Niraj Warikoo

Detroit Free Press

Federal judge orders Dearborn Hts man accused of planning ISIS attack on church to remain in custody

Prosecutors say Khalil Abu-Rayyan, 21, said he heard Satan speaking to him, urging him to be violent

Defense attorney says Abu-Rayyan was manipulated by FBI employee who posed as Iraqi-American woman

The defense attorney for the Dearborn Heights man accused of plotting an ISIS attack on a 6,000-member Detroit church charged Tuesday that his client was seduced into making violent boasts by a FBI undercover employee posing as a 19-year-old Iraqi-American Sunni Muslim girl.

The undercover FBI employee said her name was Jannah — paradise in Arabic — and urged Abu-Rayyan to stand up and fight for Islam and ISIS, according to Todd Shanker, the attorney for Khalil Abu-Rayyan, 21.

Abu-Rayyan had fallen in love with a person he thought was a Sunni teen in Detroit and wanted to marry her.

But the person was a FBI employee.

"He was lying and boasting" in order to impress what he thought was a young Muslim woman, Shanker said in federal court in Detroit at a detention hearing for Abu-Rayyan. Shanker wanted to get Abu-Rayyan released on bond as he faces a charge of possessing a gun while taking illegal drugs.

Dad seeks freedom for suspect tied to threats, ISIS

But prosecutors said Abu-Rayyan was a violent threat who was hearing the voice of Satan urging him to kill people and talked about killing women and children.

Magistrate Judge R. Steven Whalen sided with prosecutors, ordering that Abu-Rayyan remain in custody on a gun charge. Whalen said Abu-Rayyan poses a danger to the safety of the community, citing testimony Tuesday that Abu-Rayyan heard voices urging him to burn people alive and cut out tongues.

"There was real readiness" to carry out attacks, Judge Whalen said. "There was an expression of intent...I'm concerned about the hearing of voices from Satan."

But Shanker argued that Abu-Rayyan had fallen in love with the person he thought was a young Iraqi-American Sunni teen, and wanted to impress her by boasting of committing violent acts.

"That was the kind of bravery she was looking for," Shanker said in court Tuesday. "He was trying to impress her. He loved her" and told the person he wanted to marry her.

Shanker portrayed Abu-Rayyan young and naive. "He's never had a girlfriend," Shanker said. "He's never been touched...He's clueless."

The FBI employee told Abu-Rayyan her two cousins had been killed in Ramadi, Iraq, by Shia groups, Shanker said. Her story was that her husband had fought for ISIS in Syria and was killed by an enemy airstrike. She told Abu-Rayyan she was "willing to die in a martyrdom operation," Shanker said in court.

The FBI employee Abu-Rayyan thought was a woman emotionally manipulated him, Shanker said.

Abu-Rayyan said many times "I don't want to hurt anyone," Shanker said in court.

The FBI undercover employee posing as a woman would then would "call him a fraud," Shanker said.

At one point, Abu-Rayyan ended the online relationship, but the FBI employee posing as a woman sent Abu-Rayyan a Twitter message of a broken heart symbol, writing: "Why are you abandoning me?" Shanker said. The FBI employee also talked about killing herself, causing Abu-Rayyan to feel concerned and keep on communicating with her, Shanker said.

Shanker said the FBI talks about building bridges with Muslim communities, but in this case sought to manipulate Abu-Rayyan instead of reaching out to the family to help him.

"He was truly manipulated," Shanker said. "They tried to radicalize him."

But Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald Waterstreet said Abu-Rayyan was a violent threat, revealing new details in court not mentioned in the criminal complaint unsealed Feb. 4.

"Shaytan is talking to me," Abu-Rayyan wrote in text messages to an undercover FBI employee, using an Arabic term for Satan, said Waterstreet. "He's taking over my brain. He whispers to me."

"He has a deep voice like me," Abu-Rayyan wrote, according to Waterstreet. He wants me to "hurt people ... burn people alive...cut their tongues ... He says he's my friend."

