505:-- Loewen meets again with the second FBI employee, and he provides his research on the best time to conduct the attack "based upon the number of people who would be boarding aircraft and the number of people who would be in the terminal," the complaint says, adding, "Loewen further expressed his desire to kill as many people as possible." He also provided a diagram of the terminal and tarmac and offered to obtain certain components and wire the explosive device, the complaint says. "They agreed on a final plan, that once Loewen got gate access, they would drive to the terminal in the early morning hours, and detonate the device between the terminals for maximum casualties, and that both FBI Employee 2 and Loewen would die in the explosion," the complaint says.
412:-- Thinking the FBI employee posing as a jihadist is upset because Loewen had allowed a family member to access his computer, Loewen apologizes and writes, "I'm not able to keep things in order, therefore causing an unsafe environment (sic) for myself and others, and the worse thing I can think of is someone else going down for my stupidity. I really don't see me living through any thing I have in mind, assuming I can even pul (sic) it off. Again I apologize for this (expletive) mess, and will miss the wonderful conversations we had. Peace be with you my brother."
463:-- Asked if he is interested in dying for the cause and offered a chance to back out, Loewen responds, "I can't see myself doing anything that involves killing children, unless I know everything is being done to minimize that. I understand it's a war, and some of these brothers may have had their children killed by this country, but in light of what the Prophet said concering (sic) this, I just need to be sure it can be kept to an absolute minimum."
487:-- The FBI employee asks Loewen if he wants to meet "one of the brothers in person" and offers to provide him with a new laptop. Loewen responds, "I will only bring a weapon if the brother thinks it to be advisable. The only reason I would see the need for one is if law enforcement were to show their ugly self's (sic), at which point I would start shooting to give the brother time to flee."
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436:-- After discussing fighter jet trainers he had seen on the airport tarmac, Loewen writes, "I don't see anyway an operation could be planned in advance. It would have been possible today for me to have walked over there, shot both pilots (I don't know if they are armed or not), slapped some C4 on both fuel trucks and set them off before anyone even called
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541:-- The second FBI employee picks up Loewen at a hotel, and they drive to the location where the bomb is stored. Loewen finishes wiring the bomb, and the pair head to the airport, arriving at about 5:40 a.m. Loewen twice swipes his badge to open the gate to the tarmac, but it had been disabled. He was then arrested, authorities said.
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and asks if he would be willing to scout targets, collect security information, take photos of access points and plant a device. Loewen responds, "Wow! That's some heavy stuff you just laid down. Am I interested? Yes." Loewen goes on to express concern about whether the FBI employee is who he says he
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Loewen was charged with one count of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, one count of attempting to damage property by means of an explosive and one count of attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization. Loewen pleaded guilty on June 8, 2015. On
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At the time of the attempted attack, Terry Lee Loewen was a 58-year-old avionics technician who was employed by the airport. Loewen’s employment at the airport allowed him to spend months studying the airport layout and flight schedules. His employment also provided him access to areas within the
430:-- Loewen writes, "Reading about the actions of the muhajideen (sic) and actually carrying them out is two different things. If not for my family, I would have already carried out some sort of operation - but that's my fault for putting others before Allah which I know better than to do."
457:-- Loewen writes that he had some questions: "As I've stated before, I won't be able to access the ramp with a vehicle until next year- so driving on to airport property with a van full of C4 is out of the question- after the first of the year, we could drive a city bus out there."
517:-- Loewen and the second FBI employee discuss the containers that will be used for the bomb and how to construct it. Loewen then gives the FBI employee a diagram of the terminal with an X designating where to park the bomb, along with flight schedules, according to the complaint.
406:-- Loewen elaborates on his vision, writing, "I guess I look at myself as the 'access' guy at this point just need more details, if any exist at this point - are we talking explosives, because I know nothing about that? It's all very surreal at this point, exciting, yet scary."
535:-- Loewen meets with the second FBI employee. They go to another location where Loewen wires the "bomb," and they agree the attack will take place December 13. Later that day, Loewen tells the FBI employee he skipped work and wrote letters to his family members.
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is, according to the complaint, and writes, "I hate this government so much for what they have done to our brothers and sisters, that to spent (sic) the rest of my life in prison without having taken a good slice out of the serpents head is unacceptable to me."
424:-- Discussing his plans, Loewen writes, "I believe the potential for me doing more is staggering. I have some rough ideas, but I know nothing about explosives. Don't you think with my access to the airport that I should put that to good use?"
493:-- Another FBI employee, posing as a Muslim "brother," meets with Loewen, who reiterates his desire to blow up a plane with numerous people on board, according to the complaint. They later decide the attack should be launched near Christmas.
499:-- In discussing his October 25 in-person meeting, Loewen writes to the first FBI employee, "I feel so close to this brother(as you said I would) that going to the end with him seems like the right thing to do."
