For months, officials in Arizona knew or should have known that military personnel stationed in the state were the targets of ISIL operatives. Now, the Arizona Republic is reporting that one of the Garland, Texas conspirators, Elton Simpson, “obtained ISIL materials that published the home addresses of U.S. military service members to target them, and at one point, the trio traveled to Yuma “and elsewhere in Arizona” to case military installations.”
In July, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Defense Department confirmed that troops, civilians and contractors subjected to background checks since 2000 were exposed in the breach, which the Obama Administration has pinned on China, according to the Navy Times.
Targets were advised of their status while politicians criticized those who expressed real concern about the dangers of ISIS and the government’s failure to protect the homeland.
According to the Arizona Republic, Abdul Malik Abdul Kareem, who was first indicted in U.S. District Court in Phoenix on Sept. 1, charged with conspiracy, false statements and firearms violations related to the Garland, Texas attack, has now been charged with conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization.
The Arizona Republic reports that “on Wednesday, a federal grand jury brought up a new indictment of Kareem, adding the charge of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization.”
“The U.S. Attorney’s Office for Arizona would not comment on the charges, but the new indictment claims that Kareem, Soofi and Simpson, all of whom attended the same Phoenix mosque, were inspired by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and conspired to support that terrorist organization as far back as February 2014,” reads the Arizona Republic report.