Islamic militants gun down Philadelphia cop
Islamist militants don Muslim women’s clothing, rob bank, gun down a Philadelphia police officer during getaway.
Authorities downplay Islamic connections as signs clarify jihadist nature of the three assailants.
Local reports said neighbors helped Philadelphia police sergeant Stephen Liczbinski Saturday, May 3, as he struggled against numerous gunshot wounds to the chest to lift his head and speak.
Bank robbers Howard Cain, Eric “Hussein” Floyd and Lavon Warner were still on the loose at that moment, having just robbed a local Bank of America branch.
Liczbinski took several 7.63-mm SKS [Chinese-made] assault rifle rounds to the chest, penetrating his Kevlar vest, and he was dieing.
An older man took Liczbinski’s police radio and called out, “A police officer is down. He’s shot multiple times. Get an ambulance!”
Keith Petaccio heard Liczbinski’s attempt at speech. “He looked up and said, ‘I want you to tell my wife I’ll miss her,’” Petaccio said.
Nancy Braun described the scene as chaotic, with people screaming and crying. “I was holding his head, and another guy was holding his arm,” she said.
“Another officer was holding his stomach wound, and in 20 seconds he just said, ‘Tell my wife I love her,’” the last known words of a man described as living for his family and the force.
Christian Action Network is investigating the incident as an act of Islamic jihad militancy.
Days later, the Philadelphia area remained terrorized, especially since one of the three assailants who had robbed the Bank of America branch on Aramingo Avenue was still at large.
Reports indicated the gunmen, Cain, Floyd and Warner, dressed as Muslim women and robbed the bank, making off with $38,000 cash or more.
Reports included a call by Christian Action Network supporter Caroline Holms of Delaware, who said it added to earlier losses to Philadelphia police as area violence rises.
“People are scared; this was an act of terrorism,” Holms said. “Now it’s easy for [the man at large] to hide out at one of these Islamic camps…I noticed one listed on the brochure [Jihad in America], there in Philadelphia.”
Responding to her call, the Christian Action Network began investigating ties between the named assailants and Philadelphia’s Islamic enclave, including the Muslims of America center at 530 South 52nd Street.
First, it is important to note Liczbinski died just before noon, last Saturday, as he approached the assailants in the Port Richmond area, according to police reports obtained by Christian Action Network.
This was shortly after responding to the robbery in progress call at 11:30 a.m., to the Bank of America branch in Shop Rite Supermarket, 3500 block of Aramingo Avenue.
Police gave chase as suspects ran to Schiller and Almond Streets. Police say Howard Cain opened fire, gunning Liczbinski down.
K-9 officers caught up with Cain after he stole a second vehicle near where he was seen with the SKS rifle – they shot Cain dead at the 500 block of Louden Street, locating the rifle that killed Liczbinski, still loaded with 25 rounds.
Also in or near the stolen minivan were three sets of Muslim clothing, $38,000 cash, two GPS tracking devices, a loaded 44-calibre revolver and a 22-cal. revolver.
On the following day, police arrested Lavon Warner of Westminster Street near 54th, charging him with robbery, homicide and firearms felonies.
On Thursday, May 8, police caught Eric DeShawn Floyd, 33, and his girlfriend, Tanya Lynne Stephens, 37, at a Windsor and 54th Street address.
All the addresses used by the three men through years of extensive criminal activity reveals they lived in the Islamic enclave in Philadelphia, mostly within walking distance of the MOA center.
Local Islamic leaders began their campaign to distance the Islamic community from the militants, first claiming the men were not Muslims at all.
“They couldn’t be practicing Muslims, no way,” Islamic researcher Fareed NuMan told local reporters. “The Qur’an forbids a man to imitate a woman.”
Christian Action Network president Martin Mawyer countered NuMan’s statement, noting there are expressed exceptions to the restriction NuMan mentioned.
In Shari’a Islamic law, fatwas for jihad, especially if made by a cleric of high standing, interpret Qur’anic restrictions as not applicable to the individual conducting a jihad attack.
“Allowances are made for jihad including disguises where men dress as women – and it is nothing new,” Mawyer said. “Perhaps it escapes NuMan’s particular interpretation of Islam.
“It is interesting to note that lying is also permitted for jihad and in all dealings with Islamic enemies, which the Qur’an notes include all of us who do not believe in Islam,” he added.
Christian Action Network pieced together numerous Islamic center addresses in the vicinity of the past known addresses used by Cain, Floyd and Warner.
“The area includes the Mujahideen Mosque and other groups, it is a hotbed of militant Islamic activity,” he said. “Whether these three were MOA or some other group is difficult to say.”
Mawyer said Philadelphia authorities purposely downplayed the Islamic connections. “They just don’t want to admit another Muslim has killed another Philadelphia police officer,” he said.
Local authorities said no known connections exist between the men and the Muslim community; the men used Muslim garb to avoid being recognized at the bank branch, they said.
Local reports included an observation by one of Cain’s recent landlords, who stated Cain was an avid reader of the Qur’an. “Cain was studying Islam,” the landlord said.
Christian Action Network has since learned the family of Howard Cain is making arrangements for an Islamic burial at a local mosque.
In a further attempt to distance and distort the Islamic connection to the failed militant cell group [they were caught], the Germantown mosque stated it will refuse burial there.
The blurring of connections to Philadelphia’s Islamists is shallow comfort to residents like Caroline Holms. The community was hit again, and feels the chilling effect of an uncommon criminality: Islamic militancy.
“This is like the third officer in, I think, two years to be killed like this,” she said, referring to the slaying of two retired officers while guarding an armored car in 2007.
Islamic militant gunman Mustafa Ali executed two guards “assassination-style” with a 9-mm handgun on October 4, 2007; a third guard fled as the executions began.
Joe Alullo and William Widmaier, however, are not noted as victims of global jihad, according to Religion of Peace jihad monitors. So far, Sgt. Liczbinski’s death also escapes notice as an act of jihad.
“Ali’s addresses also pinpoint him in the middle of the Islamic hotbed in Philadelphia,” Mawyer said.
Christian Action Network will follow court proceedings as they progress, and take a closer look at the Islamic community enclave growing in the city of Philadelphia.
Services Set for Slain Philadelphia Police Officer; Family Trust Fund Created
A spontaneous memorial emerged at the shooting scene, funeral arrangements were announced for Liczbinski, and a trust fund is up for his family.
Donations are coming in to the fourth police district headquarters on South 11th Street and the 24th District office on Whitaker Avenue.
Liczbinski was a 12-year veteran of the force, promoted to sergeant with the 24th District in November 2007. Mayor Michael Nutter said Liczbinski leaves behind a wife and three children.
"I ask that we rally around his family and wrap our arms around them, Nutter said. “He has obviously paid the ultimate sacrifice in serving his fellow Philadelphians."
Nutter called for a 30-day period of mourning - all city flags are low. He also called for religious groups to hold that Sunday as a day of peace and prayer for the Liczbinski family.
Rose Bouquet flower shop owner Richard Siegel, remembering Liczbinski as an occasional customer, encouraged action against the rise of this kind of deadly crime.
“People have to step up to the plate…come forward and do something, otherwise this terrible situation we're dealing with is never going to stop, it's gonna get worse,” he said.