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and the late Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki. Revolution Muslim has been associated with a number of U.S.-born extremists. Loewen also claimed he was attempting to support
390:-- Loewen outlines some ideas, writing, "Let me get to the bottom line without being too revealing - I have numerous ideas of ways I could perform jihad in the path of
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In an ongoing dialogue with a person Loewen does not realize is an FBI employee, Loewen expresses his desire to "engage in violent jihad on behalf of al Qaeda."
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and Anwar al Awlaki are a great inspiration to me, but I must be willing to give up everything (like they did) to truly feel like a obedient slave of Allah."
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Community and family members were stunned to learn of Loewen's plans, describing him as "A really good guy" and "Always a calm and loving man." After
418:-- Loewen assures the FBI employee no one's identity was compromised and "reasserted his commitment to engage in jihad," according to the complaint.
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but ... none of them are legal. I'm 58 years old and spending my remaining years behind bars for a good reason is not out of the question for me."
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investigation. Authorities were able to act so quickly because Loewen was the subject of a federal investigation, stemming from his activity on
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384:-- Loewen writes, "I have read Anwar AI-Awlaki's 44 ways of Jihad and like everything I've ever read of his, it's very informative."
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at his house 6 weeks prior, a neighbor described him and his wife as "Both normal people." His first wife described him as "Mellow."
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400:-- Loewen offers a tour of the airport and writes, "Direct jihad against a civilian target is not out of the question."
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374:-- Asked if he would like to be introduced to someone who can help him engage in jihad, Loewen replies, "Brothers like
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to kill as many people as possible. The perpetrator tried used his pass to open a security gate leading to the airport
469:-- Loewen sends photos of an airport access badge, entrance gates to the tarmac and devices used to access the gates.
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Terry Lee Loewen entered the airport early on the morning of
December 13, 2013, with the intention of detonating a
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511:-- Loewen meets with the second FBI employee and provides the requested components.
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529:-- Loewen uses his badge to access the tarmac for one minute, the complaint says.
523:-- Loewen renews his badge and is told he had been granted access to the tarmac.
481:-- He further discusses his plans and writes, "Count me in for the duration."
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Loewen’s primary influences were apparently the now-defunct website known as
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material on the
Internet. Terry L. Lane is a known alias of Loewen’s.
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582:"Terry Lee Loewen, the Mellow Kansas Man Who Dreamed of Jihad"
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on
December 13, 2013. The attack was attempted by 58-year old
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airport. Loewen became radicalized after reading extremist
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Suicide car and truck bombings in the United States
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673:Terrorist attacks on airports in the United States
663:Terrorist incidents in the United States in 2013
678:Failed terrorist attempts in the United States
630:"United States of America v. Terry L. Loewen"
556:Federal Correctional Institution in Texarkana
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723:Attacks on buildings and structures in 2013
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698:December 2013 crimes in the United States
49:of all important aspects of the article.
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703:Building bombings in the United States
668:Islamic terrorism in the United States
45:Please consider expanding the lead to
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728:Islamic terrorist incidents in 2013
610:McLaughlin, Elliott (2017-04-20).
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718:Car and truck bombings in 2013
333:format but may read better as
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708:Terrorist incidents in Kansas
232:Wichita Mid-Continent Airport
155:Wichita Mid-Continent Airport
637:United States District Court
580:Daly, Michael (2013-12-16).
134:December 13, 2013
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693:History of Wichita, Kansas
224:2013 Wichita Bomb Attempt
215:Extremist Islamic beliefs
16:Attempted suicide bombing
733:Suicide bombings in 2013
342:converting this section
69:2013 Wichita bomb plot
115:37.65480°N 97.42789°W
554:. He is now at the
120:37.65480; -97.42789
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310:Timeline of events
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296:Revolution Muslim
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34:lead section
539:December 13
521:December 6
503:November 19
497:November 11
491:October 25
485:October 18
422:September 6
416:September 3
410:September 2
366:August 5 --
246:Perpetrator
238:technician
203:Perpetrator
162:Attack type
118: /
93:Coordinates
657:Categories
642:2017-04-20
591:2017-04-27
562:References
527:December 9
515:December 3
479:October 11
354:April 2021
290:Motivation
138:2013-12-13
106:97°25′40″W
103:37°39′17″N
473:October 8
467:October 7
461:October 5
455:October 4
444:October 3
404:August 27
398:August 26
388:August 21
382:August 17
55:June 2017
39:summarize
372:August 8
300:Al-Qaeda
284:Facebook
272:car bomb
236:avionics
181:Car bomb
74:Location
302:in the
253:Islamic
195:Injured
177:Weapons
136: (
78:Wichita
329:is in
276:tarmac
266:Attack
211:Motive
187:Deaths
151:Target
82:Kansas
633:(PDF)
392:Allah
335:prose
144:UTC−5
331:list
222:The
131:Date
86:U.S.
616:CNN
440:".
438:TSA
280:FBI
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
