From abuse to a chat room, a martyr is made
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Jane’s Jihad NOW AN AUDIO BOOK
FREE DOWNLOAD HERE
The exclusive story of Colleen LaRose, the American-born woman
who came to be considered the new face of terrorism
Chapter one
From abuse to
a chat room,
a martyr is made
By John Shiffman
December 7, 2012
SPECIAL REPORT 1
Jane’s Jihad From abuse to a chat room, a martyr is MADE
Part one in a four-part series
“
K
ill him.”
The American who called
herself Jihad Jane read the words
on her computer screen. Colleen LaRose
was fiddling on the Internet, passing time
in her duplex near Philadelphia, when the
call to martyrdom arrived from halfway
around the world.
The order came from an al-Qaeda op-
erative. The date: March 22, 2009.
This was it, she thought. Her chance. At
45, LaRose was ready to become somebody.
A compact woman with a seventh-grade
education, LaRose was a recent convert to
Islam. She found a place for herself quickly, THE TARGET: The Swedish artist Lars Vilks, above, received death threats in 2007 after drawing the
raising money and awareness online for the Prophet Mohammad on the head of a dog. REUTERS/BOB STRONG
plight of her Muslim brothers and sisters. (Front page) The woman who pledged to assassinate Vilks, Colleen LaRose, is pictured as a child, left,
They were underdogs, just like her. and as an adult, after she converted to Islam. REUTERS/Family Photo/Handout (left) /Video frame
During her darkest days, LaRose had grab courtesy of Site Intelligence Group/Handout (right)
endured incest, rape and prostitution. She
surrendered her life to drinking and drugs,
from crack to crystal meth. Now, if she ac-
cepted the order to kill, she would surren-
conspiracy “underscores the evolving na-
ture of the threat we face.” A second said
How the series
der her life to a higher power: Allah.
The man who issued the directive called
the case “demonstrates yet another very real
danger lurking on the Internet” and “shat-
was reported
himself Eagle Eye. LaRose knew him only ters any lingering thought that we can spot
by his online messages and his voice, and a terrorist based on appearance.” JANE’S JIHAD is based on six months of
he claimed to be hiding in Pakistan. Eagle The case was so serious, authorities said, reporting in Pennsylvania, Texas, Maryland,
Eye wanted her to fly to Europe to train that they charged LaRose with crimes that Colorado, Washington, D.C., and Ireland.
as an assassin with other al-Qaeda opera- could keep her in prison for the rest of her life. The accounts, including the thoughts and
tives, then to Sweden to do what few other The court filings and press releases draw actions of characters in the stories, are based
Muslim jihadists could: blend in. a frightening portrait of the Jihad Jane con- on court records and other documents, many
The terrorists believed that her blonde spiracy. But an exclusive Reuters review of of them confidential, as well as interviews
hair, white skin and U.S. passport, even her confidential investigative documents and with people involved in the case. Reporter
Texas twang, would help her to get close interviews in Europe and the United States John Shiffman gained exclusive access to
enough to the target: Lars Vilks, a Swedish – including the first with Jihad Jane her- those documents and individuals. Many
artist who had blasphemed the Prophet self - reveals a less menacing and, in some spoke only on condition of anonymity. In
Mohammad by sketching his face on the ways, more preposterous undertaking than Ireland, the law forbids the government and
head of a dog. the U.S. government asserted. defense lawyers from commenting until
“Go to Sweden,” Eagle Eye instructed “I got so close to being able to do this,” court proceedings are completed. In the
LaRose. “And kill him.” LaRose says today of the plan to kill Vilks. United States, prosecutors do not typically
A year later, when U.S. authorities re- In truth, what happened proved comment before sentencing. The Reuters
vealed the plot, they repeatedly described more farcical than frightful, more ab- interview with Colleen LaRose, the woman
the Jihad Jane case as one that should surd than ominous. who called herself Jihad Jane, is the only one
forever alter the public’s view of terror- The conspiracy included a troubled trio she has granted.
ism. At the time, one official said the of Americans, each a terrorist wannabe:
SPECIAL REPORT 2
Jane’s Jihad From abuse to a chat room, a martyr is MADE
HOW IT HAPPENED
LaRose, 17, LaRose meets LaRo
arrives at a Her second Kurt Gorman, one-
Memphis husband a radio stan
LaRose’s shelter and is Divorced files for antenna Musl
biological LaRose, 13, LaRose, committed to from her first divorce and repairman. She
Colleen father rapes runs away to 16, marries a psychiatric husband, LaRose, 34, She falls in conv
LaRose is her and her Texas, where a man facility for LaRose, 23, moves into a love and Islam
born near sister she becomes twice her several marries trailer south moves to insta
Detroit. repeatedly. a prostitute. age. months. again. of Dallas. Pennsburg, Pa. mess
1963 1971-77 1977 1980 1980 1986 1997 2002 2
LaRose; a Colorado woman named Jamie But some civil rights advocates say the Ramirez, a lonely Colorado woman
HOW IT HAPPENED
Paulin Ramirez; and a Maryland teenager U.S. government has exaggerated the dan- known as Jihad Jamie, headed to Europe to
named Mohammed Hassan Khalid. All ger posed by aspiring terrorists – in this train for holy war. She was lured to Ireland
Colleen LaRose
have pleadedlies
repeatedly guilty to breaking
to the FBI, Eagle Eye, an case and scores
U.S. terror- of others.
Damache tells by a Muslim man promising a pious, mar- LaRo
ism laws, she
denying but visits
only jihad
LaRose was chargedoperative
al-Qaeda in “You
in can’t say that
Khalid these“wepeople
have are totally ried life but soon came LaRose to writes
believetothat all pass
websites
the plot toorkill
calls herself
Vilks. South Asia,
Her sentencing wasboasts of
innocent –already organized
they aren’t, and there’s some- he really sought was fellow Muslim
a cook, a maidconvert
and a Penn
Jihad Jane.
recently LaRosefrom
rescheduled asksDec.his19 bomb-making
to May 7. thing wildeverything” for them – but al- sex slave.
and scary about Jamie Paulin one
Mohammed Hassan prowess to Ali LaRose’s jihad. “We Ramirez, a Colorado expir
Since the 9/11 terror attacks, the FBI has most all of them seem to be incompetent Khalid tellsPerhaps
Damache, most intriguing is the story of
Khalid, a 15-year-old Damache, an are willing to die in woman considering to Kh
investigated
honor student, hundreds
to helpof cases Algerian the inand deluded
similar toliving in some
order way,” said
to protect her Ohio“If State LaRose,
the strikes are the aspiring anassassin
invitationwhose
fromdevo- and
Jihad Jane conspiracy.
delete her incriminating With each investigation
Ireland who University
calls professor
no matter John
what Mueller,
the who has tion
successful, I and
hope naivete
to left her
Damache susceptible
to join to re- ticke
comes
posts.aHechallenge:
complies.how to prevent acts ofBlack
himself ter- Flag.
written extensively
risk is.” about how the govern- see new cruitment
videos.” but pronethem. to failure. Aug.