Waterstreet cited these remarks in an attempt to seek a competency exam for Abu-Rayyan, saying he was not mentally capable of helping to defend himself. Judge Whelan denied the request.

According to Waterstreet, Abu-Rayyan said he wanted to shoot, stab, choke people, "skin them like a sheep, even set them on fire." Waterstreet said Abu-Rayyan was suicidal, saying he felt "all alone."

"I think I might kill myself," Abu-Rayyan said. "I think I do need help."

Waterstreet said that when Abu-Rayyan communicated with the FBI undercover employee, "he was reaching out to somebody who he thought was a like-minded individual, somebody who wanted to do martyrdom operation, someone who wanted to kill Shias."

"He showed us that's exactly what he want to do, because several months before he had any contact whatsoever with the undercover agent, he was posting to total strangers videos, ISIS videos, in which he liked them," Waterstreet said.

FBI: Dearborn Hgts. man plotted ISIS attacks on church

Abu-Rayyan relished watching violent videos by ISIS, said Waterstreet. He once said of watching beheading videos: "They always make me happy."

Waterstreet indicated that Abu-Rayyan was motivated at times by a personal interest in violence, not ISIS. At one time, Abu-Rayyan is asked by the FBI undercover employee: "You want to do this for ISIS?"

Abu-Rayyan replies: "Just for me," said Waterstreet.

Abu-Rayyan does not face any terrorism charges. Prosecutors said in a criminal complaint on the gun charge that he was an ISIS supporter who talked about attacking a Detroit church and a police officer who had arrested him on separate county charges of marijuana possession and carrying a concealed weapon.

In making his decision to keep Abu-Rayyan in custody, Judge Whelan noted that Abu-Rayyan didn't have any serious criminal history, but added that the attackers in San Bernardino, California, in November that killed 14 also did not have a criminal history.

More details were revealed in court about Abu-Rayyan's alleged plan to attack a large church in Detroit near the pizzeria he worked at near 7 Mile and Telegraph run by his father.

The FBI undercover employee asked Rayyan about his church plans, saying: Would you even kill women and children?

Abu-Rayyan replied, according to Waterstreet: "I would have killed every one last of them...women and children."

The FBI undercover employee then said: But what about if the children would one day grow up to be Muslim?

Abu-Rayyyan replied: "I can't tell the future...I would have shown no mercy...It would have been a bloodbath."

Shanker said that Abu-Rayyan was a hardworking man who worked 70 hours a week at his father's pizza place, the oldest of six brothers and sisters.

A U.S. citizen born in Detroit, he grew up in Dearborn Heights and lived in the U.S. his whole life. He played basketball and football in high school and had studied for a year and a half at Henry Ford Community College.

Prosecutors say that Abu-Rayyan had purchased a gun with the intent to use it in the church attack.

Shanker said that a gun he bought a few months ago was meant for protection at his job because he worked in an area high rates of crime. He said the gun was unsuitable for a terrorist attack.

Shanker said the family hates ISIS.

"They are so anti-ISIS," he said. "They think it's disgusting...(The family) are peaceful Islamic worshippers."

On his Twitter accounts, which the FBI said he used to promote ISIS, Abu-Rayyan described himself as Palestinian and Muslim. In court, prosecutors said his father was from Jordan and worried that Abu-Rayyan could get a Jordanian passport, making him a potential flight risk.

Abu-Rayyan's father, Rayyan Abo-Rayyan, of Livonia, appeared in court along with a few other people. He did not comment to reporters.

At the end of the hearing, Abu-Rayyan, shackled in a yellow jump suit, said: "Can I hug my father?"

Judge Whelan said it was up the U.S. Marshal accompanying Abu-Rayyan. He refused and led him away.

Contact Niraj Warikoo: nwarikoo@freepress.com or 313-223-4792. Follow him on Twitter @nwarikoo