Home      |      Weblog      |      Articles      |      Satire      |      Links      |      About      |      Contact


Militant Islam Monitor > Articles > Mall bomb plotter's father was NOI member - Rockford Muslims issue statement claiming Shareef is 'anonymous'

Mall bomb plotter's father was NOI member - Rockford Muslims issue statement claiming Shareef is 'anonymous'

December 10, 2006

MIM:The local mosque in Rockford claims to have no clue about Shareef aka Talib Abu Salaam Ibn Shareef but took the 'opportunity' of his arrest to issue a statement condemning terror (straight out of the NAIF handbook). The mosque's claim that that he was 'anonymous' and the fact that they felt compelled to issue a statement to that affect seems to prove the opposite.

Shareef's mother says she was upset because her son was attracting attention walking around their small community in Muslim garb and had converted to Islam 7 years ago. She also claims to be 'shocked' at his arrest but convinced him to legally change his name to Muhammed and notes that his father is a member of the NOI many of their adherents have criminal backgrounds or at the least have had run ins with the law.i( The DC snipers John Allen Muhammed and Lee Boyd Malvo who came to Islam via the NOI are typical of the type of disaffected and angry people the group attracts).

Apparently everyone in the neighborhood where Shareef lived knew him because of his Muslim garb but the small group of Rockford Muslims issued a statement claiming they had had no 'clue' he even existed!

The statement made by the mosque follows the template put out in a booklet published by the North American's Imam's Federation which met last month contained guidelines for Imams on how to use the "opportunity" of such an 'incident' to state that Islam condemns terrorismm. It looks like Imam Nadzaku followed the guidelines to the letter.

We take this opportunity to reiterate the Muslim community's condemnation of terrorism in the name of Islam," said Shpendim Nadzaku, imam of the Muslim Association of Greater Rockford. Asked if he had ever met Shareef, Nadzaku said: "No one in the community has any clue as to who this person is - he's completely anonymous."
-----------------------------------------------

MIM: Note that The North American Imam Federation handbook instructs Imams that each week there will be an "opportunity to condemn terrorism" as a good Muslim PR spin. Indeed it didnt take long for an Imam to put the advice into practice -a Google web of Rockford Mosque now turns up Ima Nadzaku's boiler plate 'condemnation of terror' thousands of times and appears to have made every paper in North America. He followed NAIF's instructions to the letter and it yielded the desired results.

"... Given the unfortunate state of the world. it is likely that during each week there will be an opportunity to condemn extremism and violence. The Imam in charge of this week would write a short message, perhaps 50 to 100 to 200 or 300 words , responding to the specific event released in the news during their week. Then this message would be sent via e-mail to all the Imams on NAIF mailing list seeking their approval or disapproval of the event that occurred. Aftwards, an official statement representing NAIF's stance condemning violence and extremism could be issued.. NAIF would then phone the editorial page editor or the city page editor of the local newspaper or the local broadcast station to post Imam's official statements, NAIF would tell this editor that his newspaper or broadcasting statement will have sole and exclusive right (sic) to print or broadcast the message within the next 24 hours. Afterwards the message will be sent to the national media..."

Access entire NAIF conference handbook, in .pdf file format here.

MIM: Shareef's mother, whose ex husband was an NOI member, said that her son's terror plans were because he got involved with "the wrong people". According to the state attorney Shareef had scouted out possible bomb locations at the mall with others. Being a Muslim for 7 years means he must have also attended a local mosque-which could be the place where he met those whom his mother blames for his Jihad aspirations.She encouraged him to legally change his name to a Muslim one which means in part son of Salaam which could be the name of his father which makes her claim that she was 'felt uneasiness at his radical views' a hard sell.

Despite her uneasiness with her son's radical views, Dunn doubts Shareef could have committed these acts.

"I don't believe that my son purposely has done anything wrong," she said. "I believe he has gotten involved with the wrong people. … I don't know who he's running with." Dunn learned of Shareef's arrest from reporters after coming home from work Friday. She last spoke with him Saturday and last saw him two weeks ago when he returned from visiting his father in Arizona. Before moving to Rockford two months ago, Shareef lived "on and off" at the Genoa duplex Dunn shares with her husband and two other children. His mother had not yet visited his new apartment. Dunn expected her son to visit during the holidays, though he no longer practiced Christianity. Shareef converted to Islam seven years ago, a move that did not surprise his mother. Shareef's father was a member of Nation of Islam, led by minister Louis Farrakhan, and several paternal relatives practiced the faith. "He comes from a Muslim background," she said. Dunn, who describes herself as a Christian and who keeps an open Bible on her coffee table, did not object to his conversion. She says she encouraged her children "to pursue whatever religion suited them." When Shareef recently mentioned his desire to change his name to Muhammad, among other Muslim names, his mother suggested he do it legally. Court records show Shareef also went by the name Talib Abu Salam Ibn Shareef.

http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/index.php?ntid=110529&ntpid=3

Rockford Bomb plot foiled, FBI says

MIKE ROBINSON Associated Press
December 9, 2006 CHICAGO - When an acquaintance of a 22-year-old Muslim convert told authorities the man was talking about waging violent jihad, federal agents started watching and listening. The FBI says it taped Derrick Shareef planning to use hand grenades to blow garbage cans into clouds of flying shrapnel in a crowded Rockford mall the Friday before Christmas. "This is a warning to those who disbelieve," he allegedly said. Authorities waited to arrest the man until Wednesday, when they say he tried to make an unusual trade with an undercover agent: two stereo speakers for a 9 mm pistol and the grenades he would need to pull off the alleged plot. Shareef was charged Friday with crimes that could send him to prison for the rest of his life. Investigators said Shareef, an American citizen from Rockford, was acting alone and never actually obtained any grenades. "He fixed on a day of December 22nd on Friday . . . because it was the Friday before Christmas and thought that would be the highest concentration of shoppers that he could kill and injure," said Robert Grant, the agent in charge of the Chicago FBI office.

