A Boston terror suspect was allegedly planning a beheading for Pamela Geller, the organizer of the “Draw Muhammad” cartoon competition, law enforcement sources said Wednesday.
Usaama Rahim, 26, was reportedly under anti-terrorism surveillance before he was shot and killed by officers
outside Boston early Tuesday, Fox News reported.
FBI agents and Boston police confronted Rahim for questioning Tuesday on the sidewalk
outside a CVS Pharmacy, according to the Daily Mail. When he pulled out a knife and would not give it up, he was shot, Boston Police Commissioner William Evans told reporters.
Sources said Rahim had been planning to kill 56-year-old Geller for the last week, and had purchased three fighting knives and a sharpener to use in the attack, the Daily Mail noted.
David Wright, a 24-year-old relative of the terror suspect, said he was aware of the attack, but was told only that Rahim was planning to behead an unidentified victim outside of Massachusetts.
Rahim, Wright, and an unidentified man reportedly met on a Rhode Island beach Sunday to “discuss their plans,” a FBI affidavit reported, according to Fox.
Wright is currently in police custody on a charge of conspiracy to obstruct a federal investigation after allegedly planning to destroy Rahim’s smart phone.
“Wright indicated that he agreed with Rahim's plan and supported it,” the FBI affidavit said.
Rahim called Wright Tuesday morning informing him the plans had changed, and he was going to attack police instead of Geller, according to the affidavit.
“Yeah, I'm going to be on vacation right here in Massachusetts,” Rahim said in the recorded conversation. “I'm just going to go after them, those boys in blue.”
The FBI said “vacation” refers a violent act of jihad.
Geller, a conservative blogger and president of the American Freedom Defense Initiative, organized a "Draw Muhammad" contest in Texas last month that was stormed by two Muslim gunmen who were ultimately killed by police.
“They targeted me for violating
Sharia blasphemy laws,” Geller told CNN Wednesday. “They mean to kill everyone who doesn't do their bidding and abide by their law voluntarily.”
Geller has had an “army of security” since last month’s incident.