American barber turned jihadist

Two years ago, after the FBI went looking for Shumpert (AKA Amir Abdul Muhaimin), [1] CNN reported that "scores of Seattle residents came to Shumpert's defense, signing a petition supporting leniency and writing letters saying he was a positive influence on their community." Apparently such goodwill (if not naivety) was, once again, misplaced. An update on [2] this story.

"Seattle Jihad Barber Killed in Somalia fighting for al Qaeda," from the [3] Jawa Report, December 12:

Ruben Shumpert (aka, "Amir Abdul Muhaimin") has been identified as the American killed in Somalia a few months back...

Back in April of 2007 [2006] the FBI raided a Somalian grocery store in Seattle looking for Shumpert. Too late, Shumpert was gone. Already on his way to Somalia to fight for al Qaeda's local branch, the al Shabaab Youth Mujahideen Movement.

Fred Fry has all [4] the necessary links and background to the announcement by the al Shabaab that Shumpert was "martyred".

Related: [5] FBI Raids Somalian Travel Agency, Guns Drawn