Chesser called the FBI and said he wanted to report information on the group.[28] He pleaded guilty to all charges in October 2010 and in February 2011 was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Yousef Al-Khattab used Revolution Muslim to post a series of threats against the Jewish community, going so far as to post lists of individuals and organizations, addresses, and suggested ways to harm them.[29] Al-Khattab pleaded guilty to using the web to threaten the Jewish community in October, 2013.[4]

Times Square car bomb[edit]

On May 1, 2010, a failed car bomb attempt was discovered by the New York City Police Department near the eastern corner of 1 Astor Plaza, the headquarters of Comedy Central parent company Viacom. The New York Daily News reported that police were looking into a possible link between the attempted bombing and the threats against Comedy Central.[30][31] It turned out to be an unrelated event by Faisal Shahzad, a naturalized American citizen with ties to the Pakistani Taliban.[32] Shahzad was arrested, pleaded guilty to ten counts, and was sentenced to life in prison.
Revolution Muslim denied any involvement with the incident. Jesse Curtis Morton, aka Younes Abdullah Mohammed, the co-founder who still ran the group's website at the time, was in Times Square speaking out against President Barack Obama. But he said of the failed car bomb, "What do you think, I commanded somebody to blow up a building in the middle of Times Square? [...] It had nothing to do with the 'South Park' controversy. It was not an attack targeting Viacom."[33]

Hacking and closure[edit]

In June 2010, Revolution Muslim's website was hacked and redirected to an image of the Prophet Muhammed [34] The United States shut down the Revolution Muslim website in late 2010 due to its threats of violence made against British MPs; it posted the addresses of the MPs.
Chesser had been arrested in July 2010 and pleaded guilty to all federal charges, receiving a sentence of 25 years in prison. Mohammed (Morton) was arrested in 2011, convicted and sentenced in 2012 to more than ten years in prison.

Former members[edit]

