Colleen LaRose
Encyclopedia
Colleen Renee LaRose also known as JihadJane and Fatima LaRose, is an American citizen charged with terrorism-related crimes, including conspiracy to commit murder and providing material support to terrorists. Most recently, she lived in the Philadelphia suburb of Pennsburg
, in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
. She is being prosecuted in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
She was taken into custody in October 2009, and her arrest was made public on March 9, 2010, when seven of her alleged co-conspirators were arrested in Ireland (five were later released by the Irish authorities). Among those arrested in Ireland (later released by the Irish authorities, but then arrested by U.S. authorities and charged as a co-defendant with LaRose in a superseding indictment) was Jamie Paulin-Ramirez, an American woman from Colorado whose parents say she was recruited by LaRose. Specifically, LaRose is accused of actively trying to recruit Islamic terrorists to wage violent jihad
and of plotting to murder Swedish artist Lars Vilks
, who had faced outrage by some Muslims for having made a drawing depicting the Prophet Muhammad's head on the body of a dog.
She was arraigned and initially pleaded not guilty on March 18. She faced a maximum penalty of life in prison, and a $1 million fine. On February 1, 2011 she pleaded guilty to all charges against her.
(which she moved to in 1999); Round Rock; and Ferris
(in the early 2000s).
She moved to the Philadelphia area in 2004 to live with her new boyfriend Kurt Gorman, whom she had met in Ennis, Texas
, when he was on a business trip there, and help him care for his aging father. Saddened by the deaths in short order of her brother and father, LaRose apparently attempted suicide on May 21, 2005, by consuming 8–10 cyclobenzaprine
pills along with alcohol. Fearing that she might attempt suicide, her sister Pam in Texas called 911 and alerted police. LaRose told responding police that she did not want to die. Although she lived with Gorman for about five years and apparently converted to Islam and became radicalized during that time, he said she "never talked about international events, about Muslims, anything".
profile shows a number of pictures of bloodshed and violence in the Middle East, with messages such as: “Palestine
We Are With You”, and “Sympathize With Gaza
.” She is in several pictures wearing a black burka
. In her profile, she says she is a recent convert to Islam. Her Myspace profile also reportedly includes a post that reads: “I support all the Mujahideen
[Muslim warriors]. I hate zionist & all that support them!”
In 2007, calling herself "Fatima LaRose," she registered a social networking video-sharing profile on Dailymotion.com, and posted what appear to be attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq. On June 20, 2008, she posted a comment on YouTube
using the screen name
"JihadJane" (account is suspended), saying that she was "desperate to do something somehow to help" suffering Muslims, according to authorities. By December 2008, she was exchanging e-mail messages expressing her desire to become a martyr
in the name of Allah
for an Islamist cause.
One of her co-conspirators allegedly identified Lars Vilks
, a Swedish artist who had outraged some Muslims
for having made a drawing depicting the Prophet Muhammad's head on the body of a dog, as a target, and directed her on March 22, 2009, to go to Sweden, to find and kill him in a way that will frighten "the whole Kufar
[non-believer] world". According to her indictment, she responded in writing: "I will make this my goal till I achieve it or die trying".
On July 1, she allegedly posted an online solicitation for funds to support terrorism. U.S. authorities were alerted in July by members of the Jawa Report
blog, who had begun tracking LaRose's comments on the internet and her movements, including her raising funds for Pakistani militants through Twitter
. The FBI interviewed her on July 17, 2009, and she denied ever soliciting funds for terrorism, or using the online screen name of "JihadJane."
On August 23, 2009, LaRose stole Gorman's passport and flew to Western Europe. Prosecutors say the purpose of the trip was "to live and train with jihadists, and to find and kill" Vilks. She then joined an online community
hosted by Vilks on September 8. On September 30, she allegedly sent an online message to a co-conspirator, saying that it would be "an honor & great pleasure to die or kill" for him, and promising that "only death will stop me here that I am so close to the target!" During her time in Europe, she was reportedly in London, the Netherlands, and for approximately two weeks in Ireland. While she wrote the Swedish embassy in March 2009, inquiring how to obtain residency
, the court documents do not indicate whether she ever made it to Sweden.
as she returned from London, and allegedly confessed her role in the plot to kill Vilks to FBI agents shortly after her arrest, according to two people close to the investigation. But her imprisonment was kept secret until her indictment was unsealed on March 9, 2010. In a court appearance before a federal magistrate on October 17, she agreed to pretrial detention, but did not enter a plea. She was kept under wraps in custody in Philadelphia without bail until her indictment was unsealed, to protect another ongoing investigation.
