Jihadist hit list leads to terrorism case

[T-Rock]

:munchin

Jihadist hit list leads to terrorism case


By RICHARD MAUER
rmauer@adn.com

Published: July 21st, 2010 05:02 PM


A King Salmon husband and wife pleaded guilty in federal court today to lying to the FBI about an assassination list created by the husband to revenge alleged crimes against Muslim civilians.


The domestic terrorism case against would-be jihadist Paul Gene Rockwood Jr., a convert to Islam from Virginia, and his British wife, Nadia Piroska Maria Rockwood, is set to unfold this afternoon before U.S. District Judge Ralph Beistline.

According to plea agreements filed this morning by the U.S. Attorney's office, Paul Rockwood will enter a guilty plea in exchange for an eight-year sentence for lying to federal officials in a domestic terrorism case.

Until recently, Rockwood, 35, worked as a meteorological technician for the National Weather Service in King Salmon.

His wife, Nadia Rockwood, 36, charged with lying but not with terrorism, will get 5 years probation, which she can serve in the United Kingdom. The couple have a four year old child and she is five months pregnant in a "high-risk pregnancy," according to papers filed by her appointed attorney, Jim Wendt of Anchorage.

The couple, who have not been in custody, appeared at the federal courthouse in Anchorage their hearings this afternoon.

Both are scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 23.

According to charging documents and their plea agreements, Paul Rockwood converted to Islam in Virginia in last 2001 or early 2002. He soon became an adherent of the radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, an American born jihadist who met with some of the 9/11 terrorists before they hijacked their planes. Al-Awlaki has solicited jihadists over Internet sites, and that's how Rockwood came to know is ideology, according to the plea agreement.

"Rockwood became a strict adherent to the Jihad-promoting ideology of cleric Anwar al-Awlaki," according to the plea agreement. "This included a personal conviction that it was his religious responsibility to exact revenge by death on anyone who desecrated Islam."

The Rockwoods moved to King Salmon in 2006. Wendt said the National Weather Service provided the move.

According to a Weather Service newsletter posted online, Rockwood came to King Salmon in 2006 from Bangor, Maine, to work as a meteorological technician.

It was there that Paul Rockwood developed a list of some 15 people that he targeted for assassination by mail bomb or gunshot. In April, Nadia Rockwood delivered the list to someone in Anchorage. The charges didn't say who.

The couple were interrogated by the FBI on May 19 and denied knowing the purpose of the list or who drew it up, leading to a single count of lying to a federal official, a felony. The charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, but with the domestic terrorism component, the penalty rises to 8 years in prison.

Prosecutors said the couple can't afford a fine.

Until May, Rockwood worked as a technician for the Weather Service and lived in government housing in King Salmon, said Debra Elliot, an official with the service there. His job included observing the weather and writing short-term forecasts, she said.

"He was a good employee. I didn't have any problems with him," she said.



Source > http://www.adn.com/2010/07/21/1375801/couple-to-plead-guilty-to-terrorism.html

> http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2010/07/alaska-muslim-couple-expected-to-plead-guilty-to-islamic-terror-and-assassination-plots.html

[SF-TX]

The couple pleaded guilty yesterday. Seven members of the military were apparently on the 'hit list.' What is the common denominator in these incidents?


- Associated Press

- August 16, 2010
Feds: Alaska couple accused of domestic terrorism had 20 names on hit list

ANCHORAGE, Alaska

A rural Alaska couple accused of domestic terrorism compiled a hit list of 20 targets, including members of the military and media, and had moved to the operational phase of their plan, according to documents filed in federal court Monday.

Paul and Nadia Rockwood of King Salmon have pleaded guilty to lying about the list and making false statements to the FBI in May.

Under a plea agreement, Paul Rockwood will serve eight years in prison and three years probation while his pregnant wife will serve probation. Sentencing is scheduled Aug. 23 in U.S. District Court in Anchorage.

Rockwood's public defender claims her client was lonely in King Salmon and befriended an undercover Alaska State Trooper while attending mosque during trips to Anchorage.

"The relationship clearly was fed by the trooper's interest in Mr. Rockwood and the drama created by their conversations," his attorney, Sue Ellen Tatter, wrote in her sentencing memo.

"All of Mr. Rockwood's behavior with the state trooper was talk or paperwork. None of Mr. Rockwood's close associates, including his father, his wife and friends in King Salmon, believed he was capable of planned violence," Tatter wrote.

Prosecutors alleged that Paul Rockwood, also known as "Bilal," converted to Islam about a decade ago and began studying the teachings of American-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who has professed hatred for the United States and supports acts of terrorism. The couple then moved to King Salmon, where he worked for the National Weather Service.

"While in Alaska, Rockwood researched and discussed methods of execution often at great length and in significant detail, components for mail bombs were purchased, the targets had been selected and a loose time line was established," assistant U.S. Attorneys Steven Skrocki and Bryan Schroder wrote in their sentencing memo.

Prosecutors said he gave the list of targets to his wife in April, and she carried it with her on a trip to Anchorage, where the FBI obtained it.

The court documents didn't disclose any names, only a summary of those on the list. It included a publishing company executive, a media personality, seven members of the military, seven other individuals, two religious organizations and two publishing companies.

Federal authorities also claim Paul Rockwood began researching ways to kill them.

"With some, this included discussing the use of mail bombs and the possibility of killing targets by gunshot to the head," federal attorneys said.

"This was not a case of 'if', but a case of 'when' with the 'when' becoming more likely with Rockwood's departure from King Salmon," the government said.

Tatter counters that Rockwood was lonely, suffering from an inner ear disease that can cause dizziness, nausea and hearing loss, and that he was addicted to opiate painkillers and was in treatment during his relationship with the trooper.

She said he quit his job, and the family was moving from King Salmon to Boston on the first leg of a journey to England when they were intercepted May 19 by the FBI.

"When federal agents showed him the list — which they obviously obtained from the undercover trooper — Mr. Rockwood stated: 'I'm surprised he (the Trooper Sgt.) compiled this ...' Mr. Rockwood did not admit that he himself compiled the list," tatter wrote.

She characterized Rockwood as "unsophisticated mechanically" and said he has never been committed to a plan of action. She said he was "soft-hearted and extremely committed to his family."

King Salmon is a small community of a few hundred people on the Alaska Peninsula.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/08/16/feds-alaska-couple-accused-domestic-terrorism-names-hit-lit/?test=latestnews

[T-Rock]

What is the common denominator in these incidents?


They didn't care too much for BBQ spare ribs :confused: :D


ETA:

(Post # 46) Al-Awlaki and the Madeenah Period > http://www.ummah.com/forum/showthread.php?211823-Imam-Anwar-Al-Awlaki-Medina-Part.-2-Life-of-Muhammad-Sallallahu-Alayhi-Wasallam/page2