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

Chattanooga jihadi’s “closest mentor” would “constantly exhort militant Islamic views”

Jul 18, 2015 7:43 am By Robert Spencer

Abdulazeez

“Abdulazeez had several friends at the gym, but one in particular, a former Chattanooga police officer, would constantly exhort militant Islamic views and threatened anyone who bad-mouthed the faith, Schrader said. The man was the one who introduced Abdulazeez to the Fight Factory and became the young fighter’s closest mentor, he said.” Where is this former Chattanooga police officer now? Is anyone trying to find him or talk to him? If not, why not?

“Chattanooga shooter straddled worlds,” by Rick Jervis, USA TODAY, July 17, 2015 (thanks to Anne Crockett):

The shooting suspect in the deadly Chattanooga rampage was a talented mixed-martial arts fighter of Arab descent who embraced American ideals, but increasingly struggled to balance his Muslim and American worlds, his former trainer said.

The FBI identified Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez 24, as the shooter in the Thursday afternoon attack that left four Marines dead. Police haven’t said whether the gunman was killed by officers or shot himself.

Federal prosecutors said on Thursday they were investigating the incident as possible “domestic terrorism.” Federal law enforcement officials said it appeared the shooter acted alone, but investigators were still looking for any possible associates who may have helped inspire the incident or helped him acquire the weapon, said the officials, who were not authorized to comment publicly.

In the shaded, quiet neighborhood where Abdulazeez lived with his family, about seven miles from the Naval Reserve Center where the killings occurred, neighbors were stunned by the developments.

“I didn’t find anything wrong with the kid,” neighbor Dean McDaniel said. “He just intermingled with the kids in the neighborhood.”

Abdulazeez attended Red Bank High School in Chattanooga and went on to acquire a degree in electrical engineering at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, according to an online resume.

A page in his Red Bank High School yearbook shows a clean-cut Abdulazeez dressed in a tuxedo and smiling next to the quote: “My name causes national security alerts. What does yours do?”

Abdulazeez also had a sporting side. He trained at the Chattanooga Fight Factory, a mixed-martial arts gym, for more than a year when he was 17 and 18 years old, said Scott Schrader, the gym’s owner and Abdulazeez’s trainer. Abdulazeez worked out three to five days a week at the gym and quickly grew into an aspiring young fighter, he said.

Promptly each evening at 6 p.m., Abdulazeez would interrupt his workout and unfurl his prayer rug in the gym’s offices to conduct evening prayers, Schrader said. He would also hang out with Schrader and other friends from the gym at local restaurants and bars, where they would watch mixed-martial art matches.

“You could see he was trying to become more Americanized,” he said. “But his family disapproved (of the fighting).”

Abdulazeez had several friends at the gym, but one in particular, a former Chattanooga police officer, would constantly exhort militant Islamic views and threatened anyone who bad-mouthed the faith, Schrader said. The man was the one who introduced Abdulazeez to the Fight Factory and became the young fighter’s closest mentor, he said.

In 2010, Schrader drove Abdulazeez more than 100 miles south to compete in the North American Grappling Championships in Atlanta. Grappling is a wrestling-like form of martial arts that doesn’t allow striking an opponent. Abdulazeez won a silver medal in his division at the tournament.

“He was a good grappler, a good wrestler,” Schrader said. “He was a good, respectful kid. I never had a problem out of him.”

A few months after the tournament, Abdulazeez competed in a mixed-martial arts fight. After the fight, his father, who was waiting for him outside the ring, berated him loudly for taking part in the sport, Schrader said. “He was really furious,” he said.

Abdulazeez worked out at the gym a few more times after the incident, but showed up less and less, and finally stopped coming altogether. A 2009 caged-in fight between him and fighter Timmy Hall posted on YouTube shows Abdulazeez taking down his opponent and landing several blows, before the two-minute video ends.

But the clean-cut sport fighter was increasingly turning his attention to other things. He maintained an Islam-focused blog that explored the sacrifices Muslims should make in the name of their religion, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks online terrorist activity….

