Evan Kohlmann

{{short description|American terrorism consultant (born 1979)}} {{infobox person | name = Evan F. Kohlmann | image = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1979}} | birth_place = | death_date =  | death_place = | body_discovered = | death_cause = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates =  | citizenship = | other_names = | known_for = | education = | alma_mater = Georgetown University<br>University of Pennsylvania Law School | employer = The Nine Eleven Finding Answers Foundation;<br>NBC News | notable_works = ''[https://archive.org/details/alqaidasjihadine0000kohl  Al- Qaida's Jihad in Europe: The Afghan-Bosnian Network]'' | occupation = Terrorism consultant; senior investigator; terrorism analyst; expert witness | years_active = | height = | title = | term = | predecessor = | successor = | political_party = | opponents = | boards = | spouse = | partner = | children = | parents = | relatives = | callsign = | awards = | signature = | signature_alt = | website = | footnotes = }} '''Evan F. Kohlmann''' (born 1979) is an American cyberintelligence professional who is the founder and chief executive officer of Cloudburst Technologies.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Leadership |url=https://burst.cloud/leadership/ |access-date=2025-03-02 |website=Cloudburst Technologies |language=en}}</ref> Before founding the company, he worked as a terrorism consultant for the FBI, DOJ, SO15, and other government agencies.<ref>{{Cite web |date= |title=About |url=http://www.globalterroralert.com/about.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206032312/http://www.globalterroralert.com/about.html |archive-date=2012-02-06 |access-date=2025-03-02 |website=Flashpoint Partners}}</ref><ref name=CTCSentinel>[http://www.ctc.usma.edu/sentinel/CTCSentinel-Vol1Iss2.pdf CTC Sentinel] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090109014843/http://www.ctc.usma.edu/sentinel/CTCSentinel-Vol1Iss2.pdf |date=2009-01-09 }}, January 2008. Vol 1. Issue 2 (p. 9), Combating Terrorism Center, United States Military Academy (West Point)</ref><ref name=PennLawJournalFall2006> {{cite news | url=http://www.law.upenn.edu/alumni/alumnijournal/Fall2006/feature3/kohlmann.html | title=Terrorists Beware: Kohlmann is on the case | publisher= Penn Law Journal | author=Robert Strauss | date=Fall 2006 | access-date=February 18, 2008 }}</ref><ref name=SalonBerger20070302> {{cite news | url=http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/03/02/insurgency/ | title=The Iraq insurgency for beginners | publisher=Salon magazine | author=Kevin Berger | date=March 2, 2007 | access-date=February 18, 2008 }}</ref><ref name=WashingtonPost20060419> {{cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2006/04/11/DI2006041100626.html | title=Tracking Terrorists Online | newspaper=The Washington Post | author=Yuki Noguchi, Evan Kohlmann | date= April 19, 2006 | access-date=February 18, 2008 }}</ref><ref name=WashingtonPost20050808> {{cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2005/08/05/DI2005080501262.html | title=Al Qaeda and the Internet | newspaper= The Washington Post | author=Evan Kohlmann | date= August 8, 2005 | access-date=February 18, 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=reZLoNfC4DcC&q=%22Evan+Kohlmann%22&pg=PA275 |title=''Cyberterrorism: the use of the internet for terrorist purposes'', Council of Europe, 2007, ISBN 92-871-6226-3, accessed February 8, 2010 |date=April 19, 2006 |access-date=March 23, 2010|isbn=9789287162267 |last1=Europe |first1=Council of |publisher=Council of Europe }}</ref>

He is a contributor to the ''Counterterrorism Blog'', a senior investigator with The Nine Eleven Finding Answers Foundation, and a terrorism analyst for ''NBC News''.<ref name=CTCSentinel/>

In his manifesto Anders Behring Breivik copied 25 pages verbatim from an ideological text by Evan Kohlmann and published by an institute led by Magnus Ranstorp.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fria.nu/artikel/89268|title="Flat granskning av Breiviks bakgrund" ("Lenient scrutiny of Breivik's background")|work=Fria.Nu|date=24 August 2011 |access-date=13 September 2014}}</ref>

==Early life and education== In the profile for the ''Penn Law Journal'', Kohlmann said he spent summers in France while growing up, because his father studied there. Kohlmann graduated from Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

He attended the Georgetown University Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, where he studied under Mamoun Fandy.<ref name=PennLawJournalFall2006/> Fandy's mentorship sparked his interest in Middle East politics. "When [Fandy] lived in Egypt, he passed by the number two guy in al-Qaeda there every day. He really knew his subject."

