Although he really isn’t an Arkansas man! He is a Yemeni national who lived in Arkansas ever since his father used illegal means to get his family into the US.
Thanks to Richard for the tip. Surprise! Surprise! There is even a photo of Bilal al-Rayanni (aka Bilal Kassim Alawdi)
The story broke yesterday and is rapidly making the rounds of small city media outlets since the APposted a pretty decent story.
Initial local Arkansas media coverage left out a key point, as did yesterday’s Justice Department press release—none that I saw, except the AP, said a word about how this Yemeni NATIONAL was living among us.
Indeed, rarely do we see mention of how these criminals and terrorists get into the US in the first place and that is always the most important question for me.
How do we fix our ‘broken’ immigration system if we don’t know how it is being gamed? Hereis a bit of the AP story posted at the Washington Post:
Arkansas man charged with helping al-Qaida
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A Yemeni national living in Arkansas was charged with providing support to a terrorist organization, the U.S. Department of Justice said Friday. Bilal al-Rayanni was charged Thursday with supporting al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula between October and December of 2014 while he was in Yemen. Al-Rayanni was in Yemen, his home country, for three months in 2014.
The 28-year-old was initially on arrested June 27 and charged July 11 with making a false statement on a passport application in May. According to the original complaint, he allegedly used the name Bilal Kassim Alawdi, which he had been using on passport documentation since he was a small child.
The Justice Department said al-Rayanni “provided and attempted to provide material support and resources, in the form of personnel (including himself) and services” to the terrorist organization, but did not elaborate. A spokeswoman said the department opened an investigation because of a citizen report.
[….]
The Justice Department said al-Rayanni lived in Arkansas before and after he traveled to Yemen in 2014.
Al-Rayanni is a resident of Helena-West Helena, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) east of Little Rock. He’s been in federal custody since the June arrest and his arraignment is scheduled for Thursday. In an interview the day before he was arrested, al-Rayanni told State Department and FBI agents that his father had purchased a U.S. visa from a Yemeni man whose name was Kassem Alawdi. His father then used that visa in 1992 to obtain a U.S. passport for al-Rayani under the name Bilal Kassim Alawdi. He said he didn’t learn his true name until he was between 10 and 12, but has used the false name to obtain and renew passports in 2002 and 2008, as well as the most recent attempt to renew his passport in May.
I’m more interested in the immigration fraud then I am in his terrorist inclinations!
I sure hope the US Justice Department is now going after his Daddy and anyone else who got into the US with him by lying and cheating!
If it was a visa, then for what? Did they just overstay the visa and no one figured out that they were here illegally?
And, if they got into the US on only a visa for some limited time, how did they get US Passports with only visas permitting them to be here? So many questions!
This morning I wanted to see whether the news of two days agoabout Somali refugees being arrested in Arizona as they tried to board a plane for Egypt in order to join ISIS had reached the mainstream media.
Apparently other than a mention on Fox News that got the President’s attention and mentions on some Washington DC publications, the story is not getting much national coverage.
Did the Washington Post mention the news? Nope. How about The New York Times? Nope again.
But I do see it mentioned on Yahoo Entertainment with this headline. LMHO! The story is about Trump and his tweets!
Trump tweets arrests of Somali ISIS sympathizers in Arizona: ‘Get smart people!’
President Trump on Tuesday used the megaphone that is his Twitter feed to draw attention to the arrest of two Somali refugees in Arizona who authorities say were planning to travel from Tucson to Egypt to join the Islamic State. This is why the mainstream media hates Trump, he gets the news out that they don’t want to report.
Ahmed Mahad Mohamed, 21, and Abdi Yemani Hussein, 20, were charged with providing support to a terror group. They were arrested Friday at Tucson International Airport. According to federal authorities, Mohamed had told an undercover FBI agent during social media exchanges that he was “thirsty” for the blood of disbelievers and that “the best wake up call is [for the] Islamic State to get victory or another 911.”
The president also tagged “Fox & Friends,” typically an indication that the tweet was responding to a segment on his favorite cable news morning show. [Maybe the Prez watches Fox because it reports on news like this!—ed] The indictment did not indicate that the two men had committed any acts of violence in the United States.
That last line is the Left’s go-to position on any refugee terrorist charge. Well they didn’t kill any Americans yet! Duh! Because law enforcement nabbed them before they could!
By the way, this pair of Islamic refugee terrorists most likely got into the US during the Obama era.
It’s a very good thing that Trump has his Twitter “megaphone.” Shame the mainstream media! Keep ’em coming!
Before I get to the hot news, I want to be sure you all saw my post from this morning as ‘Frauds and Crooks’ was experiencing some interruptions again today.
