A Syrian immigrant has received a sentence of more than 17 years for, as authorities claim, being part of a conspiracy to attack a Christian church in Pittsburgh, a city in the US state of Pennsylvania.
The refugee, Mustafa Mousab Alowemer, 24, was sentenced Tuesday to 17 years and four months after entering a guilty plea to a federal crime of trying to give money and supplies to the militant extremist group Islamic Stage.
Alowemer was born in Syria and came to the United States in 2016. According to the authorities, he had complete plans in 2019 to bomb the Legacy International Worship Center, a small Christian church on the city’s North Side. According to the prosecution, he intended for his activities to serve as an example for other American allies of the Islamic State group.
Prosecutors also said that Alowemer gave instructions on building and using explosives in May 2019 to someone he thought was another IS supporter. However, that person was in fact with the FBI. The prosecutors further said that he purchased nails and nail polish remover for the purpose of building explosives.
Alowemer shared maps, locating arrival and escape routes, and a handwritten 10-point plan detailing plans of delivering explosives in a backpack with the same person. A week after his meeting in June 2019 with the person, Alowemer was arrested.
According to a report in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, a Pittsburg daily newspaper, US District Judge Marilyn Horan told Alowemer on Tuesday that the case had brought “nothing but tragic impact” on him and his family, as well as the community. She said, “You knew full well what you were doing. All of your actions were knowing, intentional and deliberate.”
Prosecutors were trying to secure a maximum term of 20 years for him. On the other hand, the defense argued for an eight-year term, contending that years of trauma had left Alowemer with post-traumatic stress disorder and major depressive disorder and also a survivor’s guilt after which he became obsessed about the happenings in his homeland.
Andrew Lipson, the assistant public defender, said, “At the time of his offense, he was sick, and that sickness contributed to his offense. That sickness distorted the world around him.”
Assistant US Attorney Soo Song acknowledged his trauma but emphasized his planning as being not only “an act of terrorism” but having the hallmarks of a hate crime in targeting a Christian church with a motive to counter-attack what happened against ISIS in Nigeria. She added that he also mentioned US servicemen and classmates as potential targets.
Alowemer apologized to the church’s pastor, congregation, the community, and the government in court.
Accepting his crime, he said, “I understand the severity of my crime. I no longer think or act the way I used to. I no longer support ISIS.”
