With the nation’s attention on drones, Iran and ICE raids, a story from my hometown of Pittsburgh deserved more attention than it got. That story vindicates warnings other members of Congress and I gave in 2015 when President Barack Obama announced a plan to admit thousands of refugees from war-torn Syria, even though national security officials admitted there were gaps in our vetting capabilities. The story also vindicates one of President Trump’s first actions upon taking office.
Last week, the FBI arrested 21-year-old Mustafa Mousab Alowemer, a Syrian who entered the United States as a refugee in August 2016. Alowemer is charged with attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization and with distributing information about explosives to someone he knew intended to use the information to commit a crime of violence.
Alowemer allegedly planned to bomb a Christian church in Pittsburgh that had Nigerian immigrants among its worshipers. His intent was to avenge his ISIS “brothers” killed in Nigeria. He also planned a second bomb, timed to hit police responding to the attack and “lock down the whole [sic] Pittsburgh.”
Alowemer was arrested after an investigation revealed that he not only recorded a video pledging allegiance to ISIS, but also that he was deadly serious about his intentions — he used Google Maps to plan arrival and escape routes and he purchased bomb-making materials. He allegedly offered to identify several other targets for ISIS attacks as well, including Yazidi refugees, a Shia Muslim mosque, and a U.S. service member.
Many questions remain about Alowemer, his ISIS connections, and his admission to the U.S. The FBI says that Alowemer came on its radar in 2018 after he communicated with an ISIS supporter in Wisconsin (that individual pleaded guilty earlier this year in federal court to attempted support for a foreign terrorist organization). Throughout the investigation, Alowemer “displayed an increasingly sophisticated level of operational security and strategic planning.” The FBI says Alowemer gave undercover agents rings bearing ISIS insignia and repeatedly made incriminating statements. In one message, Alowemer allegedly said he was “raised in Jordan on loving the Jihad and the Mujahdeen [sic]” and that he was “alongside some brothers … arrested three times in Jordan, because [he] was one of the supporters.”
Alowemer’s arrest confirms that congressional Republicans were right to express concerns about Obama’s refugee plan in 2015. At the time, terror groups were attempting to exploit refugee programs, and national security officials in the U.S. — including then-FBI Director James Comey and Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson — admitted to vulnerabilities in America’s vetting system.
In November 2015, I called for a moratorium on the entry of refugees from Syria and all other countries that had been infiltrated by ISIS until security concerns could be adequately addressed. At that time, ISIS terrorists, including at least one from Syria, had just launched attacks in Paris that killed 130. My first and foremost concern was the safety of my constituents and that we simply did not have the proper vetting mechanisms in place.
The same concerns prompted Trump to order a temporary pause on immigration from a handful of countries that had dysfunctional or nonexistent governments. These countries were infected with terrorists who were attempting to infiltrate Western nations.
Trump’s policies were decried as discriminatory and illegal by a broad swath of the Left. Nothing could have been further from the truth. The temporary halt applied to only seven, and subsequently to only six, of the 50 Muslim majority countries, and was ultimately upheld by the United States Supreme Court.
The Pittsburgh ISIS arrest confirms that Republican objections in 2015 and Trump’s actions in 2017 were prescient. I am thankful for the FBI’s great work on this case. We must continue to be vigilant to ensure that yesterday’s policy mistakes do not result in what could have been avoidable tragedies.
Keith Rothfus (@KeithRothfus) represented Pennsylvania’s twelfth congressional district from 2013 to 2019.