rorism
Julywithout
17, violating July 18ment has handledJuly
2009 civil rights or overre- terrorism
19 cases. “When JulyIn22the only interview Aug. she1 has given,
acting to plots that are little more than bluster. you look closely, many of these cases be- LaRose says she became devoted to the
“We are going to err on the side of cau- come interestingly cartoonish.” Muslim men she met online and blindly
HOW IT HAPPENED
tion,” says Richard P. Quinn, the FBI’s as- Interviews and documents, many com- followed their instructions because they
sistant special agent in charge for counter- posed by those involved in the Jihad Jane seemed righteous. “I just loved my brothers
terrorism in Philadelphia. “We will go after case as the conspiracy On instructions
unfolded, re- Eagle
often from so much, when they would tell me stuff, I
operatives and operations that are more veal their innermost thoughts. They alsohandler Eye, her al-Qaeda would in listen to them, no matter what,” she
South Asia, LaRose hides her
aspirational
When an FBIthan operational
agent visits because to do show the gullibility of computer the main players or and
hard drive says. “And I also
flies To was
track...the
lost.”
artist, Jam
otherwise would almost
Colleen LaRose, be negligent.”
aka Jihad the ways that they botched almost every as-
to Amsterdam. There, sheIndeed, justLaRose weeks signs
into uphertojihad, she Colo
At least
Jane, at the outset,
in suburban Philadel-authorities had signment along the way.expects to meet a jihadbecame leader,homesick.become Andpartdaysofbefore
the return- Musl
phia,
no waysheto lies. She denies
be certain she of a threat
how much Khalid, a troubled ahigh manschool only as Abdul-
knownhonor ing from Europe artist’s virtual commu-
to America, she emailed Irela
has raised
LaRose mightmoneypose,for
given her resoluteLaRose
al-Qaeda attends the
con- student who lived with lah,his
andparents
train to kill
in a Swedish
the FBI - to nity. She usesthe
see whether thegovernment
name join
or has plans to fly to Europe to funeral of her boyfriend’s artist who has blasphemed Sally Jones and creates a onlin
viction and her unique attributes – primar- father. Maryland, inadvertently linked his secret might spring for her airfare home. Blac
join a jihad. the Prophet Mohammad. new Gmail account.
ily the way she looked. No one disputes jihadist blog to a page on his school website. Despite the media attention the case
Aug. and
that LaRose 21,Khalid
2009 managed to make Aug.22 Aug. 23 has received, many September
details haven’t been
contact with overseas al-Qaeda opera- We are going to err on the previously disclosed. Among them: how
tives and with a loose affiliation of young LaRose, Khalid and Ramirez became radi-
side of caution. We will go after
American-born male Muslim jihadists in- calized; how they found one another; how
operatives and operations that are they repeatedly bungled the plot that au-
HOW IT HAPPENED
side the United States.
Quinn says the case exemplifies al-Qae- more aspirational than operational thorities say posed a “very real danger;” and
da’s new approach to terrorism. He says the because to do otherwise would
Irish police detain how they came to sacrifice everything for a
Jamie Paulin Ramirez and LaRo
Jihad Jane conspiracy – from recruiting to almost Ramirez,be negligent
a Colorado Damache for group of strangers who promised immor- guilty
planning -
Colleen LaRose“represents the many
On arrival innew faces woman who arrived Richard P.
questioning. In theQuinn tality
In but forum,
a jihad delivered ignominy.
Khalid learns he to pro
of the terrorist
abandons plansthreat.”
to Philadelphia, the FBI in Ireland six weeks U.S., officials FBI Khalid,“Jihad nowJane
17,is a perfect figure in
has received some
a full suppo
assassinate a arrests LaRose and earlier, realizes that it announce terror writes that he has scholarship to ists, co
Swedish artist. Ali she confesses. The was a mistake to charges against daydreamed about prestigious John kill in
Damache, aka arrest is kept quiet travel there, marry LaRose. The FBI “martyrdom SPECIAL
Hopkins REPORT 3
University count
Black Flag, drives as agents investi- Damache and join searches home of operations” at his for the 2011-12 FBI an
her to the airport. gate the plot. his jihad. Mohammed Khalid. high school. academic year. identi
Jane’s Jihad From abuse to a chat room, a martyr is MADE
ways because it’s like a soap opera,” says never followed any particular religion. As
her intended victim, the artist Vilks. “This she continued to explore Islam online, she
is today’s most interesting part of terrorism met a man in Turkey who became an es-
– the amateurs.” pecially helpful mentor. He explained the
Five Pillars of Islam, and LaRose learned
The encounter the wudu, the Muslim washing ritual. She
Colleen LaRose’s path toward terrorism ordered a Koran.
began with what devout Muslims would After a few weeks, she discovered that
consider a sin - a one-night stand. BEFORE JIHAD: LaRose with her boyfriend, Kurt converting was easy; she didn’t even have to
Her tryst occurred in 2007, two years Gorman (right) and his father. The three lived visit a mosque. All she had to do was recite
before LaRose agreed to kill Vilks. At the together in a duplex near Philadelphia. the Shahada, a pledge to accept Allah as her
time, she was in Amsterdam on vacation REUTERS/Family Photo/Handout only God and the Prophet Mohammad as
with her longtime boyfriend, Kurt Gorman, his messenger. Just months after her one-
and the two were arguing. night stand in Amsterdam, while chatting
They had dated for five years and were liv- She could be a mean drunk and she lit into with a Saudi Arabian man, LaRose typed
ing in suburban Pennsylvania. They had met Gorman. He left the bar. LaRose remained. the Shahada and converted to Islam via in-
when Gorman, a radio technician, was dis- A short time later, a man approached stant messenger.
patched from Pennsburg, Pa., to repair a 307- her. He was Middle Eastern, a Muslim – Sitting before the Dell desktop com-
foot radio tower that stood near cotton fields and handsome. She went home with him, puter, an unusual feeling washed over her.
south of Dallas. LaRose was living beneath in part to spite her boyfriend, in part be- Happiness.
the tower in a single-wide trailer she shared cause she was curious. “I was finally where I belonged,” she re-
with her sister, her mother, her stepfather, and The decision would change her life. calls today.
two ducks named Lewis and Clark. She took as her Muslim name Fatima,
Gorman, who declined to talk to The conversion after one of the Prophet Mohammad’s
Reuters, was a few years younger than The Amsterdam dalliance with the Muslim daughters. “That’s the prophet’s favorite
LaRose. Colleen found him mellow, gre- man sparked an interest in Islam, one that daughter,” she reasons, “and I was my dad’s
garious and adventuresome. He fell for her LaRose kept secret from her boyfriend favorite daughter.”
loud, infectious laugh and her penchant for Gorman when they returned to Pennsylvania. By “dad,” LaRose meant her stepfather.
practical jokes. He flattered her with atten- To learn more about the religion, she Her biological father – she dismissively
tion and spoiled her with generosity. When began visiting Muslim websites. To meet calls him “nothing more than a sperm do-
she told him that she wished she had big- Muslim men, she signed up for a popular nor” – was, by his own admission, a monster.
ger breasts, he paid to get them enlarged. dating site, Muslima.com. The clearest documentation is contained
Her new size DDs came to dominate her She used Gorman’s credit card to pay for in a series of archived juvenile court records
4-foot-11 frame. access to the site. When Gorman saw the reviewed by Reuters.
