John T. Booker

John T. Booker is a U.S. citizen, convert to Islam, and attempted domestic terrorist who pleaded guilty to plotting an ISIS-inspired suicide bombing at the U.S. Army base in Fort Riley, Kansas. He was arrested in April 2015 after a year-long FBI investigation, and charged with one count of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, one count of attempting to damage property by means of an explosive, and one count of attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.Reuters, “A 20-year-old US man was arrested for plotting a suicide bombing at a Kansas Army base,” Business Insider, April 10, 2015, http://www.businessinsider.com/a-20-year-old-us-man-was-arrested-for-plotting-a-suicide-bombing-at-a-kansas-army-base-2015-4. Booker pleaded guilty on February 3, 2016, to attempting to destroy government property with an explosive device,“Kansas man pleads guilty in ISIS plot to bomb Army post,” CBS News, February 3, 2016, http://www.cbsnews.com/news/kansas-man-pleads-guilty-in-plot-to-bomb-army-post/. and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.“Kansas Man Sentenced to 30 Years in Plot To Explode Car Bomb at Fort Riley,” U.S. Attorney’s Office – District of Kansas, July 24, 2017, https://www.justice.gov/usao-ks/pr/kansas-man-sentenced-30-years-plot-explode-car-bomb-fort-riley.

Booker reportedly converted to Islam during his senior year of high school.M.L. Nestel and Ryan Walsh, “What We Know About John Booker, the Man the FBI Thought Might be a Jihadi,” Vocativ, April 2, 2014, http://www.vocativ.com/usa/military/know-john-booker-man-fbi-thought-might-jihadi/. Soon after, he attended a local mosque where he engaged in arguments with fellow mosque-goers and reportedly expressed support for al-Qaeda. According to the mosque’s imam, Booker had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.John Hayward, “Kansas Man Arrested for Planning Car Bomb Jihad Attack on Ft. Riley,” Breibart News, April 12, 2015, http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2015/04/12/kansas-man-arrested-for-planning-car-bomb-jihad-attack-on-ft-riley/.

The FBI began tracking Booker in March 2014 after he published Facebook posts about jihad.Reuters, “John T. Booker, Jr., Kansas Man, Arrested In Plot To Suicide Bomb Fort Riley For ISIS,” Huffington Post, last modified June 10, 2015, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/10/us-man-arrested-bomb-fort-riley_n_7041960.html. In numerous meetings with undercover FBI informants, Booker allegedly expressed his desire to build and detonate a suicide bomb, targeting American armed personnel. According to the criminal complaint filed against him, Booker expressed that “detonating a suicide bomb is his number one aspiration because he couldn’t be captured, all evidence would be destroyed, and he would be guaranteed to hit his target.”“United States v. Alexander E. Blair,” United States District Court for the District of Kansas, U.S. Department of Justice, April 10, 2015, https://cchs.gwu.edu/sites/cchs.gwu.edu/files/downloads/Blair%20Criminal%20Complaint.pdf.

On February 3, 2016, Booker pleaded guilty to one count of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction, and one count of attempted destruction of government property by fire or explosion.“Kansas Man Pleads Guilty in Plot to Explode Car Bomb at Fort Riley in Manhattan, Kansas,” U.S. Department of Justice – Office of Public Affairs, February 3, 2016, https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/kansas-man-pleads-guilty-plot-explode-car-bomb-fort-riley-manhattan-kansas. On July 24, 2017, he was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison.“Kansas Man Sentenced to 30 Years in Plot To Explode Car Bomb at Fort Riley,” U.S. Attorney’s Office – District of Kansas, July 24, 2017, https://www.justice.gov/usao-ks/pr/kansas-man-sentenced-30-years-plot-explode-car-bomb-fort-riley.

Booker is currently incarcerated at Oxford Federal Correctional Institution in Wisconsin, with a scheduled release date of October 31, 2040.“JOHN T BOOKER,” Find an Inmate – Federal Bureau of Prisons, accessed April 11, 2021, https://www.bop.gov/inmateloc/.

