A handwritten document titled “Phases of a Terrorist Attack” was found at a New Mexico encampment where the son of a famous New York Imam allegedly murdered his three-year-old son and trained several children to commit acts of terrorism, reports CNN.
The handwritten document contained “instructions for ‘The one-time terrorist,‘ instructions on the use of a ‘choke point,’ a location ‘called the ideal attack site,’ the ‘ability to defend the safe haven,’ the ‘ability to escape-perimeter rings,’ and ‘sniper position detection procedure,'” according to the court filing.
Some of the children at the compound told police that Morten allegedly “stated he wished to die in Jihad, as a martyr,” prosecutors said in the motion.
“At times, Jany Leveille would laugh and joke about dying in Jihad as would Subhanna Wahhaj,” according to the court document. –CNN
Prosecutors have asked judge Sarah Backus to reconsider an order granting bond to five adults arrested at the compound – citing “not only the death of three-year-old Abdul Ghani Wahhaj at the remote site, but also plans by the defendants to attack law enforcement and “specific targets such as teachers, schools, banks and other “corrupt” institutions.”
The defense, meanwhile, has asked Backus to dismiss the charges.
Despite authorities finding a dead child’s remains on the compound, and an alleged letter sent from one suspect to his brother inviting him to come to New Mexico and die as a martyr, Backus ruled that the state failed to meet the burden of showing the suspects were a danger to the community after several hours of testimony. She ordered the suspects – Siraj Ibn Wahhaj, 40, Lucas Morton, 40, Jany Leveille, 35, Hujrah Wahhaj, 37, and Subhannah Wahhaj, 35 – released on $20,000 signature bond, meaning they didn’t have to pay.
Backus drew harsh rebuke from prosecutors, law enforcement and New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez, who said she “strongly disagreed” with the decision to release the suspects on signature bail. “Unfortunately, it highlights how extreme the New Mexico Supreme Court has been in dictating pretrial release for all kinds of dangerous criminals.”
Children from the compound told police that Jany Leveille, 35 – the partner of the dead boy’s father, Siraj Wahhaj, 40, “intended to confront ‘corrupt’ institutions or individuals, such as the military, big businesses, CIA, teachers/schools and reveal the ‘truth’ to these corrupt institutions or individuals.”
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The dead boy’s father, Siraj Wahhaj, 40, and his partner, Jany Leveille, 35, have been charged with abuse of a child resulting in death, a first-degree felony with a penalty of up to life in prison, according to court documents. They were also charged with conspiracy to commit child abuse, also a first-degree felony.
The couple and three other adults — Wahhaj’s sisters, Hujrah Wahhaj and Subhannah Wahhaj; and Lucas Morten — were previously charged with 11 felony counts of child abuse. –CNN
Weapons Stash in Tunnel
CNN also reports that based on court filings, Siraj Wahhaj had “ordered the group to defend the compound with weapons in the event of a nighttime police raid.”
Some of the firearms with mounted scopes that were found at the compound pic.twitter.com/LYPdXfkmwU
— Gadi Schwartz (@GadiNBC) August 14, 2018
“The guns located at the exit of the tunnel were stored there … so that as the group exited the tunnel, the group could arm themselves with weapons and ammunition,” the document said.
Authorities have said the property included a makeshift shooting range. Police said they recovered an AR-15 rifle, loaded 30-round magazines, four loaded pistols and many rounds of ammunition.
The court document said two children told an FBI agent that they had been trained in “advanced firearms handling and had been instructed to shoot law enforcement personnel when the time came and that they would be instructed in the future to attack specific targets such as teachers, schools, banks and other ‘corrupt institutions.'” -CNN
Meanwhile, according to dashcam video and lapel audio obtained by CNN, the couple who owns the land, Tanya and Jason Badger, told a responding officer that the suspects had set up the compound – and had called authorities to report a possible missing child. The officer told the Badgers that one of the men living on the compound was on a “terror watch list,” yet local authorities declined to respond to calls over the missing child due to an ongoing FBI investigation. 
“We’ve gotten multiple calls on this child but, at the same time, our hands are tied because the FBI has whatever they got going on up there with them,'” Officer Bryan Donis said in the recording.
“All I know is that he’s on the terrorist watch list,” Donis is heard saying.
“I know this boy is missing from Georgia and that this guy is on the terrorist watch list and that there is a group of people they’re (FBI) keeping an eye on for whatever reason.”
In mid-August, New Mexico authorities executed a court order to destroy the encampment.
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NBC News reported that police seized an RV where eleven children and five adults lived in what was described as squalor, while also bulldozing the entrance to an underground tunnel where authorities found the decomposing body of three-year-old Abdul-ghani Wahha – placed there by the suspects in the hopes that he would resurrect as Jesus and use his psychic powers to help the group target “corrupt institutions and people” with “violent actions.”
Ammo and a bulletproof vest were discovered at the scene after the camp was broken down.
Taos County Sheriff Jerry Hogrefe said that during the initial serving of the search warrant, their tactical team came upon children holding boxes of ammo, and at least one child was armed when he was found. The defendants’ attorney tried to downplay the “heavily armed” portion of the case.
While cross-examining of Hogrefe, the suspects’ defense attorneys each took their chance to try and distance the suspects as far from the weapons as possible, and the connotations of violence they imply. One defense attorney suggested it’s “prudent” that children learn how to use firearms safely, which Hogrefe agreed to.
The sheriff also confirmed that Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is investigating the legalities surrounding the occupants’ possession of firearms.
Another defense attorney pointed out, and Hogrefe confirmed, that the compound’s occupants did not shoot at the tactical team as they raided the compound. He did say, however, that Morton was “struggling” and “resisting” while being arrested by deputies. –KOB.com
Backus has received more than 200 threats, according to Barry Massey, a spokesman for New Mexico Courts. Callers have threatened physical violence against Backus, including some people who threatened to slit Backus’ throat and smash her head, Massey said. People also lashed out on social media and also threatened court staff, Massey said. –CNN
Backus has been called an “Islamic terrorist sympathizer” and a “disgusting garbage human,” according to Massey.
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