The indictment of LaRose charged that she linked up with militants outside the U.S. through the internet, and plotted to carry out a murder, and that she and five unindicted co-conspirators (in South Asia, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, and the U.S.) recruited men and women over the internet to wage jihad and be terrorists in South Asia and Europe and to finance terrorism. She was charged with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, conspiracy to kill in a foreign country, making false statements to the FBI, and attempted identity theft
. Swedish authorities said they were aware of the arrest before it happened.
U.S. Representative Charles W. Dent, R-Pa., said on March 17 that the FBI had briefed him about LaRose, and that his "understanding is that the cooperation has generally stopped at this point."
LaRose was arraigned on March 18, 2010, and pleaded not guilty to all four counts. U.S. Magistrate Judge Lynne Sitarski set her trial date for May 3, and during the interim she will remain in federal custody. If convicted, she faces a maximum penalty of life in prison, and a $1 million fine.
and Cork
, Ireland
, with regard to an alleged plot to assassinate Vilks. Gardai close to the investigation said those arrested were foreign-born Irish residents.
They reportedly included three Algerians (two of them a married couple), a Croatian (a Muslim convert), a Palestinian, a Libyan, and a U.S. national—Jamie Paulin-Ramirez. By March 15, only two of the seven, an Algerian and a Libyan, were being kept in custody and charged, though lawyers said charges against the other five were also possible. The Algerian, Ali Charaf Damache, a 10-year resident of Ireland, was suspected of being the group’s leader, and the Libyan, Abdul Salam al-Jahani, were both ordered held without bail.
LaRose had online discussions with at least one of the suspects apprehended in Ireland regarding her plans, according to a U.S. official. Her main contact in Ireland was believed to be Damache, who lived in Waterford with Paulin-Ramirez. Gardai believe LaRose visited Ireland in 2009 to enlist and aid those involved.
The (Garda Síochána
) were alerted by the FBI in October 2009 about the Irish link to the alleged murder plot, and a Garda investigation was put in place to covertly gather as much information as possible on the Irish-based suspects. Garda said that throughout the investigation they worked closely with law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and in a number of European countries. The charges against LaRose were reportedly related to the Irish investigation.
LaRose was the only American woman in recent years to have been charged in the U.S. with terrorist violations and attempting to foment a terror conspiracy to kill someone overseas. Some terrorism experts pointed to LaRose's apparent mental instability, arguing she was an anomaly and not representative of a trend towards women jihadists.
Pennsburg, Pennsylvania
Pennsburg is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,843 at the 2010 census.It is part of the Upper Perkiomen School District....
, in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
Montgomery County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, in the United States. As of 2010, the population was 799,874, making it the third most populous county in Pennsylvania . The county seat is Norristown.The county was created on September 10, 1784, out of land originally part...
. She is being prosecuted in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
She was taken into custody in October 2009, and her arrest was made public on March 9, 2010, when seven of her alleged co-conspirators were arrested in Ireland (five were later released by the Irish authorities). Among those arrested in Ireland (later released by the Irish authorities, but then arrested by U.S. authorities and charged as a co-defendant with LaRose in a superseding indictment) was Jamie Paulin-Ramirez, an American woman from Colorado whose parents say she was recruited by LaRose. Specifically, LaRose is accused of actively trying to recruit Islamic terrorists to wage violent jihad
Jihad
Jihad , an Islamic term, is a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic, the word jihād translates as a noun meaning "struggle". Jihad appears 41 times in the Quran and frequently in the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of God ". A person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid; the plural is...
and of plotting to murder Swedish artist Lars Vilks
Lars Vilks
Lars Endel Roger Vilks is a Swedish artist. He is best known for his drawings of Muhammed, prophet of Islam.- Personal background :...
, who had faced outrage by some Muslims for having made a drawing depicting the Prophet Muhammad's head on the body of a dog.
She was arraigned and initially pleaded not guilty on March 18. She faced a maximum penalty of life in prison, and a $1 million fine. On February 1, 2011 she pleaded guilty to all charges against her.
Background
LaRose was born in Michigan and raised in Texas, where she dropped out of school before attending high school. She was briefly married at the age of 16 to Sheldon Barnum, who was 32 at the time, and married Rodolfo "Rudy" Cavazos in 1988 when she was 24 years old, though the marriage ultimately ended in divorce ten years later in 1998. She lived in several Texas towns, including San Angelo; Corpus ChristiCorpus Christi, Texas
Corpus Christi is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas. The county seat of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patricio counties. The MSA population in 2008 was 416,376. The population was 305,215 at the 2010 census making it the...
(which she moved to in 1999); Round Rock; and Ferris
Ferris, Texas
Ferris is a city in Dallas and Ellis Counties in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 2,175 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Ferris is located at ....
(in the early 2000s).
