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Swedish Muhammad cartoon artist said killed in car accident

2021-10-04

[IsraelTimes] Lars Vilks, 75, who received death threats for drawing the Prophet with a dog’s body, was reported killed when a truck hit the car he was traveling in with 2 police escorts.

The Swedish artist Lars Vilks, who had lived under police protection since his 2007 sketch of the Prophet Muhammad with a dog’s body brought death threats, died from a traffic accident Sunday, Swedish news media reported.

The accident reportedly involved a truck colliding with a civilian police car in which Lars Vilks and his police protection were traveling, news media said.

The Swedish news agency TT said police had confirmed that Vilks, 75, was traveling in the car with two coppers, and the newspaper Dagens Nyheter said the artist’s partner confirmed his death.

The cause of the accident was under investigation.

Vilks was largely unknown outside Sweden before his Muhammad drawing. At home, he was best known for building a sculpture made of driftwood in a nature reserve in southern Sweden without permission, triggering a lengthy legal battle. He was fined, but the seaside sculpture — a jumble of wood nailed together in chaotic fashion — draws tens of thousands of visitors a year.

Vilks’ life changed radically 13 years ago after he drew a sketch of Muhammad with a dog’s body. Dogs are considered unclean by conservative Moslems, and Islamic law generally opposes any depiction of the prophet, even favorable, for fear it could lead to idolatry.

Al-Qaeda put a bounty on Vilks’ head. In 2010, two men tried to burn down his house in southern Sweden. Last year, a woman from Pennsylvania pleaded guilty in a plot to try to kill him.

Link

Europe

Danish-Born Islamic State Fighter Stripped of Citizenship

2017-11-16

[Breitbart] For the first time in Danish history, a citizen born in Denmark has had his citizenship revoked after being convicted of being a member of the Islamic State terror group.

Danish-born Muslim Enes Ciftci, 25, who is also a citizen of Turkey, was found guilty of supporting the terror group and sentenced to six years in prison and expulsion. The court found that Ciftci had expressed support for terrorist attacks committed by the group and had actively tried to raise funding for them, the Danish Broadcasting Corporation reports.

The case is the first time a Danish citizen born in the country has had their citizenship revoked. However, it is not the first time a foreign-born Islamic radical has been stripped of citizenship.

Last year, Muslim bookshop owner Said Mansour was the first criminal to be stripped of his Danish citizenship after being sentenced to four years in prison for supporting terrorist groups. Mansour, 56, came to Denmark from Morrocco as an adult in 1988.

In the case of Ciftci, the court justified taking away his citizenship saying that he had twice attempted to join Islamic State in 2013 and 2015.

He is also said to have raised 20,000 Danish krone (£1,400) for the terror group and praised the Copenhagen terror attacker Omar Abdel Hamid El-Hussein.

Hussein was responsible for attacking both a presentation put on by Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks, as well as shooting up a synagogue in the city, killing two and injuring several others in 2015.

Link

Europe

Spain to Extradite Man Linked to 'Jihad Jane'

2016-02-27

[An Nahar] The Spanish government on Friday approved the extradition to the United States of an alleged jihadist wanted by Washington for conspiring with a woman known as "Jihad Jane" to recruit people online for attacks in Europe and south Asia.

Ali Charaf Damache, who holds both Algerian and Irish nationality, was detained in December in Barcelona.

U.S. officials say Damache worked with Colleen LaRose -- a Pennsylvania woman who converted to Islam and took the name Jihad Jane -- and others to create a "violent jihad organization" with men and women from Europe and the United States.

LaRose herself was jailed for 10 years in 2014 for plotting attacks, including the murder of Swedish artist Lars Vilks, who has survived several death threats since penning a cartoon portraying the Prophet Mohammed as a dog.

U.S. authorities say Damache and others recruited men online "to wage violent jihad in South Asia and Europe" as well as women with passports and the ability to travel to and around Europe in support of their plots.