Kohlmann entered the University of Pennsylvania Law School in the fall of 2001, a few weeks before al-Qaeda's attacks on the U.S. on September 11, 2001.<ref name=PennLawJournalFall2006/>

==Counter-terrorism career== Kohlmann worked as an intern at The Investigative Project, a Washington, DC, counter-terrorism think-tank.<ref name=PennLawJournalFall2006/><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=19iCbNOoYmIC&q=%22Evan+Kohlmann%22&pg=PA192 |title=''Terror on the Internet: the new arena, the new challenges'', Gabriel Weimann, US Institute of Peace Press, 2006, ISBN 1-929223-71-4, accessed February 8, 2010 |date=September 11, 2001 |access-date=March 23, 2010|isbn=9781929223718 |last1=Weimann |first1=Gabriel |publisher=US Institute of Peace Press }}</ref>

He wrote ''Al- Qaida’s Jihad in Europe: The Afghan-Bosnian Network''.<ref name="Kohlmann">{{cite book | url = https://archive.org/details/alqaidasjihadine0000kohl | url-access = registration | quote = Evan Kohlmann. | author = Kohlmann, Evan F. | title = ''Al-Qaida's Jihad in Europe: The Afghan-Bosnian Network''| publisher = Berg | year = 2004 | isbn=1-85973-807-9 }}</ref>

He is a Senior Terrorism Consultant for The NEFA Foundation.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gKZpQmOfBHwC&q=%22Evan+Kohlmann%22&pg=PA12 |title=''Inside the asylum: why the UN and Old Europe are worse than you think'', Jed L. Babbin, Regnery Publishing, 2004, ISBN 0-89526-088-3 |date= 2004-05-21|access-date=March 23, 2010|isbn=9780895260888 |last1=Babbin |first1=Jed L. |publisher=Regnery }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www1.nefafoundation.org/aboutus.html |title=The NEFA Foundation – About Us |publisher=nefafoundation.org |date=September 11, 2001 |access-date=March 23, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100208173809/http://www1.nefafoundation.org/aboutus.html |archive-date=February 8, 2010 }}</ref> He is also a contributor to the ''Counterterrorism Blog'',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://counterterrorismblog.org/ |title=Counterterrorism Blog |publisher=Counterterrorism Blog |access-date=March 23, 2010}}</ref> and a terrorism analyst for ''NBC News''.<ref name=CTCSentinel/>

He has called Anwar al-Awlaki "one of the principal ''jihadi'' luminaries for would-be homegrown terrorists. His fluency with English, his unabashed advocacy of ''jihad'' and ''mujahideen'' organizations, and his Web-savvy approach are a powerful combination." He calls al-Awlaki's lecture "Constants on the Path of Jihad", which he says was based on a similar document written by al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia's founder, the "virtual bible for lone-wolf Muslim extremists."<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-fort-hood-probe9-2009nov09,0,5487900.story |last=Meyer|first= Josh|title=Fort Hood shooting suspect's ties to mosque investigated|date=November 9, 2009|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=January 24, 2010}}</ref>

thumb|left|Guantanamo courtroom

He produced ''The Al Qaida Plan'', a 90-minute movie, to serve as evidence and stress relief during the Guantanamo Military Commissions,<ref name=McClatchy20080729> {{cite news |url = http://www.mcclatchydc.com/world/story/45762.html |title = Lawyers give expert testimony at bin Laden's driver's trial |publisher = McClatchy News Service |author = Carol Rosenberg |date = 2008-07-29 |access-date = 2008-07-28 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080729180900/http://www.mcclatchydc.com/world/story/45762.html |archive-date = 2008-07-29 |author-link = Carol Rosenberg }} </ref><ref name=AssociatedPress20080728> {{cite news |url = https://www.usatoday.com/news/topstories/2008-07-28-2085624762_x.htm |title = US-produced Al-Qaida movie played at Gitmo trial |publisher = Associated Press |date = 2008-07-28 |access-date = 2008-07-28 }} [https://archive.today/20240524055035/https://www.webcitation.org/5Zf9MHkXI?url=http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hlkUMaokG6I7flYKGhlBfsW9qP9wD9273V4O0 mirror] </ref> which was sponsored by the Office of Military Commissions. According to Carol Rosenberg of the ''Miami Herald'': "He modeled the video after The Nazi Plan, an instructional movie shown at the late 1940s Nuremberg tribunals for the most senior Nazi leadership."

