The Columbus Shopping Mall bombing plot was a plan to detonate an explosive in a

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a large indoor shopping center, usually Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term ''mall'' originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it, but in the late 1960s, i ...

in the city of

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

, United States. The plot was disclosed by federal authorities on June 14, 2004, when an indictment against Nuradin Abdi was unsealed by the local

United States District Court The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district. Each district cov ...

. Abdi was part of a clandestine cell of

al-Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...

which sought to bring "death and destruction to Columbus".

Background

Nuradin Abdi entered the United States as an

asylum seeker An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country, and makes in that other country a formal application for the right of asylum according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 14. A per ...

from

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

. He lived in a predominantly Muslim neighborhood on the north side of Columbus. According to one report, Abdi flew to

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

to train in a military-style training camp in January 2000. There, he allegedly was trained in the use of guns, bombs, and

guerrilla warfare Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include recruited children, use ambushes, sabotage, terrori ...

. He returned two months later. Abdi met with Christopher Paul and Iyman Faris at a coffee shop in Upper Arlington on August 6, 2002. According to Paul (who was awaiting trial for a separate plot to bomb European tourist resorts), Abdi first suggested shooting up a mall, to which Paul responded "That's a stupid idea". Abdi subsequently suggested bombing the mall, but few other details were released.

Arrest and proceedings

Abdi was arrested on November 28, 2003, and charged with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, conspiracy to provide material support to al-Qaeda, and two counts of fraud and misuse of documents. His attorneys became concerned with his mental state, and he was sent to a federal medical center in

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

in June 2004 to undergo tests. He was returned to Columbus in August 2004 and held in the Franklin County Correctional Facility II. On July 31, 2007, Abdi pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to support terrorists. The other charges against him were dismissed as part of a plea agreement. Abdi was sentenced to 10 years in prison and would be deported to Somalia upon completion of the sentence. New details released at the time of the plea agreement show that there were likely more than the aforementioned three people who were involved in the plot. Documents that were filed along with Abdi's agreement note a fourth person whom the trio met with both in Columbus and in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

. A 2011

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

report claimed some of the people associated with this plot were imprisoned in a highly restrictive communications management unit. In 2012, it was reported that Abdi was deported back to Somalia.

References

2002 in Ohio 21st century in Columbus, Ohio August 2002 crimes in the United States August 2002 in the United States Explosions in 2002 Failed terrorist attempts in the United States Islamic terrorism in Ohio Islamic terrorist incidents in 2002 Shopping mall bombings Terrorist incidents in the United States in 2002 {{US-crime-bio-stub