A man involved in coordinating the shooting at Texas’ “Draw Muhammad” event last month ultimately had the goal of joining forces with ISIS to attack the Super Bowl, Fox News reports.
Last week, Abdul Malik Abdul Kareem was arrested on charges stemming from the May shooting. Kareem had provided a place to stay for the shooters as well as the guns that were used to fire at the security guards. Both shooters were immediately gunned down by police officers present at the event.
Following his arrest, an FBI agent testified that an anonymous informant relayed the information that Kareem hoped to join ISIS after watching the group’s propaganda videos. The agent also noted that when the FBI had investigated Kareem in 2012, he had a document on his computer which detailed terrorist training protocol and how he wanted to attack the Super Bowl in Arizona that year.
Kareem was denied bail due to his propensity to spur violence that could be detrimental to the general public. Although defense lawyer Daniel Maynard argued that there was no proof that Kareem provided the guns to the two men, Kareem had previously practiced shooting with them in a remote desert. Kareem led a tumultuous life involving criminal activity as well as substance abuse.
However, following his second DUI arrest, probation officers said that Kareem had been very cooperative. In fact he led a rather normal life for a period of time, attending services as a local mosque for four years until recent months. During his absence from the mosque, officials came to ask leaders if they could provide information on 15-20 suspicious individuals.
As of June 11th Kareem remains in police custody and will most likely face terrorism charges.