Syrian refugee sentenced to 17 years for plotting with ISIS to blow up Pittsburgh church
A 24-year-old Syrian refugee has been sentenced to more than 17 years in federal prison for providing material support to the Islamic State terror group as part of a plan to bomb a church in Pittsburgh, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Mustafa Mousab Alowemer, a Syrian refugee living in Pennsylvania who pleaded guilty in the Western District of Pennsylvania in September, will spend over 17 years in federal prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release, the DOJ said in a statement.
"Alowemer admitted to planning a deadly bombing of a Pittsburgh church in the name of ISIS," said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department's National Security Division.
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"The defendant's plan to bomb a Pittsburgh church and risk death or injury to residents in the area in the name of ISIS" was thwarted by the Pittsburgh Joint Terrorism Task Force, said U.S. Attorney Cindy K. Chung for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
Court documents say Alowemer plotted to bomb a church on the north side of Pittsburgh using an explosive device "to support the cause of ISIS and to inspire other ISIS supporters in the United States to join together and commit similar acts in the name of ISIS."
Alowemer also targeted the church, which he described as a "Nigerian Christian" church, to "take revenge for our [ISIS] brothers in Nigeria." He was aware that the explosion could kill numerous people near the church.
In May 2019, Alowemer distributed several instructional documents about making and using explosives and improvised explosive devices to an individual he believed was a fellow Islamic State supporter but an FBI employee, the DOJ said.
In or around June 2019, the convict purchased several items, including nails and nail polish remover, thinking they were needed to assemble a destructive device and "with the intention they be used to construct the explosives that would be detonated in the vicinity of the church."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Soo Song said the convict also identified other potential targets that included classmates and U.S. soldiers, according to The Associated Press. In court, Alowemer apologized to the church's pastor, congregation and nearby community.
"I understand the severity of my crime," he was quoted as saying. "I no longer think or act the way I used to. I no longer support ISIS."
The Islamic State is on the U.S. State Department's list of "Entities of Particular Concern," which signifies "actors that have engaged in particularly severe violations of religious freedom."
In August, a federal grand jury indicted Herman Leyvoune Wilson, aka Bilal Mu'Min Abdullah, 45, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, for attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State and establish an "Islamic State Center" in his state.
In July, Senior U.S. District Judge T. S. Ellis of the Eastern District of Virginia sentenced a Canadian citizen, 39-year-old Saudi-born Mohammed Khalifa, to life imprisonment for aiding Islamic State and narrating its propaganda videos, including one that showed the beheading of American journalist James Foley.
