Columbus, Ohio Terror Plot

“There are acts of terror being planned against the citizens of America, in America, by Islamic extremists who live, work and play among us. Most people don’t realize how serious the threat is, and they feel insulated against terror attacks since 9/11 has become not much more than a distant memory.” --Federal source

Last week, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southeastern District of Ohio filed an exhibit list with the court of 102 individual items that connects three-(3) Muslim men in a Columbus, Ohio Islamic terrorist cell. The evidence connects the three terror defendants Nuradin ABDI, Christopher PAUL (a/k/a Abdul MALEK), and Iyman FARIS (a/k/a Mohammad RAUF) to each other and to separate acts of planned terrorism inside the U.S. According to one federal law enforcement source speaking to this investigator on the condition of anonymity, the unsealed indictments, previous testimony in the case against Iyman FARIS, and the planned acts of terror is “paints a disturbing picture of what is taking place in the U.S. today among radical Muslims in American mosques.”

All three men are Muslims or Muslim converts. All three were active in activities at Columbus mosques, including Christopher PAUL, who taught martial arts training at a Columbus mosque to fellow members and conducted paramilitary training in rural areas of Ohio. All three have alleged connections to Islamic terrorism and al Qaeda that date back to the early 1990s. Now, the U.S. Department of Justice has introduced exhibits that connect all three men in a web of plots that range from the destruction of the Brooklyn Bridge to blowing up a Columbus area shopping mall with the intent on killing as many men, women and children as possible.

According to one federal source speaking on condition of anonymity, the case is not unique. “There are active al Qaeda members or facilitators inside the U.S. who are doing exactly what PAUL is accused of doing – training others inside the U.S. for future terrorist attacks. These plans are being made at local mosques under the protection of religious freedom that is offered by our country.”