NEW: Feds Foil Terrorist Plot Targeting Atlanta’s Tallest Building

A Kenyan national linked with a Somali terrorist organization was sentenced Tuesday in connection with a planned attack targeting Atlanta’s tallest building.

Cholo Abdi Abdullah, 34, was sentenced to two consecutive life terms in federal prison plus a lifetime of supervised release for his role in a foiled plot to hijack a commercial airliner and crash it into Atlanta’s tallest building, the Bank of America Plaza.

The sentencing took place in a New York federal court following his conviction in November 2024 on six terrorism-related charges. The plot was carried out on behalf of Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen, commonly known as al-Shabaab, a Somalia-based terrorist organization affiliated with al-Qaeda.

The group has been designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department since 2008.

Abdullah’s involvement began in 2015 when he traveled to Somalia and joined al-Shabaab. He underwent approximately one year of military-style training, including instruction in firearms, explosives, and covert operations.

Senior al-Shabaab operatives recruited him for an international operation aimed at executing a mass-casualty attack. In October 2017, Abdullah relocated to the Philippines to attend flight school, where he pursued private and commercial pilot licenses, completing hundreds of hours of classroom instruction, simulator training, and actual flight time.

His tuition and expenses were funded by al-Shabaab through extortion activities in Somalia. By early 2019, he had nearly fulfilled the requirements for a commercial pilot certification, including the instrument rating necessary for employment with major airlines.

During his training, Abdullah communicated progress reports to an al-Shabaab handler, detailing research on cockpit security, airline protocols, transit visas, and methods to smuggle weapons aboard aircraft. He also studied post-September 11, 2001, hijacking attempts.

In January 2019, following an al-Shabaab attack on a hotel complex in Nairobi, Kenya, that killed 21 people, Abdullah accelerated his planning. He conducted online searches for Delta flights and the tallest building in Atlanta, identifying the 55-story, 1,023-foot Bank of America Plaza in downtown Atlanta as the target.

Additional queries included information on air marshals and Boeing 737 cockpit doors. In one report to his handler, Abdullah noted that for a very successful mission, they would need a pilot in the cockpit, meaning he should apply for airline positions.

The plot was thwarted when Abdullah was arrested in July 2019 in the Philippines on local charges while en route to a flight training session. He was transferred to U.S. custody in December 2020.

Upon interrogation by FBI agents, Abdullah admitted he was training as a pilot for al-Shabaab to hijack a plane and crash it into a U.S. building. He acknowledged expecting to die in the attack and that others would be killed or injured.

Evidence presented at trial included Abdullah’s communications, search history, and flight training records. In November 2024, a Manhattan federal jury convicted him on counts including conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, providing such support, conspiring to murder U.S. nationals, conspiring to commit aircraft piracy, conspiring to destroy aircraft, and conspiring to commit acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries.

Abdullah represented himself during the trial, opting not to deliver an opening statement or cross-examine witnesses extensively. Sentencing was initially scheduled for March 2025 but delayed after he requested new legal counsel.

“Cholo Abdi Abdullah was a highly trained al-Shabaab operative who was dedicated to recreating the horrific September 11 terrorist attacks on behalf of a vicious terrorist organization,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton.

Abdullah pursued his commercial pilot license at a flight school in the Philippines while conducting extensive attack planning on how to hijack a commercial plane and crash it into a building in America. As he later admitted to the FBI, he was fully prepared to die in his terrorist attack.”