One night during the Amsterdam vacation, bill, LaRose laughed it off as a lark. On Nov. 6, 1980 – when LaRose was
the two were at a bar and LaRose got loaded. LaRose believed in God but she had Text continues on page 6
LaRose
meets LaRose has a Radicalized, LaRose Eagle Eye, an forwards a Ali Damache,
man, one-night LaRose uses pledges to al-Qaeda Eagle Eye message from known as
stand with a Jihad Jane Jihadists use her operative in directs Eagle Eye to Black Flag,
Muslim man. online and overseas ask white skin, South Asia, LaRose to Mohammed messages
n. She later corresponds LaRose to green eyes asks LaRose assassinate Hassan Eagle Eye that
n converts to with purported become a and U.S. to “marry me the Swedish Khalid, a LaRose
Islam via jihadists Eagle martyr for passport to to get inside artist Lars 15-year-old “wants to join
instant Eye and Black Islam. She help Europe.” She Vilks. LaRose who posts it in a you in the
g, Pa. messenger. Flag. agrees. terrorists. agrees. agrees. jihadist forum. jihad field.”
2 2007 2008 Jan. 2009 Feb. 20 March 7 March 22 July 8 July 10
SPECIAL REPORT 4
Jane’s Jihad From abuse to a chat room, a martyr is MADE
THE JIHAD JANE CONSPIRATORS
Colleen R. LaRose Mohammed H. Khalid Jamie Paulin Ramirez
aka Jihad Jane aka Hassan aka Jihad Jamie
49, PENNSBURG, PA. 19, ELLICOTT CITY, MD. 34, LEADVILLE, COLO.
American-born, she lived a drug- Immigrated with family from Pakistan American-born, she was living with
addled life on the margins until a at age 14 and became an honor her mother and young son in a
chance encounter at age 45 student. Feeling bullied and ostra- Rocky Mountain town when she
introduced her to Islam. Following cized in U.S. society, he turned to the became intrigued by Islam while
Internet radicalization, she agreed to Internet to learn about his roots and researching a paper for a college
a conspiracy to murder a Swedish became radicalized after watching class. She converted, met Ali
artist who had blasphemed the videos of attacks on Palestinians. At Damache online and agreed to
Prophet Mohammad. 16, he helped LaRose and others join his jihad and travel to Ireland.
provide material support to terrorists. She married him there.
Ali Charaf Damache
aka Black Flag Eagle Eye Abdullah
47, WATERFORD, IRELAND PAKISTAN AMSTERDAM
Born in Algeria, raised in France, he Alleged al-Qaeda operative, cited in Alleged al-Qaeda operative
immigrated to Ireland in his late 30s. the U.S. indictment as the person who assigned to assist LaRose in
He persuaded LaRose and Ramirez put LaRose in touch with Damache Europe. LaRose expected him to
to join him in jihad in Waterford, and and ordered her to kill the Swedish teach her about the ways of Islam
married Ramirez. U.S. authorities say cartoonist. His whereabouts remain and train to become an assassin.
he conspired with a terrorist known unknown. His whereabouts remain unknown.
only as Eagle Eye.
SPECIAL REPORT 5
Jane’s Jihad From abuse to a chat room, a martyr is MADE
17 - she wandered into Runaway House, a
shelter for teens in Memphis, Tenn.
The girl’s platinum-blonde hair desper-
ately needed a wash. Her hollowed eyes be- Richard LaRose acknowledged to a counselor at a runaway
trayed cocaine and heroin use. She carried shelter that he had raped his daughter Colleen, documents
venereal disease. show. REUTERS/PHOTOGRAPHER
Colleen told a counselor that she had
run away from home at age 13 and lived on
the streets as a prostitute. She became preg- Colleen took the phone. Angry, her face chatted on the phone with her sister in
nant and suffered a miscarriage that left her flushed and tears flowing, she screamed at her Texas and played games on web sites like
unable to have children. At 16, she married father: “Look what you’ve done to me! You pogo.com. She also flirted with men in
a man twice her age. did this to me! It’s your fault! Why? Why?” chat rooms and became obsessed with fan-
Runaway House routinely saw its share A moment later, Colleen hurled the phone tasy warrior stories – she read Shogun and
of cruelty. But Colleen’s story deeply shook at a bulletin board, scattering notes and pic- watched the movies Spartacus, Braveheart,
the counselor, Ollie Avery Mannino. tures. Then she crumpled into the chair. 300 and Troy.
Colleen’s parents, heavy drinkers, di- The counselor bundled the girl off to a Not until six months after her online
vorced when she was 3. Growing up near hospital for psychiatric treatment. conversion to Islam would she re-engage.
Detroit, she struggled in school and had Mannino said she reported Richard In addition to passing time watching ac-
to repeat the first grade. Once, she came to LaRose to local authorities but, inexplica- tion movies, LaRose became riveted by
school with mouse bites on her fingers. bly, he never was charged with raping either violent YouTube videos of Israeli attacks on
There was more. When Colleen was 8 daughter. He died in 2010. Palestinians and American attacks on Iraqis.
years old and her sister, Pam, was 11, her bi- “He never did say he was sorry for what The videos of dead and wounded chil-
ological father began to rape them, Colleen he did to us,” says Pam LaRose, now 52, dren moved her most. Sometimes while
told the counselor. Her father, Richard who described the rapes recently in her first she watched, she could hear the young
LaRose, would appear at their door at night media interview. “I still have a lot of anger. American children in the duplex below
with a bottle of lotion, a silent signal that it Colleen feels the same way. We don’t talk hers, laughing and playing. The disconnect
was time to undress. The rapes started when about it a lot. Too much pain is involved.” infuriated her. No one seemed to know or
Colleen was in the second grade; they con- care about the plight of the Palestinians. It
tinued until she ran away. The cause was so unfair.
Mannino promised to help but ex- LaRose remained infatuated with Muslim By summer 2008, LaRose was posting
plained that the law required her to notify men and Islam throughout the first half of jihadist videos on YouTube and MySpace.
a minor’s parent that a runaway was safe. 2008. But shortly after she converted, she She used various names online, including
Colleen gave Mannino her father’s num- stopped taking her new religion seriously. Sister of Terror, Ms. Machiavelli and Jihad
ber. When the counselor reached Richard Pledges to stop drinking fell away. She nev- Jane. During the next year, she exchanged
LaRose, she told him that his daughter er visited a mosque. She never learned how messages with avowed jihadists – people
was in Memphis. Then she told him what to properly pray. with codenames such as Eagle Eye, Black
Colleen had said. Her waning interest fit an often flighty Flag, Abdullah and Hassan - as well as
“Yeah,” Richard LaRose replied without personality. In Texas, she had worked with a woman in Colorado who seemed a
hesitation, Mannino recalls. “I raped her.” in a nursing home. But living outside lot like her.