She moved to the Philadelphia area in 2004 to live with her new boyfriend Kurt Gorman, whom she had met in Ennis, Texas
Ennis, Texas
Ennis is a city in Ellis County, Texas, United States, and a southeastern suburb of Dallas. The population was 16,045 at the 2000 census.In 1871, the Houston and Texas Central Railroad purchased of land in Ellis County at a price of , establishing the line's northern terminus. On May 8, 1872,...
, when he was on a business trip there, and help him care for his aging father. Saddened by the deaths in short order of her brother and father, LaRose apparently attempted suicide on May 21, 2005, by consuming 8–10 cyclobenzaprine
Cyclobenzaprine
Cyclobenzaprine is a muscle relaxant medication used to relieve skeletal muscle spasms and associated pain in acute musculoskeletal conditions. It is the most well-studied drug for this application, and it also has been used off-label for fibromyalgia treatment.- Mechanism of action :The mechanism...
pills along with alcohol. Fearing that she might attempt suicide, her sister Pam in Texas called 911 and alerted police. LaRose told responding police that she did not want to die. Although she lived with Gorman for about five years and apparently converted to Islam and became radicalized during that time, he said she "never talked about international events, about Muslims, anything".
Conversion to Islam
Her MyspaceMyspace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
profile shows a number of pictures of bloodshed and violence in the Middle East, with messages such as: “Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
We Are With You”, and “Sympathize With Gaza
Gaza
Gaza , also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories.Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC,...
.” She is in several pictures wearing a black burka
Burka
A burka is a dress made from felt or karakul . Karakul being quite expensive, burkas were usually sewn from felt treated to look like karakul...
. In her profile, she says she is a recent convert to Islam. Her Myspace profile also reportedly includes a post that reads: “I support all the Mujahideen
Mujahideen
Mujahideen are Muslims who struggle in the path of God. The word is from the same Arabic triliteral as jihad .Mujahideen is also transliterated from Arabic as mujahedin, mujahedeen, mudžahedin, mudžahidin, mujahidīn, mujaheddīn and more.-Origin of the concept:The beginnings of Jihad are traced...
[Muslim warriors]. I hate zionist & all that support them!”
In 2007, calling herself "Fatima LaRose," she registered a social networking video-sharing profile on Dailymotion.com, and posted what appear to be attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq. On June 20, 2008, she posted a comment on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
using the screen name
User (computing)
A user is an agent, either a human agent or software agent, who uses a computer or network service. A user often has a user account and is identified by a username , screen name , nickname , or handle, which is derived from the identical Citizen's Band radio term.Users are...
"JihadJane" (account is suspended), saying that she was "desperate to do something somehow to help" suffering Muslims, according to authorities. By December 2008, she was exchanging e-mail messages expressing her desire to become a martyr
Martyr
A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...
in the name of Allah
Allah
Allah is a word for God used in the context of Islam. In Arabic, the word means simply "God". It is used primarily by Muslims and Bahá'ís, and often, albeit not exclusively, used by Arabic-speaking Eastern Catholic Christians, Maltese Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Mizrahi Jews and...
for an Islamist cause.
One of her co-conspirators allegedly identified Lars Vilks
Lars Vilks
Lars Endel Roger Vilks is a Swedish artist. He is best known for his drawings of Muhammed, prophet of Islam.- Personal background :...
, a Swedish artist who had outraged some Muslims
Lars Vilks Muhammad drawings controversy
The Lars Vilks Muhammad drawings controversy began in July 2007 with a series of drawings by Swedish artist Lars Vilks that depicted the Islamic prophet Muhammad as a roundabout dog . Several art galleries in Sweden declined to show the drawings, citing security concerns and fear of violence...
for having made a drawing depicting the Prophet Muhammad's head on the body of a dog, as a target, and directed her on March 22, 2009, to go to Sweden, to find and kill him in a way that will frighten "the whole Kufar
Kafir
Kafir is an Arabic term used in a Islamic doctrinal sense, usually translated as "unbeliever" or "disbeliever"...
[non-believer] world". According to her indictment, she responded in writing: "I will make this my goal till I achieve it or die trying".
On July 1, she allegedly posted an online solicitation for funds to support terrorism. U.S. authorities were alerted in July by members of the Jawa Report
Jawa Report
The Jawa Report is a blog and forum about terrorism committed by Islamists.The Boston Globe describes it as a "popular" website "that monitors terrorism investigations." The New York Times reports that its volunteers "research Web sites they believe are tied to Al-Qaeda or other militant groups,...
blog, who had begun tracking LaRose's comments on the internet and her movements, including her raising funds for Pakistani militants through Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
. The FBI interviewed her on July 17, 2009, and she denied ever soliciting funds for terrorism, or using the online screen name of "JihadJane."