Prior to the closure of its website, most of the original members left the group from late 2009 to early 2010. Some have publicly denounced the organization.
Yousef Al Khattab, a co-founder, left the organization in December 2009 and went to Morocco. From there he published statements critical of it and its leaders. He said it had become a haven for what he described as "Muslim misfits".[17] Hours after he pleaded guilty, he also posted a message on his Facebook page renouncing his former views as "disgusting" and not representative of Islam, and asking forgiveness for them.[4] He served 85% of his 30-month sentence and was released from federal prison on August 2, 2016.[6] While Yousef has denounced his former over the top interviews and online posts as well as sincerely apologizing for his uneducated and non Sunni misunderstanding of Islam, he refused to become a government informant as can be seen in his sentencing minutes and pre-trial minutes.[35]
Jesse Curtis Muslim a co-founder was sentenced to 11 1/2 years in federal prison. He became a prison informant for the FBI and was released after serving only 3 years of 11 and 1/2 year sentence[36] After Jesse's release he began work as a counter terrorism researcher at George Washington University and was seen as a shining example of the CVE industry.[37] Since his denouncing of his former beliefs and ideologies Jessie has given support to the Ahmadiyya Movement on more that one occasion by both giving them interviews and retweeting their website links which they call 'True Islam'[38]
David Scott Jones (pen-name Abdullah as-Sayf Jones), is another former leader who has left and denounced the organization. Jones left for religious reasons, saying he had become an Ash'ari Sunni Sufi[39] and then a few months later an observant of Sh'ia Islam.[40] He realized that Islam was not all about hate. He later explained in a collection of online posts that he was concerned with the direction of RM and did not want to be part of it. Today he actively speaks against organizations such as Revolution Muslim and works with Muslim youth to keep them from being attracted to extremist groups.[17]
He had a series of online debates with Jesse Curtis Morton, aka Younes Abdullah Muhammad, who fled from New York to Morocco in November 2010. Morton was arrested in Morocco in 2011 and tried in federal district court in Alexandria, Virginia, for soliciting murder through the Revolution Muslim website, as he was part of the threats against the South Park creators and published addresses related to them. He pleaded guilty to three charges.[41]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Radical Muslims target N.Y. mosque". United Press International. November 6, 2009. Archived from the original on 2009-11-08. Retrieved 2009-11-07.
  2. ^ "Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees: Investigating Fort Hood Massacre; Interview With Oprah Winfrey," Aired November 6, 2009, accessed January 20, 2010". CNN.com. Archived from the original on 2010-10-24. Retrieved June 15, 2010.
  3. ^ Zelin, Aaron Y. (Nov 1, 2010). "Revolution Muslim: Downfall or Respite?". Combating Terrorism Center, United States Military Academy at West Point. Archived from the original on 2011-09-25. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
  4. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f "Revolution Muslim Leader Who Threatened Jews Pleads Guilty". Access ADL. Anti-Defamation League. Archivedfrom the original on 2013-11-05. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  5. ^ Muhammad, Younus Abdullah (May 23, 2015). "Younus Abdullah Muhammad (Jesse Morton) Announces Release from Imprisonment". Islam Policy. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2016-01-10.
  6. ^ Jump up to:a b "Inmate Locator". www.bop.gov. Archived from the original on 2017-06-18. Retrieved 2017-12-28.
  7. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-06-18. Retrieved 2017-12-28.
  8. ^ Jump up to:a b c Joshua Rhett Miller (May 13, 2017). "Islam is my ONLY identity-by Yousef al-Khattab". Fox News. Archived from the original on 2017-12-29.
  9. ^ John Doyle and Janon FIsher (November 21, 2009). "America-hater in Qns. hails Hood massacre". New York Post. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
  10. ^ Jump up to:a b "U.S. Based Revolution Muslim Website Spreading Messages of Hate". FOXNews.com. March 26, 2008. Archived from the original on 2010-05-28. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
  11. ^ Bennett, Chuck (October 19, 2009). "New York pedicab driver Yousef al-Khattab idolizes jihad and terrorists". New York Post. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
  12. ^ Peter C. Mastrosimone (December 10, 2009). "Woodside Islamist says he's left the country". Queens Chronicle. Archived from the original on 2010-05-09. Retrieved 2009-12-13.
  13. ^ Dina Temple-Raston, "'Revolution Muslim' A Gateway For Would-Be Jihadis" Archived 2017-12-29 at the Wayback Machine, 13 October 2010, PBS: Part 3, Terrorism Made in America, accessed 13 January 2013
