Dead Boston suspect planned to behead police: prosecutors

A 26-year-old security guard shot dead by police and the FBI in Boston planned to behead American police officers at random to wage violent jihad, court papers said.
Usaamah Rahim purchased three military-style knives and a sharpener from Amazon.Com before allegedly deciding to "go after" the "boys in blue" because they were "the easiest target," court papers said yesterday.
But he was killed outside a pharmacy at 7:00 am on Tuesday. Police said he refused to drop his weapon and lunged towards five retreating officers, who then shot him to save their lives.
An alleged associate, David Wright, 25, appeared in court yesterday charged with conspiring to obstruct a federal investigation.

He was allegedly fully informed of Rahim's plans and ordered him to delete his phone and computer data, and destroy his Smart phone to prevent it falling into the hands of law enforcement.
Court papers said Rahim, who lived in Boston, had been "planning to engage in a violent attack in the United States" since May 26 -- little over a week before his death.

He allegedly ordered three knives from Amazon, which were delivered to his home, and discussed his plan with Wright and a third person on a beach in Rhode Island last Sunday.
Wright allegedly told the FBI the first plan was to behead an unnamed victim in another state, but Rahim telephoned him at 5:00 am on the morning of his death to change his mind.

Instead he told Wright that he was going to "go after" the "boys in blue," and randomly kill police officers in Massachusetts - either on Tuesday or Wednesday - the court papers said.
It was with one of the knives purchased from Amazon that Rahim lunged towards officers two hours later, court papers alleged.
Wright was arrested overnight and accused with conspiring with Rahim to destroy, mutilate, conceal and cover up his smart phone in order to obstruct an investigation, which is a federal offense.
Rahim at first had plotted to behead Pamela Geller, an activist and conservative blogger, law enforcement sources told CNN television. She was in the spotlight last month when a security officer stopped an attack at her group's contest for Prophet Mohammed drawings in Garland, Texas.

If convicted, Rahim faces up to five years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
Boston Police Commissioner William Evans said there had been intelligence for "weeks" that military and law enforcement lives were at threat.
Authorities put out "several notices" about the threat of attack on law enforcement and military bases, he added.