Spain's cabinet approved his extradition during its regular cabinet meeting on Friday.

Damache had refused to be extradited to the United States, where he faces up to 45 years in prison if convicted.

He had initially been detained in Ireland where he was living, but a court there refused a U.S. request to extradite him and he walked free.

Link

Europe

1 dead after shooting at event with Muhammad cartoonist

2015-05-04

[Atlas Shrugs] COPENHAGEN, Denmark -- Shots were fired Saturday at a cafe in Copenhagen as it hosted a freedom of speech event organized by Swedish artist Lars Vilks, who has faced numerous threats for caricaturing the Prophet Muhammad. Danish police say one man was killed. In a statement, Danish police say they are looking for the perpetrators who drove away in a dark Volkswagen Polo after the shooting shortly before 4 p.m. 10 a.m. EST at the Krudttoenden cafe. The police said the victim was a 40-year-old man.

I used to think that Ms. Geller was a little too rabid. Now I think she's too conservative...

Busy woman, that Pamela Geller. The next day an event she was at in Texas was fired upon. Those shooters died, though...

Hitler rolled through Denmark in 6 hours. He might have found Texas a bit more of a challenge.

Link

Europe

Danish intelligence: No sign gunman was planning attacks

2015-02-18

[Ynet] A change in Omar El-Hussein's behavior last summer while he was awaiting trial for stabbing attack led jail authorities to alert Danish counter-terror agency about him.

Denmark's domestic intelligence service acknowledged Tuesday that prison officials alerted the agency last year to the suspected gunman in last weekend's shooting attacks that killed two people and maimed five in Copenhagen.

The Danish Security and Intelligence Service, known by its Danish acronym PET, said the report in September didn't give any reason to believe that the 22-year-old was planning an attack.

PET also said it didn't have any intelligence before the gunman's shooting sprees at a cultural center and synagogue that an attack was imminent.

A Danish documentary filmmaker and a Jewish security guard died and five coppers were maimed in the shootings before the gunman was killed early Sunday in a firefight with a SWAT team.

Two sources close to the case identified the gunman to The News Agency that Dare Not be Named as Omar Abdel Hamid El-Hussein. One said he was released from jail about two weeks before the attacks after serving time for a stabbing in November 2013.

A Denmark native with Paleostinian parents, El-Hussein had been in and out of prison since 2011 after being convicted of weapons, violence and other offenses, court documents showed.

While he was awaiting trial for the random stabbing attack on a train passenger, a change in his behavior last summer set off enough "alarm bells" for jail authorities to alert PET, Denmark's counter-terror agency, a source close to the investigation told AP.

Such warnings usually set in motion counter-radicalization efforts, such as counseling in jail. It wasn't immediately clear how aware the court was of this issue; court documents no mention of it.

Sentenced to the time he had already served, El-Hussein was released about two weeks ago, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity
... for fear of being murdered...
because police haven't officially identified the gunman.

On Monday, a judge ordered 10 days of pre-trial detention for two people accused of helping el-Hussein get rid of a weapon while evading authorities. Both men deny the charges, said Michael Juul Eriksen, a defense lawyer for one of the two.

Denmark's prime minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt said there was no indication that the gunman was part of a wider cell, but gave no evidence for that claim. She joined Danish Crown Prince Frederik, foreign dignitaries and some 30,000 people Monday night to honor the victims outside the Krudttoenden cultural center.

The center, which was hosting a panel discussion with a Swedish artist who had caricatured the Prophet Muhammad, was the gunman's first target Saturday. The artist, Lars Vilks, was whisked away unharmed by his bodyguards. A 55-year-old documentary filmmaker was killed and three coppers were maimed.

Later Saturday, police say, the gunman visited an Internet cafe before moving on to the synagogue, where he opened fire early Sunday on the Jewish security guard and two coppers.

