February 3, 2014
Written Testimony in Support of HB2463
On June 1st 2009, terrorism literally hit home in Little Rock, Arkansas when a
Jihadist terrorist, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad (formerly known as Carlos
Bledsoe) shot two US Army soldiers outside a recruiting office in a shopping mall.
Killed in that attack was Private William “Andy” Long. Private Quinton I. Ezeagwula
was wounded.
This attacked was portrayed in the movie Losing Our Sons.
To fully comprehend the true nature of the threat of terrorism, one must understand
that, though Muhammad has been labeled a “lone wolf,” such terrorism does not
happen in a vacuum.
Before he became Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, Carlos Bledsoe was recruited.
He was indoctrinated. He was selected to receive training in the far off land of
Yemen and, after that training, he committed horrible acts of terrorism in what he
himself termed “Jihad.”
Terrorism doesn’t just happen. Terrorism is committed and terrorist acts are
perpetrated by individuals who are motivated and trained. In some cases they are
funded directly, but all of the activities involving recruitment, indoctrination and
training cost money.
All of these types of activity form material support for terrorism. Not only did
Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad commit dastardly acts of terrorism, but others
provided support that eventually led to his act of terrorism. For that those people
should have been made to pay. Unfortunately, there was no specific mechanism to
see to it that they should pay.
HB2463 is designed to change all that, just as the passage of “Andy’s Law” in
Arkansas did last spring.
Some might believe that terrorism and the material support of terrorism are crimes
that are and should be dealt with strictly on the federal level. This thinking is flawed.
The federal government has repeatedly declined to pursue terrorism charges in
recent years:
• The federal government declined to pursue terrorism charges against Abdulhakim
Mujahid Muhammad for his attack on US soldiers in Little Rock.
• The federal government termed the Fort Hood shooter, Nidal Malik Hassan, to
have committed “workplace violence” and declined to pursue terrorism charges
against him.
• In a little known case, last March, Ahmed Ferhani, an Algerian, was convicted
under New York’s state-level terrorism statute in a plot to blow up 10 synagogues in
New York City. Once again, the federal government had declined to pursue terrorism
charges against Ferhani.
More recently, in December, the threat of terrorism was driven closer to home here
in Kansas when Terry Loewen of Wichita was arrested in a plot to conduct a suicide
bombing at Wichita Mid-Continent Airport.
HB2463 equips law enforcement in Kansas with the tools they need to aggressively
prosecute terrorists and their supporters. It also protects the rights of victims of
terrorism by empowering them to take civil action against those who commit these
heinous crimes against them and their loved ones.
HB2463 allows for seizure of the assets including money, used in the course of,
intended for use in the course of, derived from, or realized through terrorism. This
would empower law enforcement to prevent terrorists, or attempted terrorists,
from keeping their assets.
The bill also creates a civil cause of action against terrorists by victims that allows
victims to recover actual damages, treble damages and attorneys fees. This would
allow victims of terrorism to sue those who committed the terrorist act, those who
solicited material support for the terrorist act, those who make a terrorist threat,
those who falsely communicate a terrorist threat, hinders prosecution of terrorism,
exposes the public to toxic biological, chemical, or radioactive substances, or uses a
hoax substance. Current Kansas law does not clearly establish such a cause of
action. Further, Kansas lacks its own RICO statute, which in some other states,
notably Louisiana where it has already been instituted, would provide some
remedy. The federal RICO statute does not provide meaningful remedies because it
only allows damages for business losses and property damage, and not for personal
injury or wrongful death.
By passing HB2463, Kansas would set the example for other states, in particular
Tennessee, where Carlos Bledsoe became Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, and
empower state and local law enforcement, as well as victims of terrorism to not just
prosecute the perpetrators of acts of terrorism but also those who provide material
support—funding, recruitment, indoctrination, training and other forms of support-which lead up to those acts.
Christopher Holton
Security Policy Center