He said it sharply, without remorse, Philadelphia, she held no job and struggled LaRose didn’t try to hide her posts. She
and in such a prideful, guttural tone that to pass the time while Gorman travelled. didn’t know how. Whenever she wanted to
Mannino snapped her head, stunned. The She had her cats, Klaus and Fluffy, have a private discussion with Eagle Eye,
confession – or boast - is memorialized she simply let him take remote control of
in the confidential report Mannino wrote her computer so he could ensure the se-
to the court shortly after the call. To this REUTERS TV crecy of their chat.
day, Mannino, who spoke to Reuters with See the videos: Eagle Eye seemed careful, brave and
Colleen’s permission, vividly remembers http://link.reuters.com/sam87s righteous. He claimed to be on the run
what happened next. from Pakistani authorities and to have
SPECIAL REPORT 6
Jane’s Jihad From abuse to a chat room, a martyr is MADE
boyfriend’s ailing father also lived in the du-
plex. Whenever her boyfriend travelled for
work – often - she was left to care for them.
Sitting before the keyboard, she read
and reread Eagle Eye’s message: “Go to
Sweden…And kill him.”
She would have to choose one path or
the other – an exciting life as jihadist or a
mundane one as caretaker.
She chose jihad.
“I will make this my goal,” she promised,
“’til I achieve it or die trying.”
Patiently, she awaited further instruc-
tions from Eagle Eye. But she didn’t keep
a low profile.
FIELD OF DREAMS: Colleen LaRose’s sister, Pam, lived with her in a trailer in this Texas field for many Throughout the spring and into mid-sum-
years. Pam LaRose said her sister was easily manipulated by men. REUTERS/ANDREW LAMPARD mer, LaRose drew more and more attention
to herself, posting jihadi videos, anti-Zionist
rants and solicitations to raise money.
participated in the 2008 Mumbai attacks in I will make this my goal ‘til I Then, on a humid day in mid-July,
which terrorists killed 166 people. In mere achieve it or die trying a stranger approached the duplex near
months, LaRose grew to trust him implic- Philadelphia and rapped on her door.
itly. She asked what she could do to help. Colleen LaRose, aka Jihad Jane LaRose didn’t answer, and the man left his
His first request seemed innocent enough: business card behind. When she picked it
Send money to your Muslim brothers and A month later, LaRose also agreed to up, she rushed to her computer.
sisters, he told her. So she did, dipping into an overseas rendezvous with Eagle Eye, LaRose sent two messages – one to a
cash that her boyfriend gave her. to marry him and help him get “inside high school student 150 miles away and
LaRose knew that sending money to Europe.” another to her al-Qaeda handler on the
people who might be jihadists could be il- Finally, in late March, Eagle Eye asked other side of the world.
legal, but who was watching her? Among LaRose to commit her words to deeds. The messages were the same: The FBI
those she helped: a Cairo cab driver who Travel from Pennsylvania to Europe, he was on to her.
wanted $450 to fix his broken taxi. said. Find Vilks, the Swedish artist who
At one point, she also tried to send $440 has blasphemed the Prophet Mohammad. Tomorrow: ‘I am a terrorist’
to a Somali man who wanted to start an Then shoot him - six times in the chest.
online forum for an al-Qaeda cell. She soon LaRose felt torn. Edited by Blake Morrison
discovered that Western Union didn’t serve She wanted to say yes to Eagle Eye in-
war-torn Mogadishu. stantly. It would be an honor to become a
martyr, she thought. Few sisters received
The pledge such an opportunity. Plus, she wanted to
In January 2009, al-Qaeda operatives asked make Eagle Eye proud. He was so religious, FOR MORE INFORMATION
LaRose to do more. They wanted her to be- and though she had never seen his face, she John Shiffman
come a martyr. had come to love him - not in a romantic john.shiffman@thomsonreuters.com
She agreed, and by February sent an online sense but more like a brother. Blake Morrison, Investigative Projects Editor
message pledging to use her blonde hair, green But there were other considerations. blake.morrison@thomsonreuters.com
eyes and white skin to “blend in with many Her elderly mother had recently moved Michael Williams, Global Enterprise Editor
people… to achieve what is in my heart.” to Pennsylvania to live with her, and her michael.j.williams@thomsonreuters.com
© Thomson Reuters 2012. All rights reserved. 47001073 0310. Republication or redistribution of Thomson Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is prohibited without the prior written consent of
Thomson Reuters. ‘Thomson Reuters’ and the Thomson Reuters logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of Thomson reuters and its affiliated companies.
SPECIAL REPORT 7
Jane’s Jihad NOW AN AUDIO BOOK
FREE DOWNLOAD HERE
She agreed to kill for Allah and train as an assassin.
Now, Jihad Jane reaches out to friends
Chapter TWO
A vow is confirmed,
a jihad grows
By John Shiffman
December 8, 2012
ICONIC IMAGE:
Circulated after Colleen
LaRose was charged
with terrorism, this photo
was taken following a
drunk driving arrest,
a decade before she
became Jihad Jane.
REUTERS/tom green
county sheriff’s office
SPECIAL REPORT 1
Jane’s Jihad A vow is confirmed, a jihad grows
Part two in a four-part series How the series was reported
C
olleen LaRose, the middle-aged JANE’S JIHAD is based on six months of reporting in Pennsylvania, Texas, Maryland,
American woman who called her- Colorado, Washington, D.C., and Ireland. The accounts, including the thoughts and actions
self Jihad Jane, hurried to the com- of characters in the stories, are based on court records and other documents, many of
puter in her duplex near Philadelphia – the them confidential, as well as interviews with people involved in the case. Reporter John
place where she had spent months enter- Shiffman gained exclusive access to those documents and individuals. Many spoke only
taining murder. on condition of anonymity. In Ireland, the law forbids the government and defense lawyers
Minutes earlier, an FBI agent had left from commenting until court proceedings are completed. In the United States, prosecutors
a card on her door, requesting a call, and do not typically comment before sentencing. The Reuters interview with Colleen LaRose,
LaRose had known precisely what to do. She the woman who called herself Jihad Jane, is the only one she has granted.
emailed her al-Qaeda handler for advice.
It was July 17, 2009, and almost four
months had passed since LaRose had agreed
to kill in the name of Allah. Now, the FBI JIHAD JAMIE: Jamie
left a calling card on her doorstep. How had Paulin Ramirez was
they found her? And what did they know? living with her young son
Her al-Qaeda handler, Eagle Eye, lived in her mother’s home
in Pakistan. He was wise. He was pious. He in a Colorado mountain
would guide her. town when she
LaRose, now 46, had never seen his face, discovered Islam, met a
but during online chats, he had seen hers. Her charming Muslim man
blonde hair, fair skin and green eyes made her online and agreed to join
a prized recruit, especially for the undertak- him in Ireland. REUTERS/
ing Eagle Eye had ordered. She would blend leadville (colo.)
in nicely, avoiding suspicion. Eagle Eye’s plot herald democrat
called for her to travel to Sweden and murder
Lars Vilks, the artist who had blasphemed
the Prophet Mohammad.
When LaRose reached Eagle Eye, he online with YouTube Smackdown, a group asked them to delete anything that might
told her to call the agent back. Find out that flagged and reported hate speech and prove incriminating.
how much the FBI knows, he said. jihadist activity. Maybe they had contacted Then LaRose took the next step on her
Obediently, LaRose dialed the number. the FBI. But so what? Her YouTube rants path to martyrdom – an act she later de-
The agent picked up. couldn’t be considered a crime. scribed as one of the proudest moments in
Have you ever visited extremist Islamic Then again, what if the FBI knew more? the conspiracy to kill the artist in Europe.
forums? he asked. What if agents had read messages LaRose She found a bargain flight to Amsterdam
No, never, she lied. exchanged with Eagle Eye in Pakistan or for $400.
