BOSTON: A Massachusetts man charged with plotting to behead police officers in an effort to help Daesh was due in court on Wednesday for the start of his trial on charges including conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism.
Federal prosecutors charge that the man, David Daoud Wright, along with his uncle and a friend, had first plotted to kill the woman who organized a 2015 “Draw Mohammed” contest in Garland, Texas. But they contend Wright’s uncle, Usamaah Abdullah Rahim, lost patience and in June 2015 told Wright and the third man that he instead planned to kill police officers.
Law enforcement had been monitoring communications between the three and overheard the threat, prosecutors said. When police approached Rahim in a Boston supermarket parking lot to question him, he drew a large knife and officers shot him dead.
Police later arrested Wright, who lived in the Boston suburb of Everett, and a third conspirator, Nicholas Rovinski. Wright has denied all wrongdoing. Rovinski last year pleaded guilty to two criminal counts of conspiracy to provide material support to a terrorist organization.
If Wright is found guilty of the charge of conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries, he could face a life sentence. He is also charged with conspiracy to support a terrorist organization and obstruction of justice, allegedly for telling Rahim to destroy his phone before attacking police, as well as for attempting to destroy all information on his computer.
Prosecutors said the men initially wanted to behead New York resident Pamela Geller, who had organized the Texas event in May highlighting cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, images that many Muslims consider blasphemous. Two gunmen had attacked that event, and were shot dead by police.
Geller contends her event was intended as a demonstration of the free-speech rights protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution.
Rahim’s family have denied he had shown any signs of radicalization.
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Trial opens for American in Daesh-linked police beheading plot
Trial opens for American in Daesh-linked police beheading plot
Ghana’s president urged to rally African leaders behind push for slavery reparations
Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama held talks with a global delegation seeking reparations for transatlantic slavery and colonialism, who urged him to rally other African leaders to choose “courage over comfort” and support the growing movement.
The delegation, made up of experts from Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, Latin America, and the United States, presented Mahama with priority actions under the African Union’s (AU) reparations agenda, it said in a statement on Friday. In February, the AU launched a drive to create a “unified vision” on what reparations may look like, from financial compensation and formal acknowledgments of past wrongs to policy reforms. At least 12.5 million Africans were kidnapped and forcibly transported by European ships, then sold into slavery from the 15th to the 19th centuries. Advocates say action is needed to confront today’s legacies, including racism. Calls for reparations have gained momentum but there is also a growing backlash. Many European leaders have opposed even discussing the matter, with opponents arguing today’s states and institutions should not be held responsible for historical wrongs.
While Ghana has been at the forefront of reparations advocacy in Africa, the delegation emphasized the need for “strategic coherence and unity” among political leaders across the continent.
They urged Mahama to encourage other leaders to “choose courage over comfort” by standing with civil society and affected communities in Africa and the diaspora in demanding reparations.
The delegation also met on Wednesday with Ghana’s Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa and Mahama’s envoy on reparations Ekwow Spio-Garbrah.
At a European Union–AU summit in Luanda, Angola’s capital, last month, leaders from both regions acknowledged the “untold suffering” caused by slavery and colonialism but stopped short of committing to reparations.
During the summit, Ghana’s Vice President Jane Opoku-Agyemang urged EU member states to support a UN resolution Ghana is preparing to recognize slavery as one of the “gravest crimes against humanity.”
The delegation, made up of experts from Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, Latin America, and the United States, presented Mahama with priority actions under the African Union’s (AU) reparations agenda, it said in a statement on Friday. In February, the AU launched a drive to create a “unified vision” on what reparations may look like, from financial compensation and formal acknowledgments of past wrongs to policy reforms. At least 12.5 million Africans were kidnapped and forcibly transported by European ships, then sold into slavery from the 15th to the 19th centuries. Advocates say action is needed to confront today’s legacies, including racism. Calls for reparations have gained momentum but there is also a growing backlash. Many European leaders have opposed even discussing the matter, with opponents arguing today’s states and institutions should not be held responsible for historical wrongs.
While Ghana has been at the forefront of reparations advocacy in Africa, the delegation emphasized the need for “strategic coherence and unity” among political leaders across the continent.
They urged Mahama to encourage other leaders to “choose courage over comfort” by standing with civil society and affected communities in Africa and the diaspora in demanding reparations.
The delegation also met on Wednesday with Ghana’s Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa and Mahama’s envoy on reparations Ekwow Spio-Garbrah.
At a European Union–AU summit in Luanda, Angola’s capital, last month, leaders from both regions acknowledged the “untold suffering” caused by slavery and colonialism but stopped short of committing to reparations.
During the summit, Ghana’s Vice President Jane Opoku-Agyemang urged EU member states to support a UN resolution Ghana is preparing to recognize slavery as one of the “gravest crimes against humanity.”
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