Jihadist extremism in the United States (or Islamist extremism in the United States) refers to Islamic extremism occurring within the United States. Islamic extremism is adherence to a fundamentalist interpretation of Islam (see Islamic fundamentalism), potentially including the promotion of violence to achieve political goals. In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks,
Islamic extremism became a prioritized national security concern of the
United States government and a focus by many subsidiary security and
law enforcement entities. Initially, the focus of concern was on foreign
terrorist groups, particularly al-Qaeda, but in the course of the years since 9/11 the focus has shifted more towards Islamic extremism within the United States.
The number of American citizens or long-term residents involved in
extremist activity is small, but nevertheless is a national security
concern.
Zeyno Baran, senior fellow and director of the Center for
Eurasian Policy at the Hudson Institute, argues a more appropriate term
is Islamist extremism to distinguish the religion from the political ideology that leads to extremism:
Islam, the religion, deals with piety, ethics, and beliefs, and can be compatible with secular liberal democracy and basic civil liberties. Islamists, however, believe Islam is the only basis for the legal and political system that governs the world's economic, social, and judicial mechanisms. Islamic law, or sharia, must shape all aspects of human society, from politics and education to history, science, the arts, and more. It is diametrically opposed to liberal democracy.
With the value placed on freedom of religion in the United States, religious extremism is a difficult and divisive topic. Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser, president and founder of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy,
testified before Congress that the United States is "polarized on its
perceptions of Muslims and the radicalization that occurs within our
communities... One camp refuses to believe any Muslim could be
radicalized living in blind multiculturalism, apologetics, and denial,
and the other camp believes all devout Muslims and the faith of Islam
are radicalized..."
In between the two polarities is a respect for the religion of Islam
coupled with an awareness of the danger "of a dangerous internal
theo-political domestic and global ideology that must be confronted –
Islamism."
Violent Islamic extremism
"The
single biggest change in terrorism over the past several year has been
the wave of Americans joining the fight – not just as foot soldiers but
as key members of Islamist groups and as operatives inside terrorist
organizations, including al-Qaeda."
American citizens or longtime residents are "masterminds,
propagandists, enablers, and media strategists" in foreign terror groups
and working to spread extremist ideology in the West.
This trend is worrisome because these American extremists "understand
the United States better than the United States understands them."
There is a lack of understanding of how American Radical Jihadists are propagated. There is "no typical profile" of an American extremist and the "experiences and motivating factors vary widely." Janet Napolitano, former Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security,
stated that it is unclear if there has been an "increase in violent
radicalization" or "a rise in the mobilization of previously radicalized
individuals". Terrorist organizations seek Americans to radicalize and recruit because of a familiarity with the United States and the West.
The evolving extremist threat makes it "more difficult for law
enforcement or the intelligence community to detect and disrupt plots."
Some American extremists are actively recruited and trained by
foreign terrorist organizations and others are known as "lone wolves"
that radicalize on their own. The Fort Hood shooter, Major Nidal Hasan, is an American of Palestinian descent. He communicated via email with Anwar al-Awlaki, but had no direct ties to al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda propaganda uses Hasan to promote the idea of "be al-Qaeda by not being al-Qaeda". Abdulhakim Muhammad,
an American citizen, shot a military recruiter in Little Rock, Arkansas
in June 2009 after spending time in Yemen; he was born Carlos Bledsoe
and converted to Islam as a young adult. Faisal Shahzad is a naturalized American citizen from Pakistan and received bomb training from the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan; his plot to detonate a bomb in New York's Times Square was discovered only after the bomb failed. Zachary Chesser converted to Islam after high school and began to spread extremism over the internet. He was arrested attempting to board a flight to Somalia to join the terrorist group al-Shabaab.