Have you ever solicited money for his associate Black Flag in Ireland? The men “I went straight to the airline,” she says
terrorists? were al-Qaeda - that’s what they said, anyway. today. “I didn’t use no middle person. I also
No. Another lie. What about her jihadi friends inside the made it two weeks ahead of time.”
Do you know anyone who goes by the United States – the woman in Colorado The plot, loose as it was, was advancing.
online name Jihad Jane? and the teenager in Maryland? Did the FBI Jihad Jane booked the flight for Aug. 23.
No, LaRose said. know about them? Or about her pledge to
The call didn’t last long, and the FBI kill the Swedish artist? The honor student
agent didn’t reveal much. She couldn’t tell Despite the concerns, LaRose plunged Shortly after the FBI agent left her du-
if the FBI had seen her YouTube posts sup- forward. Without disguising herself, she plex, LaRose emailed a high school stu-
porting al-Qaeda and violent jihad. began contacting fellow jihadists online. dent who lived near Baltimore, about
For more than a year, LaRose had clashed She warned them of the FBI’s visit and 150 miles away.
SPECIAL REPORT 2
LaRose’s shelter and is Divorced files for antenna Musl
biological LaRose, 13, LaRose, committed to from her first divorce and repairman. She
Colleen father rapes runs away to 16, marries a psychiatric husband, LaRose, 34, She falls in conv
LaRose is her and her Texas, where a man facility for LaRose, 23, moves into a love and Islam
Jane’s
born nearJihadsister
A vow is confirmed, a jihad
she becomes twice her grows
several marries trailer south moves to insta
Detroit. repeatedly. a prostitute. age. months. again. of Dallas. Pennsburg, Pa. mess
1963 1971-77 1977 1980 1980 1986 1997 2002 2
HOW IT HAPPENED
Colleen LaRose
repeatedly lies to the FBI, Eagle Eye, an Damache tells LaRo
denying she visits jihad al-Qaeda operative in Khalid that “we have LaRose writes to pass
websites or calls herself South Asia, boasts of already organized fellow Muslim convert Penn
Jihad Jane. LaRose asks his bomb-making everything” for Jamie Paulin one
Mohammed Hassan prowess to Ali LaRose’s jihad. “We Ramirez, a Colorado expir
Khalid, a 15-year-old Damache, an are willing to die in Khalid tells Damache, woman considering to Kh
honor student, to help Algerian living in order to protect her “If the strikes are an invitation from and
delete her incriminating Ireland who calls no matter what the successful, I hope to Damache to join ticke
posts. He complies. himself Black Flag. risk is.” see new videos.” them. Aug.
July 17, 2009 July 18 July 19 July 22 Aug. 1
Please contact jihadi forum administra- one bedroom, Khalid and his brother shared Khalid posted the videos and began to so-
HOW IT HAPPENED
tors, LaRose begged the teen. “Ask him to a mattress. In the other, his sisters lived beside licit money online for al-Qaeda. He never
PLEASE remove ALL my posts… because stacked boxes of perfume the family peddled aspired to kill anyone personally. He later
On instructions from Eagle
I told the FBI guy I don’t know that site.” at a weekend flea market. Their
Eye, herparents
al-Qaeda slepthandler
described
in himself as a “keyboard warrior.”
The teenager, who went by Hassan on- on a mattress in the dining room.
South Asia, LaRose hides“Iher will be a great facilitator,” he wrote to
line,
When didanasFBI
asked. “She
agent is being threatened
visits Khalid excelled during his first two
computer hardyears a friend.
drive and flies To track the artist, Jam
Colleen
by LaRose,
the FBI,” aka Jihad
he explained in a message to at Mt. Hebron High School. to Amsterdam.
He earnedThere,A’s sheTo shield LaRose signsKhalid
his identity, up to studied Colo
Jane, in suburban
the forum administrators.Philadel- in English, Algebra, expects
Science and to
U.S.meet a
History.jihad leader,
basic terrorist become
tradecraftpart
– of
how the
to use pro- Musl
phia, she lies. She denies she a man known only as Abdul- artist’s virtual commu- Irela
Hassan wasn’t a creative pseudonym LaRose He joinedthe
attends the chess club and later became an grams such as Pidgin to encrypt chats and join
has raised money for al-Qaeda lah, and train to kill a Swedish nity. She uses the name
like Jihad Jane. It was simply
or has plans to fly to Europe to the middle administrator
funeral of her boyfriend’sfor the school web
artist whosite.
has blasphemed Tor to cloak his location.
Sally JonesHe andlearned
createstoause onlin
name of Mohammed
join a jihad. H. Khalid, a gangly
father. Although his parents were thrilled
the Prophet Mohammad.with code words – for example, “HK”
new Gmail account. in place of Blac
Pakistani immigrant who lived with his Khalid’s grades, they began to notice subtle “jihad.” The letters were chosen because J
Aug. 21, 2009 Aug.22 Aug. 23
parents, older brother and two younger sis- changes. He seemed withdrawn and spent falls between H and K on the keyboard.
September
ters in Ellicott City, Md. so much time alone in his bedroom on his Now, in mid-July 2009 – around the
Khalid, 15, had met Jihad Jane on laptop. They worried he might be down- time Jihad Jane warned him about the FBI
YouTube months earlier and their online loading porn. - Khalid launched a new online endeavor.
HOW IT HAPPENED
friendship had grown quickly. By now, they
were talking to some of the same people
If only.
Eager to learn moreIrish about his Muslim
It was brimming with teenage bravado. He
called the blog Path to Martyrdom/Resisting
police detain
overseas: an al-Qaeda operative named heritage, Jamie Paulinthe 15 year old had stumbled
Ramirez and onto the War Against al-Islaam. From the blog, LaRo
Eagle Eye and a Muslim man in Ireland Ramirez,
violent jihadi
a videos
Colorado and become
Damache for addicted. Khalid linked to hundreds of videos of al- guilty
Colleen LaRose On
who called himself Black Flag. arrival in woman who arrived questioning.
