Abigail Spanberger: Teacher at ‘Terror High’ that Bred Terrorist Who Plotted to Murder President Bush

Rep. Dave Brat’s Democrat opponent Abigail Spanberger’s resumé includes teaching at an Islamic school after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, an academy notorious for breeding convicted and suspected terrorists.

Between 2002 and 2003, Spanberger was a teacher at the Islamic Saudi Academy, a school that has become known as “terror high.”

Spanberger’s school is most notorious for graduating Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, the would-be assassin who plotted to murder President George W. Bush after joining Al Qaeda. 

While Spanberger was teaching at the Islamic Saudi Academy, Abu Ali was plotted with Al Qaeda associates to assassinate Bush. The terror plot included Abu Ali either getting close to Bush and shooting him in the head or detonating a car bomb near the president. 

In 2005, the New York Times noted that Abu Ali had been given a “blessing” by high ranking members of Al Qaeda to assassinate Bush. In 2006, it was reported that when Abu Ali graduated from the Islamic Saudi Academy, he was voted “Most Likely to be a Martyr,” a potential indication that the Al Qaeda terrorist had radical Islamic views that went unreported by school officials. 

The Times reported on Abu Ali at the time:

In an indictment unsealed in federal court in Alexandria, Va., the student, a 23-year-old American citizen named Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, is charged with providing material support for terrorism. Mr. Abu Ali is accused of training with Al Qaeda overseas and wanting to “become a planner of terrorist operations” like Mohammed Atta or Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, two Qaeda leaders central to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. [Emphasis added]

Spanberger has portrayed herself as a moderate in her run against Brat, though her time at the Islamic Saudi Academy has raised questions. 

The “terror high” also graduated two men who were denied entry into Israel after they were accused of being suicide bombers. Also, in 2004, former school employee Ismael Selim Elbarasse was arrested on suspicion of aiding a potential terrorist attack and was accused of working closely with the political wing of Hamas, a Palestinian terrorist organization.