The Paris terrorist attacks bring to mind the frightening case of an Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) operative arrested in Chicago last fall and released earlier this year to serve probation in Illinois for a state crime that secretly drew federal intervention.
His name is Emad Karakrah, the ringleader of a sophisticated narco-terror operation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) facilitated his release from Cook County Jail in January. Judicial Watch uncovered Karakrah’s terrorism record and has reported extensively on his extremist activities, including a 2009 plot to bomb talk-show host Oprah Winfrey’s Chicago studios and the iconic Sears Tower. In late August of last year Karakrah was arrested after leading police on a high-speed chase through Chicago streets as an ISIS flag waved from his car. When Chicago Police finally stopped and arrested Karakrah, he told officers his car was rigged with explosives that would detonate if searched. Bomb disposal units secured the vehicle without incident, but Karakrah’s arrest helped expose a narco-terrorist network with roots and financing in El Paso, Texas.