What at first glance appeared as an “abandoned dump”, turned out to be a “makeshift military-style obstacle course” with a shooting range. And to top it off, it's owned by Siraj Wahhaj Jr., who was caught inside a similar compound in New Mexico.
Siraj was running a small occult group training children to perform school shootings. There is more strangeness to that, but I will cover the whole case separately in the next few days.
Luckily a search warrant regarding the Tuskegee, Alabama compound has been unsealed, but the file itself can be a chore to read with all of the redaction blocks and court related fillers. So I have decided to summarize the document itself, free of personal opinions. I have also divided this into different topics of interest:
- The Group's Beliefs
- New Mexico Case
- Alabama Case
Again you can find the full search warrant document here.
Case No. MJ 18-109 B
The search warrant was filed by an FBI's Task Force Officer "with responsibility for investigating matters related to counter terrorism and other crimes". Pg 1
The Group's Beliefs
It boggles my mind why they would leave Abdul-Ghani Wahhaj's name redacted, as this has been public information for many months. For those who don't know, the child was sacrificed in a ritual. Pg 2
The document points out that Abdul was "developmentally delayed" due to a birth condition, which it redacts. He also required medication. Pg 2-3
One or more of the adults had traveled to an undisclosed location. There were accusations of "black magic" practices by other members upon a return from these travels. Pg 3 - 4
The document does point out that "black magic" is blasphemous to Islam. Pg 4
One of the women had a failed pregnancy. But either her, or another woman later claims to have become pregnant "by engaging in 'black magic'" that saw the transfer of someone's baby to another woman's womb. Pg 4
The baby was believed to have been born dead, but black magic "caused demons to enter [redacted] body". Which made him move. Pg 4
One of the adults believes "she received messages and directions from God", others later began to claim they also did, "but that [redacted] alone was able to translate them". Pg 4
One adult says that "He really speaks to her only", however. Pg 5
The messages are said to come "from God via Archangel Gabriel", and then from Gabriel to one of them, who communicated the messages to other members. They were "orders and directives" sometimes. One of the members kept a journal with the
messages, which a [redacted] Sheriff has . Pg 5
They claim to have been directed to kidnap the child, and to recite the Quran. The adult woman claims to have kept asking God if she could return the kid, but God would keep telling her "no", and "the Quran told her to keep him for a little
bit... that's when she found out it was her son". And then God apparently confirmed that to her. Pg 5
They were ordered to travel to another location afterwards. Pg 5
Abdul was apparently then driven somewhere to get an exorcism performed on him, "to cast the demons from his body, after which he would come to life as Isa (Jesus Christ)". Pg 5
Afterwards "Isa" would instruct them "on what corrupt institutions they needed to 'get rid of'. The ones listed are "teachers, military, law enforcement, and financial institutions". And by "get rid off", they mean that those who didn't believe what their group believes, "would be killed or imprisoned". Pg 6
Jesus in Sunni Islam is explained: Pg 8
Exorcisms with the Quran were done on a "regular basis" on Abdul, some parts of the rituals are described: Pg 10 - 11
New Mexico Case
The son was said to have been taken to a park at 9:00am by the father, who did not return to the mother. Pg 6
The document describes a "compound" where "nine other children lived on", but specifics are redacted: Pg 9 - 10
The children were being "home schooled". Pg 10
One of the members was "well trained in firearms in military tactics": Pg 10
The [redacted] County Police Department sent screen shots to the FBI, via email, of texts exchanged between two sisters, in which one was claiming she "needed assistance to be saved form starvation". The Sheriff's Department got the texts directly from one of the sisters. Pg 11
Warrants were executed by law enforcement, on the New Mexico compound. And according to FBI interviews, the cultists were arming themselves to defend the compound, but "before any shots were fired", they were instructed to surrender by a member with a redacted name. Pg 11
A journal on "Phases of a Terrorist Attack" was found, but "the journal was not further searched" Pg 11
After the raid on Taos, New Mexico; FBI Mobile conducted more surveillance of the Alabama compound via air. Pg 11 - 12
Alabama Case
The warrant points out that the FBI Mobile Field Division Evidence Room is already in possession of evidence that the officer wants to look at. Pg 2
The probable cause is pretty clear: Pg 2
One of the adults, is married to a woman "without a lawful immigration status". Pg 3
One of the members had Alabama plates, and got in a car crash. The member "was in possession of five firearms, a bullet-proof vest, and a bag of ammunition". He told the trooper "that he had just moved to [redacted] Alabama and did not know his address". However the cult member was apparently able to state directions on where his residence was located on, and said a friend was coming from "[redacted] Alabama to pick them up". Pg 6
His friend did arrive in a box truck, and helped him moved the firearms into it. They claimed they were going camping. Pg 6
9 people - 2 adults, and 7 "juveniles" - were in the vehicle at the time of the accident. Pg 6
They also claimed that they were traveling around, and were going to also look at land one of the member's brother-in-law owned. Pg 6 - 7
The document redacts location-to-location info, but points out that "it does not follow" that a vehicle coming from a certain direction could have been suspicious in regards to the then-known abduction of Abdul. This seems to be an attempt at explaining the trooper's lack of action. Pg 7
The FBI then began to look into [redacted] (but I believe it's "Siraj's")Alabama's connections. He owns two acres of land in the area. The document cites a Property Record Card, in regards to when it was deeded, but that's also redacted. Pg 7
A portion of a letter from January (2018?) from one brother calling himself "the messenger", to another is shown: Pg 7 - 8
The document points out that another portion of the letter, which is not shown, has "the messenger" talking about recruiting individuals who had visited their camp. Pg 8
The document mentions an "Adult Warrant" and "Pick Up Order", regarding Siraj, and Abdul, by the "Juvenile Court of [redacted]", and also redacts said Case Numbers. Pg 8
FBI Mobile is mentioned conducting "aerial surveillance" of an Alabama property: Pg 9
The FBI was able to identify a tag number on a van inside the property. They were able to accurately ID the License Plate # and who it was registered to (all redacted though). Pg 9
FBI Mobile entered the Alabama property, but "there were no persons located on the property". Pg 9
After the raid in Taos, New Mexico; FBI Mobile conducted more surveillance of the Alabama compound via air. Pg 11 – 12
FBI Mobile executed a search warrant: Pg 12 - 13
FBI Mobile was able to take possession of "electronic evidence", but again, specifics are redacted. Pg 13
Going by the descriptions found throughout page 13-20, and Attachment A (pg 21), it seems like the evidence being requested is a hard drive (s).
A list of things they will be looking for is given on pg 22 - 27, but nothing out of the ordinary sticks out for me, except the redacted locations:
