Philadelphia Criminal Attorney Qawi Abdul-Rahman, Identifies The 17-year-old terror suspect who was apprehended by the FBI in an armed raid at his suburban home on Monday, August 14, is his son, according to Qawi Abdul-Rahman.
The young person from Philadelphia has been charged with organizing a potential “catastrophic terrorist attack” after federal officials discovered the kid had apparently been in contact with an al-Qaeda-affiliated terror group and was gathering bomb-making materials.
Who is Qawi Abdul-Rahman?
Qawi Abdul Rahman was born on July 13, 1969, at his father’s post, the Plattsburgh Air Force Base in Plattsburgh, New York.
Being the child of a service member, Abdul-Rahman was instilled with a sense of devotion, responsibility, and honor for family and nation from a young age, as per Qawi Abdul Rahman For Judge.
He attended Philadelphia’s public schools and ultimately earned his diploma from the Walter B Saul High School of Agriculture and Science. He grew up in the Richard Allen Homes.
According to the website, Abdul Rahman switched to political science as his major when he arrived at Cheyney University because he had a rekindled desire to pursue law after seeing the abuses endured by members of his neighborhood.
After graduating from Cheyney, Abdul-Rahman enrolled at the St. Thomas School of Law in Miami, Florida. He relocated back to Philadelphia to continue serving his community after working in the Dade County Public Defender’s Office.
In 2018, the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania honored Abdul-Rahman for his pro bono efforts. He has 25 years of legal experience.
He currently resides in West Philadelphia and spends his leisure time mentoring neighborhood youth football players.
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Qawi Abdul-Rahman’s son is the teen terror suspect
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that sources connected the arrest to the FBI raid on Abdul-Rahman’s Woodbine Avenue residence on Friday, August 11. Abdul-Rahman unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for Common Pleas Court judge this year.
Abdul-Rahman, 50, told The Daily Beast that he was “shocked and devastated” by the arrest of the teenager. Among other things, the teenager is accused of arson, criminal conspiracy, possessing weapons of mass destruction, and endangering the world.
“I didn’t see it coming at all. At all,” he added.
The criminal defense lawyer further claimed, “I go to court because I want people to know that Muslims are out here doing things in the community, for the community. I’m an American like everyone else.”
Abdul-Rahman admitted to The Daily Beast that he was finding it difficult to talk to his two children, who were there during the raid, about the incident.
Qawi Abdul-Rahman’s son had links with al Qaeda-affiliated group
The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office issued a news statement describing the accusations against the unnamed adolescent as recent.
The unnamed child is thought to have had contact with Katibat al Tawhid wal Jihad, which the State Department designated as a global terrorist organization in 2022.
As per New York Post, the al Qaeda-affiliated group, which predominantly operates in Syria’s Idlib Province, is also thought to be behind the attacks on Saint Petersburg’s metro system in April 2017, and Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan’s Chinese Embassy in August 2016 with a suicide car bombing.
The young man was seen by FBI investigators purchasing bomb-making materials and “outdoor or tactical gear” before being captured, and they believe the terrorist organization provided him with training on how to construct improvised explosive devices.
Larry Krasner, the district attorney for Philadelphia, declared on August 14 that “the work of the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force potentially thwarted a catastrophic terrorist attack in the name of a perverted ideology that in no way, shape, or form represents the beliefs of the overwhelming majority of peace-seeking people of faith, including Muslims.”
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