Cholo Abdi Abdullah Faces Life for Terror Plot

Cholo Abdi Abdullah, a 34-year-old Kenyan associated with the Somalian terrorist group al Shabaab, was convicted by a federal jury for plotting a 9/11-style attack on the United States. Abdullah was found guilty on six counts, including conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and conspiring to commit aircraft piracy and murder U.S. nationals. His plan involved hijacking a commercial plane and crashing it into a U.S. skyscraper, after receiving flight training in the Philippines. He trained with al Shabaab in Somalia, where he learned to use AK-47 rifles and explosives, and researched methods to breach cockpit doors and identify potential targets. The Justice Department arrested him in the Philippines in 2019 and brought him to the U.S. in 2020. Abdullah faces sentencing in March 2025 and could receive a sentence of life imprisonment.