Jihad Watch

Exposing the role that Islamic jihad theology and ideology play in the modern global conflicts

Colorado Muslima jailed for plot to join Islamic State says she is “servant of Allah”: “Jihad must be waged to protect Muslim nations”

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Shannon ConleyAmatullah Conley’s parents were aware of their daughter’s conversion to Islam, but didn’t know about her interest in extreme Islam or jihad.” They were not prepared for the possibility that their daughter could become interested in “extreme Islam or jihad,” because they’ve been barraged for years with proclamations from the highest officials that Islam is a religion of peace, and so they would never have been so Islamophobic as to think that their daughter’s conversion to Islam was a matter of concern. No mosques or Islamic schools make the slightest effort to teach converts to avoid the jihadist understanding of Islam, despite their vague condemnations of it. And no churches or any other non-Muslim organizations have any programs dedicated to helping parents prevent their children from converting to Islam, or even helping them identify danger signs in converts. Why, such programs would be Islamophobic.

“Woman calls self ‘servant of Allah,’ faces sentencing for ISIS plan,” CNN, January 23, 2015:

GOLDEN, Colorado — The Colorado resident who pleaded guilty to wanting to join ISIS jihad has changed her Muslim name and prepared a new hairstyle for her sentencing Friday.

Shannon Maureen Conley, 19, now prefers to go by the first name of Amatullah, she told CNN in an exclusive jailhouse interview the day before her sentencing.

The name means female “servant of Allah,” she said. A Muslim convert, Conley initially adopted the first name of Halima.

Conley attracted national attention last year when authorities arrested her on the jetway at Denver International Airport as she began a journey ultimately to marry a suspected ISIS member and become a nurse in an ISIS camp. She is a Colorado certified nurse aid.

Here are three key questions about her case:

1. What does she say about her crime?

Conley seemed friendly and nervous Thursday, sometimes hesitant to say anything that would upset her attorney, who wasn’t present.

She was happy to talk about less-sensitive matters such as her new coiffure: a tight braid to her dark brown hair, arranged in four or five rows. She wasn’t wearing a Muslim headscarf.

“Oh, this is for tomorrow,” Conley said about her new hairstyle for the sentencing in federal court.

She declined to go into detail, however, about her pending punishment, in which she is facing a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. She pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist group….

But Conley did acknowledge a measure of transformation since her arrest and jailing pending her sentence. That’s why she changed her name, she said.“I’m a different person than when I came in,” she explained.

2. What does her family say about her?

Her mother, AnaMaria, was blunt.

“She was clueless. She’s just a teenager, young, with a big mouth,” the mother told CNN last year. “I think another time, another place, she would just be another kid with a big mouth.”

ISIS is extremely savvy with its Internet propaganda, and her daughter was a victim of the jihadist group, AnaMaria Conley said. The mother worries about other impressionable young Americans.

“I hope that justice rather than fear will prevail,” the mother said.

She and her husband, John, were aware of their daughter’s conversion to Islam, but didn’t know about her interest in extreme Islam or jihad.

John Conley reportedly caught his daughter talking to her “suitor,” a 32-year-old Tunisian man, on Skype. The couple asked for the father’s blessing but he said no.

On April 1, the father then called FBI to report he had found her plane ticket for April 8 to Turkey on his desk.

3. How much evidence do prosecutors have?

The FBI and Joint Terrorism Task Force were tipped off to Conley’s suspicious activity in November 2013 when the pastor and security director of Faith Bible Chapel told local police that Conley was wandering around campus and taking notes, court papers said.

The church’s main campus in Arvada was the scene of a gunman’s fatal shooting in 2007.

When church staff confronted Conley about her notes, she allegedly told them: “Why is the church worried about a terrorist attack?” and that terrorists are “…not allowed to kill aging adults and little children,” according to court papers.

Church officials asked her not to return.

In an interview with the FBI the following month, she said she joined the U.S. Army Explorers to receive military training and intended to use the firearm skills to go overseas to wage jihad, court papers said.

Over five months, authorities interviewed her seven times.

Conley told them that “jihad must be waged to protect Muslim nations,” court papers said. She preferred to wage jihad oversees to be with jihad fighters.

Conley told investigators she “would be defending Muslims on the Muslim homeland against people who are trying to kill them,” according to court documents.

Conley told her parents that her knowledge of Islam was based solely on her own research she had conducted on the Internet.

Four days before her overseas flight on April 8, federal investigators again questioned Conley about whether she would engage in actual combat on the ISIS battlefield.

