Wichita bomb plot spurs topic of 'homegrown' terrorism
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - At a news conference to announce the disruption of
a suicide bomb plot targeting a heartland airport, the special agent in
charge of Kansas City’s FBI office offered a warning amidst the
congratulatory comments.
“Today's arrest, however, emphasizes that homegrown terrorism is a continuous threat here in the United States,” Mike Kaste said, who helped run the months-long investigation which culminated Friday in the arrest of a most unlikely terrorism suspect.
Terry Lee Loewen is a 58-year-old avionics technician and a new grandfather. A Facebook photo taken by his wife just last year shows him smiling next to a birthday cake covered in pink flamingos.
But beneath that veneer, charging documents from the U.S. District Court in Kansas reveal a man who self-radicalized online and was committed to causing mass casualties at the same airport where he worked.
In a letter Loewen left for family members to discover after his car bomb was to have exploded at the Mid Continent Airport, Loewen writes:
“He is disaffected. There is something missing in his life and he's looking for something to fill that void that he needs,” Tabman said. “I don't think he was so much intrigued by being a terrorist as much as something to give himself some meaning. “
Tabman said the one trait investigators see in would-be terrorists from the failed Times Square Bomber in New York to a host of smaller foiled plots is anger seeking validation, often available on jihadist websites and literature.
According to the charging documents, Loewen told an undercover FBI agent he found inspiration in the writings of Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al Awlaki and that he had read Al Qaeda’s English language “Inspire” magazine and other Al Qaeda writings online.
“They're very easy to find,” Tabman said of jihadi websites and literature. “Especially when you're driven to look for it, you will find it. And you will interpret it the way you want to interpret it and you will find that reinforcement that you're looking for.”
But if the internet breeds would-be home grown terrorists, it also makes them easier to catch. Many are untrained in how to perpetrate violence and looking for experience and connections-- needs undercover agents can slip in and fill.
“The bad news is that we have people out there wanting to do [jihad],” Tabman said. “The good news is most of the time these people aren't capable of it. They don't have the network. It’s not easy to find a network of support in our country and we're able to get in there and disrupt it before anyone is in danger.”
To that end, Tabman said operations like the months-long effort that nabbed Loeman are an example of a prevention system working as it should: isolating would-be terrorists and learning as much as possible about their capabilities and networks, then arresting them before they can do harm.
“What we want to do -- we want to take control,” Tabman said.” And not have them out there shopping in the chance they do find someone out there to help them then we do have a tragedy.”
“Today's arrest, however, emphasizes that homegrown terrorism is a continuous threat here in the United States,” Mike Kaste said, who helped run the months-long investigation which culminated Friday in the arrest of a most unlikely terrorism suspect.
Terry Lee Loewen is a 58-year-old avionics technician and a new grandfather. A Facebook photo taken by his wife just last year shows him smiling next to a birthday cake covered in pink flamingos.
But beneath that veneer, charging documents from the U.S. District Court in Kansas reveal a man who self-radicalized online and was committed to causing mass casualties at the same airport where he worked.
In a letter Loewen left for family members to discover after his car bomb was to have exploded at the Mid Continent Airport, Loewen writes:
“By
the time you read this I will – if everything went as planned – have
been martyred in the path of Allah. There will have been an event at the
airport of which I am responsible for. The operation was timed to cause
a maximum amount of carnage + death.”
Michael Tabman, a
former FBI agent with 24 years of investigative experience said Loewen’s
fervor likely had little to nothing to do with a true desire for Jihad,
or a connection with Islam, but rather a desire to simply be part of
something important. “He is disaffected. There is something missing in his life and he's looking for something to fill that void that he needs,” Tabman said. “I don't think he was so much intrigued by being a terrorist as much as something to give himself some meaning. “
Tabman said the one trait investigators see in would-be terrorists from the failed Times Square Bomber in New York to a host of smaller foiled plots is anger seeking validation, often available on jihadist websites and literature.
According to the charging documents, Loewen told an undercover FBI agent he found inspiration in the writings of Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al Awlaki and that he had read Al Qaeda’s English language “Inspire” magazine and other Al Qaeda writings online.
“They're very easy to find,” Tabman said of jihadi websites and literature. “Especially when you're driven to look for it, you will find it. And you will interpret it the way you want to interpret it and you will find that reinforcement that you're looking for.”
But if the internet breeds would-be home grown terrorists, it also makes them easier to catch. Many are untrained in how to perpetrate violence and looking for experience and connections-- needs undercover agents can slip in and fill.
“The bad news is that we have people out there wanting to do [jihad],” Tabman said. “The good news is most of the time these people aren't capable of it. They don't have the network. It’s not easy to find a network of support in our country and we're able to get in there and disrupt it before anyone is in danger.”
To that end, Tabman said operations like the months-long effort that nabbed Loeman are an example of a prevention system working as it should: isolating would-be terrorists and learning as much as possible about their capabilities and networks, then arresting them before they can do harm.
“What we want to do -- we want to take control,” Tabman said.” And not have them out there shopping in the chance they do find someone out there to help them then we do have a tragedy.”
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