On August 23, 2009, LaRose stole Gorman's passport and flew to Western Europe. Prosecutors say the purpose of the trip was "to live and train with jihadists, and to find and kill" Vilks. She then joined an online community
Online community
An online community is a virtual community that exists online and whose members enable its existence through taking part in membership ritual. An online community can take the form of an information system where anyone can post content, such as a Bulletin board system or one where only a restricted...
hosted by Vilks on September 8. On September 30, she allegedly sent an online message to a co-conspirator, saying that it would be "an honor & great pleasure to die or kill" for him, and promising that "only death will stop me here that I am so close to the target!" During her time in Europe, she was reportedly in London, the Netherlands, and for approximately two weeks in Ireland. While she wrote the Swedish embassy in March 2009, inquiring how to obtain residency
Permanent residency
Permanent residency refers to a person's visa status: the person is allowed to reside indefinitely within a country of which he or she is not a citizen. A person with such status is known as a permanent resident....
, the court documents do not indicate whether she ever made it to Sweden.
Arrest, indictment, and arraignment
LaRose was arrested on Oct. 16, 2009, at Philadelphia International AirportPhiladelphia International Airport
Philadelphia International Airport is a major airport in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, and is the largest airport in the Delaware Valley region and in Pennsylvania...
as she returned from London, and allegedly confessed her role in the plot to kill Vilks to FBI agents shortly after her arrest, according to two people close to the investigation. But her imprisonment was kept secret until her indictment was unsealed on March 9, 2010. In a court appearance before a federal magistrate on October 17, she agreed to pretrial detention, but did not enter a plea. She was kept under wraps in custody in Philadelphia without bail until her indictment was unsealed, to protect another ongoing investigation.
The indictment of LaRose charged that she linked up with militants outside the U.S. through the internet, and plotted to carry out a murder, and that she and five unindicted co-conspirators (in South Asia, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, and the U.S.) recruited men and women over the internet to wage jihad and be terrorists in South Asia and Europe and to finance terrorism. She was charged with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, conspiracy to kill in a foreign country, making false statements to the FBI, and attempted identity theft
Identity theft
Identity theft is a form of stealing another person's identity in which someone pretends to be someone else by assuming that person's identity, typically in order to access resources or obtain credit and other benefits in that person's name...
. Swedish authorities said they were aware of the arrest before it happened.
U.S. Representative Charles W. Dent, R-Pa., said on March 17 that the FBI had briefed him about LaRose, and that his "understanding is that the cooperation has generally stopped at this point."
LaRose was arraigned on March 18, 2010, and pleaded not guilty to all four counts. U.S. Magistrate Judge Lynne Sitarski set her trial date for May 3, and during the interim she will remain in federal custody. If convicted, she faces a maximum penalty of life in prison, and a $1 million fine.
Ireland arrests
The same day as the unsealing of LaRose's indictment, four men and three women in their 20s and 40s were arrested in WaterfordWaterford
Waterford is a city in the South-East Region of Ireland. It is the oldest city in the country and fifth largest by population. Waterford City Council is the local government authority for the city and its immediate hinterland...
and Cork
Cork (city)
Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...
, Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
, with regard to an alleged plot to assassinate Vilks. Gardai close to the investigation said those arrested were foreign-born Irish residents.
They reportedly included three Algerians (two of them a married couple), a Croatian (a Muslim convert), a Palestinian, a Libyan, and a U.S. national—Jamie Paulin-Ramirez. By March 15, only two of the seven, an Algerian and a Libyan, were being kept in custody and charged, though lawyers said charges against the other five were also possible. The Algerian, Ali Charaf Damache, a 10-year resident of Ireland, was suspected of being the group’s leader, and the Libyan, Abdul Salam al-Jahani, were both ordered held without bail.
LaRose had online discussions with at least one of the suspects apprehended in Ireland regarding her plans, according to a U.S. official. Her main contact in Ireland was believed to be Damache, who lived in Waterford with Paulin-Ramirez. Gardai believe LaRose visited Ireland in 2009 to enlist and aid those involved.
The (Garda Síochána
Garda Síochána
, more commonly referred to as the Gardaí , is the police force of Ireland. The service is headed by the Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Government. Its headquarters are located in the Phoenix Park in Dublin.- Terminology :...
) were alerted by the FBI in October 2009 about the Irish link to the alleged murder plot, and a Garda investigation was put in place to covertly gather as much information as possible on the Irish-based suspects. Garda said that throughout the investigation they worked closely with law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and in a number of European countries. The charges against LaRose were reportedly related to the Irish investigation.
LaRose was the only American woman in recent years to have been charged in the U.S. with terrorist violations and attempting to foment a terror conspiracy to kill someone overseas. Some terrorism experts pointed to LaRose's apparent mental instability, arguing she was an anomaly and not representative of a trend towards women jihadists.