By Douglas J. Hagmann

10 March 2010: A four-count count indictment issued against Colleen Renee LaRose, 46, formerly of 429 Main Street, Pennsburg, Pennsylvania was unsealed yesterday by federal authorities in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The indictment charges LaRose with one count each of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, conspiracy to kill in a foreign country, making false statements to a government official and attempted identity theft.  The indictment also references five other co-conspirators, including one who resides in the U.S., although none of the five were identified by name.

LaRose came to the attention of federal authorities in 2008, when she allegedly began using the internet to solicit financial and material support to wage Jihad, or holy Islamic war against the West. Using the internet pseudonyms “JihadJane” and “Fatima Rose,” LaRose posted on Islamic internet forums, YouTube and FaceBook in an attempt to befriend and rally like-minded Muslims to her cause. She expressed her desire to advance Islamic holy war and become a shahed, or martyr for Islam. Others living within and outside of the U.S. answered her calls, and she began to put her alleged murderous plans into action.

Her online activities abruptly stopped she was arrested by federal authorities in on October 15, 2009, on charges of transferring a stolen U.S. passport to a co-conspirator. Following her arrest, she was incarcerated at the Federal Detention Center (FDC) in Philadelphia where she currently remains.

The indictment released Tuesday offers only a limited glimpse into the activities and ambitions of Colleen LaRose. Her path to “Islamic jihad” is neither exclusive nor exceptional, despite her U.S. citizenship and decidedly Western appearance. In fact, the case of Colleen LaRose can be an example of an emerging breed of Islamic terrorists and a template illustrating the developing threat posed by an ideology motivated by hatred.

The road to jihad

Diminutive at 4’11” tall, with dark blond hair and green eyes, Colleen Renee LaRose most recently lived in a second-floor apartment at this four-unit brick apartment house in the town of Pennsburg, , a rural community located north of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She resided there with her cats and for a time with a boyfriend and his ill father after living in San Angelo, Texas for several years.

In Texas, she lived at 305 N. Schroeder Avenue, San Angelo, with her husband Rudolpho CAVAZOS until her divorce in 1998, although maintained that surname as well as other aliases and variations of her name. In 1997, she was convicted of a class B misdemeanor for passing a bad check. According to court records, an open warrant still exists for her in the state of Texas stemming from that case. She was also convicted of driving under the influence.

LaRose reportedly converted to Islam as a result of her relationship with a male companion. Over the last few years, she began to become active in Islamic forums and web sites, embracing the ideology while living a rather unremarkable life and blending with the landscape of suburban sprawl in America.

Information obtained exclusively by this investigator from a federal source involved in this investigation provided insight into LaRose’s path from an American suburbanite to alleged terrorist, as well as the ensuing investigation leading to her indictment.

In June 2008, LaRose posted an entry on the internet site YouTube under the pseudonym “JihadJane,” writing that she wanted to help the “suffering Muslim people.” Following the posting of the video and her statement, federal agents began and maintained surveillance of the video and postings, including LaRose’s writiings.

It was not until December 2008 that the posting by LaRose received a response by a co-conspirator in “a south Asian county” who expressed a desire to also wage jihad and become a martyr. It is relevant to note that the lapse between June and December 2008 was caused, in part, by self-proclaimed “cyber vigilantes” intent on “taking down” such postings to “fight against jihad.” Those activities also caused interruptions of proactive monitoring of the seditious activity by federal intelligence officials – an issue coincidently addressed in this article by this author.

From December 2008 through March 2009, LaRose communicated via the internet with other Muslim terrorists and supporters, arranging for financing, training and travel to advance Islamic jihad. One of the communications between LaRose and an unidentified co-conspirator referenced the plan for LaRose to marry the co-conspirator to secure his residency in a European country. Meanwhile, LaRose sought information from the Swedish Embassy, inquiring how to obtain permanent residency status in Sweden.

Also in March, LaRose reportedly received instructions to travel to Sweden for the alleged purpose of murdering an individual there. In a series of communications on March 22, 2009 between LaRose and a co-conspirator and Islamic terrorist identified as CC#3 in the indictment, CC#3 directed LaRose to murder an individual in Sweden, killing him “in a way that the whole Kufar [non-believer] world would get frightened.”

Based on a confirmation received by this author from a federal source, her mission was to murder Lars Vilks, an artist who drew a picture of the head of Muhammed on the body of a dog. That depiction of Muhammed angered Muslims throughout Europe, much like the Danish cartoon controversy. LaRose agreed to do so, writing “I will make this my goal till I achieve it or die trying,” according to the indictment.

On August 23, 2009, LaRose allegedly stole the passport from the male with whom she resided, removed the hard drive from her computer in an attempt to conceal her plans, and embarked on her journey to Europe. Later that month, she she traveled to Europe “with the intent to live and train with jihadists” and to “find and kill” Vilks. Within two weeks, she joined an online community hosted by Vilks and eventually moved into Vilks’ artist enclave in Sweden.

For the next few weeks, LaRose waited for final authorization from her terrorist contacts. On September 25, 2009, she reportedly received a communication stating that “The brothers are ready,” and a request that she send money to her contact in Somalia, reportedly a member of the al Shabaab terrorist organization. In a follow-up communication five days later, LaRose stated that she considered it “an honor and great pleasure to die or kill” for her terrorist contact, adding that “only death will stop me here that I am so close to the target,” according to the indictment.

LaRose never executed her plan to murder Vilks, and federal officials are not releasing additional information about the events that followed, citing the ongoing nature of this investigation and additional pending arrests. What is clear is that LaRose traveled back to the U.S. in the days that followed, and was arrested by federal officials in Philadelphia on October 15, 2009.

What is also clear is that LaRose is not the only American being motivated to Islamic jihad. The road to jihad is a busy one, and until the West understands and acts upon the peril we face, there will many others answering the call to jihad.