“If it was absolutely necessary, then yes. I wouldn’t like it … but I would do it,” Conley told authorities, according to court papers.

But, she added about her ISIS suitor in Syria: “He’s the man, he should be doing the fighting.”

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Filed Under: American jihadis, converts to Islam, Featured, Islamic State (aka ISIS, ISIL, Daesh), United States Tagged With: , ,


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Comments

  1. poor deceived “little girl” I think we should have let her go the Syria and join ISIS and become a Jihadi whore like she wants- BUT DO NOT LET HER BACK IN THE COUNTRY she will be guilty of treason against the US by fighting for America’s enemies. who will she try to kill when she gets out of prison.

      • Justin is very angry because he has been repeatedly (called out) by myself and others here for trying to distract from the topic on other posts.
        Now having failed to sell his BS, he is lashing out in desperation in order to discredit Jihad Watch.
        Unlike other defender of Islam trolls like Razali Justin tries to pretend he is not a troll.
        It looks like he has completely given up on his long ago false claim of being a Christian here as well with his unveiled Islamic style mentality.

        JUSTIN = MORON

      • Champ, IF i read Justin’s comments correctly-HE IS ASKING WHY ARE THERE BLEEDING HEARTS FOR THIS WOMAN WHO WAS WILLING TO KILL INNOCENTS.

        Who would be willing to do terrorist activities in the US- where she was born.

        I cannot see why that is sick.

        I can see the question- why the bleeding hearts for this bitch.

    • Why would any American woman in her right mind convert to Islam? Do they want to be treated like garbage? Yes, send her off to the jihad in Syria and take away her citizenship and passport.

      • I posted elsewhere on a JW post- re: Muslims/prisons.

        An acquaintance who is a part time/ contract prison chaplain (NOT for Muslims) told me that in some (perhaps many-prisons blacks become Muslims ” to belong” to something ( most are losers, anyhow–my view) and for protection from the white supremacists gangs in the prisons.

        That does not explain this dumb bimbo, however. Her bra size probably exceeds her IQ.

  2. Conley told her parents that her knowledge of Islam was based solely on her own research she had conducted on the Internet.

    WTF? So she didn’t went to a mosque or at least spoke with a muslim to ask about islam? How did she convert to islam then? Did she pronounce the shahada through Skype in front of her groom-to-be? You know, the muslim guy who didn’t bother to correct her on islam and jihad?

    • I wouldn’t believe her on this one.

      Because it sounds *exactly* like something that the Muslims would tell her to say, to keep everyone focusing on and blaming he evil internets rather than taking a good hard squiz at the local mosque.

      If I were the cops in her town, I’d sus out the local mosque *anyway*, just on spec.

      And I’d look *real* hard to see whether I could spot any Muslims amongst her actual face to face contacts.

      • I do not think I would believe her if she told me that it is often sunny in FL, and sometimes snows in Minnesota.

        She is an idiot and -in my view- not deserving of anything.

  3. “not prepared for the possibility that their daughter could become interested in “extreme Islam or jihad,” because they’ve been barraged for years with proclamations from the highest officials that Islam is a religion of peace”

    And, heck, she was in the Army Explorers, too.

    They don’t allow jihadists in the American military, do they?

    Do they?

  4. Rip that flag off of her shoulder, please. As an opponent of freedom, she doesn’t deserve to wear it.

  5. “Amatullah Conley’s parents were aware of their daughter’s conversion to Islam, but didn’t know about her interest in extreme Islam or jihad.”

    Hollow parents, hollow child.

    • I disagree
      It is not unreasonable to believe that the parents were aware of their daughter’s conversion to Islam but didn’t know about her interest in extreme Islam or jihad.

      She was an internet converted Muslim. She had a secret intimate internet romance with Islam. Unlike teenage boys who surf the internet for a quick visual stimulation with no attachments and then move on to other things, a teenage girl seeks a deeper romantic illusion, hence the Jihadi knight in shining armor riding a camel into a glorious battle just like in her teenage romance novels. No teenage girl would share all that with her family.

      • But they were aware of the horror of their daughter’s conversion to the Death Cult, and like most hollow people, weren’t concerned. . Since both parties were likely hollow.

        • With respect, I am not convinced that they were “aware of the horror” or that they “weren’t concerned”
          —————————
          The article says
          “Amatullah Conley’s parents were aware of their daughter’s conversion to Islam, but didn’t know about her interest in extreme Islam or jihad.” They were not prepared for the possibility that their daughter could become interested in “extreme Islam or jihad,” because they’ve been barraged for years with proclamations from the highest officials that Islam is a religion of peace, and so they would never have been so Islamophobic as to think that their daughter’s conversion to Islam was a matter of concern”

          Also from the comments that the parents make here it seems that they are “concerned”

      • “With respect, I am not convinced that they were “aware of the horror” or that they “weren’t concerned”

        If the parents were aware of the conversion to the Death Cult, and weren’t horrified, then they were hollow, which explains why the daughter was hollow too.

