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INITIATIVE
Domestic Terrorism Post-9/11 (2001-2011)
During the ten years following September 11th, 2001 there were over 100 incidents of "home-grown" or domestic terrorism in the United States. To provide a valuable resource on this topic, the Crime Commission has compiled an extensive database of incidents including attacks, plots, support for, membership in, or connections with a terrorist organization. While information about terrorist incidents are available elsewhere, both on and off the Internet, the Crime Commission's database is unique in providing a centralized, concise, user-friendly, and visually engaging informational resource on domestic terrorism. read more »
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April-May 2008
San Diego, CA
Rachelle Lynette Carlock,
Donny Love, Sr.,
Eric Reginald Robinson,
Ella Louise Sanders
Attack: Bomb
None Confirmed
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Four U.S. citizens bomb a San Diego courthouse and Federal Express facility
Over several months in 2008, U.S. citizens Rachelle Lynette Carlock, Donny Love, Sr., Ella Louise Sanders, and Eric Reginald Robinson conspired to construct, test, and detonate a series of pipe bombs in San Diego, CA. On April 25, 2008, a bomb was detonated outside a Federal Express facility, and on May 4, 2008, three bombs packed with nails exploded outside the Edward J. Schwartz Federal Courthouse. There were no injuries from the explosions.
The U.S. Attorney's Office presented evidence showing that Donny Love, Sr. was the mastermind of the attack. According to court documents, prior to the bombing, Love was experiencing financial troubles and had two pending criminal cases in state court. Love orchestrated the May 4th courthouse bombing so he could obtain reward money and a break on the pending state charges by fraudulently assisting the investigation into the bombings. To carry out this conspiracy, Love instructed Carlock and Sanders to purchase explosives and to steal bomb-making materials. Robinson also assisted in acquiring pipes and end caps for the bombs. The group then assembled bombs at Love's home in Menifee, CA. Love instructed the others to test pipe bombs by exploding and attempting to explode the devices. Robinson admitted that two bombs were used in the Federal Express facility bombing in April. On May 4th, taking a backpack with three pipe bombs, Carlock and Robinson drove from Love's home to the Edward J. Schwartz Federal Courthouse in San Diego where Carlock detonated the bombs at the front doors of the courthouse. Carlock attempted to purchase more explosives on May 13, 2008, over a week after the courthouse bombing.
Carlock was arrested on May 15, 2008. On June 10, 2008, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California indicted Carlock for eight felonies related to the purchase of explosives. On August 5, 2008, the court issued a 17-count superseding indictment including the original charges against Carlock and added additional charges against Carlock and co-defendants Sanders and Robinson. At the time of the indictment, Sanders was serving an unrelated sentence in California state prison. Robinson was arrested on August 5, 2008. Carlock, Sanders, and Robinson each pleaded guilty to one count of using a destructive device to commit a crime of violence. On October 31, 2011, Carlock was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 5 years supervised release. On March 2, 2012, Sanders as sentenced to 10 years in prison and 5 years supervised release, and Robinson was sentenced to 11 years in prison and 5 years supervised release. Donny Love, Sr. was indicted on eight counts on June 17, 2010. At the time of the indictment, Love was in state custody. Following a two-week trial, Love was found guilty on June 6, 2011, and on February 15, 2013, was sentenced to 55 years in prison and ordered to pay $325,000 in restitution to the General Services Administration.
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July 27, 2008
Knoxville, TN
Jim D. Adkisson
Attack: Firearm
None Confirmed
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Unitarian Universalist Church shooting
On July 27, 2008, U.S. citizen Jim D. Adkisson opened fire inside a Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville, TN, killing two people and wounding six others.
Authorities said he was motivated by animosity for members of the church because of their liberal political views.
Adkisson pleaded guilty to the shooting on February 9, 2009. The Knox County Criminal Court sentenced him to life in prison.
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August 2008
MN, Somalia
Mohamed Abdullahi Hassan,
Mustafa Ali Salat
Support: Personnel
Al Shabaab
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Minneapolis, MN, residents joined Al Shabaab in Somalia
Mustafa Ali Salat and Mohamed Abdullahi Hassan, both legal U.S. residents from Somalia living in Minneapolis, MN, reportedly traveled to Somalia to join Al Shabaab in August 2008.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota unsealed an indictment charging them with conspiracy to kill, conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, discharging a firearm during a crime of violence and soliciting to commit a crime of violence on August 20, 2009.
Salat and Hassan are both at large and believed to be outside the United States.
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October 29, 2008
Somalia
Shirwa Ahmed
Attack: Suicide Bombing
Al Shabaab
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First known American suicide bomber
Shirwa Ahmed, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Somalia and college student from Minneapolis, MN, is reportedly the first known American suicide bomber.
After graduating from Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis, MN, Ahmed was one of six men who traveled to Somalia in December 2007 to attend an Al Shabaab training camp. On October 29, 2008, Ahmed drove a truck filled with explosives into a Puntland Intelligence Service office in northern Somalia. He was one of several bombers—whose names are not known—to attack simultaneously. The other bombers' targets included the U.N. compound, the Ethiopian Consulate, the presidential palace in Hargeisa, the Ethiopian Trade Mission and another Intelligence Service office.
The attacks left 24 dead, including the bombers.
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November 14, 2008
Pakistan/Afghanistan
Bryant Neal Vinas
Support: Personnel
Al Qaeda
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Long Island, NY, native trains with Al Qaeda abroad
A Long Island, NY, native, U.S. citizen Bryant Neal Vinas was indicted in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York on November 14, 2008, for providing Al Qaeda with information about New York City transit systems and for launching rockets at an American military base in Afghanistan.
Vinas converted to Islam in 2004, a few years after being discharged from the U.S. Army. He was largely "self-radicalized" by reading jihadist material online. In 2008 he traveled to Pakistan, where he received military-style training from Al Qaeda, then participated in rocket attacks against a U.S. military base in Afghanistan. He was apprehended by authorities in Pakistan in the fall of 2008. Once transferred to U.S. custody, he provided valuable information about Al Qaeda's camps and operations, including a possible plot to bomb Long Island Rail Road trains.
In January 2009 Vinas pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York to conspiring to murder Americans, providing material support to Al Qaeda and receiving military-style training from the terrorist group. Vinas has since provided valuable testimony against French and Belgian nationals who trained with Al Qaeda and supplied information to help U.S. military forces target Al Qaeda camps with drone attacks. Vinas continues to await sentencing; he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
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November 2008
Minnesota
Jamal Sheikh Bana,
Mohamoud Hassan,
Burhan Hassan,
Troy Matthew Kastigar
Support: Personnel
Al Shabaab
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Minneapolis youths travel to Somalia to join Al Shabaab
In November 2008 four young men living in Minneapolis, MN, traveled to Somalia to join Al Shabaab. The group included U.S. residents (citizenship status unknown) Jamal Sheikh Bana, Mohamoud Hassan and Burhan Hassan, and U.S. citizen and Muslim convert Troy Matthew Kastigar.
The four died while fighting in Somalia between June and September 2009.
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