Father and other family members are convicted in New Mexico kidnapping and terrorism case

Source: Associated Press

Father and other family members are convicted in New Mexico kidnapping and terrorism case

BY SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN
Updated 8:26 PM EDT, October 17, 2023

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Jurors on Tuesday convicted a father of terrorism charges in a case that stemmed from the search for a 3-year-old boy who went missing from Georgia and was found dead hundreds of miles away at a squalid compound in northern New Mexico in 2018.

Prosecutors told jurors that the boy’s father, Siraj Ibn Wahhaj, and other members of his family had fled with the toddler to a remote stretch of the high desert so they could engage in firearms and tactical training to prepare for attacks against the government. It was all tied to an apparent belief that the boy would be resurrected as Jesus Christ and provide instructions.

Jurors reached their decision after deliberating for two-and-a-half days.

In a case that took years to get to trial, jurors heard weeks of testimony from children who had lived with their parents at the compound, other family members, firearms experts, doctors and forensic technicians. The defendants, who are Muslim, argued that federal authorities targeted them because of their religion.

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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/new-mexico-terrorism-trial-compound-boy-muslim-6cdd0420895b2f079bc424c7454cc6be