Meet the Rapping Teen Fitness Guru Arrested for Trying to Blow Up Christmas shoppers

[Swede]

Mohamud lives in Corvallis, Oregon, and he has had a colorful past as a burgeoning Jihadi:

Under pen name "Ibn al-Mubarak," he wrote an article in 2009 for the inaugural issue of Jihad Recollections about how to shape up for violent Jihad: "Getting in Shape Without Weights." In it, he blasts "un-Islamic" gyms with "music, semi-naked women, free mixing and the danger of showing off." Instead, aspiring holy warriors should try the following weight-free strength exercises, helpfully illustrated with Jihadi models.

One might call him the Jane Fonda of Jihad. The Billy Blanks of Blowing up Christmas trees.

http://gawker.com/5700200/meet-the-rapping-teenaged-fitness-guru-arrested-for-trying-to-blow-up-a-christmas-tree

[Rosa Luxemburg]

1. the diary of a patsie?

[derby378]

2. Ho-ho-ho, yo-yo!

He sounds just like that punk-ass kid from Texas who tried to blow up a building in downtown Dallas - they're both equally stupid if they were snagged by the FBI so easily.

[Taverner]

4. Is it me or does it seems like the Jihadis we're getting are stupider and stupider?

The NY Times Square Jihadi was a contestant on Canadian Idol, and I loved how those Doctors ended up blowing themselves up!

[blondeatlast]

3. Beau Coleman?! nt

[uppityperson]

5. No, it wasn't a tree. It was a whole bunch of people @ tree lighting ceremony

Portland, OR city tree lighting ceremony, NOT a tree.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2013540712_portlandbomb28.html

He sounds like quite something and I am glad they arrested him.

[zappaman]

7. very true

the OP is belittling the severity of this crime.
and the conspiracy theorists are out in force.

[Codeine]

6. Fucking stupid title.

He was going to blow up a shitload of people, or so he thought.

[blondeatlast]

8. The thread title is Gawker's. The OP hasn't commented.

But yeah, he was planning to kill a bunch of people--who were gathered in goodwill, no less.

[Swede]

10. You're right,this seems like I'm downplaying this nutjob.

Hopefully,I have time to edit it.

[blondeatlast]

11. I hadn't heard of this incident before and I thought it was goofy

when I read the Gawker account. Then I read the Portland paper's story.

This guy was deadly, chillingly serious.

[uppityperson]

12. Thanks Swede. However, it wasn't "shoppers" but tree lighting ceremony crowd.

[Swede]

13. The FBI repeatedly informed him he would be killing children

This didn't deter him from dialing the "bomb". That is what is out there.

[uppityperson]

19. Indeed, they tried to steer him to lesser evils but he was adamant

Am glad they got him.

[upi402]

9. I'm so grateful law enforcement caught this guy

Religious fanatics like this MUST be watched. I hate to profile, but seriously...

The ability to discern in order to prolong survival is there for a reason!

[uppityperson]

17. indeed, am very glad. I hope they catch whomever set the mosque he went to on fire also.

[upi402]

22. Exactly

Zealots need to be tracked if violence is to be limited. Zealots reduce our rights and freedoms - and I'm including the ones in power and in majority positions here; religion, media, and government too.

[blondeatlast]

14. The guy was cold-blooded, as terrorists must be:

The FBI operatives cautioned Mohamud several times about the seriousness of his plan, noting that there would be many people, including children, at the event, and that Mohamud could abandon his plans at any time with no shame.

"You know there's going to be a lot of children there?" an FBI operative asked Mohamud. "You know there are gonna be a lot of children there?"

Mohamud allegedly responded he was looking for a "huge mass that will ... be attacked in their own element with their families celebrating the holidays."

Mohamud dismissed concerns about law enforcement, explaining that, " ... It's in Oregon; and Oregon, like, you know, nobody ever thinks about," according to the affidavit.

A tip of the hat (at the very least) to the authorities who prevented this.

[blondeatlast]

15. Not shoppers--they were there to celebrate a tree lighting. Lights, entertainment, community.

Shopping, if involved at all, would have been a minor part of it.

[MindPilot]

16. I don't get why the Fibbies let it go as far as they did.

Mohamud had certainly demonstrated probable cause long before he got to the point of pushing the button. What if at the last minute he decided to take the van into the crowd?

[uppityperson]

18. They had to let him show by his actions him trying to blow up the crowd.

Do you mean what if he'd driven the van into the crowd?

[MindPilot]

23. Yeah. They would already have solid conspiracy charges.

Seems like letting him prove his intentions was more of a public demonstration for propaganda purposes than for tightening up a case.

Law enforcement has a guy who has up to the point of actually driving to the location demonstrated the desire, motive, and willingness to kill and injure a crowd of people. No matter how carefully controlled the situation is, allowing that guy near that crowd--especially in a motor vehicle that guy believes to be packed with explosives---strikes me a very bad and wholly unnecessary idea.

[uppityperson]

24. here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=9643654&mesg_id=9644044

[Edweird]

20. Presumably so there is no way to mistake his intention or dedication.

[blondeatlast]

21. They pretty much caught him in the act this way. If the Feds weren't absolutely certain

the bomb wouldn't go off (because they created it and provided it to a willing buyer), they would have stopped him sooner.

That they "allowed" him to carry out the act makes for a stronger case and a tougher sentence.