Attempted Ft. Hood Terrorist Gives Shout Out to Nidal Hasan

ABC News reports:

When Army Pfc. Naser Jason Abdo, accused of plotting planning a deadly bombing and shooting attack on soldiers at Fort Hood, made his first appearance in court in Waco, Texas, today, he yelled the name of accused Fort Hood shooter Major Nidal Hasan.

Hasan is facing the death penalty for allegedly killing 13 people and wounding more than 30 in an assault on Fort Hood in November 2009.

Like Hasan, Abdo may have taken some of his inspiration from Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical American-born Islamic cleric who is among the leaders of the Yemen-based al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). One senior U.S. official told ABC News that after Abdo was arrested at a Killeen, Texas hotel Wednesday, Abdo mentioned the name of al-Awlaki.

Nidal Hasan had exchanged emails with Awlaki, according to U.S. authorities. Al-Awlaki is believed to have inspired several other terror plots in the U.S. as well, including the bungled Christmas Day underwear bombing of Northwest flight 253.

ABC notes that Abdo was likely inspired by Anwar al-Awlaki, who has repeatedly called for American Muslims to fight the United States. 

Additionally, according to a report from the Dallas Morning News, Abdo's father, Jamal Abdo, was arrested in Garland, Texas, in 2004 for soliciting sex online from a police officer posing as a 15-year-old girl. After being convicted in 2006, Jamal, a Jordanian immigrant to the U.S., was deported back to Jordan in 2010.