Denmark has foiled a series of terror plots since the 2005 publication of 12 caricatures of the prophet in the Jyllands-Posten newspaper triggered riots in Moslem countries and calls for vengeance

Link

Europe

SECOND Copenhagen shooting at synagogue

2015-02-15

Several people have been injured by shots fired near a synagogue in Copenhagen, hours after a deadly shooting at a cafe in the city. In the second shooting one person was hit in the head, and two police officers suffered arm and leg injuries. The attacker is believed to have fled.

He didn't stick around, did he?

Earlier, a gunman killed one person and injured three at a free speech debate attended by a Swedish cartoonist.

The Times of Israel has a fuzzy photo of the shooter here.

It is not clear if the two shootings are connected.

Three guesses, BBC...

The second shooting took place on Krystalgade street, about 5km (three miles) from the scene of the first attack.

Danish police were were quoted by the AFP news agency as saying the perpetrator had fled on foot. They said they could not give details about the injuries.

For now, police have not linked the two attacks, the BBC's Malcolm Brabant reports from Copenhagen. But he says that the Danish capital has been abuzz with sirens and helicopters, amid fears that other attacks could be imminent.

Officials said the gunman made his getaway by car, and a black Volkswagen Polo was later found abandoned a short distance away from the scene, police said. Police released photographs showing the alleged attacker apparently wearing a purple balaclava and thick puffer jacket.

Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt described the first attack as a "politically motivated" act of terrorism.

Cartoonist Lars Vilks, who has faced death threats over his caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad, said he believed he was the intended target of the attack. He was unhurt. The French ambassador, Francois Zimeray, was also present during the attack.

Link

Olde Tyme Religion

BREAKING: Copenhagen shooting during debate on Islam

2015-02-14

Sounds like a spray drive-by. Cartoonist Vilks and French ambassador ok, one person killed, three (?) police injured, suspects at large.
[Telegraph] • One killed in shooting at cultural centre
• Three policemen reported injured
• French ambassador to Denmark inside but unharmed
• Meeting about freedom of speech was being held at the time
• Gathering organised by controversial Swedish artist Lars Vilks
• Lars Vilks caricatured Prophet Muhammad in 2007

Link

Home Front: WoT

Teen involved in 'Jihad Jane' case sentenced to five years in prison

2014-04-18

[Beirut Daily Star] A Pak immigrant who is the youngest person ever to be convicted of U.S. terror charges was sentenced to five years in prison Thursday by a federal judge after pleading guilty to taking part in a plot to kill a Swedish artist.

The man, Mohammad Hasan Khalid, 20, who was taken into custody three years ago for his role in the "Jihad Jane" conspiracy, will serve an additional two years in prison as a result of his crimes, ruled Petrese Tucker, chief judge for U.S. District Court in Philadelphia.

Khalid begged the judge for mercy and thanked his parents for their support during a court appearance.

"Mom, Dad, you will forgive me 1,000 times even though I don't ask for it," said Khalid, who pleaded guilty to related crimes when he was as young as 15 and living with his parents' in suburban Maryland.

He was enjugged
Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try!
in 2011 on charges including providing material support for forces of Evil for working with Colleen LaRose, a suburban Philadelphia housewife who went by the nickname Jihad Jane.

In January, LaRose was sentenced to 10 years in prison for planning to murder artist Lars Vilks, who had depicted the head of the Mohammedan Prophet Mohammad on a dog.

Link

Home Front: WoT

America's 'Jihad Jane' Jailed for 10 Years

2014-01-07

[An Nahar] An American woman nicknamed "Jihad Jane" was jugged
... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not...
for 10 years on Monday after plotting to carry out deadly attacks in Europe and South Asia including the murder of a Swedish cartoonist, U.S. justice officials said.

Pennsylvania woman Colleen LaRose, 50, a convert to Islam, had already pleaded guilty to conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, conspiracy to kill in a foreign country, making false statements and attempted identity theft.

