We have previously discussed the disconnect in some individuals, particularly ISIS recruits, who live relatively normal lives in the West only to become suddenly radicalized and violent as Islamic extremists. Chattanooga gunman Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez could be such a case, though police are still trying to confirm the motivation for the attacks. The attack has been labeled “domestic terrorism.” Abdulazeez, 24, murdered four Marines and wounded a police officer on Thursday in shootings at two military recruiting and training centers in Chattanooga, Tennessee. What is now known is that he posted a couple posts shortly before the attack discussing how Muslims should act in this short life and how they had to resist the corrupting influence of life around them in proving their faith.
Abdulazeez was born in Kuwait and comes from a deeply religious Muslim family. However, he appeared well-integrated into society in high school and, judging from his DUI arrest, engaged in non-Muslim practices. Notably, his arrest of DUI occurred recently on April 21, 2015. He was not on any watch list though his father was investigated once for suspicious international ties.
Abdulazeez was in many respects a successful member of our society. He attended Red Bank High School in Tennessee and is described by a former coach as “an All American kid.” While he would stop practicing in sports to pray each day, he also was known to like beer and socialize. According to the Chattanooga Times Free Press, his high school yearbook quote contained a joke that now has a more menacing meaning: “My name causes national security alerts. What does yours do?”
He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga with a degree in electrical engineering. He worked from April 2009 to April 2010 as an intern with the Tennessee Valley Authority and had internships at Mohawk Industries and Global Trade Express.
While his fellow students describe his as deeply religious, they describe him as nice and funny in relations with other people. In high school, he was a wrestler and later trained as a mixed martial arts fighter. One such fight was videotaped.
He has been described as a “Jordanian citizen” who seemed to have a change in behavior after returning from a trip to the Middle East two years ago. There may have been multiple recent trips. We have seen other cases where relatively short exposure to radical Islamic centers or figures has pushed some young Muslims to extremism. He reportedly had become more devout in the last couple months. In this case, a relatively short period is being cited for the change of a person once described as the “All American kid” to a murderous fanatic.
Particular attention is likely to be given to two recent blog posts from July 13, 2015.
The first is entitled “A Prison Called Dunya” where he talks about how short life is and how it is “nothing more than a test of our faith and patience”:
I would imagine that any sane person would devote their time to mastering the information on the study guide and stay patient with their studies, only giving time for the other things around to keep themselves focused on passing the exam. They would do this because they know and have been told that they will be rewarded with pleasures that they have never seen.
. . .
It was designed to separate the inhabitants of Paradise from the inhabitants of Hellfire, and to rank amongst them the best of the best and worst of the worst. Don’t let the society we live in deviate you from the task at hand. Take your study guide, the Quran and Sunnah, with strength and faith, and be firm as you live your short life in this prison called Dunya. Allah (SWT) says live for this life and the hereafter according to their length. Rasulullah says the life on this world compared to the hereafter is like a drop compared to an ocean.
Brothers and sisters don’t be fooled by your desires, this life is short and bitter and the opportunity to submit to allah may pass you by. Take his word as your light and code and do not let other prisoners, whether they are so called “Scholars” or even your family members, divert you from the truth. If you make the intention to follow allahs way 100 % and put your desires to the side, allah will guide you to what is right.
The second post was entitled “Understanding Islam: The Story of the Three Blind Men” and he discussed how may of leading Islamic leaders were generals and political leaders who sought to convert the world as the Prophet’s Sahaba, or companions:
We often talk about the Sahaba (RA) and their Ibada. We talk about their worshiping at night, making thikr, reading quran, fasting, sala. But did you ever notice that in one certain period towards the end of the lives of the Sahaba (RA), almost every one of the Sahaba (RA) was a political leader or an army general? Every one of them fought Jihad for the sake of Allah.
So this picture that you have in your mind that the Sahaba (RA) were people being like priests living in monasteries is not true. All of them towards the end of the lives were either a mayor of a town, governor of a state, or leader of an army at the frontlines. The Sahaba (RA) were very involved in establishing Islam in the world. Their mission was to establish Islam and live it. …
We ask Allah to make us follow their path. To give us a complete understanding of the message of Islam, and the strength the live by this knowledge, and to know what role we need to play to establish Islam in the world.