Americans in Radical Islamic terrorist organizations
Since
2007, over 50 American citizens and permanent residents have been
arrested or charged in connection with attempts to join terrorist groups
abroad, including al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and Al
Shabaab. In 2013 alone, 9 Americans are known to have joined or attempted to join foreign terrorist organizations. Americans inside al-Qaeda provide insider's knowledge of the United States. Adam Gadahn was an American convert who joined al-Qaeda in the late 1990s. He released English-language propaganda videos, but Gadahn lacked charisma and his voice was replaced by Anwar al-Awlaki. Awlaki was an American of Yemeni descent, killed on September 30, 2011 by a U.S. missile strike in Yemen.
Awlaki had religious credentials Gadahn lacks and a "gently persuasive"
style; "tens of thousands, maybe millions, have watched [Awlaki's]
lectures on the Internet." His perfect English and style broadened al-Qaeda's reach. Another key American in al-Qaeda's power structure was a man named Adnan Shukrijumah. Shukrijumah is believed to be the highest ranking American in al-Qaeda.
He was born in Saudi Arabia, grew up in Trinidad, and moved to Florida
as a teenager; he was a naturalized American citizen and left the United
States in the spring of 2001. Shukrijumah was a mystery to authorities until he was identified by Najibullah Zazi after Zazi was arrested for a failed plot to bomb transportation targets around New York City.
Zazi had traveled to Afghanistan to fight U.S. forces, but Shukrijumah
convinced Zazi to return to the United States and plan an attack here.
In May 2014, Florida born convert Mohammed Abusalha conducted a deadly
suicide bombing while fighting for Islamist extremists in Syria.
In 2014, Troy Kastigar and Douglas McAuthur McCain, two Americas who converted to Islam traveled to the Islamic State for jihad and were killed in battle. In 2015, Zulfi Hoxha traveled to Syria where he became a significant figure in ISIS.
Places for radicalization
Prison
The United States has the world's largest prison population
and "prisons have long been places where extremist ideology and calls
to violence could find a willing ear, and conditions are often conducive
to radicalization." Most inmates have little exposure to mainstream Islam and are vulnerable to extremist versions of the religion. Islamic extremism is facilitated by "an inadequate number of Muslim religious service providers,"
leading to a reliance on volunteers, contractors, or inmates to provide
religious services. Testifying before the Senate Committee on Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs, Donald Van Duyn said the following on
Islamic extremism in U.S. prisons:
Prison radicalization primarily occurs through anti-US sermons provided by contract, volunteer, or staff Imams, radicalized inmates who gain religious influence, and extremist media. Ideologies that radicalized inmates appear most often to embrace or are influenced by the Salafi form of Sunni Islam (including revisionist versions commonly known as “prison Islam”) and an extremist view of Shia Islam similar to that of the Government of Iran and Lebanese Hizballah.
"Prison" or "Jailhouse Islam" is unique to prison and incorporates values of gang loyalty and violence into the religion.
The prison system's limited resources prevent adequate monitoring of
religious services to ensure an extremist message is not being spread
and also hinders sufficient screening of inmates, volunteers, and
contractors providing the services.
Members of a prison extremist group, called Jami'iy yat Ul-Isla
Is Saheeh (JIS), from New Folsom State Prison in California hatched a
plot to attack numerous local government and Jewish targets.
In July 2005, members of JIS "were involved in almost a dozen armed gas
station robberies in Los Angeles with the goal of financing terrorist
operations."
The plot was exposed and there is debate over whether the group is a
sign of a wider problem. There is a "significant lack of social science
research" on the issue of Islamic extremism in U.S. prisons and there is disagreement on the danger Islamic extremism in prisons poses to U.S. national security.
Statistics are not kept on the religious orientation of inmates
in the U.S. prison system, limiting the ability to adequately judge the
potential for Islamic extremism. A report published by the Department of
Justice's Office of the Inspector General in 2004 on the issue of the Federal Bureau of Prisons' selection of Muslim chaplains, estimated that 6% of the federal inmate population seek Muslim Islamic services. Through prisoner self-reporting, the majority of Muslims in federal prison are Sunni or Nation of Islam followers.
