Authorities: Beheading plot foiled
26-year-old man slain in confrontation with officers
BOSTON — A Massachusetts man slain by law enforcement officers Tuesday had discussed plans to behead police officers with an associate arrested the same day, according to papers filed in Boston federal court Wednesday.
Usaamah Abdullah Rahim, 26, who law enforcement officers shot to death after they said he confronted them with a large knife, had told David Wright “I’m just going to, ah, go after them, those boys in blue,” an FBI agent involved in the investigation said in an affidavit.
Rahim had ordered three knives, with blades ranging in length from 8 inches to 9.75 inches, from online retailers and had joked in wiretapped phone conversations with Wright, 24, about “thinking with your head on your chest,” according to the affidavit.
FBI Special Agent Joseph Galietta described that as “a reference to the practice of some foreign terrorist organizations to behead targets and place their heads on their chests in propaganda videos.”
The Islamic State, based in Syria and Iraq, over the past year has released multiple videos depicting the beheadings of captives, including several foreign journalists.
Wright, who was arrested late Tuesday in the Boston suburb of Everett, advised Rahim to destroy his computer and smartphone to ensure there was no record of the plot, the affidavit said.
Wright sat quietly as Magistrate Judge M. Page Kelley told him he had been charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice, which carries a possible five-year prison sentence. Wright did not enter a plea.
Kelley ordered Wright into the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Rahim had been under 24-hour surveillance by the Joint Terrorism Task Force, officials said. He had planned to travel out of state with an unnamed partner for his attack but early Tuesday told Wright he had changed his mind and would attack police officers in Massachusetts, according to the affidavit.