FBI agents and Detroit police officers conducted an operation to serve arrest warrants against 11 men on Oct. 28 who had been charged with several federal crimes, including theft from interstate shipments, mail fraud to obtain the proceeds of arson, illegal possession and sale of firearms, and tampering with motor vehicle identification numbers. The 11 men were members of a group that calls itself "The Ummah" (Arabic for nation or community of believers), which is largely comprised of African-Americans who converted to Islam (many of them while in prison). The Ummah is headed by Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, formerly known as H. Rapp Brown, who is serving a life sentence at the federal Supermax facility in Florence, Colo., for the murder of a police officer in Georgia. Brown was associated with the Black Panther Party until he converted to Islam and changed his name while in prison for a 1971 robbery attempt that ended in a shootout with police in New York. As outlined in a federal criminal complaint filed on Oct. 27 in Michigan's Eastern District federal court, the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) in Detroit had conducted an extensive operation directed against The Ummah. The operation included at least three confidential informants and 10 undercover transactions in which members of The Ummah believed they were either transferring stolen property or fencing stolen property for an FBI employee posing as a criminal. The members of The Ummah have a history of violence and violent rhetoric against the government, and law enforcement personnel in particular. The JTTF investigation also produced evidence that many of the members frequently carried firearms even though they were convicted felons. As the imam of the Masjid al-Haqq, The Ummah's mosque in Detroit, Luqman Ameen Abdullah told an informant that he would never be taken without a fight. The JTTF was also aware that the group's founder, Al-Amin, is serving life in prison for shooting two police officers who attempted to arrest him (he killed one of the two). Believing the members of the group to be armed and dangerous, the authorities took special precautions as they prepared to arrest them. Seven of the group's members were arrested without incident, but Abdullah refused to surrender and fired his weapon at the agents who were attempting to arrest him. Following a brief shootout, Abdullah was killed, as was an FBI canine involved in the arrest operation. Two of the 11 men charged in the case remain at large. The rhetoric of The Ummah says that the group seeks to establish a separate Shariah-governed state within the United States, and that they support groups such as al Qaeda, Hamas and Hezbollah, according to the federal complaint in this case. However, the members of The Ummah who attended the Masjid al-Haqq in Detroit behaved more like petty criminals seeking to legitimize their criminal activity with a veneer of militant Islam, rather than true militant operatives. This conclusion was echoed by the FBI's special agent in charge in Detroit who said in a statement that the case was solely criminal and related to smuggling and fraud and not terrorism. While the group did reportedly conduct martial arts training in their mosque (which also featured an improvised firing range in the basement), and Abdullah on one occasion wistfully told a government informant that he would like to detonate a nuclear device in Washington, there is no indication that the group was planning or even seriously considering any type of attack. Instead, they used their firearms and martial arts training to further their criminal activities, like robbery, theft and murder. (The criminal complaint indicated the group was connected to several killings.) However, caution should be taken. Retribution and retaliation are a very important in street thug culture, and in the philosophy of The Ummah. The Masjid al-Haqq is only one of a network of over two dozen mosques affiliated with The Ummah, and Abdullah had close relationships with members of many of them. It is therefore possible that members of The Ummah in other parts of the country could lash out against government or other targets in retaliation for the death of Abdullah. The story of The Ummah may not be over yet. STRATFOR is closely monitoring a shooting that occurred at a synagogue in North Hollywood on the morning of Oct. 29 for any indication that it may be linked to The Ummah.