Mom of Rockford terror suspect: Son involved with "the wrong people"

AP ^

[Valin]

CHICAGO - The man accused of plotting to carry out a holiday grenade attack on shoppers at a Rockford mall was a Muslim convert whose growing interest in radical views worried his mother, according to a published report. "I don't believe that my son purposely has done anything wrong," Marie Dunn told the (Arlington Heights) Daily Herald. "I believe he has gotten involved with the wrong people. ... I don't know who he's running with."

Dunn said she wasn't surprised when her 22-year-old son, Derrick Shareef, converted seven years ago, because his father was a member of the Nation of Islam. "He comes from a Muslim background," said Dunn, who described herself as Christian. A telephone listing for Dunn in Genoa was unlisted. But Dunn said she was shocked when she heard Friday that Shareef had been charged with trying to trade two stereo speakers for a 9 mm pistol and the four hand grenades authorities say he wanted set off in garbage cans at the CherryVale shopping mall in Rockford, about 90 miles northwest of Chicago. "I don't know what's going on," Dunn told the Rockford Register Star on Saturday. "The first time I heard about it was from a reporter."

Shareef didn't graduate from high school but earned his GED, Dunn said. He worked at a video game and electronics store in Rockford, where he moved two months ago after living "on and off" in Genoa with Dunn's husband and two other children, she said. FBI officials said the agency was tipped by an acquaintance of Shareef, after Shareef allegedly told the person he wanted to "commit acts of violent jihad," according to the affidavit. Authorities arrested Shareef Wednesday when he tried to make the trade with an undercover agent in a Rockford parking lot. Shareef was charged Friday with one count of attempting to damage or destroy a building by fire or explosion and one count of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, and was ordered held without bail.

[Doogle]

A joke, LOL! Her son's a joke. Stereo speakers for a few grenades and a gun, LOL!

yeah he couldn't swing the two chili dogs and punch soda, so he went for the grenades

Doogle

[Valin]

Read The FBI Affidavit On The Would-Be Mall Terrorist
Sweetness & Light ^ | December 9, 2006 | N/A

http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1751178/posts
Posted on 12/09/2006 9:30:51 PM CST by Sam Hill


There has been suprisingly little reportage of the actual details of would-be shopping mall terrorist, Mr. Talib Abu Salam Ibn Shareef's mindset and intentions.

So as a public service, here the FBI agent's affidavit (pdf file) in easy to read format.
(snip)

[AppyPappy]

We had a street gang in my hometown and they interviewed the mothers of the gang members. Half of them claimed their son was not in the gang and the others claimed it was a "social club" that had cookouts. When the gang got busted for selling drugs, the mothers claimed their sons were "set up" by the police, even the moms who said their sons weren't in the group.

The award went to the mother who said her son wasn't in the group. When asked why he wore a jacket with the gang name and emblem on it, she said "Someone just gave him that jacket". Ya think?