#MyJihad in DC: Muslim who fired on Pentagon gets 25 years

Yet another young Muslim misunderstands Islam by getting the crazy idea that jihad has something to do with violence. What are Muslim groups in the U.S. doing within their communities to prevent this kind of misunderstanding? Why, nothing. Nothing at all.

"Yonathan Melaku, who fired at Pentagon and other military facilities, gets 25 years in prison," by Justin Jouvenal for the Washington Post, January 11 (thanks to Daniel):

A former Marine was sentenced to 25 years in prison Friday for firing shots at the Pentagon and other military facilities in 2010, but federal prosecutors said it was just the start of a violent campaign to register his anger at the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Yonathan Melaku, 24, of Fairfax County told investigators that he wanted people to “be afraid for supporting the war,” so he fired at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle twice, the Pentagon, and then at Marine Corps and Coast Guard recruiting centers in Northern Virginia. No one was injured.

When he believed that the public wasn’t heeding his message, he planned to deface 2,379 graves at Arlington National Cemetery, shoot at more buildings and then blow up a military fuel tanker truck, according to court documents....

Melaku was arrested in June 2011 at Arlington National Cemetery before he could carry out the rest of his campaign. He had a backpack full of spent shells, ammonium nitrate (a component of homemade explosives) and spray paint that he planned to use to scrawl Arabic phrases on the tombstones of those who served in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Last January, Melaku reached a deal with prosecutors to plead guilty to three charges related to the shootings: injuring property of the United States, use of a firearm during a crime of violence and attempted injury to veterans’ memorials on U.S. property. The agreement called for a 25-year sentence.

In court Friday, Melaku did not speak about the crimes, but his attorneys and family members sketched a portrait of a young man who was delusional and suffering from schizophrenia.

Melaku’s attorneys said they had filed a motion asking for a judge to review the plea deal and had considered an insanity plea after a government doctor’s recent diagnosed mental illness. But on Friday, they withdrew the motion.

They said that Melaku chose to proceed with the plea deal instead of risking a trial and a conviction that could have sent him to prison for 85 years.

Nevertheless, his relatives pleaded for leniency, saying that Melaku was generous, especially toward the poor.

“My son is a sick person, not a terrorist,” the family wrote in a statement read in court. ”He is a kind, respectful and thoughtful person.”

A decent fellow, no doubt.

Melaku was born in Ethiopia and raised in Northern Virginia. He enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2007 and became a naturalized citizen in 2009.
In its statement, his family said that after he returned from serving with the Marines, he was a changed person. He began exhibiting bizarre behavior 2010; that year, he was convicted of smashing car windows in Leesburg and served a six-month sentence.

Melaku told investigators that he was radicalized after the Iraq War in 2003.

All five of the shootings occurred in the early morning hours, and prosecutors said they don’t believe that he intended to harm anyone.

Best way to ensure that is not to shoot.

In October 2010, Melaku twice fired a 9mm handgun at the Marine Corps museum, damaging windows. During the second shooting there, he recorded a video of himself wearing a ski mask and firing out a window of his car, according to court documents.
“Last time I hit them, they turned off the lights for like . . . four or five days. . . . Punks! ” he is heard saying on the video. “Now, here we go again. This time, I’m gonna turn it off permanently.”

After shooting, Melaku is heard saying “Allahu Akbar” — Arabic for “God is great.”

He fired at the Pentagon in mid-October 2010, striking windows. Later that month, he fired on the Marine Corps recruiting substation in Chantilly, and in November he shot at a Coast Guard recruiting center in Woodbridge.

He was arrested June 17, 2011, after law enforcement officers spotted him in Fort Myer in Arlington County. He dropped his backpack, containing the explosive material and spray paint, and fled but was eventually apprehended at the cemetery.

In a spiral notebook in his backpack, authorities found statements referencing the Taliban, al-Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden....

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5 Comments

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duh_swami | January 13, 2013 3:22 PM | Reply

Yonathan Melaku, 24, of Fairfax County told investigators that he wanted people to “be afraid for supporting the war,”

He tried to be victorious by terror, but it didn't work out too well for him...Apparently Allah was not willing so he failed...

jewdog | January 13, 2013 3:41 PM | Reply

An honest discussion of the Islamic texts is unlikely as long as such frankness is considered blasphemous and subject to capital punishment.
Islamic spokesmen never criticize Islam because they are afraid to, either consciously or unconsciously. Fear is ingrained in Islamic thought and is a key component of the religion.
There are two main consequences I can think of: One is that Muslims make great salesmen because they will only say positive things about Islam; another is that reforming anything that cannot be criticized is impossible.

thomas_h | January 13, 2013 4:08 PM | Reply

It is insanity to allow a moslem to join the military. Or the West.

Aardvark | January 14, 2013 2:35 PM | Reply

"A former Marine was sentenced to 25 years in prison"

That's 25 years food and lodging paid for by the American taxpayer. A small fortune, paid out of money that should be used for the benefit of the community, but will be wasted on this low-life.

America should either bring back the chain gangs or find some other useful work that these prisoners can do, rather than spending their time converting other inmates to their foul 'religion'.

Or if you can't make use of him, just send him back to Ethiopia.

dumbledoresarmy | January 14, 2013 9:32 PM | Reply

From the article - "A former Marine was sentenced to 25 years in prison".

That should have been: 25 years in prison, cancellation of citizenship, and deportation to an Islamic country, say, Somalia or Yemen or Afghanistan (Aardvark: I *wouldn't* send him back to Ethiopia, it is still majority-Christian, just barely, and I wouldn't want to increase their large and aggressive Muslim fifth column by the addition of even *one* more jihad-minded Muslim).

Question: was his family of origin Muslim or were they nominally Christian? That is: was he 'born Muslim', that is, reared-so-from-birth, or did he - stupidly - *convert* to Islam?

If his family are not Muslim, they are deep in dhimmi-style denial about what their son has become.

If they're *Muslims*, I'd say they are busy throwing sand.

Further observation:

the article says "Melaku was born in Ethiopia and raised in Northern Virginia. He enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2007 and became a naturalized citizen in 2009.

"In its statement, his family said that after he returned from serving with the Marines, he was a changed person. He began exhibiting bizarre behavior 2010; that year, he was convicted of smashing car windows in Leesburg and served a six-month sentence.

"Melaku told investigators that he was radicalized [that is, decided to engage in full on 'hot' combat jihad, jihad of the Sword - dda] after the Iraq War in 2003."

So: if '2003' is correct, this means that he had 'Gone Jihad' no less than four years *before* he joined the Marines, and no less than *six years* before he acquired American citizenship.

He was *already* dangerous, years before he got his American passport.

And that is something that bears thinking upon. How many others like this creep are applying for American citizenship while fully intending to lie through their thrice-damned teeth when they take the pledge of allegiance?

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