Phoenix man sentenced in plot to attack Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest
PHOENIX -- A man was sentenced to 30 years in prison Wednesday on charges that he provided support to the Islamic State group by helping two followers carry through with an attempted attack on an anti-Islam event in Texas in 2015, resulting in a deadly shootout with police.
Prosecutors were seeking a life sentence for Abdul Malik Abdul Kareem, an American-born Muslim convert who became the second person in the U.S. to be convicted of charges of supporting ISIS.
Kareem told the judge he “had nothing to do with this crime” before receiving the 30-year sentence. Judge Susan Bolton called it an “extraordinarily serious crime.” Kareem kept his head down as the judge handed down the sentence.
Authorities say Kareem provided the guns that two friends used to open fire outside the Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest in suburban Dallas in May 2015, and hosted the two at his home to discuss the upcoming attack.
His friends, Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi, were killed in a police shootout outside the contest. A security guard was wounded, but no one else was injured. The contest featured cartoons that are offensive to Muslims.
Kareem did not travel to Texas and was not injured during the attack, according to federal prosecutors.
Prosecutors have said Kareem watched videos depicting violence by jihadists with the two friends, encouraged them to launch a violent attack to support the terrorist group and researched travel to the Middle East to join ISIS fighters.
Prosecutor Kristen Brook said Kareem played an active role in assisting in an attempted mass murder. “The offense was ideologically fueled hatred,” Brook said
She said Kareem had expressed his desire to strap a bomb on his body to kill nonbelievers. Brook also said he celebrated the 2015 attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in what extremists claim is retaliation for the publication of cartoons about the Prophet Muhammad.
Authorities also said Kareem inquired about explosives to blow up the Arizona stadium where the 2015 Super Bowl was held, but later set his sights on the cartoon contest after the stadium plan fell through.
Kareem was found guilty by a federal jury on March 17, 2016 of conspiring to provide material support to ISIS, conspiring to transport firearms and other offenses. The verdicts against Kareem marked the second conviction of someone within the United States on charges of supporting the Islamic State group. It was the country’s first trial involving a domestic attack committed in the name of ISIS, according to federal prosecutors.
It’s unknown whether the attack was inspired by ISIS or carried out in response to an order from the group.
Kareem denies involvement in the plan to attack the contest, testifying that he didn’t know his friends were going to attack the contest and didn’t find out about the shooting until after Simpson and Soofi were killed.
Kareem told jurors that he strongly disapproved of Simpson using Kareem’s laptop to watch al-Qaida promotional materials.
Prosecutors said Kareem tried to carry out an insurance scam to fund the Islamic State group and tried to indoctrinate two teenage boys in his neighborhood in radical jihadism.
Kareem’s defense attorney had asked for less than six years of prison time.