"This case clearly underscores the evolving nature of the terrorist threat we now face in this country," said Zane David Memeger, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

"The Internet has made it easier for those who want to attack the American way of life to identify like-minded individuals to carry out their terroristic plans."

An accomplice of LaRose, Jamie Ramirez, who has also pleaded guilty, is to be sentenced on Wednesday.

According to court documents, LaRose and her conspirators had recruited men on the Internet to carry out a "violent jihad" in South Asia and Europe.

She also sought to recruit women on the Internet who had passports and the ability to travel freely around Europe.

LaRose also received a direct order to kill Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks, who had outraged many Moslems by drawing the Prophet Mohammed's head on a dog's body.

LaRose agreed to carry out the murder, believing that her American citizenship and appearance would help her blend in as she attempted the killing.

She later traveled to Europe and tracked Vilks online in an effort to complete the crime but was unsuccessful.

In addition to 10 years in prison, federal judge Petrese Tucker also fined LaRose $2,500, and placed her on five years parole after her release from prison.

She could be released in a little more four years, taking into account good behavior and the years she's already served.

The relatively light sentence may have been due to her cooperation with Sherlocks.

She was taken into custody in October 2009, but her arrest was not made public until March 2010 after the Irish police jugged
Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try!
Moslem suspects accused of plotting to assassinate Vilks.

Link

Home Front: WoT

Colleen LaRose aka 'Jihad Jane' may face decades in jail

2014-01-03

The Pennsylvania woman who called herself Jihad Jane and a teenage accomplice from Maryland provided "very significant" assistance to U.S. authorities in several terrorism investigations but still remain threats to the public, prosecutors say in new court filings.

Prosecutors said Colleen LaRose, 50, should be sentenced to "decades behind bars" for her role in a failed 2009 plot to kill Lars Vilks, a Swedish artist who offended many Muslims by drawing the Prophet Mohammed on the head of a dog.

After years of delay,

...due to her cooperation with the prosecutors...

the American-born LaRose is expected to be sentenced on Monday in Philadelphia. A similar hearing for Mohammad Hassan Khalid, the youngest person ever charged with terrorism in the United States, is set for Tuesday.

U.S. guidelines call for LaRose to receive a life sentence and for Khalid, who is now 20, to receive 15 years. Given their cooperation, prosecutors asked the judge to sentence LaRose to "decades behind bars" and Khalid to "less than 10 years."

In a presentence filing this week, U.S. authorities reiterated what they declared when LaRose's arrest was made public in 2010 - that her gender, blond hair, Texas twang and green eyes make her case significant because she does not fit the stereotype of an Islamic terrorist.

"News of LaRose's arrest spread shockwaves throughout the West, as people recognized that the face of the terrorism threat had changed forever," prosecutors Jennifer Arbittier Williams and Matthew Blue wrote. "The world is watching, and this sentencing presents an important opportunity to send a strong message to other lonely, vulnerable people who might be enticed by online extremists promising fame and honor."

A 2012 Reuters investigative report described LaRose's troubled life before she converted to Islam: childhood rapes by her biological father, teenage prostitution, heavy drug abuse and failed marriages. LaRose said that her father's sexual assaults, confirmed by confidential court records, began in second grade.

"I survived a lot of things that should have rightfully have killed me," LaRose said in an exclusive interview from jail in 2012.

Sounds like the prosecution wants to finish the job...

LaRose's story has helped prosecutors and FBI agents better understand the roots of homegrown extremism, U.S. officials said.

LaRose was living with a oft-travelling boyfriend in 2007 when a romantic encounter with a Muslim man sparked an interest in Islam. After months of learning online, LaRose said, she converted to Islam and later watched videos of alleged U.S. and Israeli atrocities against Palestinian children that radicalized her.

By 2008, prosecutors said, "she had managed to align herself with violent terrorists who valued her ability and persistence as their online predator, or 'hunter,'" recruiting new fighters.

"I just loved my brothers so much, when they would tell me stuff, I would listen to them, no matter what," LaRose told Reuters. "And I also was ... lost."

In 2009, LaRose followed instructions from an al Qaeda operative in Pakistan and flew to Europe for the plot to kill the Swedish artist. But after six weeks, largely in Ireland, LaRose became frustrated with the mission's pace and returned to Philadelphia, where she was arrested.

Ali Damache, her alleged handler in Ireland, remains jailed there, fighting extradition to the United States on terrorism charges. Jamie Paulin Ramirez, who flew from Colorado to marry Damache in Ireland, pleaded guilty to related terrorism charges. She may be sentenced on Wednesday.

Prosecutors said Khalid, who grew up in Pakistan, lived a double-life after moving to Maryland - as "a polite and studious 15-year-old" and "a tireless soldier for violent jihad." He helped al Qaeda by translating videos from Urdu to English, inciting others, and aided LaRose as she smuggled a stolen U.S. passport to a terrorist, they said.

After pleading guilty, LaRose and Khalid each met more than 20 times with U.S. authorities, providing information about multiple targets. In particular, authorities cited Khalid's insight into al Qaeda's propaganda and recruitment efforts.

I'm a little torn by this. By rights she ought to send natural life in prison. But she did cooperate (apparently significantly) and we'd like American-born schoopid terrorists to repent (and spill the beans). So give her 15 to 20 and see if she'll continue to cooperate while in prison.

Link

Terror Networks

Salman Rushdie targeted in Al Qaeda mag's most-wanted

2013-03-01

AN al-Qaeda magazine encouraging terrorism has revealed its most-wanted list of Islam critics to kill - and it includes British author Salman Rushdie.

The shocking article reads: "Wanted: Dead or alive for crimes against Islam."

Alongside the images is the slogan: "Yes we can. A bullet a day keeps the infidel away."

The list includes Molly Norris, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Flemming Rose, Morris Swadiq, Salman Rushdie, Girt Wilders [sic], Lars Vilks, Stephane Charbonnie, Carsten Luste, Terry Jones, and Kurt Westergaard.

The article also states: "Defend Prophet Muhammad. Peace be upon him."

The banned extremist web magazine is published by the Middle East Media Research Institute based in Washington D.C.

No, it's not published by MEMRI, it was noted and covered by MEMRI.

It is used to target Western governments by encouraging terrorism from home-grown jihadist groups.

Last September Muslim extremists ramped up the price on Mr Rushdie's head.

A fatwa -- death sentence -- was issued by Iran's late leader Ayotollah Khomeini in 1989 over passages in the British writer's book The Satanic Verses. Iran's Khordad Foundation has raised the reward offered for his killing by £500,000 to £2.5million.

The hardliners upped the ante in the midst of protests over an offensive anti-Islam American movie which alleged insulted the Prophet Mohammad.

Link

Europe

Ireland: Suspect in Terrorism Case Faces Extradition to U.S.

2013-03-01

The United States government has petitioned the Irish High Court to extradite an Algerian man living in Ireland on terrorism charges relating to a plot to assassinate a Swedish artist, officials said Thursday. The United States alleges that the man, Ali Charaf Damache,

From the clan Damache...

planned to set up terrorist training camps and kill several Europeans, including a Swedish artist, Lars Vilks, whose sketch of the Prophet Muhammad's head on a dog, published in 2007, had enraged the Islamic world.

On Wednesday, Mr. Damache pleaded guilty in the Waterford Circuit Court to making a menacing phone call to an American peace activist, a charge for which he was arrested and detained in 2010. The judge sentenced him to time served and released him, but Mr. Damache was immediately rearrested on the American extradition warrant. Mr. Damache arrived in Ireland in 2000 and married an Irish woman in 2002. The relationship ended in 2008 and he then married an American citizen, Jamie Paulin Ramirez. Ms. Ramirez has pleaded guilty in the United States to charges of conspiring with Colleen LaRose, also known as Jihad Jane, to support and train terrorists.

Link

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