4 Threat Matrix: FBI kills Islamist preacher during shootout in latest terror raid

Written by Wes Bruer on October 28, 2009 7:49 PM to 4 Threat Matrix

Available online at: http://www.longwarjournal.org/threat-matrix/archives/2009/10/latest_fbi_terror_raid_ends_in.php

A string of raids by the FBI targeting members of a radical Islamist group calling themselves "Ummah" has ended with 10 arrests and one suspect killed in a shootout. The leader of the Detroit-based Masjid Al-Haqq mosque, Luqman Ameen Abdullah (also known as Christopher Thomas), refused to surrender and was shot and killed after exchanging fire with FBI agents. Ten other individuals with ties to the nationwide "Ummah" were arrested and taken into custody without incident. Three more individuals, Mujahid Carswell, Mohammad Alsahi, and Yassir Ali Khan, remain at large. From the Department of Justice press release:

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 gun fire followed and Abdullah was killed. An FBI canine was also killed during the exchange.

"Ummah," or "the brotherhood," is an Islamic movement whose nationwide leader, Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, is currently serving a life sentence for the murder of two Georgia police officers. Al-Amin is reported to have preached violence and trained members how to use various weapons. The group's aim was to establish a separate state, governed by sharia law, within the United States.