Christopher Paul (aka Paul Kenyatta Laws, Abdulmalek Kenyatta) is an American al-Qaeda militant, who has pleaded guilty to acts of terrorism. According to public data search, he is due to released on May 22, 2024 from RRM Cincinnati.[1]
Christopher Paul | |
|---|---|
| Born | Paul Kenyatta Laws March 1, 1964 (age 60) |
| Other names | Abdulmalek Kenyatta Abdul Malek Alex Karagezyan |
| Education | Thomas Worthington High School |
| Alma mater | Columbus State Community College |
| Occupation | al Qaeda terrorist |
Early life edit
Born Paul Kenyatta Laws, he changed his name to Alex Karagezyan in 1989, but then to Christopher Paul in 1994.[2][3][4] Additional names have included Abdul Malek.[5] Paul is an American citizen, resident of the Columbus, Ohio, area, where he was born. He grew up in suburban Worthington, Ohio.[6]
He attended Thomas Worthington High School.[6] He then became a student at Columbus State Community College from 1988 to 1990.[6] It was during this period that he converted to Islam, changing his name to Abdulmalek Kenyatta.[6][7] From 1990 and 1994, he was taking training at an al-Qaeda camp in Afghanistan learning hand-to-hand combat and the use of weapons including rocket-propelled grenades. He also traveled to a number of countries, including Croatia, Austria, and Slovenia, before returning to Columbus in 1994 and changing his name to Christopher Paul.[6] Paul took classes at Columbus State for another 4 years, and was granted an associate degree in 1998.[6] He attended the Omar Ibnelkhattab Mosque at 580 Riverview Dr. in Columbus.[6]
Terrorist period edit
He received training from al-Qaeda in the early 1990s in Pakistan and Afghanistan.[8][4]
He fought on behalf of Islamist militant groups in Bosnia and Afghanistan in the early 1990s.[9] In Afghanistan, he is reported to have stayed in the Beit ur Salam guesthouse, a safe house reserved exclusively for graduates of Al Qaeda training camps.
Then in 1999, he was in Germany training terrorists in a local Islamist cell how to build car bombs and other explosive devices to blow up Americans vacationing in Europe.[9] He was also alleged, in August 2002, to have met two other men in a suburban Columbus coffee house where they discussed terrorist attacks. The other two men were convicted of separate acts: Nuradin Abdi for a plot to blow up an Ohio shopping mall (of which Paul was one of the conspirators), and Iyman Faris (a Pakistani immigrant) for a plot to destroy the Brooklyn Bridge.[10][11][12]
Trial edit
Paul was indicted on April 12, 2007, on the following charges: conspiring to support terrorists, conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction and providing support to terrorists. He was charged with planning to set off bombs in Europe and the United States.[13] He initially pleaded not guilty.[14] In 2008, he pleaded guilty to plotting to bomb targets in Europe and the United States in a plea deal to obtain a lighter sentence.[13][15]
See also edit
References edit
- ^ "Find an inmate #67216-061".
- ^ Welsh-Huggins, Andrew (2011). Hatred at Home: Al-Qaida on Trial in the American Midwest. Ohio University Press. p. 47. ISBN 978-0804011341. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
- ^ Driehaus, Bob (13 April 2007). "U.S. Indicts an Ohio Man in Terror Conspiracy Case". New York Times. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
- ^ a b "hio Man Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Bomb Targets in Europe and the United States" (PDF). Department of Defense. 2008-05-03. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-01-09. Retrieved 2008-11-14.
- ^ Ryan, Jason (3 June 2008). "Ohio Al Qaeda Member Admits WMD Plot". ABC News. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g Richards, Kirk (14 April 2007). "Terrorism suspect was once 'super nice kid'". Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
- ^ Larry Elder (2008). Stupid Black Men: How to Play the Race Card--and Lose. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-1429929059. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
- ^ Krenshaw, Martha (2017). Countering Terrorism: No Simple Solutions. Brookings Institution Press. p. 92. ISBN 978-0815727651.
- ^ a b "US-born al-Qaeda member gets 20 years in prison". Daily Telegraph. 26 February 2009. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
- ^ "Ohio man pleads guilty in alleged terror plot", https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080603/ap_on_re_us/overseas_terror_plot;_ylt=Aly91J9HRVRlSI03GwGoHfVvzwcF, Andrew Welsh-Huggins, AP, June 3, 2008 Archived June 5, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Somali Immigrant Gets 10 Years for Plotting With Al Qaeda to Blow Up Ohio Shopping Mall". AP. 27 November 2007. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
- ^ Welsh-Huggins, Andrew (31 July 2007). "Suspect Pleads Guilty in Ohio Mall Plot". Washington Post. AP. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
- ^ a b Mikkelson, Randal (3 June 2008). "Qaeda-trained U.S. man pleads guilty in terror case". Reuters. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
- ^ McCarthy, John (13 April 2007). "Resort Bomb Plot Suspect Pleads Innocent". Washington Post. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
- ^ "Ohio Man Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Bomb Targets in Europe and the United States". USDOJ. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
Sources edit
- Andrew Welsh-Huggins, Hatred at Home: Al-Qaida on Trial in the American Midwest (Chapter 11,) Ohio University Press (2011) ISBN 0804011346