Evan Kohlmann - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Evan F. Kohlmann (born 1979) is an American terrorism consultant who has worked for the FBI and other governmental organizations.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

He is a contributor to the Counterterrorism Blog, a senior investigator with The Nine Eleven Finding Answers Foundation, and a terrorism analyst for NBC News.[1]

Early life and education[edit]

In a profile for the Penn Law Journal, Kohlmann said he spent summers in France while growing up, because his father studied there. Kohlmann graduated from Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

He attended the Georgetown University Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, where he studied under Mamoun Fandy.[2] Fandy's mentorship sparked his interest in Middle East politics. "When [Fandy] lived in Egypt, he passed by the number two guy in al-Qaeda there every day. He really knew his subject."

Kohlmann entered the University of Pennsylvania Law School in the fall of 2001, a few weeks before al-Qaeda's attacks on the U.S. on September 11, 2001.[2]

Counter-terrorism career[edit]

Kohlmann worked as an intern at The Investigative Project, a Washington, DC, counter-terrorism think-tank.[2][7]

He wrote Al- Qaida’s Jihad in Europe: The Afghan-Bosnian Network while he was a law student.[8][citation needed] "I turned to a classmate and said, ‘This is Osama Bin Laden, and I have to go do something about it’."[citation needed]

He is a Senior Terrorism Consultant for The NEFA Foundation.[9][10] He is also a contributor to the Counterterrorism Blog,[11] and a terrorism analyst for NBC News.[1]

He has called Anwar al-Awlaki "one of the principal jihadi luminaries for would-be homegrown terrorists. His fluency with English, his unabashed advocacy of jihad and mujahideen organizations, and his Web-savvy approach are a powerful combination." He calls al-Awlaki's lecture "Constants on the Path of Jihad", which he says was based on a similar document written by al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia's founder, the "virtual bible for lone-wolf Muslim extremists."[12]

The Al Qaida Plan[edit]

Kohlmann produced "The Al Qaida Plan" to be used as evidence during the Guantanamo Military Commissions.[13]Carol Rosenberg of the Miami Herald reported that "The Al Qaida Plan" was modeled after a film made for the Nuremberg tribunals called "The Nazi Plan".

Expert witness[edit]

Kohlmann has served frequently as an expert witness for the prosecution in terrorism trials.[2][14][15] "There haven’t been that many cases yet, so sometimes the prosecutors are doing their first ones. I know how the courts work, so I am pretty valuable right now.” Despite being considered a terrorism expert, Kohlmann cannot read, write or speak Arabic.[16]

His expertise & neutrality has been disputed by defense attorneys and other experts, while his book ″Al-Qaida’s Jihad in Europe: The Afghan-Bosnian Network″ was declined by University of Pennsylvania Press.[17]

He testified as an expert witness in the following cases:

[18][dead link]

CaseDefendantNotes

U.S. v. Sabri Benkhala	Sabri Benkhala
U.S. v. Ali Timimi	Ali al-Timimi
U.S. v. Uzair Paracha	Uzair Paracha
U.S. v. Ali Asad Chandia	Ali Asad Chandia
U.S. v. Yassin Aref	Yassin Aref	Kohlmann was a last-minute replacement for the prosecution's original witness, Rohan Gunaratna.[21]
U.S. v. Rafiq Sabir	Rafiq Abdus Sabir	Medical doctor who allegedly agreed to provide clandestine medical treatment to wounded jihadists, and to have sworn bayat to a government agent pretending to be al-Qaeda official.[22]
U.S. v. Emadeddine Muntasser	Emadeddine Muntasser
Regina v. Mohammed Ajmal Khan and Palvinder Singh	Mohammed Ajmal Khan Palvinder Singh
H.M.A. v. Lawyers	Mohammed Atif Sidique	Bin Laden's driver's trial
Regina v. Samina Malik	Samina Malik
Regina v. Hassan Mutegombwa	Hassan Mutegombwa
Regina v. Tsouli	Younes Tsouli (Irhabi 007)	Charged with posting manuals on computer hacking, and posting al-Qaeda jihadist propaganda (often on unsuspecting external web pages).[23][24]