You won’t believe how this Muslim jihadi is getting off — and it’s happening right here on our land.
Khalil Abu-Rayyan allegedly gushed about his fondness for violent acts of terrorism in text message exchanges with an undercover agent and during an in-custody police interview.
Even before he drew the attention of law enforcement in 2015, the 21-year-old Muslim from Dearborn Heights had retweeted, liked and commented on Islamic State propaganda on his Twitter account in 2014, authorities said.
Once face to face with federal investigators in October, authorities say Abu-Rayyan admitted to hearing voices in his head that told him to do terrible things: burn people alive, tie them up, cut their tongues.
“Shooting and death makes me excited. I love to hear people scream and beg. I wish I had my gun,” Abu-Rayyan told the FBI undercover agent in a text message.
Yet Abu-Rayyan’s defense lawyer says his client is no terrorist. Rather, he is a socially awkward pizzeria worker who lives with his parents, smokes marijuana and has no romantic experience with women.
Abu-Rayyan was bragging of jihad and martyrdom to impress a woman, who turned out to be an undercover agent, his lawyer says, adding that black Heritage .22- caliber revolver he was caught carrying illegally is recommended for Boy Scout target shooting, not acts of terrorism.
And he never carried out any of the violent acts he vowed to commit.
Both sides of Abu-Rayyan emerged in a federal courtroom last month in Detroit where prosecutors charged him with two felony counts involving firearms and drugs — but not terrorism.
Read more: The Detroit News
