Disturbing new details have emerged in the months since the shocking discovery of New Mexico compound where a couple allegedly trained children to carry out school shootings. Siraj Ibn Wahhaj, the son of a radical Muslim imam linked to the 1993 World Trade Center bombings, his wife Jany Leveille and his brother-in-law Lucas Morten, each face 11 counts of child abuse.
Children of Linda Sarsour’s Mentor Arrested for Alleged Terror Training Camp in New Mexico
As Faithwire reported in August, Wahhaj’s son, Abdul-Ghani Wahhaj, who went missing in December 2017, was the catalyst for the months-long search that led investigators to the compound in Taos County. Authorities believe Abdul, who suffered from hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) disease, likely died after being denied medication and instead being subject to ritualistic ceremonies intended to “cast out demonic spirits.”
According to a report published by The Daily Mail earlier this month, authorities have learned that the idea for the youth terrorist training compound emerged out of jealousy, wild conspiracies and “black magic.”
A federal filing claims Siraj Ibn Wahhaj and Jany Leveille, his first wife, ran off with his son Abdul after Leveille grew suspicious that Wahhaj’s second wife and the boy’s mother, Hakima Ramzi, had used “black magic” to get pregnant with Abdul.
Court papers indicate that Leveille, who suffered a miscarriage, convinced Wahajj that Ramzi transferred the child she lost into her own womb. Abdul, therefore, was really her child, Leveille claimed, and Ramzi was to blame for cursing him and make him ill.
These latest revelations have sparked questions regarding whether Abdul’s neglect was the product of superstitious religious rituals, or intentional abuse stemming from Leveille’s hatred of the boy’s birth mother.
Leveille’s brother, Von-Chelet Leveille, told the New York Daily News he believes his sister and brother-in-law were truly trying to heal Abdul at the compound.
He said his sister used ruqya, an Islamic ritual which wards off evil spirits, but denied that she used black magic against the child.
“In Islam, having seizures can also be viewed as being possessed by spirits,” he told the New York Daily News, noting that Abdul experienced seizures once or twice a month.
“I am one hundred percent sure they tried to heal him,” he added.
But Wahhaj’s family believes differently. They think Leveille, who migrated from Haiti to Brooklyn undocumented in 1998, suffers from schizophrenia and severe jealousy. Several family members in the past have accused his first wife of casting spells on Wahhaj, while Leveille claimed her husband’s relatives had her under a curse.
Among the items retrieved when the compound was raided in August was Leveille’s digital journal, which has provided authorities with information regarding her views on spiritual and physical healing.
“On December 24th, 2017, the most horrendous event occurred,” she wrote of Abdul’s death, according to court documents. “How could Quranic recitation execute a child? This only happens to shayateens (demons). Ibn Siraj recited over the other children, the children remained healthy.”
Officials later confirmed that the toddler died after being deprived of his medication for about a month.
According to prosecutors, the couple waited eight months after the boy’s death for him to be resurrected as “Isa” – the Islamic name for Jesus Christ.
“At last, Allah confirmed that indeed, H.I.E. and diseases of the sort are not real. Isa Ibn Maryam (Abdul) was lifeless since birth,” Leveille wrote.
According to these writings, Leveille believed Abdul was never a human to begin with, so his death was no tragedy.
So far, a trial date has not been set for Wahhaj and Leveille, who trained 11 children to use guns to attack “teachers, military, law enforcement and financial institutions.” New Mexico state prosecutors recently had to delay their case against the couple to wait for the federal case to be processed.
A federal grand jury indicted Wahhaj, Leveille, Lucas Morton, his wife Subhannah Wahhaj and her sister Hujrah Wahhaj, on firearms and conspiracy charges. The group was accused of conspiring to provide Leveille with firearms and ammunition while she lived in the United States illegally.
(H/T: The Daily Mail)