That post fits very nicely with this latest news as it is about Somalia, Trump and Omar, click here.
Ho-hum! These aren’t the first refugees linked to Islamic terrorism and they won’t be the last.
So much for offering an opportunity for a good life in America!
The brief storyis at Fox 10 in Phoenix and it tracks the Department of Justice press release(hat tip: Joanne):
Justice Dept.: 2 refugees from Somalia arrested in Tucson, accused of providing support to ISIS
(The times are changing! Once again we are seeing the word “refugee” in a head line instead of the usual “man” or “men,” as in “Arizona men” arrested!)
PHOENIX (FOX 10) — Officials with the U.S. Department of Justice say two refugees from Somalia have been arrested in Tucson and accused of providing material support to ISIS terrorists.
In a statement, officials say Ahmed Mahad Mohamed, 21, and Abdi Yemani Hussein, 20, were arrested at Tucson’s airport on July 26, after the two checked in for their flight to Egypt. They reportedly were trying to head to Egypt’s Sinai region to join ISIS.
According to officials, Mohamed and Hussein were talking with an FBI undercover who they believed was a supporter of ISIS ideology. In their conversations, both Mohamed and Hussein revealed they want to travel overseas in order to fight on ISIS’ behalf, or conduct an attack within the U.S. if they were unable to travel.
Investigators say at the time of the arrest, Mohamed was a lawful permanent resident of the U.S., while Hussein was still a refugee.
This news just broke a few hours ago. If there is anything more tomorrow, I’ll update you.
His lawyers claim his planning was just “puffery and bragging.”
This is a brief update of the story I posted here last month.
From the Associated Press. Readers, do you realize the progress being made here?
The word refugee is in the headline!
This AP story could easily have read: “Pittsburgh man pleads not guilty…”
Syrian refugee pleads not guilty to church bomb plot charges
PITTSBURGH (AP) — A Syrian refugee accused of plotting to bomb a Christian church in Pittsburgh to inspire Islamic State of Iraq followers has pleaded not guilty to terrorism charges.
Mustafa Mousab Alowemer entered his plea Wednesday during his arraignment in federal court. His lawyers have dismissed the alleged plotting as “puffery and bragging.” Mustafa’s alleged target where Nigerian Christians worship (among other immigrants).
Alowemer is charged with attempting to provide material support and resources to the Islamic State of Iraq and two counts of distributing information about an explosive, destructive device, or weapon of mass destruction.
Authorities claim he had detailed plans to bomb the Legacy International Worship Center, a small Christian church.
Authorities say Alowemer was born in Syria and came to the United States in 2016 [as one of Obama’s 15,000+ robustly vetted Syrian refugees—-ed]. He was arrested last month while meeting with undercover FBI agents.
As I said previously, when I began ‘Frauds and Crooks’ in January of this year I expected to be writing about frauds involving Food stamps, Medicare, Medicaid, grant fraud, immigration scams and so forth, but instead I’m now writing mostly about violent crimes planned or perpetrated by so-called “new Americans” —stories largely overlooked by the mainstream media!
“The defendant, a naturalized U.S. citizen residing in Brooklyn, turned his back on the country that took him in and joined ISIS, serving its violent ends in Syria and attempting to recruit others to its cause.”
(U.S. Attorney Richard P. Donoghue)
Ruslan Maratovich Asainovis not a “Brooklyn man” or a “New York man” as described by most media headlines. He is a Kazakh who got lucky and got into the US through one of many possible legal or illegal pathways including perhaps simply by marrying a US citizen. Asainov: ‘We will get you. You need to obey!’
He did not come for a better life. He did not come to fulfill a dream. He is not grateful for the opportunity.
Now he is charged with material support for a terrorist organization (ISIS) and before a federal judge (Magistrate Judge Steve Gold) this past week refused to respond appropriately to the judge’s questions.
His attorney is quoted in the UK Daily Mailwith this explanation:
After the trial, defense lawyer Susan Kellman clarified why her client didn’t want to answer the judge’s inquiries.
’He answers to a higher authority; He says his ruler is Allah,’ Kellman said.
You can usually count on the Daily Mail for politically incorrect bits of information that make American media mavens squirm. Go here to read the whole story:
‘You will be f****ing scared for the rest of your life’: How trove of vicious text messages led to capture of Brooklyn man who moved to Syria and became top sniper for ISIS
For a much more sanitized version of the news see the US Justice Department’s press statement here.
It would be very helpful if the feds would tell us through which legal or illegal pathway perps like Asainov used to get in here and that way we might be able to determine which avenues need to be cut off!