Also Known As

Extremist entity
ISIS
Read Threat Report
Type(s) of Organization:
Insurgent, territory-controlling, religious, terrorist, violent
Ideologies and Affiliations:
Islamist, jihadist, pan-Islamist, Salafist, takfiri
Position(s):
Homegrown extremist / conspirator

ISIS is a violent jihadist group based in Iraq and Syria. The group has declared wilayas (provinces) in Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the North Caucasus. ISIS has also waged attacks in Turkey, Lebanon, France, Belgium, Iraq, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Tunisia, and Kuwait.

  • Rhetoric

Apr. 8, 2015

Video message:

“Today, Inshallah [God willing], we are going to build this bomb with 1,000 pounds of Ammonium Nitrate. Inshallah, this will kill many kuffar [nonbelievers]. This message is to you America. You sit in your homes and you think that this war is just over in Iraq . . . Wallahi [swear to God], we today we will bring the Islamic State straight to your doorstep. You think this is just a game, wallahi when this bomb blows up and kills as many kuffar as possible, maybe then you’ll realize it.”“Criminal Complaint,” United States District Court for the District of Kansas, U.S. Department of Justice, April 10, 2015, http://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/opa/press releases/attachments/2015/04/10/booker_complaint.pdf.

Mar. 10, 2015

Video message:

“To all the mothers, daughters, fathers, brothers, sisters and friends or loved ones of . . . any soldier in the United States military. Get your kids out. Get your loved ones out of the military. Because, wallahi, Dualah Islam [ISIS] is coming for them. From inside, whether it be in their homes, whether it be on a base like this, whether it be in the recruiting stations, whether it be in the streets . . .Wallahi, we are coming for them and we seek their blood because their blood is halal [permissible] for us to kill them.”“Criminal Complaint,” United States District Court for the District of Kansas, U.S. Department of Justice, April 10, 2015, http://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/opa/press releases/attachments/2015/04/10/booker_complaint.pdf.

Nov. 12, 2014

Speaking to an undercover FBI informant:

“I will kill any kuffar [nonbelievers]. I will follow any place. Wallahi [I swear to God] if I was with Daulah Islam [ISIS] and they said look, we are going to the White House right now. Wallahi, I would go with them without any question.”“Criminal Complaint,” United States District Court for the District of Kansas, U.S. Department of Justice, April 10, 2015, http://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/opa/press releases/attachments/2015/04/10/booker_complaint.pdf.

Oct. 10, 2014

Speaking to an undercover FBI informant:

“[I] was in jihad before, okay. I got captured. Okay, a long story short the people at the Masjid don’t like me because I support al Qa’ida openly. I’m not afraid, I was captured before . . . I was captured by FBI before . . . because I was with al Qa’ida. [I] joined the United States Army [but] hadn’t really completed, I hadn’t really started . . . I was going to go in there and kill the American soldier.”“Criminal Complaint,” United States District Court for the District of Kansas, U.S. Department of Justice, April 10, 2015, http://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/opa/press releases/attachments/2015/04/10/booker_complaint.pdf.

Mar. 19, 2014

“Getting ready to be killed in jihad is a HUGE adrenaline rush!! I am so nervous. NOT because I’m scared to die but I am eager to meet my lord.” (Facebook Post)“Criminal Complaint,” United States District Court for the District of Kansas, U.S. Department of Justice, April 10, 2015, http://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/opa/press releases/attachments/2015/04/10/booker_complaint.pdf.

Mar. 15, 2014

“I will soon be leaving you forever so goodbye! I’m going to wage jihad and hopes that i die.” (Facebook Post)“Criminal Complaint,” United States District Court for the District of Kansas, U.S. Department of Justice, April 10, 2015, http://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/opa/press releases/attachments/2015/04/10/booker_complaint.pdf.

Return to Full Database

Daily Dose

Extremists: Their Words. Their Actions.

Fact:

On October 7, 2023, Hamas invaded southern Israel where, in the space of eight hours, hundreds of armed terrorists perpetrated mass crimes of brutality, rape, and torture against men, women and children. In the biggest attack on Jewish life in a single day since the Holocaust, 1,200 were killed, and 251 were taken hostage into Gaza—where 101 remain. One year on, antisemitic incidents have increased by record numbers. 

View Archive