An American convert to Islam beheaded a former colleague in Moore, Oklahoma. US law enforcement officials are not calling it terrorism.
Alton Nolen, 30, who adopted the name Jah’Keem Yisrael since converting to Islam in 2011, decapitated 54-year-old Colleen Hufford on Thursday at the Vaughn Food processing plant – his former workplace – in Moore, Oklahoma.
Nolen had just been fired when he drove to the business, hit a vehicle and walked inside, reports say. He proceeded to the front office area, stabbed Hufford several times with a knife and severed her head.
According to several news reports, Nolen then encountered 43-year-old Traci Johnson and began attacking her with the same knife.
Mark Vaughan, an Oklahoma County reserve deputy and a former CEO of the business, arrived on the scene and shot Nolen as he was stabbing Johnson, who was hurt but not fatally.
Nolen was wounded and hospitalized, but is already scheduled to stand trial for the attack. He has a prison record for assault and battery and for drug possession and was released as recently as March 2013.
Islamic State-Style Beheading
The FBI is investigating whether Nolen’s faith could be linked to the murder. Several sources indicate that radical Islam was a driving force in Nolen’s life.
Nolen’s Facebook page – under the name Jah’Keem Yisrael – features virulently anti-Christian, anti-American and anti-Israeli posts as well as photos of ISIS and Al-Qaeda terrorists.
In a post to “fellow Muslims,” for example, he writes:
“America and Israel are wicked. Wake up Muslims!!!”
Nonetheless, US law enforcement officials say there is no indication that the decapitation is linked to terrorism.
Nolen’s colleagues told investigators that he had made numerous attempts to inspire fellow employees to convert to Islam.
Converting American Youth to Radical Islam
On May 31, he posted a photo of a white and apparently American boy raising the index finger of his right hand, demonstrating shahada – acceptance of the Islamic faith, with the caption:
“One whom was Guided to Islam 2day I offered him Dawah (preaching of Islam) and he took his shahada!”
The Islamic Council of Oklahoma rushed to state that Nolen was “not known to any of the leadership in Oklahoma mosques,” but several Facebook posts show him praying at a mosque in Oklahoma City.
The Oklahoma Conference of Churches issued a statement on Saturday urging “all Oklahomans and people everywhere not to equate Mr. (Nolen’s) actions with the beliefs and practices of the Islamic community in Oklahoma.”
‘ISIS on their Minds’
Saad Mohammad, a spokesman for the Islamic Society of Greater Oklahoma City, said in an interview with NewsOK.com that security is being heightened at mosques in fear of retaliation against Muslims, adding that anti-Muslim sentiment, which was growing due to the beheadings overseas, would likely increase with the local incident.
“They have this ISIS thing on their minds and now this guy has brought it to America,” Mohammad stated.
Author: Atara Beck
Senior Editor, United with Israel