  14. ^ Drew Griffin and Kathleen Johnston (November 5, 2009). "Peaceful preaching inside, violent message outside a New York mosque". CNN. Archived from the original on 2009-11-07. Retrieved 2009-11-07.
  15. ^ Jump up to:a b c "Backgrounder: Revolution Muslim". Anti-Defamation League. April 21, 2010. Archived from the original on 2009-09-15. Retrieved 2009-11-07.
  16. ^ "Terry Lee Loewen Planned Airport Bombing For Al Qaeda". Access ADL. ADL. Archived from the original on 2013-12-16. Retrieved 2013-12-16.
  17. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e "Backgrounder: Revolution Muslim| Yousef al-Khattab"Archived 2012-03-20 at the Wayback Machine, Anti-Defamation League, 10 June 2010, accessed 10 January 2013
  18. ^ Yousef al-Khattab (December 12, 2009). "Upwards & Onwards-Yousef al-Khattab". Revolution Muslim. Archived from the original on 2014-02-01. Retrieved 2009-12-13.
  19. ^ "Domestic Terror: The Worry About Homegrown Plots". Newsweek. Archived from the original on 2010-03-10. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
  20. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-01-19. Retrieved 2017-09-10.
  21. ^ Scott Collins and Matea Gold, "Threat against 'South Park' creators highlights dilemma for media companies", Los Angeles Times, April 23, 2010
  22. ^ "N.J. suspects attended protests organized by radical Islamic group". CNN.com. June 11, 2010. Archived from the original on 2010-06-13. Retrieved June 15, 2010.
  23. ^ "Counter-terrorism experts say Jihad Jane represents a threat from online 'jihobbyists'". Oneindia News. March 20, 2010. Archived from the original on 2010-12-06. Retrieved May 27,2010.
  24. ^ Jump up to:a b "Peaceful preaching inside, violent message outside a New York mosque". CNN. November 5, 2009. Archived from the original on 2009-11-07. Retrieved 2009-11-07.
  25. ^ Dave Itzkoff (April 21, 2010). "Muslim Group Says It Is Warning, Not Threatening, 'South Park' Creators". New York Times. Archived from the original on 2011-08-28. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
  26. ^ "Security Brief: Radical Islamic Web site takes on 'South Park'". CNN.com. April 19, 2010. Archived from the original on 2012-06-30. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
  27. ^ "South Park" Threatener Arrested" Archived 2010-07-22 at the Wayback Machine, The Smoking Gun (2010-07-21). Retrieved on 2010-12-12.
  28. ^ "Zac Chesser Timeline" Archived 2016-03-05 at the Wayback Machine, Washington Post, 2010, accessed 13 January 2013
  29. ^ "NYC-based Muslim Extremist Group Seeks to Incite Violence against Jews". Anti-Defamation League. Archived from the original on 2013-11-08. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  30. ^ Gendar, Alison; Parascandola, Rocco; Kennedy, Helen (May 2, 2010). "Police eyeing link to South Park in Times Square car bomb". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on 2010-05-04. Retrieved May 2, 2010.
  31. ^ Allen, Nick; Rayner, Gordon (May 2, 2010). "Times Square car bomb: police investigate South Park link". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 2010-05-03. Retrieved May 2, 2010.
  32. ^ Berger, Joseph (May 2, 2010). "Pakistani Taliban Behind Times Sq. Plot, Holder Says". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 11, 2010. Retrieved May 9, 2010.
  33. ^ Hutchinson, Bill (May 2, 2010). "Islamic group that warned creators of 'South Park' denies involvement in Times Square bomb plot". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on 2010-05-05. Retrieved May 3, 2010.
  34. ^ Linkins, Jason (23 April 2010). "Revolution Muslim, Website Of Group That Threatened Comedy Central, Is Hacked". The Huffington Post. Archived from the original on 2010-04-28. Retrieved 29 March 2011.
  35. ^ "Yousef al-Khattab's Court Transcripts & Pre-Trial Transcripts". Hashdoc. Archived from the original on 2017-12-29. Retrieved 2017-12-28.
  36. ^ Weiner, Rachel (2017-01-25). "Man who turned away from radical Islam arrested on drug, prostitution charges". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on 2017-12-29. Retrieved 2017-12-28.
  37. ^ "An extremist's path to academia -- and fighting terrorism". PBS NewsHour. Archived from the original on 2017-12-29. Retrieved 2017-12-28.
  38. ^ Morton, Jesse (5:43 AM - 1 Nov 2017). "Excited for convo w/@DriveTime_SG2 on persecution of Ahmadis in Pakistan & #radicalization @RadioVIslam (5:45pm in London; 1:45pm ECT)". @_JesseMorton. Retrieved 2017-12-28. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  39. ^ IslaamicRevolutionTV (2010-04-13), Silencing Abdullah Amin Al-Mubtaadi IslamicRevolutionTV (1), retrieved 2017-12-29
  40. ^ Rasul Ḥasan Al-Rāfiḍī (2012-02-07), Sunni converting to Shia Islam | The True and Pure Islam, retrieved 2017-12-29
  41. ^ "New York man guilty of South Park murder threat", ABC News, 9 February 2012, accessed 10 January 2013