The anti-American rhetoric proved intoxi- QaedaIn the In a jihad Khalid
forum,and violent
sermons learns he
attacks. to pro
abandons plans to Philadelphia, the FBI in Ireland six weeks
Like LaRose, Khalid had become radi- cating to an immigrant boy struggling to U.S., officials Khalid, now 17, has
He intended Path to Martyrdom received a full
to be suppo
assassinate a arrests LaRose and earlier, realizes that it announce terror writes that he has scholarship to ists, co
calized watching videos of Muslim chil- find an identity
was a mistake to in a place that embraced anonymous. His keystrokes betrayed him. kill in
Swedish artist. Ali she confesses. The charges against daydreamed about prestigious John
dren maimed
Damache, akaor killed arrest
in attacks
is kept Israeli neither
by quiet his race
travel there, nor hisLaRose.
marry religion.The FBI Pivoting betweenHopkins
“martyrdom maintaining
Universitythe count
or American
Black forces. Khalid
Flag, drives was not
as agents a con- Damache
investi- Khalid began
and jointranslating
searchesfrom Urdu
home of to operations”
school’s website
at hisand hisfor
new
thejihadist
2011-12 blog, he FBI an
her to
vert. Hethehadairport.
been borngate the plot.
a Muslim his jihad. sermons and Mohammed
in Dubai English violent jihadi Khalid.
vid- high school. linked theacademic
inadvertently “About Me” year.section identi
and raised in Pakistan from age 11 to 14. eos - snuff-style images of U.S. soldiers of Martyrdom to the wrong web page – the
Oct. 15, 2009 Oct. 15&16 Oct. 26 March 9, 2010 Nov. 22 Dec. 15 Fe
His family, classic American immigrants in the throes of death, and beheadings of page for his high school track team.
seeking a better life for their children, had Americans Nick Berg and Daniel Pearl.
arrived in Maryland in 2007. Khalid’s father Jamie joins
delivered pizzas. His mother kept the home. On August 1, 2009 – around the time
The family of six squeezed into a modern- REUTERS TV LaRose found her bargain ticket to Europe
day tenement, a tiny two-bedroom apart- See the videos: - a 31-year-old woman sat before a laptop
ment selected for its location inside the best http://link.reuters.com/sam87s at her mother’s kitchen table in the remote
school district his parents could afford. In town of Leadville, Colo.
SPECIAL REPORT 3Jane’s Jihad A vow is confirmed, a jihad grows
Jamie Paulin Ramirez felt stifled. Her he should wear his hair short or long.
young son, Christian, bounded past every Ramirez had been looking for a rea-
now and then, and her nosy mother kept son to leave.
making excuses to stroll by. Her turn toward Islam had begun the
As discreetly as she could, Ramirez tried year before, while researching a paper for a
to shield the screen. She and her mom had college class. Intrigued by what she learned
clashed about her conversion to Islam. It about the religion, she continued reading.
wasn’t that her mother objected to the reli- After a few months, she slipped down to a
gion; she had married a Muslim herself. She Denver-area mosque and converted.
just thought her daughter was overzealous. Now, her new, nonjudgmental friends
Ramirez feared her mom would launch on Islamic forums were enticing her to join
into a tirade if she caught her chatting with BLACK FLAG: Ali Damache (left), who went by them. The man in Ireland – the one Jihad
her new Muslim friends, just as her mother Black Flag online, after he was detained by Irish Jane knew as Black Flag - pressed Ramirez
criticized her for wearing a head scarf, or hijab. authorities in March 2010. hardest.
“When I would pray she would scream REUTERS/Patrick Browne Ramirez knew the man only by his real
at me,” Ramirez recalled in a document re- name, Ali Damache, and in his latest mes-
viewed by Reuters. “When I would wear sage to her, he persisted: Bring your son.
my hijab to work and to the store, she Their chat turned to politics. And, years Marry me. I will teach you Arabic and the
would say it was embarrassing.” later, the brief exchange that followed mystical beauty of the Koran.
One of Ramirez’s new online friends was would become part of the government’s Ramirez hesitated. Men had burned her
another recent convert to Islam, a woman case against both of them. so many times. She liked what she knew of
from Pennsylvania who sometimes called Jihad Jane: “When our brothers defend Damache. He was nice – he complimented her
herself Jihad Jane. They seemed a lot alike our faith [and] their homes, they are terror- on the color schemes of her hijabs. Even so....
– they were both white, blonde, Americans. ist. Fine, then I am a terrorist and proud to Damache urged her to ask Allah for guid-
And each had gravitated toward Muslim be this.” ance. Pray forLaRose
a week, each night before bed-
meets LaRose has a Radicalized,
men in Europe, including one man in LaRose Eagle Eye, an
Ramirez: “That’s right … If that’s how time, he said, then consider forwards a Alicolors
the Damache,
of the
man, one-night LaRose uses pledges to al-Qaeda Eagle Eye message from known as
Ireland. He had been
stand with a Jihad Jane trying to persuade
Jihadists they call it,
use her then so be it. I am what
operative in I am.”directsdreams: If the dreams
Eagle Eye to come in white or
Black Flag,green,
Ramirez to bring her
Muslim man. online andson and join him there.
overseas ask Ramirez was
white skin, raised a Methodist,
South Asia, but she it
LaRose to is a sign that she
Mohammedshould to flymessages with
to Ireland
n. Onlater
She this day, Jihad
corresponds LaRose
Jane wrote with big to had become
green eyesembittered toward
asks LaRose God and her
assassinate son; if the dreams
Hassan come in red or black,
Eagle she
Eye that
n converts to with purported become a and U.S. to “marry me the Swedish
news: “Soon, I will be leaving for Europe abandoned religion years earlier following and her son should stay in Colorado. Khalid, a LaRose
toIslam via other brothers
be with jihadists & sisters.martyr
Eagle Whenfor her sister’s
passport to get inside
deathtofrom cancer. artist Lars Ramirez15-year-old
struggled to recall “wants to join
her dreams,
instant Eye and Black Islam. She help Europe.” She Vilks. LaRose who posts it in a you in the
g, Pa. I get to Europe, I will send for you to come
agrees. Thrice divorced, Ramirez had moved agrees. in but it wouldn’t matter. Damache told her he
messenger. Flag. terrorists. agrees. jihadist forum. jihad field.”
be there with me… This place will be like a with her mother to save money. But they had prayed, too, and his dreams were glow-
2 2007
training camp as well 2008
as a home.” Jan. 2009 quarreled Feb. 20especiallyMarch
often, 7 young
about her March 22 – the
ing green July
color8of Islam, and July 10
of Ireland.
“I would love to go over there,” Ramirez son – what he should read, how he should OK, Ramirez agreed, that must be a sign
replied. pray, what he should eat for dinner, whether Text continues on page 6
LaRose steals two Damache emails an
passports from her unidentified contact in
nvert Pennsylvania boyfriend; Eastern Europe: “The job is LaRose emails a
one is valid, the other is to knock some individuals purported al-Qaeda
ado expired. She mails them that are harming Islam.” He Eagle Eye In Pennsylvania, contact: “I will be
ng to Khalid in Maryland explains that he is structur- advises Damache the father of away from here in a
m and buys a one-way ing a “planning team,” to “keep a low LaRose’s couple days.” Within
ticket to Amsterdam for “research team,” “action profile” and shave boyfriend dies of hours, an FBI agent
Aug. 23. team” and “finance team.” his beard. a heart attack. knocks on her door.
Early August Aug. 7 Aug. 11 Aug. 20 Aug.21
SPECIAL REPORT 4Jane’s Jihad A vow is confirmed, a jihad grows
THE JIHAD JANE CONSPIRATORS
Colleen R. LaRose Mohammed H. Khalid Jamie Paulin Ramirez
aka Jihad Jane aka Hassan aka Jihad Jamie
49, PENNSBURG, PA. 19, ELLICOTT CITY, MD. 34, LEADVILLE, COLO.
