Illinois Man Sentenced for Planning Holiday Mall Attack Posted: October 13, 2008

A man from Rockford, Illinois, has been sentenced for planning an attack at an area shopping mall by setting off grenades in garbage cans.

Derrick Shareef, 24, was sentenced on September 30, 2008, to 35 years in prison after pleading guilty in a federal court in Chicago to one count of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction in November 2007.  Shareef planned to set off several grenades at the CherryVale Shopping Mall during the 2006 holiday shopping season, according to the indictment.  In addition to the mall, Shareef also discussed targeting local government facilities, according to court documents.    

In December 2006, Shareef was arrested after trading a set of stereo speakers for four hand grenades and a hand gun with an undercover agent in Rockford.

Shareef (a.k.a. Talib Abu Salam Ibn Shareef) was secretly recorded by an undercover agent as saying, “I swear by Allah, man, I’m down for it, too, I’m down for the cause, I’m down to live for the cause and die for the cause, man.”  He also talked about stabbing Jews and admitted to researching synagogues where he could attack Jews, according to the affidavit.

According to court documents, Shareef made a videotape of his last will and testament prior to his arrest in which he claimed, “I am ready to give my life.”  He says in the video, “I am from America, and this tape is to let you guys know, who disbelieve in Allah, to let the enemies of Islam know, and to let the Muslims alike know that the time for jihad is now.”  Shareef also tells the viewers of the tape, “… do not cry, do not mourn for me.  Do not believe what the kafir [infidel] will say about me when you read it in the newspapers or you see the television articles about me.”

Shareef was roommates with Hassan Abujihaad, a former U.S. Navy sailor convicted of leaking classified information about the U.S. missile destroyer USS Benfold, on which he was stationed, and other ships within its battle group.  The men reportedly met at the Islamic Community Center of Phoenix and lived together for about seven months in 2003 and 2004.  Recorded conversations between Shareef and an undercover agent reportedly confirm that he and Abujihaad had previously discussed attacking a military base in San Diego or a recruiting station in Phoenix.

Shareef, whose father was reportedly a member of the Nation of Islam, converted to Islam when he was 16 years old.  Claiming in court that he has reformed and wants to become an Islamic scholar, Shareef has been elected the imam among inmates at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, where he has been held since his arrest.