Minh Quang Pham Traveled to Yemen and Received Military Training from AQAP to Commit a Suicide Attack at Heathrow International Airport
Danielle R. Sassoon, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York; Devin DeBacker, the Head of the National Security Division of the United States Department of Justice; and Sanjay Virmani, the Special Agent in Charge of the Counterterrorism Division of the Washington Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced today that MINH QUANG PHAM, a/k/a “Amin,” 41, was sentenced to 44 years in prison for terrorism charges based on Pham’s support of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (“AQAP”), a designated foreign terrorist organization, including attempting to commit a suicide bombing at Heathrow International Airport (“Heathrow Airport”). On May 11, 2023, PHAM pled guilty to providing and attempting to provide material support to AQAP and participating in a conspiracy to do the same; conspiring to receive military-type training from AQAP; and providing and attempting to provide material support for acts of terrorism. Today’s sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman.
U.S. Attorney Danielle R. Sassoon said: “Minh Quang Pham’s actions were not just an affront to the safety of this country, but to the principles of peace and security that we hold dear. Today’s sentencing underscores our collective resolve to stop terrorism before it occurs, and place would-be terrorists in prison.”
Head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division Devin DeBacker said: “The defendant was sentenced for an attempt to commit an act of terrorism and plotting a suicide bombing on behalf of AQAP. The Justice Department will not rest in seeking justice for acts of terrorism and will continue to thwart any attempt to jeopardize global security.”
FBI Special Agent in Charge Sanjay Virmani said: “Pham pledged an oath of loyalty to al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula and received military training from AQAP as part of his plot to commit a suicide bombing on the organization’s behalf. This case is a reminder of the relentless terrorism threats targeting the U.S., our citizens, and our interests abroad. We thank our international partners for their collaboration over the last 15 years, particularly the U.K.’s Crown Prosecution Service, Metropolitan Police Service, and New Scotland Yard. Their work prevented Pham from conducting a terrorist attack at Heathrow Airport and later helped lead to his conviction in the U.S.”
According to the indictments, extradition materials, court filings and statements made at related court proceedings, including today’s sentencing:
In December 2010, PHAM informed others that he planned to travel to Ireland while residing in London. From Ireland, he traveled to Yemen, the principal base of operations for AQAP. PHAM traveled to Yemen in order to join AQAP, to wage jihad on behalf of AQAP and to martyr himself for AQAP’s cause. After arriving in Yemen, he swore an oath of loyalty to AQAP in the presence of an AQAP commander.
While in Yemen in 2010 and 2011, PHAM provided assistance to and received training from Anwar al-Aulaqi, a U.S.-born senior leader of AQAP. Al-Aulaqi advised PHAM to return to the United Kingdom for the purpose of finding and making contact with individuals who, like PHAM, wanted to travel to Yemen to join AQAP. Al-Aulaqi also provided PHAM with money, as well as a telephone number and e-mail address that PHAM was to use to contact al-Aulaqi upon his return to the U.K. In addition, PHAM exchanged his laptop computer with al-Aulaqi, who provided him with a new “clean” laptop to take with him when he returned to the U.K. so that the authorities would not find anything if they searched his computer.
In or about June 2011, prior to his departure from Yemen, PHAM approached al-Aulaqi about conducting a suicide attack whereby he would “sacrifice” himself on behalf of AQAP. Al-Aulaqi personally taught PHAM how to create a lethal explosive device using household chemicals and directed PHAM to detonate such an explosive device at the arrivals area of Heathrow following PHAM’s return to the U.K. in 2011. Al-Aulaqi instructed PHAM to carry an explosive in a concealed backpack and target the area where flights arrived from the U.S. or Israel. During this time, PHAM made videos depicting his preparation to carry out that attack. In one video, PHAM is shown wiring an electrical device for the use of making an explosive device; in another, he sketches an explosive device to be contained in a backpack; and in a third, PHAM wears a backpack with wiring for explosives on it, which he turns on in the video.
Also during this time, in or about June or July 2011—shortly before PHAM returned from Yemen to the U.K.—PHAM recorded a video in which he attempted to recruit and encourage individuals in the West to engage in violent jihad abroad or in their home countries; in this video, he also expresses a desire to martyr himself. At the outset of this video, consisting of an approximately 13 minute-long monologue, PHAM states that, “America itself is not fighting a war with a group or an organization, they are fighting with the army of Allah, the believers.” He continues, in part, “We have that opportunity, that ability to be in their midst, in their land . . . and I advise the brothers inshallah to, whatever you can, to gather and prepare and strike the enemy in their own land . . . The saying, a thousand cuts, you hit them with as much as you can until inshallah the enemy will bleed to death.” During his time in Yemen, PHAM also assisted with the preparation and dissemination of AQAP’s propaganda magazine, Inspire. PHAM, who has college degrees in both graphic design and animation, worked directly with now-deceased U.S. citizen Samir Khan, who was a prominent member of AQAP responsible for editing and publishing Inspire.
PHAM also received a six-page document entitled “Your Instructions” from al-Aulaqi in Yemen, which provided detailed instructions on how PHAM was to commit his suicide attack at Heathrow. The document from al-Aulaqi instructed PHAM, “[d]o not do anything for the first three months” and “[y]ou should target Christmas/ New Year season[.]” The instructions from al-Aulaqi provided explicit direction about the importance of using shrapnel to kill as many people as possible, including that “[t]he proper use of shrapnel is as important as the main charge itself. The detonation wave from a main charge of AP by itself is most likely not going to cause the death of anyone except those who are in its immediate vicinity. It is the shrapnel that would do the job. You may imagine this IED as a shotgun that is firing in all directions.” The document therefore instructed PHAM to take “special care” with the “proper arrangement and choice of shrapnel,” and to “poison” it to inflict maximum death.
On July 27, 2011, PHAM returned to the U.K. Upon his arrival at Heathrow, U.K. authorities detained PHAM, searched him, and recovered various materials from him, including a live round of 7.62mm caliber armor-piercing ammunition, which is consistent with ammunition that is used in a Kalashnikov assault rifle, a type of weapon for which PHAM received training from AQAP in Yemen. U.K. authorities released PHAM and cautioned him for his possession of the live round of ammunition, before, in December 2011, arresting him pursuant to their authorities under U.K. immigration law. In searches of PHAM’s residence, other locations, and vehicles, U.K. authorities recovered several pieces of electronic media. Among other things, a forensic analysis of PHAM’s electronic media showed that he was accessing speeches and writings of al-Aulaqi as late as December 2011—months after PHAM’s return to the U.K.
On May 24, 2012, a grand jury returned an indictment charging Pham with terrorism offenses and U.S. authorities sought Pham’s extradition from the United Kingdom. He was provisionally arrested with a view towards extradition on June 29, 2012, and he was extradited to the United States on February 26, 2015. On January 8, 2016, Pham pled guilty to terrorism offenses related to certain of the same underlying conduct. On May 27, 2016, Pham was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Alison J. Nathan principally to a term of 40 years in prison. On September 12, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed Pham’s conviction and sentence. Thereafter, Pham made a motion that, based on intervening Supreme Court decisions, resulted in the vacatur of one of the counts of his conviction. Ultimately, the Government, with Pham’s consent, moved to vacate Pham’s earlier convictions. On April 8, 2021, a grand jury returned a superseding indictment, reinstating certain charges and filing other new charges against Pham, and which formed the basis for Pham’s May 11, 2023 guilty plea and conviction.
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In addition to the prison term, PHAM, 41, was also sentenced to life term of supervised release and a $400 special assessment.
Ms. Sassoon praised the extraordinary investigative work of the FBI’s Washington Field Office. She also expressed her gratitude to the FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force for the critical role it played in the investigation and prosecution. Ms. Sassoon also thanked the Department of Justice’s National Security Division and Office of International Affairs for their significant assistance, as well as the Metropolitan Police Service/SO 15 Counter Terrorism Command at New Scotland Yard, the Crown Prosecution Service, and the Home Office for their cooperation in the investigation, extradition and prosecution.
This prosecution is being handled by the Office’s National Security and International Narcotics Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacob H. Gutwillig is in charge of the prosecution, with assistance from Trial Attorney John Cella of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.