Detroit Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah Killed by FBI Agents in Dearborn

Detroit Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah, 53, was killed in Dearborn by FBI agents. The Islamic leader had been active in the city for decades. The federal authorities claim that his mosque was involved in illegal activities.
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October 28, 2009

FBI kills leader of radical Muslims; 12 charged

BY BEN SCHMITT, NIRAJ WARIKOO AND ROBIN ERB
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS

The leader of a local mosque who authorities also are calling the head of an Islamic fundamentalist group was killed in a shootout with federal agents this afternoon during a series of raids that resulted in charges against a dozen men.

Luqman Ameen Abdullah, 53, leader of the Masjid Al-Haqq mosque in Detroit, is accused in a federal complaint of heading a Sunni Muslim group with a mission of establishing a separate Islamic nation within the United States.

Abdullah, also known as Christopher Thomas, was gunned down after firing on officers as the FBI raided a Dearborn warehouse, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. An FBI canine also was fatally shot. Raids also were conducted in Detroit.

"The eleven defendants are members of a group that is alleged to have engaged in violent activity over a period of many years and known to be armed," a joint statement from the FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office said.

A 12th man was arrested late Wednesday in connection with the investigation. Three of the men charged were at large Wednesday night.

Abdullah and the others were charged with conspiracy to commit several federal felony crimes, including illegal possession and sale of firearms and theft from interstate shipments.

Abdullah spoke of attacking Super Bowl XL

Abdullah believed he and his followers were soldiers at war against the government and non-Muslims.

"Abdullah told his followers it is their duty to oppose the FBI and the government and it does not matter if they die," FBI agent Gary Leone said in an affidavit unsealed today. "He also told the group that they need to plan to do something."

Abdullah, 53, of Detroit stayed true to his word as armed FBI agents raided a Dearborn warehouse at Michigan Avenue and Miller. Authorities said he refused to surrender, opened fire and then died in a shootout in which an FBI dog also was killed.

Agents also raided two Detroit homes in the 4400 block of Tireman and the 9200 block of Genessee. The affidavits and returns for those warrants were sealed today.

The U.S. Attorney's Office and the FBI in Detroit unsealed a 43-page document describing a sinister, radical fundamentalist group headed by Abdullah. The document notes conversations he had with undercover agents and federal informants that ranged from talking about attacking Super Bowl XL in Detroit to blowing himself up as a final act of courage.

"If they are coming to get to me, I'll just strap a bomb on and blow up everybody," he said in a March 21, 2008, conversation.

Federal officials said Abdullah was the leader of a group that calls itself "Ummah, a group of mostly African-American converts to Islam, which seeks to establish a separate Sharia-law governed state within the United States."

"The Ummah is ruled by Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, formerly known as H. Rap Brown, who is serving a state sentence ... for the murder of two police officers in Georgia." Brown came to prominence in the 1960s as a leader of the Black Panther Party.

"He regularly preaches antigovernment and antilaw enforcement rhetoric," Leone said of Abdullah in the affidavit. "Abdullah and his followers have trained regularly in the use of firearms and continue to train in martial arts and sword fighting."

Why Abdullah and his followers chose Detroit as their haven remains unknown, Detroit FBI spokeswoman Sandra Berchtold said today.

Authorities said none of the charges levied today are terrorist-related. Abdullah and 11 suspects were charged with felonies including illegal possession and sale of firearms, mail fraud to obtain the proceeds of arson, theft from interstate shipments and tampering with motor vehicle identification numbers.

Seven of the suspects appeared today in U.S. District Court, one was in custody and three were still being sought.

Imad Hamad, senior national adviser and regional director of the Dearborn-based Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee, said he received a call from the head of the FBI's Detroit office mid-day to tell him about the raid.

Hamad said FBI Special Agent Andrew Arena told him that the case was "solely criminal" and had to do with "smuggling and fraud." He said Arena revealed few details of the investigation, but said it had been ongoing for about two years.

Hamad said he didn't know the defendants.

"Agents were trying to chase some people," Hamad said Arena told him about the raid. "They were giving instructions to lay down. He resisted. He pulled a gun. They exchanged fire, he was shot down, killed. A dog ... was dead as well."

The warehouse is near the heavily commercial intersection of Miller and Michigan.

Dawud Walid, head of the Michigan Council on American-Islamic Relations, said Arena called him as well.

Walid said he knew Abdullah.

"I know him as respected imam in the Muslim community," Walid said.

At some point after the raids and shootout, the FBI landed a helicopter with the wounded dog at 12:25 p.m. on normally busy John R, just south of 12 Mile Road, "right in front of the hospital," Madison Heights police said.

FBI agents then carried the wounded dog into Veterinary Emergency Services at 28223 John R. There were no injuries and no traffic mishaps as a result of the unusual landing, although the police department received so many calls about the landing that Police Chief Kevin Sagan issued a written news release Wednesday explaining what happened.

Shadi Saad, the owner of Wellcare Pharmacy on Oakman in Dearborn, said he stepped outside before lunchtime to see several people in FBI jackets with guns going toward the warehouse across the street. He heard noises like shots and a short time later a helicopter descended.

"It was like a movie scene for a minute," he said. He opened his business, he said, just 10 days ago. "This isn't the way I wanted it to start."

Contact BEN SCHMITT : 313-223-4296 or bcschmitt@freepress.com. Staff writers Bill Laitner, Zlati Meyer and Amber Hunt contributed to this report.

The suspects

The FBI targeted 12 people believed to be engaged in violent crimes over many years. After raids Wednesday, police still are searching for three of them.

Killed

Luqman Ameen Abdullah (a.k.a. Christopher Thomas), 53, of Detroit. Was shot and killed during the raids. He had been charged with conspiracy to commit federal crimes, sale or receipt of stolen goods transported in interstate commerce, providing firearms or ammunition to a person known to be a convicted felon, possession of body armor by a person convicted of a violent felony and altering or removing motor vehicle identification numbers.

In court

Mohammad Abdul Salaam (a.k.a. Gregory Stone), 45, of Detroit. Charged with conspiracy to commit federal crimes and sale or receipt of stolen goods transported in interstate commerce.

Abdullah Beard (a.k.a. Detric Lamont Driver), 37, of Detroit. Charged with conspiracy to commit federal crimes.

Abdul Saboor (a.k.a. Dwayne Edward Davis), 37, of Detroit. Charged with conspiracy to commit federal crimes.

Adam Ibraheem, 38, of Detroit. Charged with conspiracy to commit federal crimes.

Gary Laverne Porter (a.k.a. Mujahid LNU), 59, of Detroit. Charged with conspiracy to commit federal crimes and possession of firearms or ammunition by a convicted felon.

Ali Abdul Raqib, 57, of Detroit. Charged with conspiracy to commit federal crimes.

Mohammad Abdul Bassir (a.k.a. Franklin D. Roosevelt Williams), 50, of Ojibway Correctional Facility. Charged with conspiracy to commit federal crimes, sale or receipt of stolen goods transported in interstate commerce, mail fraud, providing firearms or ammunition to a person known to be a convicted felon, possession of firearms or ammunition by a convicted felon and altering or removing motor vehicle identification numbers.

A.C. Pusha, charged with receiving and selling stolen goods transported in interstate commerce.

At large

Mujahid Carswell (a.k.a. Mujahid Abdullah), 30, of Detroit and Ontario. Charged with conspiracy to commit federal crimes.

Mohammad Alsahi (a.k.a. Mohammad Palestine), 33, of Ontario. Charged with conspiracy to commit federal crimes.

Yassir Ali Khan, 30, of Ontario and Warren. Charged with conspiracy to commit federal crimes.

Source: FBI documents


Feds: Leader of radical Islam group killed in raid

By ED WHITE, Associated Press Writer Ed White

DETROIT – Federal authorities on Wednesday arrested several members of a radical Sunni Islam group in the U.S., killing one of its leaders at a shootout in a Michigan warehouse, the U.S. attorney's office said.

Agents were trying to arrest Luqman Ameen Abdullah, 53, at a Dearborn warehouse on charges that included conspiracy to sell stolen goods and illegal possession and sale of firearms. Authorities also conducted raids elsewhere to try to round up 10 followers named in a federal complaint.

No one was charged with terrorism. But Abdullah was "advocating and encouraging his followers to commit violent acts against the United States," FBI agent Gary Leone said in an affidavit filed with the 43-page criminal complaint unsealed Wednesday.

FBI spokeswoman Sandra Berchtold said Abdullah refused to surrender, fired a weapon and was killed by gunfire from agents.

In the complaint, the FBI said Abdullah, also known as Christopher Thomas, was an imam, or prayer leader, of a radical group named Ummah whose primary mission is to establish an Islamic state within the United States.

He told them it was their "duty to oppose the FBI and the government and it does not matter if they die," Leone said.

Abdullah regularly preached anti-government rhetoric and was trained, along with his followers, in the use of firearms, martial arts and swords, the agent said.

Leone said members of the national group mostly are black and some converted to Islam while in prisons across the United States.

"Abdullah preaches that every Muslim should have a weapon, and should not be scared to use their weapon when needed," Leone wrote.

Seven of the 10 people charged with Abdullah were in custody, including a state prison inmate, the U.S. attorney's office said. Three were still at large. Another man not named in the complaint also was arrested.

The group believes that a separate Islamic state in the U.S. would be controlled by Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, formerly known as H. Rap Brown, who is serving a life sentence in a federal prison in Colorado for shooting two police officers in Georgia in 2000, Leone said. Al-Amin, a veteran of the black power movement, started the group after he converted to Islam in prison.

"They're not taking their cues from overseas," said Jimmy Jones, a professor of world religions at Manhattanville College and a longtime Muslim prison chaplain. "This group is very much American born and bred."

The movement at one time was believed to include a couple of dozen mosques around the country. Ummah is now dwarfed in numbers and influence by other African-American Muslim groups, particularly the mainstream Sunnis who were led by Imam W.D. Mohammed, who recently died.

By evening, authorities still were working the scene near the Detroit-Dearborn border and the warehouse was surrounded by police tape.

The U.S. attorney's office said an FBI dog was also killed during the shootout.

Abdullah's mosque is in a brick duplex on a quiet, residential street in Detroit. A sign on the door in English and Arabic reads, in part, "There is no God but Allah."

Several men congregated on the porch Wednesday night and subsequently attacked a photographer from The Detroit News who was taking pictures from across the street. Ricardo Thomas had his camera equipment smashed and had a bloody lip from the attack.

Imad Hamad, regional director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee in Dearborn, said the FBI had briefed him about Wednesday's raids and told him they were the result of a two-year investigation.

"We know that this is not something to be projected as something against Muslims," Hamad said.

The complaint shows the FBI built its case with the help of confidential sources close to Abdullah who recorded conversations.

A source said that Abdullah regularly beat children inside the mosque with sticks, including a boy who was "unable to walk for several days," Leone said.

The source, according to the agent, regularly listened to a recording of a 2004 sermon in which Abdullah said, "Do not carry a pistol if you're going to give it up to police. You give them a bullet!"

In January 2009, members were evicted from a former mosque for failing to pay property taxes. An FBI search turned up empty shell casings and large holes in the concrete wall of a "shooting range," Leone said.

Dawud Walid, executive director of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said the federal authorities' description of Abdullah's extremist links didn't match what he knew of Abdullah.

"I knew him to be charitable," Walid said. "He would open up the mosque to homeless people. He used to run a soup kitchen and feed indigent people. ... I knew nothing of him that was related to any nefarious or criminal behavior."

Abdullah had a wife and children, Walid said. A phone number for the family had been disconnected.
___
Associated Press writers David Runk, Corey Williams, David N. Goodman and Rachel Zoll contributed to this story.


October 28, 2009

Federal authorities' news release on FBI raids

This news release was issued today by Gina Balaya of the United States Attorney's Office and Sandra Berchtold of the FBI:

11 Members/Associates of Ummah Charged with Federal Violations One Subject Fatally Shot During Arrest

United States Attorney Terrence Berg, Eastern District of Michigan, Andrew G. Arena, Special Agent in Charge (SAC), Federal Bureau of Investigation, (FBI), Detroit, Michigan, and Police Chief Warren Evans, Detroit Police Department (DPD), Detroit, Michigan announced a federal complaint was unsealed today charging Luqman Ameen Abdullah, a.k.a.Christopher Thomas, and 10 others with conspiracy to commit several federal crimes, including theft from interstate shipments, mail fraud to obtain the proceeds of arson, illegal possession and sale of firearms, and tampering with motor vehicle identification numbers.

The eleven defendants are members of a group that is alleged to have engaged in violent activity over a period of many years, and known to be armed.

In light of the information that the charged individuals were believed to be armed and dangerous, special safeguards were employed by law enforcement to secure the arrests without confrontation.

During the arrests today, the suspects were ordered to surrender. At one location, four suspects surrendered and were arrested without incident. Luqman Ameen Abdullah did not surrender and fired his weapon. An exchange of gunfire followed and Abdullah was killed. An FBI canine was also killed during the exchange.

Abdullah was the leader of part of a group which calls themselves Ummah (“the brotherhood”), a group of mostly African-American converts to Islam, which seeks to establish a separate Sharia-law governed state within the United States.

The Ummah is ruled by Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, formerly known as H. Rapp Brown, who is serving a state sentence in USP Florence, CO, ADMAX, for the murder of two police officers in Georgia. As detailed in the affidavit in support of the criminal complaint that was unsealed today, Abdullah has espoused the use of violence against law enforcement, and has trained members of his group in use of firearms and martial arts in anticipation of some type of action against the government.

Abdullah and other members of this group were known to carry firearms and other weapons.

The 11 individuals charged include:

Luqman Abdullah (aka Christopher Thomas), age 53, of Detroit, Michigan. Abdullah is charged with:

• 18 U.S.C. 371 Conspiracy to Commit Federal Crimes,

• 18 U.S.C. Sale or Receipt of Stolen Goods Transported in Interstate Commerce,

• 18 U.S.C. 922(d) Providing Firearms or Ammunition to a Person Known to be a Convicted Felon,

• 18 U.S.C. 931 Possession of Body Armor by a Person Convicted of a Violent Felony,

• 18 U.S.C. 551 altering or Removing Motor Vehicle Identification Numbers.

Mohammad Abdul Salaam (aka Gregory Stone), age 45, of Detroit, Michigan. Salaam is charged with:

• 18 U.S.C. 371 Conspiracy to Commit Federal Crimes,

• 18 U.S.C. Sale or Receipt of Stolen Goods Transported in Interstate Commerce.

Abdullah Beard (aka Detric Lamont Driver), age 37, of Detroit, Michigan. Beard is charged with:

• 18 U.S.C. 371 Conspiracy to Commit Federal Crimes.

Abdul Saboor (aka Dwayne Edward Davis), age 37, of Detroit, Michigan. Saboor is charged with:

• 18 U.S.C. 371 Conspiracy to Commit Federal Crimes.

Mujahid Carswell (aka Mujahid Abdullah), age 30, of Detroit, Michigan and Ontario, Canada. Carswell is charged with:

• 18 U.S.C. 371 Conspiracy to Commit Federal Crimes.

Adam Ibraheem, age 38, of Detroit, Michigan. Ibraheem is charged with:

• 18 U.S.C. 371 Conspiracy to Commit Federal Crimes.

Gary Laverne Porter (aka Mujahid LNU), age 59 of Detroit, Michigan. Porter is charged with:

• 18 U.S.C. 371 Conspiracy to Commit Federal Crimes,

• 18 U.S.C. 922(g) Possession of Firearms or Ammunition by a Convicted Felon.

Ali Abdul Raqib, age 57, of Detroit, Michigan. Raqib is charged with:

• 18 U.S.C. 371 Conspiracy to Commit Federal Crimes.

Mohammad Alsahi (aka Mohammad Palestine), age 33, of Ontario, Canada. Alsahi is charged with:

• 18 U.S.C. 371 Conspiracy to Commit Federal Crimes.

Yassir Ali Khan, age 30, of Ontario, Canada and Warren, Michigan. Khan is charged with:

• 18 U.S.C. 371 Conspiracy to Commit Federal Crimes.

Mohammad Abdul Bassir (aka Frankin D. Roosevelt Williams, age 50 , of Ojibway Correctional Facility. Bassir is charged with:

• 18 U.S.C. 371 Conspiracy to Commit Federal Crimes,

• 18 U.S.C. Sale or Receipt of Stolen Goods Transported in Interstate Commerce,

• 18 U.S.C. 1341 Mail Fraud

• 18 U.S.C. 922(d) Providing Firearms or Ammunition to a Person Known to be a Convicted Felon,

• 18 U.S.C. 922(g) Possession of Firearms or Ammunition by a Convicted Felon.

• 18 U.S.C. 551 Altering or Removing Motor Vehicle Identification Numbers.

Additionally, two federal search warrants were executed at 4467 Tireman Avenue, Detroit Michigan, and 9278 Genessee Street, Detroit, Michigan. The affidavits for these search warrants are sealed.

This case was jointly worked by the FBI, DPD, JTTF, and the United States Attorney’s Office – Eastern District of Michigan. We would like to express our appreciation to the Detroit Public Schools, Dearborn Police Department, Madison Heights Police and Fire Departments, and the members of JTTF for their assistance in this matter.

At the time of this release, Mujahid Carswell, Mohammad Alsahi and Yassir Ali Khan were still at large.

A complaint is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A trial cannot be held on felony charges in a complaint. When the investigation is completed a determination will be made whether to seek a felony indictment.


October 28, 2009
http://detnews.com/article/20091028/METRO/910280436

Detroit mosque leader killed in FBI raids

PAUL EGAN
The Detroit News

Detroit -- The leader of a Detroit mosque who allegedly espoused violence and separatism was shot and killed Wednesday in an FBI gun battle at a Dearborn warehouse.

Luqman Ameen Abdullah, imam of the Masjid Al-Haqq mosque in Detroit, was being arrested on a raft of federal charges including conspiracy, receipt of stolen goods, and firearms offenses.

Charges were also filed against 11 of Abdullah's followers. Eight were in custody Wednesday night awaiting detention hearings today; three remained at large.

A federal complaint filed Wednesday identified Abdullah, 53, also known as Christopher Thomas, as "a highly placed leader of a nationwide radical fundamentalist Sunni group." His black Muslim group calls itself "Ummah," or the brotherhood, and wants to establish a separate state within the United States governed by Sharia law, Interim U.S. Attorney Terrence Berg and Andrew Arena, FBI special agent in charge in Detroit, said in a joint statement.

"He regularly preaches anti-government and anti-law enforcement rhetoric," an FBI agent wrote in an affidavit. "Abdullah and his followers have trained regularly in the use of firearms, and continue to train in martial arts and sword fighting."

The Ummah is headed nationally by Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, formerly known as H. Rap Brown, who is serving a state sentence for the murder of two police officers in Georgia.

Early Wednesday afternoon, FBI agents and local police from the Joint Terrorism Task Force surrounded a warehouse and trucking firm on Miller Road near Michigan Avenue where Abdullah and four of his followers were hiding, said Special Agent Sandra Berchtold, a spokeswoman for the FBI in Detroit.

When agents entered the warehouse, four of the men obeyed orders to surrender but Abdullah opened fire and was shot to death, Berchtold said. An FBI dog was also shot and killed, she said.

Through a 45-page complaint filed in the case alleges Abdullah "calls his followers to an offensive jihad" and preaches that every Muslim should "have a weapon and should not be scared to use their weapon when needed," charges in the case to not include terrorism or national security crimes.

The complaint further alleged that an armed group known as the "Sutra team" protected the mosque.

In January, when members were evicted from a building on Joy Road for non-payment of property taxes, Detroit police confiscated two firearms, about 40 knives and martial arts weapons from Abdullah's apartment, the complaint alleged.

The mosque then relocated to Clairmount in Detroit, the complaint says.

According to the complaint, Abdullah told an informant that if the FBI came to get him: "I'll just strap a bomb on and blow up everybody." On another occasion, he said: "We've got to take out the U.S. government," the complaint alleges.

David Nu'man of Detroit, who considered himself a friend of Abdullah, said he is skeptical about the allegations.

"It doesn't seem to be of his character," said Nu'man, who had attended the mosque on Joy Road but was not a member.

Ihsan Bagby, the general secretary of the Muslim Alliance of North America, said Abdullah was a member of the Lexington, K.Y. based group, and his shooting shocked the African American Muslim community nationwide.

"We want to know what happened," said Bagby. "We had no inkling of any kind of criminal activity. This is a complete shock to all of us."

The others charged are:

--Mohammad Abdul Salaam, also known as Gregory Stone, 45, of Detroit with conspiracy to commit federal crimes and sale or receipt of stolen goods.

--Abdullah Beard, also known as Detric Lamont Driver, 37, of Detroit with conspiracy to commit federal crimes.

--Abdul Saboor, also known as Dwayne Edward Davis, 37, of Detroit with conspiracy to commit federal crimes.

--Mujahid Carswell, also known as Mujahid Abdullah, 30, of Detroit and Ontario, Canada, with conspiracy to commit federal crimes.

--Adam Ibraheem, 38, of Detroit with conspiracy to commit federal crimes.

--Gary Laverne Porter, 59, of Detroit with conspiracy to commit federal crimes and possession of firearms by a convicted felon.

--Ali Abdul Raqib, 57, of Detroit with conspiracy to commit federal crimes.

--Mohammad Alsahi, also known as Mohammad Palestine, 33, of Ontario, Canada, with conspiracy to commit federal crimes.

--Yassir Ali Khan, 30, of Ontario, Canada, and Warren, with conspiracy to commit federal crimes.

--Mohammad Abdul Bassir, also known as Franklin D. Roosevelt Williams, 50, of Ojibway Correctional Facility with conspiracy to commit federal crimes, sale or receipt of stolen goods, mail fraud, supplying firearms to felons, possession of weapons by a felon, and altering or removing motor vehicle identification numbers.

--A.C. Pusha, charged in a separate complaint late Wednesday with conspiracy to receive and sell stolen goods.

Salaam, Saboor, Porter, Beard, Ibraheem, Raqib, and Pusha all appeared in U.S. District Court in Detroit late Wednesday afternoon. Bassir is in state custody. Others charged are still at large.

Prior to the gunfight in Dearborn, the FBI executed search warrants at 4467 Tireman and 9278 Genesee in Detroit, officials said.

Yellow police tape was put up outside the Dearborn warehouse and a Dearborn police car was parked outside.

pegan@detnews.com">pegan@detnews.com (313) 222-2069 David Josar, Charlie LeDuff, Oralandar Brand-Williams and George Hunter contributed.


Leader Of Islamic Group Killed In Raid

Police: Three Members Still On The Run

11:50 pm EDT October 28, 2009

DETROIT -- The Detroit leader of a nationwide fundamentalist Islamic group was fatally shot during a series of FBI raids Wednesday afternoon.

After a two-year investigation, the FBI raided three locations in Detroit and Dearborn, and arrested several people who have ties to the group called the Ummah, which translates to “the brotherhood.” Authorities said three members are still on the run.

The group’s primary mission is to establish a separate sovereign Islamic state governed by Sunni law, according to FBI charging documents. Luqman Ameen Abdullah, 53, called his followers to an offensive jihad, rather than a defensive jihad.

The documents also said the group was financing its version of Islam by fencing stolen goods and that Abdullah was interested in killing federal agents and making a bomb.

During the raid in Dearborn, Abdullah, aka Christopher Thomas, fired his weapon, said the FBI in a release. An FBI police dog was shot during the gunfire.

The dog was transported via helicopter to an animal hospital in Madison Heights, but despite the rescue efforts, the dog died.

The rest of the suspects were arrested at the Detroit raid on Tireman and Firwood roads and the Dearborn raid on Michigan Avenue and Miller Road without incident.

Eleven suspects were charged on Wednesday with numerous charges including mail fraud, arson, possession of body armor, theft from interstate shipments and tempering with VIN numbers.

Seven of them appeared Wednesday afternoon in a detention hearing. The rest will appear before a judge Thursday.

Before the raid, Abdullah and the 10 others were charged in a 45-page complaint with conspiracy to commit several federal crimes, including illegal possession and sale of firearms, arson, body armor and theft from interstate shipments.

Named in the complaint are Mohammad Abdul Bassir, Muhammad Abdul Salaam, Abdul Saboor, Mujahid Carswell, Abdullah Beard, Mohammad Philistine, Yassir Ali Khan, Adam Hussain Ibraheem, Garry Laverne Porter and Ali Abdul Raqib.

The group consists primarily of African-Americans who converted to Islam while serving sentences in various prisons around the county.

The nationwide leader is believed to be Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, formerly known as H. Rapp Brown. He is currently serving a life sentence in prison for the murder of two police officers in Georgia.

Abdullah Al-Amin preaches violence against law enforcement officials and has trained members of the Ummah inside of a mosque located on Joy Road on how to use firearms, martial arts, sword fighting and other types of self-defense in anticipation of government violence, according to the FBI.

Undercover agents in the organization have told the FBI that Abdullah used to discipline its members starting at an early age by beating them with sticks on their hands, knees and legs and once he beat a little boy so badly that the child was unable to walk for several days.

In October of 2008, a source the FBI called “credible” recorded statements by Abdullah at a mosque during prayer where he said that Muslims need to cut ties with Christians, Jews, and Kuffars, which the FBI said means all non-Muslims.

“Obama is a Kafir. McCain is a Kafir, all the rest of them Kuffars, are Kuffars…. The worst Muslim is better than the best Kafir,” said FBI documents.

At this time, the FBI continues to seek Mujahid Carswell, Mohammad Alsahi and Yassir Ali Khan.