Update on Three Maine Men Charged with Terrorism.
Posted by Ed Folsom, April 8, 2023
On Friday, April 7, 2023, Xavier Pelkey, of Waterville, one of three Maine men currently facing terrorism charges for plots or actions outside Maine, pleaded guilty to a federal charge of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists (story here). Pelkey’s plan, which he coordinated with 2 juveniles via Instagram, was to act in concert to attack a particular Shiite Mosque in the Chicago area, to sort the women and children from the adult males and then kill the males. This, they intended to do to on behalf of Sunni Muslims against Shiite Muslims (whom they evidently consider to be apostates), as adherents of the Islamic State (ISIS). If not killed or captured during the attack, Pelkey planned to continue on, to attack a synagogue and/or other mosques until captured or killed. Pelkey faces a maximum of 15 years of imprisonment when he is ultimately sentenced.
The other 2 Mainers facing out-of-state terrorism charges are Francis “Frankie” Carroll, of Kennebunkport, and Trevor Bickford, of Wells. Their charges remain pending at this point.
As discussed in a previous blog post, Carroll was arrested and charged with several crimes, including terrorism, in December of 2022, in Atlanta, Georgia. Carroll and others allegedly attacked police who entered a so-called autonomous zone where Carroll was camped out with Antifa adherents and an assortment of other leftists. Carroll was arrested again in January while free on bond (story here). That time, he was allegedly involved in Antifa-sponsored rioting in downtown Atlanta, drawing an additional terrorism charge, among other charges.
Trevor Bickford has been charged with terrorism and attempted murder in New York State Court and U.S. District Court (DOJ press release here) for his New Year’s Eve attack on 3 NYPD officers a few blocks from Times Square. Bickford allegedly shouted “Allahu Akbar!” as he approached the first officer, before whacking the officer on the head with the foot-long blade of a kukri-style knife, in a self-described act of “Jihad.”
Strange stuff.