American-born, she lived a drug- Immigrated with family from Pakistan American-born, she was living with
addled life on the margins until a at age 14 and became an honor her mother and young son in a
chance encounter at age 45 student. Feeling bullied and ostra- Rocky Mountain town when she
introduced her to Islam. Following cized in U.S. society, he turned to the became intrigued by Islam while
Internet radicalization, she agreed to Internet to learn about his roots and researching a paper for a college
a conspiracy to murder a Swedish became radicalized after watching class. She converted, met Ali
artist who had blasphemed the videos of attacks on Palestinians. At Damache online and agreed to
Prophet Mohammad. 16, he helped LaRose and others join his jihad and travel to Ireland.
provide material support to terrorists. She married him there.
Ali Charaf Damache
aka Black Flag Eagle Eye Abdullah
47, WATERFORD, IRELAND PAKISTAN AMSTERDAM
Born in Algeria, raised in France, he Alleged al-Qaeda operative, cited in Alleged al-Qaeda operative
immigrated to Ireland in his late 30s. the U.S. indictment as the person who assigned to assist LaRose in
He persuaded LaRose and Ramirez put LaRose in touch with Damache Europe. LaRose expected him to
to join him in jihad in Waterford, and and ordered her to kill the Swedish teach her about the ways of Islam
married Ramirez. U.S. authorities say cartoonist. His whereabouts remain and train to become an assassin.
he conspired with a terrorist known unknown. His whereabouts remain unknown.
only as Eagle Eye.
SPECIAL REPORT 5Jane’s Jihad A vow is confirmed, a jihad grows
A worldwide conspiracy
The Jihad Jane case spanned three continents and six different time zones.
Pennsburg, Pa. Amsterdam
Colleen LaRose, Colleen LaRose became
aka Jihad Jane, intrigued by Islam during a 2007
Leadville, Colo. lived outside trip here, then returned in 2009
Jamie Paulin Philadelphia with expecting to train for the murder
Ramirez, a her boyfriend, plot against a Swedish artist. Sweden
single mother, after moving Swedish artist Lars Vilks
lived in a remote there in 2002. received death threats from
Rocky Mountain Islamic jihadists after
town with her blaspheming the Prophet
mother and son. Mohammad.
Pakistan
Ferris, Texas
Ellicott City, Md. Waterford, Eagle Eye, the
Colleen LaRose
Ireland name an
lived with her Mohammed
Ali Damache, aka unidentified
sister, mother Hassan Khalid, a
Black Flag, was Pakistani man
and stepfather in high school honor
born in Algeria, used online,
a single-wide student, lived near
raised in France claimed to work
trailer in a field Baltimore with his
and lived in with al-Qaeda.
south of Dallas parents after
from 1997 until moving from southern Ireland.
about 2002. Pakistan in 2007.
from Allah. She began shopping for two an accident. It was intended.” work on important matters.”
plane tickets to Ireland. A short while before her flight, LaRose Within hours, LaRose heard a knock on
stole her boyfriend’s passport and birth certif- the door of her home near Philadelphia.
The passports icate, presumably to provide false identifica- The FBI had returned. This time,
In the weeks leading up to her own flight to tion for the terrorists. LaRose located two of LaRose answered.
Europe, LaRose grew excited about what the boyfriend’s passports, one current and one
lay ahead. expired, as well as several birth certificates. Tomorrow: The jihad begins
Finally, she would meet some true Following her handler’s instructions,
Muslims – men more righteous than she LaRose mailed everything to young Khalid Edited by Blake Morrison
was, people wholly committed to the cause. near Baltimore.
They would teach her to pray and the ways Then, days before the flight to
of Allah. More important, they would ac- Amsterdam and the start of her new life,
cept her as one of their own. the realities of her old one intervened: Her FOR MORE INFORMATION
It would be an honor to fly to Amsterdam boyfriend’s father suffered a heart attack. John Shiffman
for training, then travel on to Sweden to Soon after, he died. john.shiffman@thomsonreuters.com
carry out the killing. LaRose wasn’t deterred. She let her al- Blake Morrison, Investigative Projects Editor
Her instructions: to shoot the artist Qaeda associates know she was still com- blake.morrison@thomsonreuters.com
Vilks six times in the chest. “That way,” ing. “I will be away from here in a couple Michael Williams, Global Enterprise Editor
LaRose recalls today, “they know it was not days…” she wrote. “Then…I will get to michael.j.williams@thomsonreuters.com
© Thomson Reuters 2012. All rights reserved. 47001073 0310. Republication or redistribution of Thomson Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is prohibited without the prior written consent of
Thomson Reuters. ‘Thomson Reuters’ and the Thomson Reuters logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of Thomson reuters and its affiliated companies.
SPECIAL REPORT 6Jane’s Jihad NOW AN AUDIO BOOK
FREE DOWNLOAD HERE
A death in the family complicated her plans,
but Colleen LaRose packs her bags for Europe
Chapter THREE
The FBI visits,
the jihad begins
By John Shiffman
December 9, 2012 THE CONVERT: After
becoming radicalized online,
American-born Colleen
LaRose flew to Europe to
embark on her jihad. REUTERS/
Site Intelligence Group
SPECIAL REPORT 1Jane’s Jihad The FBI visits, the jihad begins
IRISH EPICENTER: (left) Ali Damache, the alleged terrorist, rented a small apartment in the southern Irish city of Waterford. U.S. authorities say he lured
two American-born women, recent converts to Islam, Colleen LaRose and Jamie Paulin Ramirez, there in fall 2009. (right) Local Muslims converted this
suburban Waterford home into a mosque. REUTERS/Andrew Lampard
Part three in a four-part series learn as much as possible. Yeah, she said, maybe and stashed it in a box. She gathered $2,000
her political views had angered others online. in cash and packed three suitcases. With a
C
olleen LaRose answered the door of But she denied raising money for al-Qaeda or bargain plane ticket to Amsterdam in hand,
her duplex near Philadelphia to find having any connection with extremists. LaRose persuaded an acquaintance to drive
an FBI agent standing on the porch. Lying to the FBI is a crime, the agent her to the airport.
He had questions about her interest in told her. She was moving ahead with the plan
Islamic websites. OK, she said. conceived by the al-Qaeda operative in
For LaRose, whose online name was Then he asked if she planned to travel Pakistan, the man she knew only as Eagle
Jihad Jane, it was the second time the FBI to Holland. Eye. Already, she had pledged to kill the
had questioned her that summer. Weeks She was thinking about it, she told the Swedish artist Lars Vilks. He had blas-
earlier, she’d spoken with an agent by phone agent, but there had been a death in the fam- phemed Islam by drawing the Prophet
and offered a series of lame lies: She had ily – a heart attack had just taken her boy- Mohammad’s head on a dog.
denied any interest in jihadist forums, de- friend’s father. His funeral was the next day. As she headed to Europe with plans to
nied wiring money overseas, denied that When the agent asked for a way to keep murder in the name of Allah, LaRose left
she went by Jihad Jane. in touch, LaRose gave him her cell number. her boyfriend and mother with the impres-
This time, on Aug. 21, 2009, LaRose Call anytime next week, she told him. sion she was running a quick errand.
lied less. A day later, LaRose attended the funer-
Yes, she visited Muslims websites, she said. al. The day after the service, Aug. 23, she Mary Richards
As a recent convert to Islam, she wanted to pulled the hard drive from her computer Landing in Amsterdam, Colleen LaRose
felt euphoric. She had shed her old life
– 46 years scarred by rapes, prostitution,
How the series was reported drugs and failed marriages – for this new
one full of promise.