        • What is profound? The article says the parents were clueless about the death cult, and suggest their cluelessness was a result of societies own profound cluelessness about the death cult.

        • To KrazyKafir
          I was referring to Jay Boo’s comments on the heart and mind of a teenage girl. That is a factor in this kind of situation that should not go overlooked. I do agree that parents should be deeply involed in their child’s life so they do not go astray. A child should feel they can ask or tell their parent anything, and expect to receive good council.

        • “I do agree that parents should be deeply involed in their child’s life”

          I agree, but if the parents are clueless themselves when the child asks for guidance, then no wisdom is forthcoming and the child ends up just as clueless and venerable to the evil . With all that’s happening in the world today, and in the last quarter century, anyone who doesn’t know what a retrograde force Islam is by now, is hopelessly clueless, or leftist fellow travelers.

      • I wasn’t aware of the fact that teenage romance novels had knights on camels. Are they called
        “The Not Very Thirsty Games”?

    • Frankly, I don’t know anything about Amatullah’s parents except what I read or hear in the media.For all I know, they tried hard to instill some kind of good values, but like many other parents, failed. The desire to explore and learn is a strong impulse in many young people, regardless of how knuckleheaded they are in high school (I sometimes exploit this in teaching). Sometimes, it takes someone off in a bad direction–as it apparently did here.

      When young, love of art (back then, it got me labeled homosexual) led me to Sinology and the study of the Chinese language; interest in ancient history ultimately led me to Christ–plus the great blessing of learning the biblical languages. I think I’m a better man and better teacher for it. But I know a few of my generation and those slightly older for whom curiosity led to an idolization of some very brutal and vicious political thugs, disillusion, and despair. Perhaps the nihilism our cultural circles have unleashed on this generation reflects despair engendered by the collapse of that Marxist narrative during the last fifth of the 20th century.

      Pray for the confused soul of that girl–and many others like her.

      @Justin, as for your statement that Amatullah should be raped, I will resist my knife-sharpening and firearm-checking impulse (the females in my life are a wife, daughter-in-law, nieces, cousins, and a granddaughter–to say nothing of neighbors, colleagues, and students). If God were completely just, he would have the ground open up before us all and cast us all into Hell this moment. Yet instead he chose to join with us in our flesh-and-blood, gritty created world by taking on himself the form of a servant and giving himself on the cross to provide atonement for our sins; then proved the thing by rising from the dead on the third day. Believe in him and you may have life in his name. Maybe you are, as others say, just a troll. However, I pray that God’s Holy Spirit will get to you, too.

  7. Another example of how we will take Muslims into our military to train them how to kill us.

    No Muslims-No Terrorists

  8. Well, as my father was fond of saying, “You are only as good a parent as your worse child.”

  9. For all her bravado[a?], Amatullah Conley’s photo shows one scared young lady. Maybe it’s sinking into her what her exoticist “spirituality” has gotten her into.

  10. I am convinced these westerners – as exemplified by the young woman referenced in this article – which join Islam (even supposedly “more moderate” sects, as well as the overtly jihad-oriented versions) are MENTALLY ILL, or at least emotionally unstable (if there can be a distinction made between the two), and obviously view it somewhat romantically with the notion of “overcoming oppression and the oppressors”, etc., in some ways not dissimilar to the so-called “Stockholm syndrome”.

    Simply, I believe any western mind that can embrace this foolishness is aberrant, regardless of distinction. Frighteningly, the TV shows and movies that have become so rampantly popular in their depiction of “zombies” in more recent years, may not be too far off the mark when comparisons are made.

    “Interesting times”, these…

    • She enjoyed the attention of a man. She may have been a wallflower or picked on in school or maybe very spoiled by parents? Also I wonder if the parents are liberals who raised her to think all cultures are equal and all humans are good.

      • The parents are morons. Instead of seeing what Islam is doing they chose to believe people who constantly say that Islam is a religion of peace. They are morons because they don’t think for themselves. Even when there is proof all around them that Islam is violence and death they choose to take the word of some strangers just because they have a microphone.

  11. A few thoughts.

    The parents – or at least the dad – seem to have had a few grams of sense.

