EX-MARINE BUST IN ‘TERROR’ PLOT
A former sharpshooter Marine was busted for allegedly plotting an ISIS-inspired Christmas terror attack in San Francisco.
Everitt Aaron Jameson, 26, a tow-truck driver from Modesto, Calif., was arrested this week by the FBI at his home for allegedly planning to target San Francisco’s bustling Pier 39, officials said.
Jameson had been discharged from the Marine Corps for fraudulent enlistment because he failed to disclose his history with asthma — but not before he earned a “sharpshooter” rifle qualification, officials said.
According to an affidavit written by FBI Special Agent Christopher McKinney, Jameson selected the Pier 39 location because “he had been there before and knew it was a heavily crowded area.”
He told the undercover agent that Christmas Day would be “the perfect day to commit the attack” and that he “did not need an escape plan because he was ready to die,” the affidavit said.
He asked for help obtaining a fully automatic military assault rifle, either an M-16 or an AK-47, along with ammunition and materials to make explosives, including nails, timers and remote detonators, the affidavit said.
He allegedly told the undercover agent that “we need something along the lines of New York or San Bernardino,” referring to the Halloween terror attack in lower Manhattan in which a driver used his truck to kill eight people and the shooting-related terrorist attack in Southern California in 2015 that left 14 people fatally shot.
His father, Gordon Jameson, was in disbelief at the allegations against his son.
“He wouldn’t do that to innocent people,” the elder Jameson told the Merced Sun-Star. “He’s a loving, kind person that would never hurt nobody.”
FBI agents searched the suspect’s Modesto home Wednesday and found a note signed by Abdallah abu Everitt ibn Gordon al-Amriki, dated Dec. 16, which in part said, “I Abdallah [abu] Everitt ibn Gordon have committed these acts upon the Kuffar [non-Muslims], in the name of Dar al Islam [the Muslim world], Allahu Akbar!”
Attorney General Jeff Sessions hailed the efforts of law enforcement in a statement that sought to assure the American people that the Justice Department was being proactive against ISIS.
“Today, our incredible law enforcement officers have once again helped thwart an alleged plot to kill Americans,” Sessions said. “The threat from radical Islamic terrorism is real — and it is serious — but the American people can be assured that the Department of Justice remains vigilant in protecting our homeland.”