A radicalized Texas teenager armed with a firearm and inspired by ISIS plotted to assassinate a Republican congressman who opposes Sharia law — the kind of actual extremist threat the FBI too often watches until it's almost too late, while labeling concerned parents at school board meetings as domestic terrorists.
Rep. Keith Self, co-founder of the Sharia-Free America Caucus, was targeted by a 17-year-old from McKinney, Texas, who federal authorities had reportedly been monitoring before arresting him on Oct. 5. The suspect managed to purchase a gun despite being a minor and planned to carry out the assassination at a public cook-off, sources told WFAA. He remains in federal custody; his name has not been released.
Self told WFAA that his legislative work opposing Islamic extremism likely motivated the plot. "If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's probably a duck," he said.
Self introduced a non-binding resolution in Congress denouncing Sharia law and opposing its implementation in the United States. "The United States Constitution and Sharia are fundamentally at odds with one another," Self said last November, describing the ideology as "a culture of violence and domination." The Daily Caller noted that Self has a "substantive political history of combatting Sharia Law and radical Islamist ideology in the U.S."
The congressman expressed gratitude the FBI intervened but pointedly noted the bureau had been aware of the suspect for some time. "So often we hear that somebody does something and then you find out later that the FBI had him on some sort of watch list and didn't take action," Self told CBS News Texas. "So I am very grateful that the FBI took action in this case."
Self said such threats against members of Congress are "more routine than you would think," though he acknowledged previous ones were "not to this degree and not any that action was taken by law enforcement."
The House Freedom Caucus framed the arrest as a wake-up call: "Radical Islam is already tearing through Europe. America's next if we don't stop it."
A 25-year military veteran, Self said he would not be deterred. "Preserving our constitutional republic from radical Islam means accepting the costs that come with it — name-calling, threats, and worse," he wrote on X. "This only strengthens my resolve. I will not back down."
The FBI declined to comment. The bureau eventually found the will to arrest this suspect — after he'd already obtained a weapon. The question ordinary Americans ought to ask: how many FBI agents were tied up investigating parents who showed up angry at school board meetings, while a radicalized minor with ISIS sympathies was free to buy a gun and plan a congressman's murder?