The federal prison population is only a small percentage of the total
U.S. prison population, however, and cannot provide an overall
representation of Muslims inmates in the United States.
Mosques
Some mosques in the United States transmit extremist ideas. The North American Islamic Trust
(NAIT), a group with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, "holds titles of
approximately 300 properties [mosques and Islamic schools]".
The organization's website states: "NAIT does not administer these
institutions or interfere in their daily management, but is available to
support and advise them regarding their operation in conformity with
the Shari'ah."
Other research on the Muslim Brotherhood in the United States claims
NAIT influences a far larger number of Islamic institutions in the U.S.
There is no government policy on the establishment of mosques in the United States and no way to monitor activity.
The value placed on religious freedom in the U.S. complicates the
situation as mosques are places of worship that may be used to spread
extremist ideology.
Internet
The internet can be used as a “facilitator—even an accelerant—for terrorist and criminal activity."
The increase of online English-language extremist material in recent
years is readily available with guidance to plan violent activity. “English-language web forums […] foster a sense of community and further indoctrinate new recruits”.
The Internet has “become a tool for spreading extremist propaganda, and
for terrorist recruiting, training, and planning. It is a means of
social networking for like-minded extremists...including those who are
not yet radicalized, but who may become so through the anonymity of
cyberspace."
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) published an English-language online magazine called Inspire.
The magazine is designed to appeal to Westerners. It is “[w]ritten in
colloquial English, [with] jazzy headlines and articles that made it
seem almost mainstream—except that they were all about terrorism.” Inspire
“included tips for aspiring extremists on bomb-making, traveling
overseas, email encryption, and a list of individuals to assassinate." The editor is believed to be Samir Khan, an American citizen, based on work he did before leaving the United States. The magazine appeared six months after Khan arrived in Yemen. There have been seven issues of Inspire. Khan died in the same missile attack that killed Anwar al-Awlaki and the future of the magazine is unknown.
Yousef al-Khattab and Younes Abdullah Mohammed, both converts to Islam, started a group called Revolution Muslim.
The group was meant “to be both a radical Islamic organization and a
movement” with goals that include “establishing Islamic law in the
United States, destroying Israel and taking al-Qaeda’s messages to the
masses.” A list of its members “reads like a who’s who of American homegrown terrorism suspects”; Samir Khan and Jihad Jane were regulars in the Revolution Muslim chat rooms.
Revolution Muslim had a website and a YouTube account before it was
shut down after a posting glorifying the stabbing of a British member of
Parliament. The revolutionmuslim.com domain now redirects to a website called Islam Policy run by Younes Abdullah Mohammed.
The danger of the website, and others that offer similar content, is
the websites offer the chance to become further involved in violent extremism and connect to like-minded people in the U.S. and aboard.
U.S.-specific extremist narrative
Key
to the trend of increasing Islamic extremism in the United States “has
been the development of a US-specific narrative that motivates
individuals to violence.”
“This narrative—a blend of al-Qa‘ida inspiration, perceived
victimization, and glorification of past plotting—has become
increasingly accessible through the Internet, and English-language
websites are tailored to address the unique concerns of US-based
extremists.”
“To disaffected, aggrieved, or troubled individuals, this narrative
explains in a simple framework the ills around them and the geopolitical
discord they see on their television sets and on the Internet.” The narrative is easy to understand and grants “meaning and heroic outlet” for the discontented and alienated.
U.S. government response
The President, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the National Counterterrorism Center
(NCTC) are the most relevant elements of the U.S. government to the
threat of American Islamic extremism and each has taken steps to address
and counter the issue. Since 9/11
the government has worked to improve information sharing "within the
government, and between federal, state, local, and tribal law
enforcement, as well as with the public."
The "If You See Something, Say Something" campaign, instituted by DHS
and local law enforcement, was created to raise public awareness of the
potential dangers. In August 2011, the Office of the President released a strategy to counter violent extremism called Empowering Local Partners to Prevent Violent Extremism in the United States.