External links[edit]

Archives of the old website

'Revolution Muslim' A Gateway For Would-Be Jihadists : NPR
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130519592
Oct 13, 2010 - When Yousef al-Khattab demonstrated outside New York mosques just a couple of years ago, it was pretty obvious where he stood on the political spectrum. ... To promote that world view, Khattab and a friend of his -- Columbia University graduate Younes Abdullah Mohammed -- started a ...




OVERVIEW: Handful Of Americans Key In Terror GroupsOct. 11, 2010
PART 1: Al-Qaida Mastermind Rose Using American Hustle Oct. 11, 2010
PART 2: American Editor Brings U.S. Savvy To Jihad OutreachOct. 12, 2010

PART 4: Two Americans Become Al-Qaida Media Strategists Oct. 14, 2010 There are a lot of different ways of promoting the terrorist message, but few people have been as successful at doing so as Americans Adam Gadahn and Anwar al-Awlaki.

Gadahn is a Californian who joined al-Qaida back in the late 1990s. He's the plump, sometimes pedantic, star of al-Qaida's earliest videos. Awlaki is a New Mexico native of Yemeni descent who has, in recent months, become the bane of counterterrorism officials' existence.

What is important about both men is that they are among a select group of Americans who have joined up with terrorist groups and were elevated to senior positions within them. Both Gadahn and Awlaki now provide al-Qaida with insider's knowledge of the United States -- and that has helped al-Qaida and its affiliates develop a very sophisticated media strategy targeting possible American recruits.
His ability to inspire young Muslims to violence has forced counterterrorism officials to contend with Awlaki's YouTube audience and his keen understanding of how to transmit his message in the Internet age. He has given al-Qaida an amazing reach. Al-Qaida and its affiliates don't have to go in search of recruits anymore -- the recruits, inspired by Awlaki, find them.

From Revolution Muslim to Islamic State: Introduction - New America
https://www.newamerica.org/international.../revolution-muslim-islamic.../introduction/
From December 2007 through May 2011, Revolution Muslim, a radical Salafi-jihadist organization based primarily in New York City, brought al-Qaeda's ...

From Revolution Muslim to Islamic State: The Revolution Muslim ...
https://www.newamerica.org/.../revolution-muslim-islamic.../the-revolution-muslim-m...
A unique, multifaceted lens into Revolution Muslim's activities and how it catalyzed the jihadist scene in America and the West.

Revolution Muslim’s more explicit support for terrorist violence and its integrated and public-facing online efforts successfully cultivated a surge in American jihadist terrorist activity. RM became a premiere outlet for jihadism in the West. Followers were consumed and embedded in a community of the like-minded 24/7, as long as they had internet access. Seven of 23 terrorism cases from March 2009 to August 2010 had explicit links to ITS or RM.65 By 2012, Gordon Kromberg, the prosecutor in Yousef al-Khattab’s case, noted that at least 15 individuals linked to Revolution Muslim had engaged in or attempted to engage in terrorism.66 And arrests have continued since 2012.
Abdullah Faisal himself was indicted on August 26, 2017, for recruiting supporters and facilitating travel to ISIS.67 Nevertheless, because Revolution Muslim did not facilitate but rather promoted the ideology and camaraderie that typically precedes acts of jihadist extremism in the West, the actual influence of the organization may never be grasped in totality.
The following chart highlights the most significant terrorism cases linked directly to Revolution Muslim and the nature of that linkage.
Table 1: Cases Linked to Revolution Muslim
Individuals Linked to Revolution MuslimActive Contact or Passive FollowerArrested on Terrorism ChargesTravel Overseas (Attempted or Successful)
Bilal Zaheer AhmadActiveYesNo
Carlos Almonte and Mohamed AlessaActiveYesYes
Zachary ChesserActiveYesYes
Roshonara ChoudhryPassiveYesNo
Mohammed Chowdhury, Shah Rahman, Gurukanth Desai and Abdul MiahActiveYesNo
Rezwan FerdausActiveYesNo
Samir KhanActiveKilledYes
Colleen LaRosePassiveYesYes
Daniel MaldonadoActiveYesYes
Antonio MartinezPassiveYesNo
Tarek MehannaActiveYesYes
Jose PimentelActiveYesNo
Paul Rockwood Jr.PassiveYesNo
Abdel Hameed ShehadehActiveYesYes
Revolution Muslim-linked cases were either passively linked to the group (i.e., the individual was not in active communication, but followed RM’s online presence) or actively linked (the individual had direct interactions with RM).
On March 9, 2010, the U.S. government unsealed charges against Colleen LaRose, popularly known in the media as “Jihad Jane.”68 She and other conspirators planned to murder Lars Vilks, a Swedish cartoonist who had portrayed the Prophet Muhammad in caricature. LaRose was a white convert to Islam and a subscriber to Revolution Muslim’s YouTube channel.69
Abdullah Muhammad exploited media outlets such as the Russia Today television network to frame the case as part of a U.S.-led war on Islam and to promote conspiratorial views of law enforcement entrapment.70 He also attempted to distance RM from accusations that it was deliberately inciting homegrown terrorism, saying for example in an interview on Russia Today shortly after LaRose’s arrest that it represented “one case in many whereby they are trying to suggest there is incitement occurring over the internet, whether it was Jihad Jane or whether it was the case we saw earlier in the week with the 9/11 Truther. This is a movement to discredit alternative press and to keep the mainstream public reliant upon the mainstream media.”71
Meanwhile, terrorist organizations based abroad picked up on Revolution Muslim’s activity to further their ends. Anwar al-Awlaki, now embedded within al-Qaeda in Yemen, followed LaRose’s arrest with a statement that made the rounds of media outlets everywhere. On his blog, he wrote:
“In such an inhospitable environment [America], jihad is flourishing.... The jihad movement has not only survived but is expanding. Isn’t it ironic that the two capitals of the war against Islam, Washington D.C. and London have also become the centers of Western jihad? Jihad is becoming as American as apple pie and as British as afternoon tea.”72
Revolution Muslim frequently appeared in coverage of terrorism-related cases after LaRose’s arrest. The group’s enhanced notoriety helped draw interest from an increasing number of Americans.
On December 8, 2010, Antonio Martinez, a naturalized U.S. citizen and recent convert to Islam, was arrested for a plot to target the armed forces recruiting station in Catonsville, Maryland.73 Although, like LaRose, Martinez did not interact directly with Revolution Muslim, he was affected by both it and ALM’s ideology. He viewed a video of Osama bin Laden and multiple terrorist training camp video clips on the RM website,74 and mentioned support for Omar Bakri to a confidential informant.75
Also in 2010, Paul “Bilal” Rockwood Jr. and his spouse, Nadia Piroska Maria Rockwood, were arrested for lying to investigators and collaborating on a kill list that included 15 specific targets.76 Rockwood had become a follower of al-Awlaki and spent time at work viewing the Revolution Muslim website.77 At one point, he began researching explosives and remote triggering devices, and by 2009 began sharing ideas for committing acts of violence, “including the possibility of using mail bombs or killing targets by gunshot to the head.”78

