Trial Set For Man Tied To Garland Shooting
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PHOENIX (AP) - A Phoenix man accused of helping orchestrate a shooting at an anti-Islam event in Texas originally planned to participate in the attack alongside the two gunmen who were eventually killed by police, according to court documents unsealed Thursday.
Abdul Malik Abdul Kareem, 43, was arrested June 11 by the FBI on charges related to the May 3 shooting at a Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest in Garland, Texas.
He's being held without bail after being charged with conspiracy, making false statements and interstate transportation of firearms with intent to commit a felony.
Kareem is scheduled to stand trial on Oct. 6. His lawyers asked a federal judge for additional time to prepare and sought a continuance from the scheduled Aug. 4 trial date.
Last month, FBI Special Agent Dina McCarthy described at a U.S. District Court hearing how a witness and a confidential informant learned about Kareem's interest in the Islamic State group, including watching its videos with shooters Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi.
Kareem, Simpson and Soofi all attended the same mosque in Phoenix.
According to a federal indictment, Kareem hosted the shooters in his home beginning in January and provided the guns they used in the Texas attack.
Documents unsealed Thursday show that a confidential informant told authorities that Kareem "planned to attack the event alongside Simpson and Soofi" and was angry when the source wouldn't sell him silencers and bulletproof vests.
A confidential witness told authorities that Kareem drove Simpson and Soofi to desert locations in Arizona to fire assault weapons several months prior to the Texas event featuring cartoons deemed offensive by Muslims.
The documents also outlined the prosecution's reasons why Kareem should be detained before trial, stating he "poses both a flight risk and a danger to the community due to his prior criminal history."
Prosecutors said Kareem has been arrested 11 times between 1991 and 2004 and served jail time twice.
Newly unsealed documents also cover information released earlier by federal investigators — that Kareem, Simpson and Soofi talked about wanting to make pipe bombs and that Kareem possibly plotted to use explosive devices at the Super Bowl on Feb. 1 in suburban Glendale.
However, McCarthy previously said in court that Kareem provided no specifics about how serious he was about the Super Bowl plan.
U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton also ordered Thursday that the unexecuted arrest warrant for Kareem will remain sealed.
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