The Boston man killed by police in a shooting Tuesday had threatened to behead Pamela Geller, the activist who heads the group responsible for the recent “Draw Muhammad” contest in Texas that sparked an attack, according to CNN.
But Usaamah Rahim, 26, became impatient and decided to “go after … the boys in blue,” an apparent reference to local police officers, according to a federal law enforcement complaint.
{mosads}When police tracking Rahim approached him Tuesday, he allegedly ran at them with a knife. Officers shot and killed him, the document states.
The CNN report does not offer additional explanation of how specific the threat to Geller was and whether law enforcement believed he was capable of acting on the threat.
Geller is a long-time activist whose group, the American Freedom Defense Initiative, is identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an anti-Muslim hate group.
She rose in prominence recently after the “Draw Muhammad” event prompted an attack by two men gunmen in apparent retribution for disrespecting the Muslim prophet.
The AFDI recently submitted the winning cartoon as an issue advertisement to the Washington, D.C., transit system. Days later, the system banned all issue ads through the end of the year, and an anonymous D.C. transit official told The Washington Post he feared that the ads could create a “terrorist target.”
Geller told CNN she’s traveled with an “army of security” since the Texas attack.
“They targeted me for violating Sharia blasphemy laws. They mean to kill everyone who doesn’t do their bidding and abide by their law voluntarily,” Geller told the network.
“This is a showdown for American freedom. Will we stand against this savagery or bow down to them and silence ourselves?”
Rahim’s alleged accomplice, David Wright, appeared in federal court on Wednesday to face charges for a conspiracy to destroy evidence and obstruction of a national security investigation.
Federal prosecutors allege that he told Rahim to destroy his cellphone and wipe his computer to hide evidence from police.
—Updated at 7:49 p.m.