What is currently known presents a chilling picture of a young man who appeared to have succeeded in society in going to college and pursuing his athletic and religious interests within a pluralistic environment. I expect many will be exploring what triggered this violent outburst with a particular interest in the trip back to the Middle East as well as the influences that he found in the United States. We have seen other cases of successful or seemingly well-adjusted individuals who turned into Islamic extremists and murderers. There remains a belief that exposure to the freedoms of the West is the greatest counter to extremism and for most it is. However, we have seen cases where exposure to Islamic extremism can also overwhelm some individuals and push them to violence.
Abdulazeez’s at a minimum show someone who appears torn between or at least a participant in two cultures. In the days to come, we will hopefully learn more about what specifically triggered this murderous rampage.
Lest we focus on Abdulazeez and his twisted view of morality, below are the Marines that he murdered in cold blood in Tennessee. They are Gunnery Sgt. Thomas Sullivan of Springfield, Mass.; Lance Cpl. Skip ‘Squire’ Wells, of Marietta, Ga.; Sgt. Carson Holmquist, of Grantsburg, Wisc.; and Staff Sgt. David Wyatt, of Chattanooga:
I listened to an interesting analysis of terrorism by K T Mcfarland. She discussed how terrorists start out small, testing and probing for weaknesses. And then they push and push with more and bigger attacks until they get knocked decisively back. And then they start again, small. They are a text book example of “give them an inch.” Fighting them does not create terrorism, and failing to present a strong front encourages more of it.
“!!!!!” LOL, a little hysteria is always amusing.
I don’t see anyone making the basic point that this loser a-hole is from Kuwait. If you’re not a crazy, stupid, hijacker of threads you would know the recent history of us LIBERATING KUWAIT FROM IRAQ!! If we didn’t have US soldiers liberate Kuwait there’s a good chance this loser’s family would have been killed and he never would have been born!! People in Kuwait HATE Iraq and LOVE that we invaded BOTH times, killing Saddam Hussein, the animal that raped and pillaged their country. This a-hole is a loser w/ daddy issues, just like some trolls here.
I know these vapid trolls can be annoying. But you sane, intelligent commenters need to step up your game, call them on their crazy, stupid, irrelevant and misinformed points and then ignore them. They aren’t worth engaging or even wasting a second of your time.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/05/18/guess-why-this-christian-terrorist-plot-against-muslims-isn-t-getting-any-press.html
“Have you heard about the Christian terrorist Robert Doggart, who was plotting a violent attack against a Muslim-American community in New York state? Probably not, because as opposed to when U.S. law enforcement officials arrest a Muslim for planning a violent assault, they didn’t send out a press release or hold a press conference publicizing Doggart’s arrest.
So let me tell you about Doggart and his deadly plan to use guns and even a machete to attack American Muslims in upstate New York. Doggart, a 63-year-old Tennessee resident, is an ordained Christian minister in the Christian National Church. In 2014, he unsuccessfully ran for Congress as an independent, espousing far right-wing views.
The criminal complaint against Doggart, filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Tennessee, paints a bone-chilling picture of a plan to launch a violent military-style assault on Islamberg, home to about 200 predominately black Muslim Americans. Right-wing media outlets have in the past made outlandish claims about the town, which have been consistently debunked by local law enforcement.”
***********
Interesting that this happened in Tennesee too. One could ask, did this threat to Muslims’s inspire this shooter of the Recruitment Centers?
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-03-27/hutaree-militia-group-conspiracy-dismissal/53815972/1
“The court is aware that protected speech and mere words can be sufficient to show a conspiracy. In this case, however, they do not rise to that level,” the judge said. She said David Stone Sr.’s “diatribes evince nothing more than his own hatred for — perhaps even desire to fight or kill — law enforcement; this is not the same as seditious conspiracy.”
