“Lone Wolf†Islamic terrorist indicted for Illinois mall pre-Christmas bombing plot
5 January 2007: As previously reported by the Northeast Intelligence Network, 22 year-old Derek SHAREEF, a second-generation member of the Nation of Islam (NOI), was indicted Thursday for planning to detonate grenades at the CherryVale Shopping Center in Rockford, IL on the Friday before Christmas. The two-count indictment outlines his plans to use weapons of mass destruction at Rockford's 130-store CherryVale Shopping Center during the Christmas shopping rush.
SHAREEF was arrested on 6 December 2006 by an FBI-led anti-terrorism task force as a result of evidence obtained through an undercover informant. He is currently being held in the Metropolitan Correctional Center pending a future court hearing. If convicted, SHAREEF faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years in prison for the arson and explosives count and a maximum of 20 years; the weapons of mass destruction count carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. He also faces maximum fines of $250,000.
Editor’s note: Media Spin Alert
This is the wording used by the Associated Press: "CHICAGO (AP) A Rockford man who dreamed of becoming a terrorist was indicted Thursday on charges of trying to use hand grenades to blow up garbage cans at a shopping mall."
By this opening sentence, one could be led to believe that the actor simply wanted to blow up a few garbage cans in pursuit of some fanciful dream of becoming a terrorist. Nothing in that sentence mentions he fact (see our previous article) that SHAREEF, a Muslim, was arranging to meet a man he believed could actually provide him with the explosives AND the intent was to kill as many Christmas shoppers on what might have been the busiest shopping day before Christmas. Additionally, the mall was one of "several potential targets" that included a list of federal buildings as well.