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Filed Under: American jihadis, Featured, Jihad in the U.S. Tagged With: Mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez


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Comments

  1. ICH says

    Jul 18, 2015 at 7:49 am

    I am hoping I can make this my fault.

    I need a new guilt trip today

  2. Dan says

    Jul 18, 2015 at 7:52 am

    Parody back in 2007.

    Real now

    • Angemon says

      Jul 18, 2015 at 3:17 pm

      Speaking of parodies indistinguishable from truth:

  3. sidney penny says

    Jul 18, 2015 at 7:57 am

    “Where is this former Chattanooga police officer now? Is anyone trying to find him or talk to him? If not, why not?”

    If Robert Spencer was in the Police or FBI ,imagine how many jihadi terrorism he would be able to prevent.

    Maybe not ,as a politically incorrect police officer.

  4. mortimer says

    Jul 18, 2015 at 8:11 am

    OVERVALUED IDEATION
    Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez was disciplined and thoughtful. He was not crazy. He was not underprivileged. He was like a Nazi SS officer or kamikaze pilot.

    His mentor threatened people who criticized Islam. Message: if you say Islam violent and intolerant, I’ll kill you.

  5. Alex says

    Jul 18, 2015 at 8:16 am

    It’s easy to see what happened here. This guy was a normal guy and he seemed decent. However, Islam turned him into a murderer.

    Islam must NOT be treated as a religion but rather as a cult. It MUST be banned in the United States in order to prevent such tragedies from occurring. I don’t know what other methods to use. Muslims who practice a white washed version of this cult are not helpful. Therefore, banning islam all together from the US is the best plausible option to prevent jihad attacks in my opinion.

  6. duh_swami says

    Jul 18, 2015 at 8:42 am

    This guy Shrader who trains fighters, doesn’t seem to care who he is training. Most MMA-UFC fighters have one or more black belts in some martial art. You do not get proficient in a year. In some Karate systems you have to train hard for as long as 10 years before you get a 1st degree black belt. One of my best friends and former trainer, is a 9th degree black belt Grand Master in a MMA karate system…he didn’t earn that over night, it took 40 years of hard work and a super dedication.
    I’m curious as to Shrader’s credentials…

    • celticwarriorcanada says

      Jul 18, 2015 at 10:58 am

      Exactly; Great Point Swami ! as we both Know: In the past , martial arts instructors were very careful and selective as to the students they would train .Even Bruce Lee , the father of modern mixed martial arts , did not just accept any student. Even though he was more open minded and less traditional than past martial arts instructors he was still selective . Unfortunately martial arts today has become so commercialized with most instructors being more concerned about their students paying their fees on time, rather than their motives and character. I was involved in Wing Chun Kung Fu and Amateur Boxing for many years , and even 10 or 15 years ago I began to notice the number of muslim students our instructor was receiving. Now we see the Chechens and the Central Asian muslims taking over Boxing ! But it was always there after the 60s with Cassius Clay ( I refuse to call him Mohammad Ali ).Who in my opinion was highly Over Rated . One wonders how many muslim threats and pay offs led to some of his victories! Martial Arts instructors today need to be more selective and and less concerned with their bank accounts .

      • duh_swami says

        Jul 18, 2015 at 12:55 pm

        I met Bruce Lee once…Chuck Norris as well…My old school is about 100 miles away, but I go there about once a month to keep connected and do some old man training…When I show up, the class is called to attention and everyone bows to me…it’s almost embarrassing, but because I am a black belt, it standard tradition…

        • celticwarriorcanada says

          Jul 18, 2015 at 1:27 pm

          Awesome! glad your still training man, and I hope your training your children and grandchildren ; which I’m sure you are . they will probably need it some day ! In the Canadian gun free landscape, unless your a hunter or a cop , your pretty well for the most part left dependent on martial arts and martial arts weapons,but as we know even these weapons can land you in alot of trouble these days . Very scary that we have Sharia cops in North America to protect us and who influence our young people at so called martial arts clubs

  7. sidney penny says

    Jul 18, 2015 at 9:21 am

    What is Islam?

