Usaamah Abdullah Rahim

Usaamah Abdullah Rahim was an alleged homegrown extremist and supporter of ISIS from Roslindale, Massachusetts.“Criminal Complaint,” U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts, June 12, 2015, http://wpri.com/read-criminal-complaint-against-nicholas-rovinski/. Rahim reportedly met and planned with alleged co-conspirators Nicholas Alexander Rovinski and David Daoud Wright, his nephew, to behead controversial American political activist and critic of Islam Pamela Geller in New York.Elizabeth Barber, “Men charged in Boston beheading plot plead not guilty in court,” Reuters, June 19, 2015, http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/19/us-massachusetts-police-idUSKBN0OZ14020150619. Geller and her organization famously hosted a draw the prophet Muhamad contest in Garland, Texas, on May 3, 2015.

In January 2015, Rahim, Wright, and Rovinski began discussing ISIS’s calls to carry out attacks in the United States. By the following month, Rahim and Wright began forming plots and recruiting additional conspirators to carry out an attack. Wright studied a jihadist manual called “How to Survive in the West,” which provided instructions on how to develop a sleeper terrorist cell, and conducted Internet searches on firearms, tranquilizers, and other weapons.“Second Superseding Indictment,” U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts, February 15, 2017, https://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/case_docs/3231.pdf. In late May 2015, Rahim ordered three large fighting knives on Amazon.“Criminal Complaint,” U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts, June 12, 2015, http://wpri.com/read-criminal-complaint-against-nicholas-rovinski/. Court documents released in April 2016 reveal that Rahim had been in contact with ISIS operative Junaid Hussain. Hussain reportedly communicated directly with Rahim, who then passed along the instructions to his conspirators to kill Geller. They allegedly planned to kill her in while she was home in New York for the July 4th holiday.Adam Goldman, “Well-known ISIS operative instructed Americans to kill organizer of Muhammad cartoon contest, prosecutors reveal,” Washington Post, April 21, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/04/21/well-known-isis-operative-instructed-americans-to-kill-organizer-of-muhammad-cartoon-contest-prosecutors-reveal/; “Two Individuals Charged in Superseding Indictment with Conspiring to Commit Acts of Terrorism Transcending National Boundaries,” U.S. Department of Justice, April 21, 2016, https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/two-individuals-charged-superseding-indictment-conspiring-commit-acts-terrorism-transcending.

In early 2015, Wright put Rahim in contact with Zulfi Hoxha, an ISIS supporter who Wright had met online and who planned to travel abroad to join ISIS. Wright and Rahim helped to fund Hoxha’s plane ticket to Istanbul, Turkey, by selling Rahim’s laptop on Craigslist. Hoxha departed for Istanbul on April 6, 2015, from where he traveled to Syria to join ISIS. After Hoxha’s departure, Rahim remained in contact with him for a few days through communications on an encrypted messaging app. After Hoxha began training at an ISIS camp, Rahim continued to receive updates on his activities by communicating with Hussain.Seamus Hughes et al., “A New American Leader Rises in ISIS,” Atlantic, January 13, 2018, https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/01/isis-america-hoxha/550508/.

Despite Hussain’s direct instructions to carry out an attack against Geller, Rahim instead attempted to attack members of the Boston police force. On June 2, 2015, he was shot and killed after he attempted to attack FBI agents and members of the Boston police force in Roslindale, Massachusets, with one of the large fighting knives he had purchased from Amazon.Adam Goldman, “Well-known ISIS operative instructed Americans to kill organizer of Muhammad cartoon contest, prosecutors reveal,” Washington Post, April 21, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/04/21/well-known-isis-operative-instructed-americans-to-kill-organizer-of-muhammad-cartoon-contest-prosecutors-reveal/; “Read: Criminal complaint against Nicholas Rovinski,” WPRI, June 12, 2015,http://wpri.com/read-criminal-complaint-against-nicholas-rovinski/. That morning, Wright had encouraged Rahim to carry out an attack against authorities and become a martyr for ISIS.Maria Cramer, “Man convicted in terrorism plot sentenced to 28 years,” Boston Globe, December 19, 2017, https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/12/19/man-convicted-terrorism-plot-sentenced-years/dUGdLtwm0DlIKiJQvqfObM/story.html. After Rahim’s death, both Wright and Rovinski were arrested.Adam Goldman, “Well-known ISIS operative instructed Americans to kill organizer of Muhammad cartoon contest, prosecutors reveal,” Washington Post, April 21, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/04/21/well-known-isis-operative-instructed-americans-to-kill-organizer-of-muhammad-cartoon-contest-prosecutors-reveal/; “Two Individuals Charged in Superseding Indictment with Conspiring to Commit Acts of Terrorism Transcending National Boundaries,” U.S. Department of Justice, April 21, 2016, https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/two-individuals-charged-superseding-indictment-conspiring-commit-acts-terrorism-transcending.

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

Jun. 2, 2015

“Yeah, I’m going to be on vacation right here in Massachusetts…I’m just going to ah go after them, those boys in blue. Cause, ah, it’s the easiest target and, the most common is the easiest for me …”“Criminal Complaint,” U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts, June 12, 2015, http://wpri.com/read-criminal-complaint-against-nicholas-rovinski/.

Jun. 2, 2015

“No, my, my goal since when I called you is ah, ah, you know I just want to meet Allah because I know that…the Akhira [afterlife] that is better than this Dunya [Worldly life] and, uhm, since Jihad is a way out and it’s a way to be with Allah and to get out of this Dunya [Worldly life], you know, maybe to be, to be amongst the company of the righteous and because it’s… in this era right now and…it’s not something random and I’ve already gave my Bay’ [Allegiance] so it’s not a random vigilante attack. It is what it is and I have my bases covered.”“Criminal Complaint,” U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts, June 12, 2015, http://wpri.com/read-criminal-complaint-against-nicholas-rovinski/.

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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. 

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