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ATLANTA — A Kenyan man has been sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison for conspiring to attack Atlanta’s Bank of America building.
Cholo Abdi Abdullah, 34, was sentenced on Monday to two consecutive life sentences after being convicted of several crimes in Nov. 2024.
Federal prosecutors say Abdullah is a member of al-Shabaab, a Somalian terrorist organization affiliated with Al Qaeda.
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They say Abdullah joined the organization in 2015 and spent the next year receiving military training.
That’s when he was recruited for a “greater plan,” which involved him training to become an airline pilot so he could hijack a commercial plane and crash it into a U.S. building.
From 2017 to 2019, Abdullah trained at a flight school in the Philippines. When he was arrested in July 2019, he was had completed all but one of the requirements to receive his commercial pilot license.
In January 2019, in the wake of another al-Shabaab attack in Kenya, Abdullah began researching “Delta flights” and “tallest building in Atlanta.”
His searches pointed him to the Bank of America Plaza, which stands 55 stories and 1,023 feet tall in downtown Atlanta.
He admitted to the FBI that he planned to hijack a plane and crash into the building, killing himself and countless others.
“Al Qaeda-affiliated terrorist and trained pilot Cholo Abdullah was justly punished today for his plotting to commit a 9/11-style terrorist attack,” said Assistant Director in Charge Christopher G. Raia of the FBI. “This case serves as a reminder that individuals still wish to inflict violence upon our country in the name of terrorism.”
Cholo Abdi Abdullah, 34, was sentenced on Monday to two consecutive life sentences after being convicted of several crimes in Nov. 2024.
Federal prosecutors say Abdullah is a member of al-Shabaab, a Somalian terrorist organization affiliated with Al Qaeda.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
They say Abdullah joined the organization in 2015 and spent the next year receiving military training.
That’s when he was recruited for a “greater plan,” which involved him training to become an airline pilot so he could hijack a commercial plane and crash it into a U.S. building.
From 2017 to 2019, Abdullah trained at a flight school in the Philippines. When he was arrested in July 2019, he was had completed all but one of the requirements to receive his commercial pilot license.
In January 2019, in the wake of another al-Shabaab attack in Kenya, Abdullah began researching “Delta flights” and “tallest building in Atlanta.”
His searches pointed him to the Bank of America Plaza, which stands 55 stories and 1,023 feet tall in downtown Atlanta.
He admitted to the FBI that he planned to hijack a plane and crash into the building, killing himself and countless others.
“Al Qaeda-affiliated terrorist and trained pilot Cholo Abdullah was justly punished today for his plotting to commit a 9/11-style terrorist attack,” said Assistant Director in Charge Christopher G. Raia of the FBI. “This case serves as a reminder that individuals still wish to inflict violence upon our country in the name of terrorism.”
