Richard Reid (shoe bomber)
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| Richard C. Reid | |
|---|---|
 Richard C. Reid | |
| Born | Richard Colvin Reid August 12, 1973 Bromley, London, England |
| Alias(es) | Tariq Raja (طارق راجا) and Abdel Rahim (عبدالرحیم) Abu Ibrahim |
| Charge(s) | I. Attempted Use of Weapon of Mass Destruction II. Attempted Homicide III. Placing an Explosive Device on Aircraft IV. Attempted Murder V. Interference with Flight Crew and Attendants VI. Attempted Destruction of an Aircraft VII. Using a Destructive Device During and in Relation to a Crime of Violence VIII. Attempted Wrecking of a Mass Transportation Vehicle[1] |
| Conviction(s) | Guilty of all charges |
| Penalty | Life in prison |
| Status | Incarcerated at ADX Florence, Colorado |
| Occupation | none |
| Spouse | none |
| Children | none |
Richard Colvin Reid, born August 12, 1973, commonly known as the shoe bomber, is a self-admitted member of al-Qaeda who pled guilty in 2003 in U.S. federal court to eight criminal counts of terrorismcommercial aircraft in-flight by detonating explosives hidden in his shoes. He is currently serving a life sentence without parole in a super maximum security prison in the United States. His crime led to the new requirement of American airline passengers having to remove their shoes for inspection before boarding a flight or entering an airline terminal. stemming from his attempt to destroy a
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[edit] Background
Reid, also known as Abdul Raheem and Tariq Raja, was born a British citizen in Bromley, South London,[2] to Leslie Hughes, who was of white English descent, and Colvin Robin Reid, whose father was a Jamaican immigrant of African descent.[3] When Reid was born, his father, a career criminal, was in jail for stealing a car.[3] Reid left school at age 16, becoming a petty crook who was in and out of jail himself; the first time for assaulting an elderly woman.[3] He began writing graffiti under the name Enrol with FRF crew,[4][5][6] serving sentences at the Feltham Young Offenders Institution [7] and at the Blundeston Prison.[8] According to his father, Reid became depressed and blamed racism for some of his problems. His father advised him to convert to Islam, telling him that Muslims were more egalitarian and they got better food in prison. The next time Reid was incarcerated (in 1995 for petty theft), he converted.[3][9][10] and ultimately accumulated more than 10 convictions for crimes against persons and property,
Upon his release from prison in 1996[8] he joined the Brixton Mosque.[9][11] He later began attending the Finsbury Park Mosque in North London headed at that time by the anti-American cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri[3][9] By 1998 Reid was voicing extremist views,[3] and may have fallen under the sway of "terrorist talent spotters and handlers" allied with Al Qaeda.[9] and described as "the heart of the extremist Islamic culture" in Britain.
He spent 1999 and 2000 in Pakistan and trained at a terrorist camp in Afghanistan, according to several informants.[3] He may also have attended an anti-American religious training center in Lahore, Pakistan as a follower of Mubarak Ali Gilani.[12] During this time he met Saajid Badat.
After his return Reid set about obtaining duplicate passports from British government consulates abroad. Reid next resided at numerous places in Europe, communicating via an address in Peshawar, Pakistan, a city known for its Al Qaeda connections.[3] In July 2001, Reid flew to Israel, passing through the El Al Airline's very tight security network, in what was possibly a test of his ability to pass through airport security screening anywhere.[9] He then moved to Amsterdam, living there from August 2001 through November 2001, working as a dishwasher.
Reid and Badat returned to Pakistan in November 2001, and reportedly traveled overland to Afghanistan. They were given "shoe bombs", casual footwear adapted to be covertly smuggled onto aircraft before being used to destroy them. Later forensic analysis of both bombs showed that they contained the same plastic explosive and that the respective lengths of detonator cord had come from the same batch: indeed, the cut mark on Badat's cord matches exactly that on Reid's. The pair returned separately to Great Britain in early December 2001. Reid went to Belgium for 10 days before catching a train to Paris on December 16.[6]
On December 21, 2001, Reid attempted to board a flight from Paris, France to Miami, Florida, but his boarding was delayed because his disheveled physical appearance aroused the suspicions of the airline passenger screeners. Reid also did not answer all of their questions, and had not checked any luggage for the transatlantic flight. Additional screening by the French National Police resulted in Reid's being re-issued a ticket for a flight on the following day.[13] He returned to the Paris airport on December 22, 2001, and he boarded American Airlines Flight 63 from Paris to Miami, wearing his special shoes packed with plastic explosives in their hollowed-out bottoms.
[edit] Bombing attempt on American Airlines 63
Main article: 2001 shoe bomb plot
On December 22, 2001, passengers on Flight 63 complained of a smoke smell in the cabin shortly after a meal service. One flight attendant, Hermis Moutardier, thinking she smelled a burnt match, walked the aisles of the plane, trying to assess the source. A passenger pointed to Reid, who was sitting alone near a window and attempting to light a match. Moutardier warned him that smoking was not allowed on the airplane. Reid then promised to stop.
A few minutes later, Moutardier found Reid leaned over in his seat. Her attempts to get his attention failed. After asking "What are you doing?" Reid grabbed at her, revealing one shoe in his lap, a fuse which led into the shoe, and a lit match. She tried grabbing Reid twice, but he pushed her to the floor each time, and she yelled for help, and then ran to get water. When another flight attendant, Cristina Jones, arrived to try to subdue him, he fought her and bit her thumb and Moutardier threw water in his face. The 6 foot 4 inch (193 cm) tall, 200+ pound Reid was next subdued by several passengers on the airliner, and then bound up using plastic handcuffs, seatbelt extensions, and headphone cords. A physician on board the airliner administered to Reid a tranquilizer that he found in the emergency medical kit of the airliner.[14] This flight was immediately diverted to the Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, one of the the closest US airports.[15]
The explosive apparently did not detonate due to the one-day delay in the take-off of Reid's flight. He had worn his shoes for more than one day, and the rainy weather, perhaps along with Reid's accumulated foot perspiration, caused the fuse to be too damp to ignite. [16]