As I said, they got lucky they got this Judge.
http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Hutaree
http://boingboing.net/2014/12/12/us-christian-terrorism-the-ot.html
“Chillingly, experts warn that something like Breivik’s attack could easily happen in the United States. Daryl Johnson, a former Department of Homeland Security analyst, said in a 2010 interview that the Hutaree, an extremist militia group in Michigan that touts Christian inspiration, possessed a cache of weapons larger than all the Muslims charged with terrorism the United States since the September 11 attacks combined.
Yet unlike the accusatory responses to domestic jihadist incidents such as the Fort Hood massacre, news of McQuilliams’ possible ties to the Christian Identity movement has yet to produce a reaction among prominent conservative Christians. Greta Van Susteren, for instance, has not asked Christian leaders such as Pope Francis, Rick Warren, or Billy Graham onto her show to speak out against violence committed in name of Christ. Rather, the religious affiliation of McQuilliams, like the faith of many right-wing extremists, has largely flown under the radar, as he and others like him are far more likely to be dismissed as mentally unstable “lone wolfs” than products of extremist theologies.”
@Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong
It is easier to create an impression than create a reversed message later. The mind often tends to hold on to the first information it gets, poorly integrating updates. This is rooted in our desire for certainty in the face of uncertainty. We fix ideas quite often, but changing our minds or keeping an open mind requires effort.
That is what you did, obviously intentionally. You created a false impression with your posts oh the Huttaree, trying to mislead everybody here. That is aka propaganda.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Yes dear, I did read it. I don’t believe for a minute, nay….for a second that these nuts weren’t trying to do exactly what they were charged with, they got lucky and got off almost Scott free.
http://www.splcenter.org/blog/2015/05/06/hutaree-militia-suit-for-civil-damages-is-tossed-out/
“A federal appeals court this week upheld a lower court’s dismissal of a civil damages lawsuit brought against the FBI by three members of a southern Michigan militia group arrested on criminal charges in 2010.”
@Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong
Did you actually read your link??? If you did, you are intentionally misleading people. If you didn’t actually read your link, I would not be surprised.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Oh noooooo, the story of the Hutaree didn’t end there Squeeky.
://abc7chicago.com/news/hutaree-militia-group-loses-final-battle-against-government/698732/
Hutaree Militia loses final battle against government.
Annie, You are the one who brought up the initial partisan hit that President Bush Sr. put the policy in. My point is, who cares? Why bring that up in this discussion? Until we all start focusing on the now and present, we will continue to not see the real issue in front of us. Dave wants to blame all religion and Max wants to pretend that all deaths are terrorism. This is done to just cloud the real issue. Annie, in a way you are right, but the problem is you arbitrarily stop history at President Bush Sr. But, you can keep going down the blame game in history. At some point you have to say stop! I’m not going to take it anymore. If someone breaks into your house and threatens your family, do you really care about the history of how they got to that moment? I don’t.
@Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong:
The rest of the Huttaree story:
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Barking, lol. Well Maine has a Republican Governor, do they not? Bad policies for those poor Mainiacs.
And Jim, I step it was a stupid policy and I stated that at a White House press conference today it was said that the policy would be reviewed. Did you miss those two comments? Sheesh, you are so stuck in your own head you aren’t reading clearly.
I can not see why our policies in Maine have anything to do with this muslim dork going nutso and killing people. Now if it was MA or NY then yeah. Our polices there stink. No ME.
Jim, I posted the info that the directive not to carry weapons came from the Bush Sr. Administration and even gave a link from The Blaze. What is your point?? That I shouldn’t have mentioned it? I didn’t dispute that I posted the first mention of the policy and that it came form Bush Sr.
Olly, You are taking the bait. Annie can’t even admit when she is wrong about what she posts even after I show her the posts in order. She’s more worried about who’s policy it was vs. correcting the issue.
No Max, that’s workplace violence or whatever euphemism is popular today.
Max, they always seem to complain that something is “off topic” when it doesn’t fit their narrative and makes a legitimate point. That guy sounds very familiar.