David Daoud Wright, Terrorist Conspiracy, Massachusetts 2023

BOSTON – An Everett man, David Daoud Wright, a/k/a Dawud Sharif Abdul Khalik, a/k/a Dawud Sharif Abdul Khaliq, 31, of Everett, Mass., was re-sentenced yesterday to 30 years in prison and a lifetime of supervised release for conspiring to murder U.S. citizens, including police officers, on behalf of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

Wright was re-sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock after a federal jury convicted him of conspiracy to provide material support to ISIS, conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries, conspiracy to obstruct justice, and obstruction of justice in December 2017. In August 2019, the First Circuit Court of Appeals vacated count one (conspiracy to provide material support to ISIS) and affirmed the other counts. The case was remanded to the district court for re-sentencing, which took place yesterday.

“Mr. Wright is a homegrown terrorist who plotted to kill innocent Americans on behalf of ISIS, including specifically targeting police officers,” said United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling. “He radicalized himself and others, pledged allegiance to a terrorist organization, and conspired with his now-deceased uncle to kill police officers with a combat knife. This case is a reminder of the persistent terrorism threat to our citizens and law enforcement officers.”

Beginning in at least February 2015, Wright began discussing ISIS’ call to kill non-believers in the United States with his uncle, Usaamah Abdullah Rahim, and co-defendant Nicholas Alexander Rovinski. Specifically, Wright created a “martyrdom” operation cell in Massachusetts. In April 2015, Wright created a Twitter page for the “Lions of America” and published a document entitled, Internal Conquest, on the internet in which Wright called on Muslims living in the United States to kill their fellow citizens.

Wright also plotted with Rahim and Rovinski to behead U.S. citizens at the direction of ISIS, and identified a New York woman as the first beheading target. Rahim purchased three knives for this plot. In addition, Wright’s ISIS cell was in direct communication with ISIS recruiter and attack facilitator, Junaid Hussain, who provided Rahim with an encrypted document containing details about the intended victim. In August 2015, Hussain was killed in an airstrike in Raqqah, Syria.

On June 2, 2015, Wright caused a terrorist attack in Massachusetts and caused his uncle, Rahim, to be killed. Rahim was shot and killed after he attacked law enforcement officers with a large fighting knife in a Roslindale, Mass., parking lot. Two hours before Rahim attacked the police, Wright directed and encouraged Rahim to pursue martyrdom by attacking the “boys in blue.” Within minutes of learning of his uncle’s death from a family member, Wright deleted data from his laptop computer by restoring it to factory settings and deleted call logs on his cellphone that showed that he had spoken to Rahim that morning.

Wright was arrested and charged with the crimes. He was convicted and sentenced to 28 years in prison in December 2017, but the conviction was overturned on appeal. He was re-sentenced to 30 years in prison and a lifetime of supervised release.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/massachusetts-man-re-sentenced-30-years-prison-conspiring-murder-us-citizens-including