Knife-Wielding Man Killed Near Boston Yesterday Planned ‘Violent Jihad’ And Random Police Killings, Feds Say
At 5 a.m. yesterday — two hours before he died in the Boston neighborhood of Roslindale — Usaamah Abdullah Rahim called David Wright of the Boston-area community of Everett, according to an FBI affidavit from a member of Boston’s Joint Terrorism Task Force.
Wright, 25, also is known as Dawud Sharif Wright and Dawud Sharif Abdul Khaliq, the office of U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz of the District of Massachusetts said.
During the 5 a.m. call, according to the FBI affidavit, 26-year-old Rahim told Wright he was going to “go after” the “boys in blue” and that he “planned to randomly kill police officers in Massachusetts either yesterday (June 2) or today (June 3).”
Here we’ll point out that, just a little more than two years ago, President Obama spoke at an interfaith service in Boston in the aftermath of the terrorist attack at the Boston Marathon. Obama noted that “doctors and nurses, police and firefighters and EMTs and Guardsmen” ran toward the explosions to treat the wounded.
A little more than a year ago, while feting the Boston Red Sox at the White House for winning the 2013 World Series, Obama reminded the audience once again of the valor on display by police during the Marathon bombing. He noted that Officer Richard Donahue of the MBTA Transit Police was shot and nearly killed in a battle with the terrorists and was fighting back from his injuries.
MBTA police noted that their colleague, Officer Sean Collier of the MIT Police Department, was killed by the terrorists.
Despite the Marathon attacks against innocent human beings — and despite the fact the police are the thin blue line that protects society — Rahim apparently wanted to kill Boston-area cops. And Wright, according to the FBI affidavit, apparently had so little regard for the lives of police officers that he instructed Rahim to wipe his smartphone and computer to make sure the plan was not detected.
Wright now has been charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice. A day earlier, in Roslindale at 7 a.m. outside a CVS pharmacy, Rahim allegedly approached cops and the FBI “while brandishing his weapon, and he was shot by law enforcement.”
There are reports that Rahim worked at the store as a security guard.
From federal prosecutors (italics added):
As alleged in the complaint affidavit, Rahim, a 26-year-old private security officer, was planning to engage in a violent attack in the United States, and had purchased three military-style fighting knives and a sharpener in furtherance of this plan. In intercepted calls between Wright and Rahim, the men discussed a knife attack on an individual not named in the complaint, and suggested that the target was to be beheaded and have his/her head placed on his/her chest. According to the complaint, such beheadings are a tactic of some foreign terrorist organizations which use such killings in propaganda videos.
The implication, of course, is that Rahim had been inspired by ISIS and/or the beheadings carried out by the terrorist group. America and other nations have been on guard for such gruesome aggression — and police are the first line of defense.
Before shifting focus to police, Rahim had talked about “beheading” a person in another state.
CNN is reporting tonight that the planned victim was conservative Blogger Pamela Geller.
As CNN reported: “Geller drew national attention last month after an off-duty police officer working security thwarted an attack at her organization’s contest for Prophet Mohammed drawings in Garland, Texas. She’s president of the American Freedom Defense Initiative, which includes subsidiary programs Stop Islamization of America and Stop Islamization of Nations.”
The probe also extends into Rhode Island, according to the FBI affidavit. That’s allegedly because Rahim met with Wright and an unidentified third person on a beach during “inclement weather.” The date of the meeting was May 31, just days after Rahim had acquired three knives on Amazon.com and a device to sharpen them.
Here’s how the affidavit describes the knives:
- An Ontario Spec Plus Marine Raider Bowie fighting knife. “The Marine fighting knife Rahim purchased is 15 inches long when opened, contains a 9.75” blade, and weighs 22.4 ounces.”
- A second Marine fighting knife.
- An Ontario Knife SP6 Spec Plus Fighting Knife 8325. “The SP6 Spec Plus Fighting Knife Rahim purchased is 13 inches long and has an eight inch blade.”
Shortly after the 7 a.m. 5 a.m. (June 6 edit) conversation yesterday with Wright, according to the affidavit, “Rahim was on a public street in the Boston area, when he was approached by Boston Police Officers and FBI special agents. [Rahim] took out one of the knives he had purchased from Amazon.com when he saw the officers and agents. One of the officers told [Rahim] to drop his weapon and [Rahim] responded, ‘you drop yours.’
“[Rahim] then moved towards the officers while brandishing his weapon, and he was shot by law enforcement.”
Rahim also called Wright on May 26. This from the affidavit (italics added):
Also see Washington Post report.