Hassan Abujihaad
Former US Navy sailor convicted of supporting terrorism
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Hassan Abujihaad (born Paul R. Hall; 1976) is a former sailor in the United States Navy convicted of supporting terrorism.
1976 (age 49–50)
Hassan Abujihaad | |
|---|---|
| Born | Paul Raphael Hall 1976 (age 49–50) |
| Occupation | United States Navy sailor (1998 to 2002, honorably discharged)[1] |
| Spouse |
Takia Haji
(m. 2000; div. 2005) |
| Children | 2 |
A native of Phoenix, Arizona[2] and a convert to Islam, Abujihaad was convicted of disclosing the location of Navy ships and their weaknesses to an online forum in April 2001 while serving as a naval signalman on board the USS Benfold.[2]
Early life
Abujihaad grew up in Southern California. He legally changed his name from Paul Raphael Hall to Hassan Abujihaad in 1997, and enlisted in the Navy in January 1998.[1][3] He was honorably discharged in 2002.[4][5]
Abujihaad married Takia Haji in 2000. He filed for divorce in 2005 and was awarded sole custody of their two children during the following year.[6] He occasionally attended the Islamic Community Center of Phoenix,[6] which is also the mosque that Elton Simpson, one of the gunmen shot dead in the attempted Curtis Culwell Center attack of May 2015, attended.[7][8]
Arrest, trial, and conviction
Police arrested Abujihaad in March 2007 in Phoenix, Arizona.[9] He entered a plea of not guilty on April 4, 2007. On March 5, 2008, he was convicted by a jury in New Haven, Connecticut.[6] Federal prosecutors said the then-32-year-old had admitted disclosing military intelligence.[1] He was sentenced to ten years in prison, the maximum penalty for the crime.[10]
In 2009, the Sunday Mercury reported that Abujihaad's first link to terrorism came at the Maktabah Al Ansar bookstore in Sparkhill, Birmingham, England.[11]