IN MY SHOES: Housewife By Day, Jihadi Hunter By Night
Here are excerpts from The Philadelphia Inquirer’s five-part series on Shannen Rossmiller by Al Lubrano. The former MT municipal judge and mother of three, who became "radicalized" after the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, learned Arabic and poses as a Muslim extremist in jihadi chat rooms and Web sites to flush out those who are planning to destroy us:
Shannen Rossmiller spends Sept. 11, 2001, frozen in front of the TV in her Montana home.
"Oh, my God," she tells her husband, Randy. "They're going to need thousands of body bags. This doesn't seem possible. It's so surreal."
Randy had never seen his wife so tense. "We can't do anything about it, Shannen," Randy says. "Just take a Jacuzzi or something."
Rossmiller, a municipal judge in a small town, complies, but the hot water doesn't help. Still shaken, she steps out of the tub and slips. … She can't get her legs to work. … She has broken her pelvis.
Rossmiller spends the next six weeks in bed, becoming "radicalized." Fox News, MSNBC, CNN - they saturate her brain.
She asks Randy to go into Great Falls and buy her the books about radical Islam and the Middle East written by the experts she sees on the news shows.
For reasons she cannot articulate, Rossmiller immerses herself in all things Arabic, studying the culture and learning the language.
It's as if a powerful force has taken hold of her, compelling her to think about 9/11 and little else, save for the spasming pain.
I can't figure it out, she thinks. Is this post-traumatic stress? It's more than passion. It's anger. This is the ugliest, darkest thing I've ever seen.
Depressed and aching, Rossmiller reads Middle East Quarterly on the computer and wonders why people hate America.
She reorders her checks to have them read, "9/11: We will never forget." She festoons her car with American flags.
"You're not the same woman I married," Randy says. Before 9/11, Rossmiller would laugh, watch Melrose Place. Now it's 24.
"You're right," Rossmiller says. "I'll never be the same."
***
Michael Curtis Reynolds, the Wilkes-Barre drifter who is looking for al-Qaeda funding to help him blow up the trans-Alaska and transcontinental pipelines, is now on Shannen Rossmiller's radar.
Conspicuous as a barroom braggart, Reynolds is writing boldly - and in English - in the all-Arabic Osama bin Laden Crew chat room, making no pretense about his background or his mission: He's an American citizen out to destroy his country.
Rossmiller runs through the cast of jihadist characters she has made up. Which should she be? She decides on Abu Khadija, an Algerian extremist, at khadija1417@hotmail.com.
"Dear brother in Islam," Rossmiller/Khadija begins. "I call my brothers to do your Muslim duty with your brothers in jihad . . . and kill all infidels coming united on fronts in Palestine, Afghanistan and Iraq."
Rossmiller throws in misspellings and bad English. What she has written works.
"I am due to enter the war zone soon," Anderson replies to Khadija. "Unfortunately, due to my position I will be bearing the arms of the enemy, thus putting not only my soul, but the souls of our brave brothers and sisters in peril. . . . It may be best if I could arrange to meet in person with a contact once I am over there . . . to . . . show that I am a friend and willing to give my life for Allah's glorious will."
While America wept on 9/11, Ryan Anderson converted to Islam and sought acceptance by al-Qaeda.
Rossmiller's Khadija is a careful sort, exhorting Anderson - who sometimes calls himself Amir Abdul-Rashid - to be wary of his e-mail trail.
One of the ironies of Rossmiller's tireless pursuit is how she cautions her prey to cover their tracks on the Internet. Of course, what they're doing is following Rossmiller's cyber road map, making it easier for her to follow them.
***
Today, she's … Hani of al-Qaeda, a terrorist recruiter, a killer, and a hater of Americans.
"There's little time, due to how busy we all get during the holidays," Reynolds writes. "There's much shopping to do, travel to plan ... not to mention all the presents to wrap. What I need is to have my Christmas bonus. . . ."
He's writing in code, Rossmiller thinks. This gives her chills. …
Reynolds is starting to worry Rossmiller. The plan, she says to herself, trying to compel him. Tell me the plan.
Then Reynolds spills it. He wants trucks filled with propane (Reynolds' "presents") driven into the Alaska pipeline, as well as into refineries and gas lines that crisscross states.
Reynolds tells Hani that in the ensuing chaos of economic collapse, Americans will "trample Washington to recall troops" from Iraq, thus ending America's involvement there.
"The government, the environmentalists and the gas users will be at each others' throats," says Reynolds. …
Sending Hani information about the pipeline, as well as a diagram of an Opal, Wyo., refinery in frightening detail, Reynolds convinces her that he is a man of action, not just words.
Rossmiller decides to reward his diligence. "Our leader the sheikh is very much in liking this operation idea," Rossmiller/Hani writes back in halting English.
They negotiate a price, Reynolds' "Christmas bonus": $40,000, to be left in a duffel bag at a deserted Idaho rest stop. …
Michael Curtis Reynolds wants his payday.
"I need funds," he writes to a person he thinks is an al-Qaeda operative on the Web … now FBI special agent Mark Seyler, taking over for … Rossmiller.
An FBI video camera hidden behind sagebrush shows the mustached, 6-foot-3 Reynolds in a bulky blue waistcoat, dark pants and black ski cap walk toward the spot where the black-and-red money bag is sitting. It's 12:47 p.m. on Dec. 5, 2005.
Reynolds bends over toward the bag, then turns quickly to his right, as though he hears footsteps in the crunchy snow.
An FBI SWAT team closes in, forces him on his belly, then handcuffs him.
A couple of weeks after Rossmiller testifies in the five-day trial of United States v. Michael Curtis Reynolds, she finds out that "the jury took little more than their lunch hour to find Reynolds guilty of terrorism," writes Lubrano.
"MT" should be spelled out as "Montana" so that your article seems more professional. Very interesting, otherwise! On a personal level, I think that there should not have been so much media coverage of Shannen. Her work is so important and by her exposure to the media, she exposes all that she does, which gives Al Qaeda and others cause to be cautious.
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Very inspiring! Now if only there were a few dozen more such crafty persons...
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Shannen WANTS media coverage. Shes trying to land a book/movie deal. That is what this is all about. Her testimonies are packed with lies and fabrications. Its amazing how the details grow! True Hollywood material. I dont think shes too concerned about al qaeda....shes more concerned with her popularity. Sad...esp for a mother of three. Its getting OOOOOOOLD!
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