An Ohio man appeared in court Tuesday after being linked to a plot to assassinate former President George W. Bush.
An Iraqi citizen living in Columbus, Ohio, has been charged federally with an immigration crime and with aiding and abetting a plot to murder former United States President George W. Bush.
Shihab Ahmed Shihab Shihab, 52, was arrested by FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force agents Tuesday morning and appeared in federal court the same day. His case was unsealed at that time.
Shihab originally entered the United States in September 2020 on a visitor visa, and in March 2021, he filed a claim for asylum with United States citizenship, which is pending review. He lived in both Columbus, Ohio, and Indianapolis and worked at markets and restaurants in both cities.
The charging document alleges that Shihab planned to smuggle four additional Iraqi foreign nationals into the United States for the purpose of killing former President George W. Bush in retaliation of Iraqi deaths during “Operation Iraqi Freedom.” Shihab then allegedly planned to smuggle the four out of the United States via the United States/Mexico border after they carried out the assassination.
In furtherance of the assassination plot, Shihab allegedly traveled to Dallas in February 2022 to conduct surveillance of locations associated with the former President. In March 2022, it is alleged Shihab met with others in a hotel room in Columbus, Ohio, to look at sample firearms and law enforcement uniforms.
It is also alleged that Shihab exchanged money with others in an attempt to illegally bring foreign nationals to the United States.
