In my last article we established that terrorism is starting to infect our prisons. Luckily, it is still in its infant stages… at least for now.
To avoid future terrorist gang growth, we first have to look at who is susceptible to extremist group recruitment.
The answer, frankly, is quite scary. Report after report, study after study, has confirmed that the profile of people likely to join terrorist groups are similar to people likely to join street gangs. Thus, we only have to look at the size of our current street gang problem to understand the scope of the problem we’re facing.
Across the country — especially in the last 20 years — we’ve watched a generation of young people be snatched up into the ranks of street gangs. We now run a real risk of loosing even more to the clutches of the modern terrorist group.
So, what makes a terrorist group?
Before can go any further, we first must decide how we define “modern terrorist group.”
There are many different types, ranging from “eco-terrorists” to Muslim Extremist groups but by most all accounts, the biggest threat to public safety comes from Muslim extremist groups. Thus, for our purposes, I will focus on this type of group.
Muslim extremists are nothing new — their cause did not begin (or end) on 9/11. On the contrary, these groups have been terrorizing people for decades, bombing both military and civilian targets. Many of them began — like many street gangs — as a way of banding together in defense against a regional invader or threat.
When the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, the Taliban were fierce student fighters (in Pashtu, the word Taliban means student) among the Afghan Mujahideen. Some argue that the Taliban did not emerge as a real power until 1994 when they began to win many battles in the civil war that ensued after the Soviets were routed from the country. The Taliban eventually won control of most of Afghanistan, becoming the ruling government for the region. During this time, an otherwise unknown group, Al Qaeda, began to emerge in Afghanistan. Their leader, Osama Bin Laden, was a dangerous combination of wealth and charisma the likes of which had rarely been seen before in this type of group.
After the Taliban secured control of the country, it allowed Al Qaeda to set up training camps throughout Afghanistan, from which Al Qaeda mounted attacks on people they considered to be anti-Islam1. Al Qaeda was able to grow quickly because Afghanistan was an economically depressed country and, in turn, there were plenty of young people looking for direction. The lure of money and the sense of belonging are believed to have driven many young men into a life of extremism.
The modern breeding ground
Now that we’ve discussed the origins, let’s examine how it’s spreading into our prisons.
The U.S. correctional system is crawling with disenfranchised people. Not all of them, of course, are inclined towards extremism. What we need to do now is identify key warning signs that tell us that terrorist ideals are breeding within an inmate.
The average unit officer must pay attention to the inmates he is charged with—I’ve said before that well-trained unit officers will be aware of subtle changes in daily inmate behavior. Modern terrorist groups receive training on how to blend into an environment, thus the level of sophistication will be a little higher than in your average prison gang.
Signs of radicalism
So, if you notice a change in an inmate’s behavior that is leading you to believe they may be developing terrorist ties, take the time to do your research. Chances are the inmate will have a new friend. This new friend will likely be treating the inmate like a student.
When the inmate leaves his cell, look for signs of suspicious behavior; keep in mind that you do not want to spook the inmate. Instead just take a look, especially at the inmates’ writings. If they’re headed down the road to radicalism, chances are you will find some type of writing related to the inmates involvement in extremism: Handlers of new recruits often have them type out their life story and how they feel about their government, etc. This is later used as information to guide the new recruit to accomplish a mission. The new recruit will probably not hide this paperwork, as it likely won’t contain information that in of itself could be considered threatening.
This is where you have a choice to make: You can either confiscate the paperwork now and launch an investigation or you can call your gang task force officer and ask for direction. It may be best to leave the manuscript behind. This will help investigators later to determine who the “handler” or the recruiter is. This is a decision to be made by experienced gang unit officers or supervisors.
You need to take great care that you document your findings somewhere. The gangs unit may choose a range of options to infiltrate the group; we will not discuss those here for as this is not a high enough security format to do so in.
Another sign of a turn towards extremism is a disconnection from friends and family.
If you notice the mail of an inmate becoming more hostile towards his family, it would behoove you to take notes. Key phrases are going to help you identify the letter you want to pay attention to. Obviously “Death to the USA” will probably not be written in large letters on the top of a letter, but small clues such as a call to the family to join the struggle might be.
Talk of death or dying is also another clue. The inmate may speak of his time to come in paradise as a reward for his struggle. These types of letters can be a huge help in identifying new recruits. Any symbols or writing you do not recognize could be critical later, so make note of them, and if possible, begin to compile what you see in a notebook for reference.
Changes in attitude and behavior are also key. An inmate that has always been somewhat loud and disruptive may suddenly become quiet and respectful. He may even become overly compliant, all in an effort to blend into the background quietly. You are not looking for the typical loudmouth gangster here; you are looking at that inmate you didn’t even know lived in your unit. The inmate who never asks for anything, or when he does it is very polite and soft.
It cannot be stressed enough that a terrorist recruit is not going to be your average gang-banger. Terrorist groups do not like loudmouths who boast about their conquests in and out of prison. This disrupts their activities, as they rely on secrecy and subterfuge.
There is an old saying: “The squeakiest wheel gets’ the grease.” Terrorist insiders are relying on this holding true. Their recruits will be trained to stay under the radar until it is time to strike.
Terrorists likely will have no problem dying for their cause either. As most of us know, extremist Islam promises many great things after life if you die a warrior; so death is not a deterrent. This makes the terrorist inmate infinitely more dangerous than our common gang members.
Get in touch with DHS
Your prison management should already have contacts within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that they can draw more information from — it is urgent that you seek out information on your own in this matter. Use the resources available through the DHS website or from contacts through work. The people in the counterterrorism units will be able to help you identify and eradicate the extremists that may be sitting in a cell in your unit.
We have been able to stop attacks on U.S. soil for more than eight years. To keep this up, it is going to take the willingness to think outside of what we are used to. Prison is a breeding ground for terrorism that has not yet received the attention it needs. We must stay vigilant to fight this trend — we cannot allow our nations biggest enemy to recruit inside the very walls we defend.
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1 9/11 commission report