Kenyan Jailed In The US For Reportedly Plotting Terrorist Attack
A Kenyan man was convicted on Monday, November 4, for allegedly plotting a terror attack similar to the 9/11 bombing in the United States.
Cholo Abdi Abdullah was found guilty of all six counts by a federal jury in Manhattan.
Among the charges he faced were conspiracy to provide material support to a terrorist organization and conspiracy to assassinate US citizens.
“The jury found that Cholo Abdi Abdullah, an operative of the terrorist organization al Shabaab, conspired to murder Americans in a terrorist attack reminiscent of the September 11 attack on our country,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland stated.
Cholo Abdi Abdullah Convicted for Conspiring to Commit 9/11-Style Attack at the Direction of Al Shabaab
— Hiro's gallery (@HiroGallery) November 5, 2024
Monday, November 4, 2024
A jury returned a guilty verdict today against Cholo Abdi Abdullah, 34, on all six counts in the indictment, which included conspiring to provide, and…
The evidence presented at the trial revealed that Abdullah, 34, was working for Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mijahideen, also known as al-Shabaab, a Somali terrorist organization.
According to the indictment, the suspect spent six months training with the militia in Somalia’s safe houses, honing his skills with AK-47 assault rifles and explosive devices.
In 2017, he also spent several months studying at a flight school in the Philippines to obtain a commercial pilot’s license.
In his well-planned plot, Abdullah also carefully researched how to obtain pilot jobs with the intention of eventually hijacking and crashing a plane into one of the United States’ tallest buildings on behalf of Al Shabaab, which has pledged allegiance to al Qaeda.
The attack had been planned for four years, according to federal prosecutors who rested their case last Thursday.
Abdullah, who chose to represent himself during the trial, appeared to have accepted his fate after being convicted.
According to court documents, the suspect did not intend to challenge any outcome of the trial because he believed the ‘US justice system was broken’.
Following his conviction, the suspect now faces a minimum sentence of 120 years in prison, with three of the counts against him carrying a minimum sentence of 20 years.
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He faces up to life in prison on two counts of conspiring to commit acts of terrorism beyond national borders and conspiring to murder US citizens.
The 9/11 attacks remain one of the most devastating in US history, killing at least 2977 people and leaving hundreds of thousands with permanent physical and psychological scars.
In Kenya, security agencies have also dealt with the persistent threat of terrorism, which has caused havoc in recent years.
As a result, the US Embassy in Nairobi consistently advises US citizens in Kenya to exercise caution, as terrorist groups frequently target hotels, embassies, restaurants, malls and markets, schools, police stations, and places of worship.
Kenyan Jailed In The US For Reportedly Plotting Terrorist Attack