Active Followers Take Action

Revolution Muslim’s success derived not only from its influence on passive viewers of its propaganda but also from its encouragement of those who actively interacted with the group, pushing them toward the decision to engage in jihadist terrorism.
Rezwan Ferdaus, a U.S. citizen of Bangladeshi descent, directly interacted with Revolution Muslim online and in detail before being arrested for plotting to attack the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol. In February 2010, Ferdaus contacted Abdullah Muhammad by email to ask about the appropriateness of martyrdom operations. Abdullah Muhammad suggested that such operations could have “enormous benfits (sic) in a war of attrition.”79 In 2011, Ferdaus began speaking to undercover FBI agents, who he believed were al-Qaeda operatives, about his desire to attack the Pentagon and the Capitol using weaponized drones.80
Jose Pimentel was another “big fan of Revolution Muslim,” according to court documents.81 Pimentel reached out to register for one of Abdullah Muhammad’s online courses. They exchanged emails and held private phone conversations thereafter in which Abdullah Muhammad advised Pimentel on how he could merge his independent efforts with the broader Revolution Muslim network.82 Pimentel, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in the Dominican Republic, vacillated between merely talking and preparing to act. His interactions with Revolution Muslim, both online and in the real world, furthered his commitment to violent action.83 In May 2009, he discussed going to Yemen for terrorism training and returning to the United States.84 Soon thereafter, Abdullah Muhammad allowed Pimentel to post directly to RM’s newer Islam Policy website.85 Anwar al-Awlaki’s death on September 30, 2011, in a U.S. drone attack, seemed to hasten his operationalization. Pimentel started discussing plans for bombing a variety of targets, including post offices around the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan and police in New York and New Jersey.86 He was arrested on November 19, 2011, after he purchased components for bombs to use in the attacks.87
Revolution Muslim’s efforts highlighted a developing transition in cases of homegrown violent extremism. Where the radicalization of earlier years occurred mostly through in-person interaction, online contact now seemed sufficient to promote radicalization to violence. The internet reduced temporal and spatial restrictions and enhanced the effects of Revolution Muslim’s innovative approach.

Revolution Muslim’s Influence on al-Muhajiroun in the U.K.

Revolution Muslim’s impact was not limited to the United States. In the United Kingdom, Anjem Choudary and other higher-level associates in ALM recognized the effect Revolution Muslim was having and tried to harness it. By doing so, they could promote a pro-al-Qaeda message while protecting themselves from British anti-terrorism legislation.
As a result, what might have been considered as Bakrism shifted to Bin Ladenism, with Revolution Muslim as the conduit.

