Incident Summary:
06/22/1985: Two bombs exploded in the Moslem prayer room at the Daar Us Salaam mosque in Houston, Texas, United States, about an hour after worshippers left the mosque. There were no casualties in the incident, but the explosions caused about $50,000 in damages. Daniel Allen Russell, Randy James Jones, and Stephen C. Ahern, all of Houston, were all charged and sentenced after their admissions to constructing and planting the bombs in the mosque. It appears that the perpetrators acted independently of any group, and their reasons for the bombing, while conflicting, are suspected to be in retaliation and anger over American hostages being held in Lebanon during the Shiite Moslem hijacking of passengers aboard TWA Flight 847. The bombing came in the midst of threatening phone calls to several area mosques and Islamic society headquarters after the hostage situation in Beirut.
Overview
GTD ID:
198506220006
When:
1985-06-22
Country:
United States
Region:
North America
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Texas
City:
Houston
Location Details:
The incident occurred at the Daar Us Salaam mosque in shopping center in southwest Houston.
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Bombing/Explosion |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Religious Figures/Institutions |
Name of Entity |
Daar Us Salaam mosque |
Specific Description |
mosque |
Nationality of Target |
United States |
Additional Information
Hostages |
No |
Ransom |
No |
Property Damage |
Yes |
Extent of Property Damage |
Minor (likely < $1 million) |
Value of Property Damage |
$50,000.00 |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Explosives |
Time Fuse |
Weapon Details |
homemade bombs built using galvanized pipes, black powder and a propane cylinder and a fuse |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | No |
Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Additional Information |
The explosions occurred at 11:30pm and witnesses reported seeing a man speeding away in a pickup truck yelling "We did it, we did it." The perpetrators admitted that the bombings were in retaliation for the American hostage situation in Beirut after the hijacking of TWA Flight 847, but one of their attorneys did not believe this argument and claimed that the Moslem community did not need to feel threatened by the situation as the perpetrators were involved in mindless bombings of a portable toilet, a trash bin, a car, a postal box, a newspaper box and a telephone booth in prior months. Some government officials also denied the connection with the hijacking of TWA Flight 847. |
Who
Perpetrator Group Information
Group Name |
Claimed Responsibility |
Anti-Muslim extremists |
No |
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
3 |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
3 |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
0 Fatalities / 0 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
0 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
0 |
Total Number of Injured |
0 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
"In the Nation: Houston, Islamic mosque bombed; worshippers had left," The Baltimore Sun, June 24, 1985. |
"Reasons for Mosque Bombing Differ," The Associated Press, July 12, 1985. |
"Man Sentenced For Part in Mosque's Bombing," The Associated Press, October 27, 1985. |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties