Well, it appears as though Omar Abdel-Rahman... the "Blind Sheikh," died of natural causes on Saturday in a federal prison in North Carolina. He was given a life sentense for the 2002 World Trade Center bombing, which killed six people and injured more than 1,000 others.
For those who still do not think we need tighter immigration control... Abdel-Rahman was granted a tourist visa in 1990 despite the fact that he was listed as a person with ties to terror groups. In 1991, Abdel-Rahman was granted a Green Card and permanent resident status.
Abdel-Rahman and his followers were also linked to the murder of Rabbi Meir Kahane in 1990, as well as attacks on tourists visiting Egypt in 1992. He also plotted to kill Egypt's President, then Hosni Mubarak, on one of Mubarak's visits to the US.
His followers are suspected to be behind the 1997 massacre which killed 62 people in Luxor, Egypt. Abdel-Rahman also plotted to blow up New York landmarks and crucial sites, such as the Holland/Lincoln tunnels, the UN headquarters, and the New York FBI headquarters.
In 1990, Abdel-Rahman pleaded "not guilty" to accusations of conspiring to wage "a war of urban terrorism against the US." During his trial, Abdel-Rahman said, "I have not committed any crime except telling people about Islam."
However, at his sentencing he gave a statement that lasted over an hour and encouraged his followers to stand up to "infidel" America.
"America will go and be withered and this civilization will be destroyed," Abdel-Rahman said. "Nothing will remain. We will not kneel."
"The prosecution wants that we should kneel and be subservient to America and obey America," he added, "but we do not kneel to anyone, except to God."
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