Federal authorities are trying
to spread word of $1 million
reward for information on Adam
Gadahn.
The Orange
County Register
Federal authorities are
hoping a savvy public relations
campaign will lead to the
capture of Adam Yahiye Gadahn,
the former Orange County
resident charged with treason
after moving abroad, joining al
Qaeda and delivering
high-profile promises of death
to Americans.
The FBI and State Department
are using radio ads, posters and
matchbooks to spread the word in
Afghanistan about a $1 million
reward for information on
Gadahn's whereabouts.
The move announced this past
week comes despite Pakistani
media reports that Gadahn was
killed in an airstrike earlier
this year.
The FBI "does not possess
conclusive evidence or reliable
confirmation that these reports
are accurate," the agency said
in a written statement. "In the
absence of such confirmation,
Gadahn is considered a fugitive
and is currently being sought by
the FBI."
Gadahn, who grew up on a
Riverside goat farm and later
lived in Santa Ana, converted to
Islam at a Garden Grove mosque
and is believed to have left
Southern California in the mid-
to late-1990s.
The 29-year-old, who in 2006
became the first American
charged with treason since World
War II, gained infamy after
appearing in several al Qaeda
videos, one of which included
his promise that "The streets of
America shall run red with
blood."
Counterterrorism analyst Evan
Kohlmann, writing on a blog in
May, argued that a sudden dearth
of English subtitles in al Qaeda
video recordings hinted that
Gadahn, a translator for the
group, might in fact be dead.
"There has been a palpable
decline in the efforts … to
provide English-language
translations" since the
airstrike earlier this year,
Kohlmann wrote.
Working on the assumption
Gadahn is alive, federal
officials are eager to see
results from the public
relations boost.
"This man has advocated the
overthrow of the United States
government and applauded the
murder of United States
citizens," United States
Attorney Thomas P. O'Brien said
in a news release. "He deserves
to be prosecuted, and I hope
this new campaign will help
bring him to justice."
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