    Some politicians are learning .

    Answer: like a rope at 3.19.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JnYAlnXaDA

    State Rep. Womick (R-TN) calls for purging military of Muslim Americans

    On Veterans Day, State Rep. Rick Womick (R-TN) calls for purging military of Muslim Americans

    • PRCS says

      Jul 18, 2015 at 9:34 am

      That will not happen under the current administration.

      The Federal Government would have to admit and declare that Islam’s teachings are incompatible with military service in order to purge Muslims from the armed forces.

  8. Cecilia Ellis says

    Jul 18, 2015 at 9:59 am

    “You could see he was trying to become more Americanized,” he said. “But his family disapproved (of the fighting).”

    “A few months after the tournament, Abdulazeez competed in a mixed-martial arts fight. After the fight, his father, who was waiting for him outside the ring, berated him loudly for taking part in the sport, Schrader said. “He was really furious,” he said.”

    – I would think that his jihadic debut found its source in his devout Muslim family and mosque. Great that they were concerned about contact-fighting, but not concerned about all the violence packed into that 1400-year-old war manual or the example given by their idolized “perfect man,” Muhammad.

    I am really tired of hearing, “He was radicalized through the internet and facebook.” In fact, I am tired of hearing the word, “radicalized.” That is just not the truth. Islam is not about radicalization; it is a way of life that confirms supremacy in all things. There is no such thing as “radicalization,” a term that suggests Abdulazeez somehow strayed from the right path. The death of five American military at the hands of this true Muslim distinctly occurred because he did not stray from that highway-to-hell road and because political and military leaders did not acknowledge that path even exists.

    My prayers go out for the victims and their families. America owes them a response that will ensure these wonderful defenders of our way of life did not die in vain. May God bless the men and women in our armed forces, and may He slap some sense into the leaders who spout concern for Muslim sensitivities as their first priority. While He is at it, may he take the teaching-moment opportunity to whisper into Obama’s ear: “Get the hell off your ass (Biblical term) and do your job . . . for once!”

    • Michael Copeland says

      Jul 18, 2015 at 1:02 pm

      “The individual who is ‘radicalized’ is not someone who is mistaken, who has gone ‘off the rails’, or missed the point, and so on. He is one who has bothered to study and understand the ROOTS of his ideology (Latin RADIX, root). As a result he is very well-informed and well-qualified. The radical doctrines are the base doctrines, without which the ideology would be meaningless. They are, to change the metaphor, the CORE.”
      http://libertygb.org.uk/v1/index.php/news-libertygb/5672-radicalised

  9. Mike says

    Jul 18, 2015 at 10:02 am

    Walid Shoebat’s site says he was really a Palestinian who changed his name.

  10. RG says

    Jul 18, 2015 at 10:19 am

    @Cecilia Ellis.
    Unfortunately, the Lord’s been screaming that into Obama’s ears from the day of his debut upon this earth. So far there hasn’t been any noticeable response except to hear him repeat the mantra, ‘God damn America, God damn America, God damn America’….

  11. underbed cat says

    Jul 18, 2015 at 11:52 pm

    Ex-police officer (or even an FBI agent) with militant islamic views does not surprise me. It shows how far off base this country has wandered into “diversity” with a complete disconnect of any information that allows for honest examination of an ideology that is dangerous. This may be why the “see something, say something” may not be working. You don’t know who the person is that you might talk to and what his views are regarding anything that may get reported. It could even be dangerous to report to someone who may be a muslim, if this person is at a point of devoutness. There should be a designated person to confide to who is not interested removing infidels.

  12. Uncle Vladdi says

    Jul 19, 2015 at 4:51 pm

    Seeing “Muslim police officer” is scarier than reading about a “Mafiosi police officer.”

    Oh, wait – the latter almost NEVER HAPPENS.

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