What American political activist and commentator was almost beheaded by Boston-area resident Usaama Rahim?
2015 Boston beheading plot An attack was plotted by Boston-area resident Usaama Rahim. Rahim initially planned to behead Pamela Geller but when that proved too difficult, he told his nephew David Wright on June 2, 2015, that he had decided to behead a police officer instead. However, Rahim was under 24-hour police surveillance, and the police moved that day to arrest Rahim. During the attempted arrest, the police shot and killed Rahim. Wright was arrested and initially charged with attempting to destroy evidence. Later, a third man, Nicholas Rovinski, was arrested, and both Wright and Rovinski were charged with conspiracy to support the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
Anwar al-Awlaki Anwar al-Awlaki (also spelled al-Aulaqi, al-Awlaqi; Arabic: أنور العولقي‎ ‎ "Anwar al-‘Awlaqī"; April 21, 1971 – September 30, 2011) was an American and Yemeni imam and Islamic lecturer. U.S. government officials allege that, in his position as a senior recruiter and motivator, he was centrally involved in planning terrorist operations for the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda, and he became the first United States citizen to be targeted and killed by a U.S. drone strike. President Barack Obama ordered the strike. His son, Abdulrahman al-Awlaki (a 16-year-old U.S. citizen), was killed in a U.S. drone strike two weeks later. On January 29, 2017, Al-Awlaki's 8-year-old daughter, Nawar Al-Awlaki, was killed in a U.S. commando attack in Yemen which was ordered by Obama's successor, Donald Trump. With a blog, a Facebook page, the al-Qaeda magazine "Inspire", and many YouTube videos, al-Awlaki was described by Saudi news station Al Arabiya as the "bin Laden of the Internet". After a request from the U.S. Congress, in November 2010 Google removed many of al-Awlaki's videos from its websites. According to "The New York Times", al-Awlaki's public statements and videos have been more influential in inspiring acts of terrorism in the wake of his assassination than before his death.