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| Michigan airport stabber convicted in terrorism case |
| 2018-11-14 |
| [DetroitNews] Amor Ftouhi, a Tunisian national charged with terrorism and stabbing a police officer during a terror attack last year at Bishop International Airport in Flint, was convicted of all charges Tuesday following a five-day jury trial in federal court. Ftouhi, 51, faces up to life in prison for the June 2017 attack and will be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Leitman on March 7 in Flint. He also was convicted of committing violence at an international airport and interfering with airport security. Jurors deliberated for 75 minutes — including lunch. "Ftouhi conducted research in Canada and entered our country with a plan to obtain a weapon and kill American police officers," said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Demers. "With today’s guilty verdict, he will be held accountable for his brutal knife attack on an airport police officer in Flint.” Ftouhi was facing three charges, including committing an act of terrorism transcending national boundaries. He was on trial and accused of using a machete to stab Bishop Airport police Lt. Jeff Neville, who survived the attack. A witness said Ftouhi walked up to the airport police officer, yelled “Allahu Akbar,” pulled out a knife, stabbed the officer in the neck and said, ‘You have killed people in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, and we are all going to die,’ ” according to the federal criminal complaint against Ftouhi. Ftouhi came to the United States after conducting online research into American gun laws and Michigan gun shows, prosecutors allege. He tried unsuccessfully to buy a gun, bought a knife and used it to stab Neville, according to court records. Ftouhi later told investigators he was a “soldier of Allah” and that he subscribed to the ideology of al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden. Federal authorities say Ftouhi acted alone and that the suspect “wanted to identify” an international airport to carry out his attack but officials declined to say what made him pick Flint. Ftouhi is believed by authorities to have traveled to the United States legally from Canada on June 16, 2017, through Lake Champlain, New York, and then entered Michigan on June 18, 2017. He had lived in Canada for the previous decade. |
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| Flint MI stabbing suspect now facing federal terrorism charge | |
| 2018-03-22 | |
| FLINT, MI - The 50-year-old man suspected of stabbing Officer Jeff Neville in June 2017 at Bishop International Airport in Flint is now charged with committing an international act of terror. Amor M. Ftouhi
Ftouhi was previously indicted on one count of violence at an international airport and a charge of interference with airport security. He faces the potential of a life sentence in prison. | |
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| Flint airport attack suspect chants ‘Allahu Akbar' in federal court | ||
| 2017-07-06 | ||
| [DetroitNews] Flint — The terror suspect accused in the stabbing of a police officer last month at Bishop International Airport was indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury on charges that could send him to prison for life. Amor M. Ftouhi, a 49-year-old Tunisian national
Then, he stood mute on charges in the latest terror investigation in a region that has seen a handful of terrorism prosecutions in recent years, including underwear bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. The indictment Wednesday did not charge Ftouhi with terrorism. U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephanie Dawkins Davis entered a not-guilty plea on Ftouhi’s behalf to charges stemming from what the FBI describes as an attack in the Flint airport last month. There was an unusually heavy security presence inside a federal courtroom filled with at least seven news reporters, a sketch artist and an Arabic interpreter. Ftouhi was encircled by five security officers while being escorted back to an undisclosed correctional facility.