Initially Captain Keith Allred, the President of Salim Ahmed Hamdan's Military Commission ruled that the film would be prejudicial, but he reversed this decision.<ref name=AssociatedPress20080728/>

===Expert witness=== Kohlmann has served frequently as an expert witness for the prosecution in terrorism trials.<ref name=PennLawJournalFall2006/><ref name='Register2007-10-02'> {{cite news | first=George | last=Smith | title=The War on Terror's professional witness | date=October 2, 2007 | publisher=Situation Publishing Ltd. | url =https://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/10/02/professional_terror_witness/ | work =The Register | access-date = October 3, 2007 }}</ref><ref name='Register2007-10-23'> {{cite news | first=John | last=Lettice | title=Jailed terror student 'hid' files in the wrong Windows folder | date=October 23, 2007 | publisher=Situation Publishing Ltd. | url =https://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/10/23/siddique_trial_sentencing/ | work =The Register | access-date = November 5, 2007 }}</ref> "There haven’t been that many cases yet, so sometimes the prosecutors are doing their first ones. I know how the courts work, so I am pretty valuable right now.” Despite being considered a terrorism expert, Kohlmann cannot read, write or speak Arabic.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wnyc.org/articles/wnyc-news/2012/apr/30/high-profile-cases-tapping-terror-experts-testimony-becomes-de-rigueur/ |title=In High-Profile Cases, Tapping Terror Experts for Testimony Becomes de Rigueur - WNYC |access-date=April 30, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120506055510/http://www.wnyc.org/articles/wnyc-news/2012/apr/30/high-profile-cases-tapping-terror-experts-testimony-becomes-de-rigueur/ |archive-date=May 6, 2012 }}</ref>

His expertise and neutrality have been disputed by defense attorneys and other experts, while his book ″Al-Qaida’s Jihad in Europe: The Afghan-Bosnian Network″ was declined by University of Pennsylvania Press.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/07/27/doogie-huckster-terrorism-experts-secret-relationship-fbi/ |title = A Terrorism Expert's Secret Relationship with the FBI|date = 2015-07-27}}</ref>

He testified as an expert witness in the following cases:<ref name=GlobalTerroristAlertAbout>{{cite news|url=http://www.globalterroralert.com/about.htm |title=About GlobalTerroristAlert |publisher=Global Terrorist Alert |author=Evan Kohlmann |access-date=February 18, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070703133153/http://www.globalterroralert.com/about.htm |archive-date=July 3, 2007 }}</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=January 2018}}