According to an FBI affidavit, Shareef had been under investigation since September, when he told an acquaintance that "he wanted to commit acts of violent jihad against targets in the United States as well as commit other crimes." The acquaintance immediately informed the FBI, officials said. Federal officials said Shareef planned to set off four hand grenades in garbage cans at the CherryVale shopping mall in Rockford, about 75 miles south of Madison. Other potential targets that Shareef allegedly discussed included government facilities such as courthouses and City Hall, authorities said.

The affidavit quoted him as saying: "I just want to smoke a judge." Shareef was born in the United States and converted to Islam, officials said. They believe he might have learned about jihad through videos and Web sites. "While these are very serious charges, at no time was the public in any imminent peril," U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald said in a statement. A spiritual leader of Rockford-area Muslims issued a statement commending authorities for intercepting the alleged plot. "We take this opportunity to reiterate the Muslim community's condemnation of terrorism in the name of Islam," said Shpendim Nadzaku, imam of the Muslim Association of Greater Rockford. Asked if he had ever met Shareef, Nadzaku said: "No one in the community has any clue as to who this person is - he's completely anonymous."

Shareef appeared briefly before a judge Friday and was ordered held without bond. He was charged with one count of attempting to damage or destroy a building by fire or explosion and one count of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. The latter charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. Defense attorney Michael B. Mann declined to comment on the charges. Shareef and his acquaintance cased the mall on Nov. 30, discussing the layout and spots where they might set off several grenades simultaneously to create more pandemonium, according to the affidavit. Authorities say that on Wednesday, Shareef met an undercover agent working for the FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force who showed him four non- working grenades and a pistol with non-working bullets. Shareef was arrested when he allegedly offered the speakers in exchange. The same company that owns the CherryVale shopping mall - CBL & Associates Properties Inc. - owns 78 other major malls, including West Towne and East Towne malls in Madison. Officials at those malls said Friday they'd been notified by the company prior to the news becoming public. "We do have security policies and procedures in place, but we're not in a position to discuss them because that could compromise our security efforts," said West Towne Mall general manager Paul Matyas http://www.dailyherald.com/story.asp?id=258191 She was worried about his ties to radical Islam.

Lisa Smith
Daily Herald Staff Writer
Posted Saturday, December 09, 2006

Even before federal agents said they foiled his terrorism plot, Derrick Shareef's growing commitment to radical Islam worried his mother. Marie Dunn didn't like the traditional Muslim clothing her 22-year-old son began wearing. She expressed concerns about the people with whom he had become involved. "He just started dressing to the extreme," she said. The garb made Dunn uncomfortable in part because she worried it would single out her family. As one of the few black families in homogenous Genoa, she says they didn't need another reason to call attention to themselves. The family, however, now finds itself at the center of a national news story after Shareef's arrest earlier this week. Federal prosecutors have accused him of plotting a grenade-driven terrorist attack on a busy Rockford mall during the holiday season. Despite her uneasiness with her son's radical views, Dunn doubts Shareef could have committed these acts. "I don't believe that my son purposely has done anything wrong," she said. "I believe he has gotten involved with the wrong people. … I don't know who he's running with." Dunn learned of Shareef's arrest from reporters after coming home from work Friday. She last spoke with him Saturday and last saw him two weeks ago when he returned from visiting his father in Arizona. Before moving to Rockford two months ago, Shareef lived "on and off" at the Genoa duplex Dunn shares with her husband and two other children. His mother had not yet visited his new apartment. Dunn expected her son to visit during the holidays, though he no longer practiced Christianity. Shareef converted to Islam seven years ago, a move that did not surprise his mother. Shareef's father was a member of Nation of Islam, led by minister Louis Farrakhan, and several paternal relatives practiced the faith. "He comes from a Muslim background," she said. Dunn, who describes herself as a Christian and who keeps an open Bible on her coffee table, did not object to his conversion. She says she encouraged her children "to pursue whatever religion suited them." When Shareef recently mentioned his desire to change his name to Muhammad, among other Muslim names, his mother suggested he do it legally. Court records show Shareef also went by the name Talib Abu Salam Ibn Shareef. Dunn, however, said she always called him "B.A." after Mr. T's character B.A. Baracus on the 1980s TV show "The A-Team." Growing up, Shareef and his family moved around a lot, his mother said. They settled in Genoa - a DeKalb County town of about 4,600 people - six years ago. Shareef didn't graduate from high school but earned his G.E.D., his mother said. He worked at EB Games, a video game and electronics store in Rockford. Dunn said her son rarely got in trouble, though federal court records suggest he had a grudge against the local justice system. According to an FBI affidavit, Shareef spoke of terrorizing the DeKalb County courthouse and "smoking a judge." Court records, however, show little interaction between Shareef and area law enforcement. He received four traffic citations - all in the past 18 months in DeKalb County - for speeding and driving without insurance. "We're not sure why he would have a problem with DeKalb County," prosecutor Ron Matekaitis said. "We would hope it wouldn't be over an uninsured driver citation." [email protected] • Daily Herald staff writers Stacy St. Clair and Eric Krol contributed to this story.

Printer-friendly version   Email this item to a friend