Michael Finton

Michael C. Finton, also known as Talib Islam (Arabic: طالب إسلام – Ṭạlib Islām‎; born in 1980 (age 31–32)), a convert to Islam and a part-time cook at a fish and chicken restaurant, attempted to bomb the Paul Findley Federal Building and the adjacent offices of Congressman Aaron Schock in downtown Springfield, Illinois, on September 24, 2009. Pled guilty on May 9, 2011 and was sentenced to 28 years in prison.

Finton, of Decatur, Illinois, was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Anti-Terrorism Task Force for attempted murder and attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.^[1]

Background

Anwar al-Awlaki

On his MySpace page, Finton listed his hometown as Visalia, California, and wrote he attended high school in Warren, Michigan; on Classmates.com he wrote that he was expelled for fighting with a teacher, and eventually moved to Illinois.^[2]

According to charges against him, on February 3, 1999, Finton indicated to a woman in Olney, Illinois, that he had "a firearm or other dangerous weapon”, took $323 and eight cartons of cigarettes “by the use of force,” and “caused great bodily harm” to the woman “in that he struck (her) in the face and pushed her into a desk.”^[3] Finton was convicted of aggravated assault and aggravated robbery and spent 1999–2005 in prison, during which time he converted to Islam.^[4][5] After prison, Finton sporadically attended Decatur’s only mosque, the Masjid Wali Hasan Islamic Center.^[6]

In March 2008, Finton received $1,375 from a man in Saudi Arabia, and immediately sent the same amount to a travel agency. The following month he flew to Saudi Arabia, where he stayed for a month.

Finton admired Anwar Al-Awlaki (left), a Muslim lecturer, spiritual leader, and former imam, who has been accused of being a senior Al-Qaeda recruiter and motivator linked to various terrorists (including three of the 9/11 hijackers and the Christmas Day Bomber), and quoted Al-Awlaki on his Myspace page.^[7][8]

Planning and attempting attack; arrest

On September 24, 2009, Finton drove a truck filled with what he believed to be "a ton of explosives" to the federal courthouse building, parked, locked it, and then left in another vehicle driven by an undercover FBI agent who he thought was an Al-Qaeda operative, and tried to detonate the dummy explosives remotely via cell-phone. He was arrested and placed in federal custody on charges of terrorism and attempting to kill a federal employee.^[9]

Legal proceedings

Finton was indicted by a federal grand jury on October 8, 2009, for attempted murder and attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction against property owned and used by the US.^[10] On May 9, 2011, he pleaded guilty and was immediately sentenced to 28 years in prison. ^[11]

See also

• Nidal Malik Hasan, American Fort Hood shooter; 2009
• Colleen LaRose, American Muslim convert who also used the name JihadJane, charged with trying to recruit Islamic terrorists to wage jihad and murder Swedish artist Lars Vilks.
• Sharif Mobley, American suspected al-Qaeda member, arrested in Yemen in 2010 and suspected of killing guard in escape attempt
• Sami Osmakac, American who allegedly plotted an attack in Tampa, Florida
• Aafia Siddiqui, female alleged al-Qaeda member, former U.S. resident, convicted in 2010 of attempting to kill U.S. personnel
• Bryant Neal Vinas, American convert to Islam, convicted in 2009 of participating in/supporting Al-Qaeda plots in Afghanistan and the U.S.
• Najibullah Zazi, al-Qaeda member, U.S. resident, pleaded guilty in 2010 of planning suicide bombings on New York City subway system
• Naser Jason Abdo Allegedly attempted to bomb a Fort Hood restaurant in 2011.
• Anwar al-Awlaki American born Islamist cleric.
• Hasan Akbar case American Muslim convert convicted of the double-murder of two US Army officers.
• Homegrown terrorism

References

External links

• "Criminal Complaint," in USA v. Finton (September 24, 2009), The NEFA Foundation
• "Indictment," in USA v. Finton (October 7, 2009), The NEFA Foundation

v t e Alleged militants in the War on Terror who have lived in the United States September 11 attacks Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Mohamed Atta Satam al-Suqami Waleed al-Shehri Wail al-Shehri Abdulaziz al-Omari Marwan al-Shehhi Fayez Banihammad Mohand al-Shehri Hamza al-Ghamdi Ahmed al-Ghamdi Hani Hanjour Khalid al-Mihdhar Majed Moqed Nawaf al-Hazmi Salem al-Hazmi Ziad Jarrah Ahmed al-Nami Saeed al-Ghamdi Ahmed al-Haznawi Buffalo Six Sahim Alwan Mukhtar al-Bakri Faysal Galab Yahya Goba Shafal Mosed Yaseinn Taher al-Qaeda / Islamic Jihad / al-Jihad Sami Al-Arian Anwar al-Awlaki Khaled Abu el-Dahab Adam Yahiye Gadahn Wadih el-Hage Ziyad Khaleel Sharif Mobley Ali Mohamed Zacarias Moussaoui Aafia Siddiqui Bryant Neal Vinas Najibullah Zazi Boston cab drivers Mohamad Elzahabi Raed Hijazi Bassam Kanj Portland Seven Jeffrey Battle Ahmed Bilal Muhammad Bilal Patrice Lumumba Ford Mike Hawash October Lewis Habis Abdulla al Saoub Arrested in 2005 and convicted Abdulrahman Farhane Mahmud al-Mutazzim Rafiq Abdus Sabir Tarik Shah Liberty City Seven convicted Patrick Abraham Burson Augustin Rotschild Augustine Narseal Batiste Stanley Phanor acquitted Naudimar Herrera Lyglenson Lemorin 2007 Fort Dix plot Agron Abdullahu Dritan Duka Eljvir Duka Shain Duka Mohamad Ibrahim Shnewer Serdar Tatar 2009 Bronx plot James Cromitie David Williams Onta Williams 2010 Vilks assassination plot Colleen LaRose Jamie Paulin-Ramirez D.C. Five Umer Farooq Waqar Khan Ahmed Abdullah Minni Aman Hassan Yasir Ramy Zamzam Others Nuradin Abdi Ahmed Omar Abu Ali Farooque Ahmed Shirwa Ahmed Mohamed Mahmood Alessa Carlos Eduardo Almonte Daniel Patrick Boyd / Raleigh jihad group Iyman Faris Rezwan Ferdaus Michael Finton Nidal Malik Hasan David Headley Majid Khan John Walker Lindh Daniel Maldonado Sayed Malike Mohamed Osman Mohamud Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad José Padilla Michael Curtis Reynolds Faisal Shahzad Adnan Gulshair el Shukrijumah Hosam Maher Husein Smadi Ali al-Tamimi Detroit Sleeper Cell Virginia Jihad Network 2011 Manhattan terrorism plot 2005 Los Angeles bomb plot Held in Guantanamo Bay Majid Khan