The strategy takes a three-pronged approach of community engagement,
better training, and counternarratives. The plan states: "We must
actively and aggressively counter the range of ideologies violent
extremists employ to radicalize and recruit individuals by challenging
justifications for violence and by actively promoting the unifying and
inclusive visions of our American ideals," challenging extremist
propaganda through words and deeds.
The goal is to "prevent violent extremists and their supporters from
inspiring, radicalizing, financing, or recruiting individuals or groups
in the United States to commit acts of violence."
American Muslim community response
There are Muslim Americans speaking out against Islamic extremist
activities, although the most common complaint is Muslim leaders do not
speak out forcefully against Radical Jihad. An important voice is Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, the president of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy. Dr. Jasser testified before a House hearing on Muslim radicalization in the U.S. in early 2010:
For me it is a very personal mission to leave my American Muslim children a legacy that their faith is based in the unalienable right to liberty and to teach them that the principles that founded America do not contradict their faith but strengthen it. Our founding principle is that I as a Muslim am able to best practice my faith in a society like the United States that guarantees the rights of every individual blind to faith with no governmental intermediary stepping between the individual and the creator to interpret the will of God. Because of this, our mission is to advocate for the principles of the Constitution of the United States of America, liberty and freedom and the separation of mosque and state. We believe that this mission from within the “House of Islam” is the only way to inoculate Muslim youth and young adults against radicalization. The “Liberty narrative” is the only effective counter to the “Islamist narrative."
Another voice, that warned of Islamic extremism before the September 11 attacks is Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani, chairman of the Islamic Supreme Council of America.
Attacks or failed attacks by date
- 1993 World Trade Center bombing
- 1995 Bojinka plot
- 1997 Brooklyn bombing plot
- 2000 millennium attack plots
Aftermath of the September 11 attacks
- 2001 September 11 attacks
- 2001 shoe bomb attempt
- 2002 Los Angeles Airport shooting
- 2002 José Padilla (Abdullah al-Muhajir) Plot
- 2002 Buffalo Six
- 2004 financial buildings plot
- 2005 Los Angeles bomb plot
- 2006 Hudson River bomb plot
- 2006 Sears Tower plot
- 2006 Seattle Jewish Federation shooting
- 2006 Toledo terror plot
- 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot
- 2006 UNC SUV attack
- 2007 Fort Dix attack plot
- 2007 John F. Kennedy International Airport attack plot
- 2009 Failed underwear bomb on Northwest Airlines Flight 253
- 2009 Little Rock recruiting office shooting
- 2009 Bronx terrorism plot
- 2009 Dallas Car Bomb Plot by Hosam Maher Husein Smadi[33]
- 2009 New York City Subway and United Kingdom plot
- 2009 Fort Hood shooting
- 2009 Colleen LaRose arrested (not made public until March 2010)
- 2010 Transatlantic aircraft bomb plot
- 2010 King Salmon, Alaska local meteorologist and wife assassination plots
- 2010 Alleged Washington Metro bomb plot
- 2011 Alleged Saudi Arabian student bomb plots
- 2011 Manhattan terrorism plot
- 2011 Lone Wolf New York City, Bayonne, NJ pipe bombs plot.
- 2012 Car bomb plot in Florida.
- 2013 Boston Marathon bombing
- 2013 Wichita bombing attempt
- 2014 beheading by Alton Nolen
- 2014 Seattle, Washington and West Orange, New Jersey killing spree by Ali Muhammad Brown
- 2015 Boston beheading plot
- 2015 Curtis Culwell Center attack
- 2015 Chattanooga shootings
- 2015 San Bernardino attack
- 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting
- 2016 New York and New Jersey bombings
- 2016 St. Cloud, Minnesota mall stabbing
- 2016 Ohio State University attack
- 2017 New York City attack