JANE’S JIHAD is based on six months of reporting in Pennsylvania, Texas, Maryland, At the airport, LaRose donned a full
Colorado, Washington, D.C., and Ireland. The accounts, including the thoughts and actions burka for the first time. More firsts awaited:
of characters in the stories, are based on court records and other documents, many of She would meet her first jihadist, enter her
them confidential, as well as interviews with people involved in the case. Reporter John first mosque and learn how to pray.
Shiffman gained exclusive access to those documents and individuals. Many spoke only She gave the taxi driver the name of the
on condition of anonymity. In Ireland, the law forbids the government and defense lawyers mosque, and as the cab pulled away from
from commenting until court proceedings are completed. In the United States, prosecutors the airport, a song from childhood popped
do not typically comment before sentencing. The Reuters interview with Colleen LaRose, into her head.
the woman who called herself Jihad Jane, is the only one she has granted. Who can turn the world on with her smile?
SPECIAL REPORT 2Jihad Jane. LaRose asks his bomb-making everything” for Jamie Paulin one
Mohammed Hassan prowess to Ali LaRose’s jihad. “We Ramirez, a Colorado expir
Khalid, a 15-year-old Damache, an are willing to die in Khalid tells Damache, woman considering to Kh
honor student, to help Algerian living in order to protect her “If the strikes are an invitation from and
Jane’s
delete herJihad The FBIIreland
incriminating visits,
whothe
calls jihadno
begins
matter what the successful, I hope to Damache to join ticke
posts. He complies. himself Black Flag. risk is.” see new videos.” them. Aug.
July 17, 2009 July 18 July 19 July 22 Aug. 1
HOW IT HAPPENED
On instructions from Eagle
Eye, her al-Qaeda handler in
South Asia, LaRose hides her
When an FBI agent visits computer hard drive and flies To track the artist, Jam
Colleen LaRose, aka Jihad to Amsterdam. There, she LaRose signs up to Colo
Jane, in suburban Philadel- expects to meet a jihad leader, become part of the Musl
phia, she lies. She denies she a man known only as Abdul- artist’s virtual commu- Irela
has raised money for al-Qaeda LaRose attends the lah, and train to kill a Swedish nity. She uses the name join
or has plans to fly to Europe to funeral of her boyfriend’s artist who has blasphemed Sally Jones and creates a onlin
join a jihad. father. the Prophet Mohammad. new Gmail account. Blac
Aug. 21, 2009 Aug.22 Aug. 23 September
Who can take a nothing day, and suddenly pleading for patience. They discovered his al-Qaeda translation
make it all seem worthwhile? Two weeks into her visit to Amsterdam, projects and jihadi videos.
HOW IT HAPPENED
It was the theme from the 1970s TV
series, “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.”
LaRose concluded that Abdullah was a poseur.
It was time for her to leave,
As the teenager later wrote to a friend,
Irishshe tolddetain
police him, and they “saw the beheadings, which scared the
LaRose imagined herself as the lead char- Abdullah
Jamie Paulin quickly agreed. He suggested
Ramirez and that crap out of them.” LaRo
acter, Mary Richards. If she had been Ramirez,
she visit hisaassociate
Colorado in Waterford,
DamacheIreland,
for the Stripped of access to his online life, Khalid guilty
ColleenaLaRose
wearing hat instead On
of aarrival
burka, in LaRose woman
man whowho arrived
called questioning.
himself Black Flag. In the In a jihad
soon forum,
became Khalid
despondent. learns he
He refused to eat. to pro
abandons plans to Philadelphia,
thought, she would have stepped from thethe
FBI in Ireland
LaRosesix weeksher bags.
packed U.S., officials Khalid, now 17, has received a full
He slept all day. After a few days, his par- suppo
assassinate a arrests LaRose and earlier, realizes that it announce terror writes that he has scholarship to ists, co
cab with artist.
Swedish a hugeAlismileshe
andconfesses.
acted outThe the was a mistake to ents dialed 911 themselves and had Khalid kill in
charges against daydreamed about prestigious John
show’s classic opening, twirling around and Calling
travel there,911 marry admitted overnight to aHopkins
psychiatric facility. count
Damache, aka arrest is kept quiet LaRose. The FBI “martyrdom University
tossing her hat
Black Flag, in the air.
drives as agents investi- Back
Damache in theand
United
join States, one of
searches LaRose’s
home of The boy told
operations” at his no one
for about
the Eagle
2011-12 Eye, FBI an
herWell,
to the airport.
it’s you girl andgate
you the plot.
should know it! his jihad. Mohammed
most trusted allies was struggling, too. Khalid. academic year.
Jihad Jane, Black Flag, or the stolen pass-
high school. identi
With every glance
Oct. 15, 2009 and every little movement,
Oct. 15&16 Mohammed
Oct. 26 HassanMarch Khalid9,had lost
2010 portsNov.
LaRose
22 had sent himDec. for safekeeping
15 Fe
you show it.… access to his primary weapon of jihad: his – including the one he had forwarded to
You’re gonna make it after all.... computer. His parents took it away. Black Flag in Ireland.
When the taxi driver found the mosque, It happened a few weeks into the boy’s
no one was waiting for LaRose. For nearly junior year in high school, after Khalid’s ‘No matter the risk’
an hour, she stood outside in a full hijab parents confronted him about the long Waterford seems an unlikely place to
with her luggage. Then it began to rain. stretches he spent alone in his bedroom launch a jihad.
Finally, another Muslim woman arrived with his laptop. They suspected he was Founded by Vikings and renowned for
and took LaRose to see her contact, a man trolling for porn. its crystal, the southern Irish city is far more
named Abdullah. LaRose had expected him When Khalid refused to explain what tranquil than Dublin or Cork. Only a few
to introduce her to fellow jihadists, to train her he was doing, his parents grabbed his com- hundred Muslims live there, many who im-
for her mission, to teach her the ways of Islam. puter. Khalid threw a tantrum but they migrated for jobs at the regional hospital.
None of that happened. Now that wouldn’t give it back. To create a mosque, local Muslims con-
LaRose had actually arrived and it was Then, this aspiring jihadist, who knew verted a suburban home near the hospital.
time for action, Abdullah the terrorist was that his friend LaRose had twice been vis- Yet the city became the confluence of
suddenly hedging, dodging, equivocating, ited by the FBI, made an odd and impul- the Jihad Jane conspiracy. Here, in September
sive choice: He dialed 911 and invited law 2009, Black Flag met his two prized recruits
enforcement into his home. His parents, he in person for the first time: LaRose and Jamie
(My parents) saw the
told the dispatcher, were abusive. Paulin Ramirez, the lonely Colorado woman
beheadings, which scared the When police arrived, the officers backed whom he had persuaded to come by telling
crap out of them. the parents. Only after authorities left and her that Allah had willed it in a dream.
Mohammed H. Khalid Khalid gave his parents his password would Both women were Americans – white,
Jihad Jane conspirator they begin clicking through his computer. blonde, and recent converts to Islam. And
SPECIAL REPORT 3You can also read
