In 2014, the Maricopa County Attorney brought Understanding the Threat President John Guandolo in for a one day program for over 300 police officers from around Arizona. As a result of this training, over the next several years, UTT conducted several 3-day programs, most of which were supported by the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office (MCAO).

As described on the Understanding the Threat website:

“Understanding the Threat provides threat-focused strategic and operational consultation, training, and education for federal, state, and local leadership and agencies in government, the private sector, and for private citizens. UTT is the only organization in America which is training leaders, elected officials, law enforcement, military personnel, and citizens, about the Global Islamic Movement and the jihadi networks in communities around the nation. UTT is also the only organization showing security professionals and state leaders how to locate and map out jihadi organizations, locate jihadis, and dismantle the network at the local and state level. While UTT briefs and teaches about many of the threats external and internal to the United States, its primary concern is the threats to the Republic and the West in general from the Global Islamic Movement.”

When Hamed pledged allegiance to ISIS while talking with the 911 dispatcher, the dispatcher should have been able to immediately determine that Hamed is a jihadi. Hamed also had a Sharia beard at the time of the attack, and if the deputy who arrived on scene been trained by UTT, he would have been able to detect this.

Hamed is not the first jihadi to pledge allegiance to ISIS on the phone with 911 operators before carrying out an attack in the name of ISIS.

On June 12, 2016 Omar Mateen walked into the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida and opened fire, killing 49 people and injuring 53 others. Shortly after beginning his terrorist rampage, Mateen called 911 and identified himself to police on the calls, which start about a half-hour after he stormed the nightclub. “I want to let you know I’m in Orlando,” he states, “and I did the shooting.” Mateen placed three calls to 911. The last call he made ended around 3:25 a.m. In the transcript of the calls, Mateen asked the 911 operator to refer to him as “Mujahideen” and “Islamic soldier.” Mateen told the operator that he had explosives and that he was wearing a vest like “what they used in France,” referring to the Bataclan theatre attack in Paris France on November 13 in which ISIS terrorists opened fire inside a concert hall, killing 130 people.

On the call Mateen also mentioned the Boston Marathon bomber: “My homeboy Tamerlan Tsarnaev did his thing on the Boston Marathon, my homeboy [unidentified name] did his thing, okay, so now it’s my turn, okay?”

The FBI has declined to provide more information about the extent of Hamed’s plans, including how and when he was radicalized, which mosque he was attending, and whether or not he was planning a larger ISIS attack in Arizona. Similarly, in the Mateen case, the FBI misled the public and failed to disclose to the media that Mateen’s father was serving as an FBI informant and that prior to the attack, Mateen was investigated by the FBI. During the trial for the terrorist attack, it was revealed that tge FBI stopped investigating Mateen when his father, who was an FBI informant and was given front row seats at a Hillary Clinton rally after the attack,told the FBI his son wasn’t radicalized.

According to Guandolo, “The suspect began throwing rocks at the deputy, and then drew a knife and began moving towards the deputy who shot the suspect. The suspect survived the shooting. The Sheriff’s Office charged the man with “aggravated assault.” When the MCAO heard the facts of the case and saw the suspect, they knew he is a jihadi, and now the individual is facing state terrorism charges based on legislation passed in Arizona after UTT began conducting training there.”

Above all, the move to treat Hamed’s case as a terrorism case instead of an aggravated assault case is largely due to the fact that the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office received proper counter terrorism training from Understanding the Threat. The necessity for more counter terrorism training for law enforcement in the United States cannot go unnoticed.

Laura Loomer is a conservative investigative journalist and activist. Originally from Arizona, Laura began her career working as an undercover journalist for Project Veritas from 2015-2017. She covers politics, anti-Semitism, immigration, terrorism, the Islamification of the West, and voter fraud. Loomer’s investigations have been broadcasted on every major national mainstream media outlet in the United States, as well as many international publications. Support Laura Loomer’s Independent Journalism here: