Home-Grown Terrorists From North Carolina Face Decades in Federal Prison

Home-Grown Terrorists From North Carolina Face Decades in Federal Prison

By Ellen Cannon

     Three North Carolina “home grown terrorists” were sentenced on Friday to between 15 and 45 years in federal prison for conspiring to attack Quantico U.S. Marine Corp base and other foreign targets. Hysen Shrifi, 27 will serve 45 years in prison; Ziyad Yaghi, got nearly 32 years; and Mohammad Omar Aly Hassan, 24, was sentenced to 15 years.

     The three men were part of a nine man terror ring in Raleigh, North Carolina. The leader of the ring, Daniel Patrick Boyd, pleaded guilty in February to conspiracy to kill people overseas and of material support for terrorism. He has not been sentenced.  

     Two of his sons pleaded guilty to similar charges and were sentenced to eight years and nine years in prison.  In April 2010, a ninth man, Barjarm Asllani, a resident of Kosovo , was charged with conspiracy to kill people overseas and to provide material support to terrorists as a member of the North Carolina terror ring. Until this charge was made, it was thought that the North Carolina terror ring had eight men. The government alleges that Asllani solicited money from Boyd and the others to establish a base of operations in Kosovo to carry out violent jihad. He remains at large in Kosovo.(Carol Cratty, www.cnn.com1/13/2012)

     Hysen Sherifi, a native of Kosovo and a legal permanent resident of the U.S.  Ziyad Yaghi, is a naturalized citizen of the United States. The two men were convicted in October of plotting to kill people overseas and of conspiracy to provide material support for terrorism. 

     According to AP reports, Sherifi discussed an attack on the Quantico, Virginia Marine Corps base with Boyd. Boyd was a Muslim convert who had lived on the base as a child with his Marine officer father. Sherifi called the verdict of 45 years in federal prison “unfair’ and labeled the prosecutors “tyrants”. He was also convicted of conspiring to kill afederal officer or employee and of two firearms charges. (www.journal-star.com1/13/2012)

     U.S. District Judge Louise Flanagan, called Mr. Yaghi a “self-starter” in pursuing holy war against those deemed un-Islamic and brought several potential jihadi recruits to ringleader Patrick Boyd, whose rural Johnston County home was a warehouse of weapons. Yaghi, according to Judge Flanagan, traveled to Israel and Jordon to look for avenues to join other militants and to scout targets for an attack.

     Mohammad Omar Aly Hassan, sentenced to 15 years, was also part of a plot that prosecutor Jason Kellhofer said had a specific purpose to “inspire others to adhere to radical Islam.” U.S. District Judge Flanagan said of Hassen, “You willingly became part of the Internet Propaganda machine that is a canker in the world. You were prey, and a component, of something that was incredibly harmful and destructive.”

     According to reports in the Journal Star,”Hassen used his Facebook account and Internet forums to post his own comments and videos by others encouraging Muslims to fight nonbelievers and Muslims who did not agree with their desire to establish mandatory religious law. Hassen also attempted to contact terrorist Anwar Al-Awlaki, an American born Muslim preacher and al Qaeda propagandist, and emailed a co-conspirator copy of Al-Awlaki’s tract “44 ways to support Jihad.” Awlaki was killed in an American drone attack in September 2011.(www.journalstar, 1/13/2012)

     According to U.S. District court for the Eastern District of North Carolina documents, the ring-leader of the North Carolina terror group, Daniel Patrick Boyd, was known as “Saifullah” meaning Sword of God. Daniel Boyd believed in his obligation to advance jihad both inside and outside the U.S. he and the co-conspirators were prepared to become “mujahedeen” and die “shahid”- i.e. as martyrs in furtherance of violent jihad. To that end, part of the conspiracy involved offering training in weapons and financing and arranging overseas travel and contacts so the others could wage violent jihad. In March, 2006, Daniel Boyd traveled to Gaza and attempted to enter Palestine in order to introduce his son to individuals who also believed that violent jihad was a personal obligation on the part of every Muslim. A critical part of the conspiracy, according to court documents, was to obtain weapons like the AK-47, to develop familiarity and skills with the weapons. From November 2006 through July 2009, Boyd conspired with the others to provide material support to terrorists including money, training, transportation and manpower.

     Anes Subasic, a naturalized U.S. citizen, is awaiting trial in North Carolina. Jude Kenan Mohammad, a U.S. citizen, remains at large.  According to CNN he is reported to be in Pakistan.

     Home-grown terrorism is a critical issue that has been investigated by both the Senate and House Committees on Homeland Security. A resident of Illinois, Michael Finton, is an example of a home-grown terrorist. In September 2009, Finton drove a van he thought was loaded with explosives to the Paul Findley Building in Springfield, Illinois. Prosecutors say he parked and locked the vehicle, then moved a few blocks away before twice making cellphone calls he believed would trigger a blast that would kill or injure people inside the building.(www.nytimes.com9/28/2009)

     According to the affidavit, Mr. Finton had expressed “his hope that the attack would cause American troops to be pulled out of Afghanistan and Iraq.”  Finton was charged with attempted murder of federal employees and attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction. According to Dirk Johnson, “Mr. Finton went by the nickname Talib Islam (student of Islam). He converted to the Islamic faith while in an Illinois prison from 2001 to 2006 serving a sentence for aggravated robbery and aggravated battery. “Mr. Finton came to the attention of federal authorities in August 2007 when a search of his vehicle turned up a letter about his dreams of being a “shahid” or martyr.  Officers discovered a document he had written about awaiting a return letter from John Walker Lindh, the American who was captured fighting for the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001.” (www.nytimes.com9/28/09)