    When they caught her skyping her much-older mohammedan boyfriend, and she asked her dad for his blessing (note: as a Muslim strictly speaking she’s not supposed to care two hoots about what her infidel parents think of anything she does), he said NO.

    And from that point on *I* think Daddy had a bad feeling about where his daughter was heading.

    And this bit is interesting – “On April 1, the father then called FBI to report he had found her plane ticket for April 8 to Turkey on his desk.”

    How come it was on his desk? Did she leave it there? If so, why???

    And the moment he saw it, her dad picked up the phone to the FBI.

    He turned her in. And she got arrested.

    I’d say that maybe the parents were subconsciously more worried about her conversion to the mohammedan mob than they were conscously prepared to admit.

    To repeat, no matter what people may speculate about this woman’s parents’ parenting skills or lack thereof, awareness of Islam of lack thereof, the two things are that her dad did *not* like the idea of her running off to marry a foreign muslim man nearly twice her age – and her dad *said* as much; and her dad turned her in to the FBI when he saw she was about to flit to Turkey. And anyone who has seen more than one or two news stories knows that Turkey is one of the main entry points for those looking to run off to the jihadis of Islamic State.

    • Perhaps she was instructed to leave her ticket in plain view so she could be arrested. She would not have been a viable asset on the battle field. She would have needed more support from the cause than she could give. However, she is a great propeganda piece and more valuable in that respect. A sweet young muslim being persecuted for her faith by evil westerners. You can bet this story is being circulated in the middle east.

      • IF I remember correctly, the father is a teacher or professor. I am guessing that his desk is in a home office. And probably hooked up to or is a fax.

        That being the case-I can see why the tickets might have been on his desk. (In my opinion) it is a pain in the ass, on a cell phone, to have to keep press “One” for this; “eight ” for that, etc. On a land line, muich easier. I am sure that she used the phone to call someone and left the tickets by accident. perhasp she had to go to the bathroom; or her cell was in another room, and she heard it ringing, or a myraid other reasons.

        I doubt it was deliberate. I am sure that she knew, if caught- could have problems- and not hook up with her net male friend.

        Just my view

  12. WOW!
    Justin pulled all of his posts. What did he say this time? Some one enlighten me please.

  13. ()#My()Jihad()in()the()USA: JULY 2014 MUSLIM TERRORISM ARRESTS, TRIALS, ETC. (16!):
    No. 3. 2JUL14 Shannon Maureen “Halima” Conley, 19, Arvada (W. Denver), CO (White Female Muslim REVERT SAVAGE & mentally ill US citizen!); ARRESTED 8APR14 at DIA while trying to travel 1-way to Turkey to marry a man she believed was a Tunisian (“Y.M.”, 32) fighting for the Islamic State of Iraq & Syria (ISIS) terrorist group. CHARGE: giving material support & resources, including personnel & expert advice, to a foreign terrorist organization. CBI began investigation 5NOV13 when the pastor at Arvada’s Faith Bible Chapel called local police to report she’d been spotted taking notes at the church’s main campus at 6120 Ward Rd. on several Sundays in OCT13! The FBI said when officers first asked her why she went to the church, she replied, “I hate those people.” (FBC officials have a heightened awareness about security ‘coz FBC was the scene of the 9DEC07 shooting when Matthew Murray opened fire at FBC’s ‘Youth with a Mission’ Training Center, killing 2 missionaries! Murray CONTINUED his shooting spree that day at the Colorado Springs New Life Church, killing 2 more people.) She told investigators she DOESN’T LIKE Israel or FBC’s active & vocal support for Israel. She told FBI she joined the U.S Army Explorers to study U.S. military tactics & firearms (trained during FEB14 in TX) & intended to use the training overseas to wage JIHAD! Faces 15 years &/or $250K fine. 5AUG14 update: A new court filing in the case indicates her attorney is working on a potential resolution with federal prosecutors in the terrorism-related case. He filed the motion asking the court for a deadline extension so more motions could be filed in the case. 11AUG14 update: PLEADS GUILTY! 23JAN15: SENTENCED to 4 years! ‘ABC7NewsCom (Denver)’ – Alan Gathright. ‘DailyMailCoUK’ – Snejana Farberov & Daniel Bates. 5AUG14 update: ‘KUSACom (Denver)’ – Jeremy Jojola. 11AUG14 update: CO Public Radio/CBS4Denver – Megan Verlee. 23JAN15 UPDATE: ‘Reuters’ – Keith Coffman.

  14. ..parents were not at all concerned…?

    I would be concerned if my daughter started having “bible studies” with the
    Jehovah’s Witnesses….

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