“A large part of the government’s case against Hendricks centered on his connection to one of two gunmen who opened fire at ‘The First Annual Muhammad Art Exhibit and Contest’ in Garland, Texas in May 2015. Elton Simpson and Nadir Hamid Soofi drove from Phoenix to Garland, which is outside Dallas. They wounded a security guard before a police officer and killed them. Hendricks was not in Texas but was chatting with an undercover FBI agent before and after Simpson and Soofi opened fire. The agent testified that he was in Garland at the time and saw Simpson and Soofi open fire, but he was not aware of the pair’s plan before it was executed.”
Erick Jamal Hendricks plotted to kill Pamela Geller and as many of the rest of us as possible at our AFDI/Jihad Watch Muhammad Art Exhibit and Cartoon Contest in Garland, Texas on May 3, 2015. The undercover agent was in contact not just with Erick Hendricks, but with Ibrahim Simpson and Nadir Soofi, the jihad terrorists who targeted the event. He told them to “tear up Texas.” He was in the car right behind them as they entered the parking lot of the event. They got out of that car and opened fire, and were killed by the security team we hired. The undercover agent, meanwhile, fled the scene.
We repeatedly asked the FBI why they didn’t have a team in place to protect the people at our event when they knew it was going to be targeted by jihadis, and why their agent apparently encouraged the jihadis to attack. They did not, of course, deign to answer us. The undercover agent, “Steven Jane,” then claimed at Hendricks’ trial that when he wrote “tear up Texas” to Simpson, he was not saying to do that, he was just saying what he thought another jihadi had told Simpson. All right. That may be. But even if that was the case, wouldn’t it have occurred to “Jane” that Simpson might decide to heed the jihadi’s recommendation and tear up Texas?
Yet the FBI had no one there. As I have speculated before, could this have been because they wanted us dead, to serve as an example in Barack Obama’s America of what would happen when someone dared to “slander the prophet of Islam”?
“Jane” also claimed that he had no idea that Simpson and Soofi were going to attack our event, and didn’t realize it until they got out of their car. But he was in the car right behind them. Simpson and Soofi had driven all the way from Phoenix to Garland. Did “Jane” not notice their Arizona plate? Did he have no idea what they looked like, such that he couldn’t get even an inkling, as he followed them, that it was Simpson and Soofi in the car? And what a coincidence! There were well over 200 people at our event. They drove in. Out of the dozens of cars that came into that parking lot, “Jane” just happened by chance to end up right behind Simpson and Soofi?
Pull my other leg, FBI. You really expect anyone to believe this nonsense? How about some truth from you incurably clueless, appallingly corrupt, arrogant and condescending functionaries?
“Man who tried to create ISIS-inspired terror cell in U.S. gets 15 years in prison, half of what feds sought,” by Eric Heisig, Cleveland.com, February 4, 2019:
AKRON, Ohio — A man who tried to create a terrorist cell to carry out attacks in the U.S. in the name of the Islamic State was sentenced Monday to 15 years in federal prison, half the amount sought by federal prosecutors.
Erick Jamal Hendricks, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was convicted by a jury in March of trying to recruit and train ISIS sympathizers. He vetted people to see if they were suitable to join him, espoused radical views, and instructed others to vet additional possible recruits through social media.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office asked U.S. District Judge John Adams to sentence Hendricks, 38, to 30 years in prison, the maximum amount of time allowed for the two charges for which the jury found him guilty. However, Adams said a lesser sentence was warranted….
The judge noted Hendricks’ crimes but also said Hendricks’ actions in court were respectful and that he carried himself with “a certain quiet dignity.”…
Hendricks’ federal public defender Ed Bryan asked Adams for a 10-year prison sentence. Hendricks maintains his innocence and is expected to appeal his convictions.
“I’m not the person that my accusers accused me of being,” said Hendricks, who wore an orange jail jumpsuit with his hands shackled at the waist. He asked the judge for mercy, but said nothing of the crimes of which a jury found him guilty.
Adams said Hendricks will be on probation for life, which he reasoned will allow the government to closely monitor his activities once released. He also barred Hendricks from having any terrorist literature.
Hendricks’ crimes
Hendricks was arrested in North Carolina in August 2016. His trial was one of the more interesting to take place in federal court in Akron in some time, and included an undercover agent testifying to a courtroom closed to the public.
Prosecutors said Hendricks did much of his work through Twitter and various encrypted chat apps, though the FBI tracked him in Baltimore as he met in person with someone he believed to be a recruit. That man was an FBI agent.
Hendricks exhibited a sense of paranoia and used counter-surveillance measures, often changing social media handles and breaking up words related to the Islamic faith with spaces when using chat apps on his phone, authorities said.
Justice Department attorney Rebecca Magnone said at trial that Hendricks had plans to buy land off the grid in rural areas in California and New Mexico to train recruits.
A large part of the government’s case against Hendricks centered on his connection to one of two gunmen who opened fire at “The First Annual Muhammad Art Exhibit and Contest” in Garland, Texas in May 2015. Elton Simpson and Nadir Hamid Soofi drove from Phoenix to Garland, which is outside Dallas. They wounded a security guard before a police officer and killed them.
Hendricks was not in Texas but was chatting with an undercover FBI agent before and after Simpson and Soofi opened fire. The agent testified that he was in Garland at the time and saw Simpson and Soofi open fire, but he was not aware of the pair’s plan before it was executed….