A Mississauga man serving a 40-year sentence for terror-related charges in the U.S. was sentenced to an additional 50 years in federal prison for assaulting two corrections officers, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Monday.
Abdulrahman El Bahnasawy, 28, pleaded guilty last November to multiple counts of assault, assault with intent to commit murder, possession of contraband inside a prison and providing material support to ISIS, according to a news release from the Middle District of Pennsylvania attorney’s office.
The charges are related to a 2020 incident at a federal prison in Pennsylvania, where El Bahnasawy attacked two corrections officers using a weapon made from part of a steel desk in his cell, according to the news release. He stabbed one officer in the head and face and another officer in the hand when they intervened, it said.
The first officer lost his right eye as a result of the attack, the release said.
The release goes on to say that after El Bahnasawy was restrained, a note was “found in his sock” that read, “this is a terrorist attack for the Islamic State.”
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A pledge of allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and ISIS was also found in his prison cell, according to the release.
“Today’s sentence will further ensure that Bahnasawy remains in prison, where he can do much less harm, for a very long time,” John A. Eisenberg, assistant attorney general for national security, said in the release.
In his sentencing submission for the 2020 assaults, El Bahnasawy submitted a letter in which he said he was ‘deeply sorry’ for the incident. (bringabdulhome.ca)
In his sentencing submission for the 2020 assaults, El Bahnasawy submitted a letter, dated Oct. 15, in which he said he was “deeply sorry” for the incident.
“If I had been mentally well and able to think clearly, this would never have happened,” he said. El Bahnasawy noted he’s had mental health problems for years and struggled with being held in solitary confinement without “the right medication and care.”
“All I can do now is stay committed to medication and treatment and prevent further harm. When I receive my medication, I am calmer and think clearly,” his letter said.
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In an interview with CBC News, El Bahnasawy’s parents, Khdiga Metwally and Osama El Bahnasawy, said they couldn’t sleep for “a week” after hearing about the incident.
“We don’t support any type of violence,” Osama said.
“I was crying for the guard, I was crying for my son,” Metwally said.
In 2018, El Bahnasawy was sentenced to 40 years in U.S. federal prison after pleading guilty to terror charges.
His indictment detailed seven charges in relation to a 2016 plot to carry out “terrorist acts in and around New York City,” which included plans to detonate bombs across the city’s subway network and a car bomb in Times Square.
El Bahnasawy was 18 years old when he pleaded guilty. None of the attacks were carried out.
Sentencing memorandums filed by both the state and the defence acknowledge that he faced mental health and addiction issues. Both documents also state he was radicalized online.
Prior to El Bahnasawy’s initial arrest, he was diagnosed with severe bipolar disorder and addiction problems and he had stopped taking his medication, his parents told CBC in 2021.
El Bahnasawy, right, with his father and mother. El Bahnasawy’s family has been calling on his return to Canada to serve his prison sentence, citing a lack of mental health support and appropriate medication in U.S. prison. (bringabdulhome.ca)
In his 2018 judgment, New York District Judge Richard M. Berman recommended he be sent to a prison that has “greater proximity to mental health services” and is close to his family in Ontario.
That judgment also noted the court “does not oppose a treaty transfer to Canada.”
El Bahnasawy’s family, along with U.S. experts, have been calling for his transfer to a Canadian prison due to his mental health for the better part of a decade.
He is currently serving his sentence at The Administrative Maximum Facility (ADX) Florence, a supermaximum security prison designed to hold the United States’ most dangerous prisoners and known for its solitary confinement conditions.
Metwally and her husband said they last saw their son in September, with Metwally saying it was “heartbreaking” to see him in an isolated environment where he can’t get “full” mental health care.
The family is currently embroiled in a legal battle involving the RCMP and Canada’s Director of Public Prosecutions to make the case for his transfer to Canada.
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In an emailed statement Tuesday, Corrections Canada said it could not comment on specific cases but all applications “for an offender’s international transfer are carefully considered.”
Andrew Frisch, a New York attorney who’s been representing El Bahnasawy in the U.S. since 2017, said he’s “essentially” been prosecuted for his psychotic episodes by the U.S justice system.
“When you take a step back and look at the full context of the case and what’s happened, it’s just at odds with international consensus about mental illness and it’s inhumane,” he said.
CBC News has reached out to the U.S. Department of Justice for comment.
