Man tied to Texas cartoon contest attack had sights set on Super Bowl plot – FBI

Reuters in Phoenix
Wednesday 17 June 2015 19.26 BST

Calling him “off-the-charts dangerous”, authorities said a Phoenix man helped orchestrate a shooting at an anti-Islam event in Texas and had aspirations to join the Islamic State terrorist organization and attack the Super Bowl.

Abdul Malik Abdul Kareem, 43, was arrested last week on charges related to the shooting at a prophet Muhammad cartoon contest that led to the deaths of two gunmen from Phoenix. Kareem hosted the shooters in his home beginning in January and provided the guns they used in the 3 May attack in Garland, Texas, according to a federal indictment.

FBI special agent Dina McCarthy described at a 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.

McCarthy said a 2012 investigation into Kareem determined he had a terrorism training document on his computer. She also said he wanted to attack the Super Bowl when it was in Arizona this year but provided no specifics about how serious he was.

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