Ftouhi is accused of stabbing Bishop airport police Lt. Jeff Neville with a 12-inch knife. A witness said Ftouhi walked up to the airport police officer, yelled “Allahu Akbar,” pulled out a knife, stabbed the officer in the neck and said, ‘You have killed people in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, and we are all going to die,’ ” according to the federal criminal complaint against Ftouhi. He has not been arraigned. The wounded officer has been released from the hospital. Ftouhi also allegedly asked another officer who came to the assistance of Neville and subdued Ftouhi why the officer did not kill him, according to the federal complaint. Federal authorities say Ftouhi acted alone. The suspect allegedly unsuccessfully tried to buy a firearm in the United States. Ftouhi is a married father of three and worked as a trucker until two weeks ago. | ||
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| Accused Flint stabber was truck driver, married father of 3 | |
| 2017-06-24 | |
| [bankrupt, increasingly impoverished, reliably Democrat, Detroit ... ruled by Democrats since 1962. A city whose Golden Age included the Purple Gang... FreePress] The man accused of stabbing a police officer at the Flint airport Wednesday is a married father of three children, who worked on and off as a truck driver and indicated he had no mental health problems, according to newly released audio of his federal court hearing. Amor Ftouhi, 49, was born in Tunisia and had citizenship there and in Canada, where he lived for the past decade. He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephanie Dawkins Davis Wednesday for his initial appearance wearing a mask because he had spit on a law enforcement officer, officials said. Ftouhi said he understands the charge against him and the allegations that he used a large knife to stab Lt. Jeff Neville, who remains hospitalized today. The act is being investigated as an act of terror by the FBI, who said Ftouhi yelled "Allahu Akbar," meaning "God is great" in Arabic, pulled out the knife and stabbed Neville in the neck in a public area of the Bishop International Airport. Ftouhi faces a charge of committing a violent act in an airport, which carries a maximum punishment of 20 years in prison. He is behind bars pending a detention hearing set for June 28 in Flint federal court. Audio of the brief court hearing was released today. According to information from hearing, Ftouhi has indicated he has some understanding of English but is mostly fluent in French. He lives in Montreal, doesn’t use drugs or alcohol and last worked about two weeks ago, the court was told. The Federal Defender Office is representing Ftouhi and David Koelzer, his attorney present at the hearing Wednesday, told the court he read the complaint to Ftouhi in English, and his client also had a written copy. "He appeared to understand what I was reading and indicated to me that he understood what I was reading to him," Koelzer said. Ftouhi answered several questioned from the judge in English, including when she asked if he understood he must tell the truth filling out a financial affidavit. "Yes, I tell the truth," Ftouhi responded.
Amor Ftouhi kept the building stairwells clean and always paid his rent on time, his landlord told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named. The 49-year-old originally from Tunisia lived in a two-bedroom apartment with his wife and children and "never made any trouble," Luciano Piazza said. The Villeray-St Michel-Parc Extension borough where Ftouhi lived is a large, ethnically diverse Montreal neighborhood, with almost half of its 142,000 residents born outside Canada, according to city figures. Almost 8,000 claim Arabic as their first language. North African e Once in the U.S., he unsuccessfully tried to buy a gun, but instead managed to buy a knife, David Gelios, head of the FBI in bankrupt, increasingly impoverished, reliably Democrat, Detroit ... ruled by Democrats since 1962. A city whose Golden Age included the Purple Gang... said Thursday. He did not elaborate. Licensed gun dealers first must put purchasers through an electronic background check of U.S. law enforcement databases, which could make Canadians ineligible, said Brady Schickinger, director of the Michigan Coalition for Responsible Gun Owners. | |
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| Terror attack at Michigan airport: Tunisian knifeman with a 'hatred of the United States' wounds cop by repeatedly stabbing him in the neck while shouting Allahu Akbar before being tackled to the ground | |||
| 2017-06-22 | |||
This morning, he arrived at the airport and walked around a bit - never going past security into the terminals. They say he spent some time on the first level of the airport, before going upstairs to a restaurant. He then went into a bathroom, dropped his baggage there and then came back out to attack Neville. The FBI spokesman also said that Ftouhi said something to the extent of 'you have killed people in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan and you're all going to die'. He added that it was clear the Ftouhi had a 'hatred for the U.S.' Authorities said there's no indication that Ftouhi was connected to any international terror organization, or that he was part of any wider plot. Sources told NBC 25/Fox 66 that Ftouhi tried to buy a gun before the attack, but was denied one so he bought a knife instead. The whole incident inside the airport was caught on video, the sources added.
The suspect, who is married and has children, reportedly has dual citizenship in Canada and Tunisia. | |||
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