Jewish Kid From New Jersey Who Became A Radical Islamist : NPR
https://www.npr.org/.../the-jewish-kid-from-new-jersey-who-became-a-radical-islamist
Apr 25, 2014 - Yousef al-Khattab helped found Revolution Muslim, a website that published ... Revolution Muslim's YouTube channel and website made ...

What al-Khattab did was post a video in 2009 of violence in the Gaza Strip. He then encouraged RevMuslim followers to seek out Jewish leaders in the U.S. and, in his words, "deal with them directly in their homes."

Then he posted a photo of a Jewish organization in Brooklyn, with directions on how to get there, adding that it tended to be full at prayer time.
"They interpreted me giving the message of Islam as being a threat to the Jewish community, which it wasn't," he began explaining.
When asked how providing addresses and pictures of people in the Jewish community after an anti-Semitic screed could possibly be misinterpreted, he bowed his head.
"OK, OK," he said, "I am not defending that."
Launching The Site In 2007

After growing up in New Jersey, he converted to Islam in his late 20s, when he was living in the Middle East. When he returned to the U.S. in 2007, he helped start Revolution Muslim.


He says he "fell in" with people who were more radical than he was, but law enforcement officials say al-Khattab spearheaded the group's radicalization efforts.


Mitch Silber used to be the New York Police Department's highest-ranking terrorism expert and ran its Terrorism Analysis Division. Now he runs K2 Intelligence's Data Analytics practice. He said for a time after 2007, Revolution Muslim appeared to have some connection to almost every formal terrorism investigation they opened.

TERRORISM MADE IN AMERICA
'Revolution Muslim' A Gateway For Would-Be Jihadis
"RevMuslim became very proactive in the New York City area," Silber said, "both publicly, doing demonstrations on the streets on New York City, as well as online, having a pretty significant Internet component to their efforts. Al-Khattab was one of the two leaders of the group, he was a chief propagandist, he was an organizer, he was a provocateur."
A New Era Of Radicalization

American Editor Brings U.S. Savvy To Jihad Outreach
TERRORISM MADE IN AMERICA
Revolution Muslim and al-Khattab ushered in a new era of jihadi radicalization.

It used to be that young Muslims traveled to terrorist training camps in Pakistan, Afghanistan or Yemen after being radicalized by recruiters from terrorist groups.
Revolution Muslim's YouTube channel and website made one-on-one recruitment unnecessary. The group could goad young Muslims to action with provocative posts on the Web.

They put up videos of a radical cleric known as Sheikh Abdullah Faisal who, among other things, preached that it was good to kill those who don't believe in Islam. Faisal is now in Jamaica, where local Muslim groups have shunned him and his radical message.

Revolution Muslim posted a video that championed Osama bin Laden and the 911 terrorists as heroes. After the 2009 Fort Hood shooting, in which Army Maj. Nidal Hassan killed 13 people, al-Khattab publicly lauded his actions. He and other members of Revolution Muslim demonstrated in support of Hassan and put the video of their protest up on the Web.

All of this provocation seemed to work — RevMuslim followers prone to violence began coming out of the woodwork. Between 2008 and last year, nearly every violent Islamist arrested in this country on terrorism charges seemed to have some connection to the group.

The Philadelphia woman known as Jihad Jane, arrested in 2009 for plotting to kill a cartoonist who had drawn the Prophet Muhammad, was a RevMuslim follower.


Samir Khan, the North Carolina man who edited an al-Qaida magazine and was killed by a drone while riding in the same vehicle as radical American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen, was a frequent visitor to the group's chatrooms.


Zachary Chesser, a Virginia man who blogged for RevMuslim, was arrested boarding a flight to Somalia. He was traveling to join al-Shabab, a group linked to al-Qaida.


'We Were Wrong'


Al-Khattab was the last of the group's core leadership to have evaded authorities, until he pleaded guilty last fall.
Leader of Revolution Muslim Websites Sentenced for Using Internet to ...
https://www.fbi.gov/.../leader-of-revolution-muslim-websites-sentenced-for-using-inte...
Apr 25, 2014 - ALEXANDRIA, VAYousef Mohamid Al-Khattab (a. k. a. Joseph Cohen), 45, of Atlantic City, New Jersey, was sentenced today to 30 months in ...
Posted by at
Labels:

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)