{| class="wikitable" |- ! '''Case''' !! '''Defendant''' !! '''Notes''' |- | U.S. v. Sabri Benkhala || Sabri Benkhala || |- | U.S. v. Ali Timimi || Ali al-Timimi || |- | U.S. v. Uzair Paracha || Uzair Paracha || |- | U.S. v. Ali Asad Chandia || Ali Asad Chandia || *Teacher at an Islamic school in Maryland, charged with providing material support to Lashkar-e-Taiba.<ref name=TimesOfIndia> {{cite news | url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2006-08-26/us/27792227_1_maryland-safe-harbour-muslim-school | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308235123/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2006-08-26/us/27792227_1_maryland-safe-harbour-muslim-school | url-status=dead | archive-date=March 8, 2012 | title=Teacher jailed for aiding LeT | date=August 26, 2006 | access-date=February 18, 2008 | work=The Times of India | quote=A 29-year-old Maryland man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for providing support to Pakistan-based terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba. }}</ref><ref name=AliAsad20060530>{{cite news | url=http://www.aliasad.org/mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=92&Itemid=33 | title=Ali Asad Trial – May 30, 2006 | access-date=February 10, 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170912102543/http://www.aliasad.org/mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=92&Itemid=33 | archive-date=September 12, 2017 | url-status=dead }}</ref> |- | U.S. v. Yassin Aref || Yassin Aref || *Kohlmann was a last-minute replacement for the prosecution's original witness, Rohan Gunaratna.<ref name=USAvAref> {{cite web | url=http://www.talkleft.com/arefaffid.pdf | title=U.S. v. YASSIN MUHIDDIN AREF and MOHAMMED MOSHARREF HOSSAIN | publisher=talkleft | date=September 2006 | access-date=February 18, 2008 | quote=On September 24, 2006, the government substituted expert Evan Kohlmann in place of Rohan Gunaratna, and he prepared and submitted a report. In the one paragraph that he devotes to JEI, he does not talk about JEI Bangladesh, but rather switches to JEI generally, which is an organization which is markedly different in different countries. }}</ref> |- | U.S. v. Rafiq Sabir || Rafiq Abdus Sabir || *Medical doctor who allegedly agreed to provide clandestine medical treatment to wounded ''jihadists'', and to have sworn ''bayat'' to a government agent pretending to be al-Qaeda official.<ref name=TheAge20070131> {{cite news | url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/Doctors-cant-treat-terrorists-US-judge/2007/01/31/1169919376099.html | title=Doctors can't treat terrorists: US judge | publisher=The Age | date=January 31, 2007 | access-date=February 18, 2008 }}</ref> |- | U.S. v. Emadeddine Muntasser || Emadeddine Muntasser || |- | Regina v. Mohammed Ajmal Khan and Palvinder Singh || *Mohammed Ajmal Khan *Palvinder Singh || |- | H.M.A. v. Lawyers || Mohammed Atif Sidique|| *Bin Laden's driver's trial |- | Regina v. Samina Malik || Samina Malik || |- | Regina v. Hassan Mutegombwa || Hassan Mutegombwa || |- |Regina v. Tsouli || Younes Tsouli (Irhabi 007)|| *Convicted of inciting terrorist murder through the publication of Al Qaeda propaganda on the internet.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FJI2FOchzB0C&q=%22Evan+Kohlmann%22&pg=PA64 |title=''Spinning Intelligence: Why Intelligence Needs the Media, Why the Media Needs Intelligence'', Robert Dover, Michael S. Goodman, Columbia University Press, 2009, ISBN 0-231-70114-4|access-date=March 23, 2010|isbn=9780231701143|last1=Dover|first1=Robert|last2=Goodman|first2=Michael S.|year=2009|publisher=Columbia University Press }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Crown Prosecution Service |url=https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20171201154243/http://www.cps.gov.uk/news/latest_news/137_07/ |title=Three men admit using internet to incite terrorism in first British case |date=July 5, 2007 |isbn= |access-date=September 8, 2022}}</ref> |}

==Publications== *{{cite web|url=http://law.upenn.edu/~ekohlman/afghanistan.pdf |title=A Bitter Harvest: The Soviet Intervention in Afghanistan and its Effects on Afghan Political Movements |publisher=Georgetown University |author=Evan Kohlmann |date=December 20, 1999 |access-date=February 18, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070614165958/http://law.upenn.edu/~ekohlman/afghanistan.pdf |archive-date=June 14, 2007 }} *{{cite web | url=http://www.globalterroralert.com/thesis.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061021082019/http://www.globalterroralert.com/thesis.pdf | url-status=dead | archive-date=October 21, 2006 | title=The Legacy of the Arab-Afghans: A Case Study | publisher=Georgetown University | author=Evan Kohlmann | date=April 17, 2001 | access-date=February 18, 2008 }} *{{cite news | url=http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-kohlmann010203.asp | title="Axis of Evil": Indicted Hamas leader linked to al Qaeda activist in Midwest | publisher= National Review | author=Evan Kohlmann | date=January 2, 2003 | access-date=February 18, 2008 }} *{{cite book | author = Evan F. Kohlmann | title = Al-Qaida's Jihad in Europe: The Afghan-Bosnian Network | url = https://archive.org/details/alqaidasjihadine0000kohl | url-access = registration | quote = Evan Kohlmann. | publisher = Berg | year = 2004 | isbn=1-85973-807-9 }} *{{cite news | url=http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/kohlmann200405140835.asp | title=Breeding Ground: A home for al Qaeda in Iraq | publisher=National Review | author=Evan Kohlmann | date=May 14, 2004 | access-date=February 18, 2008 }} *{{cite news |url = http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20060901faessay85510/evan-f-kohlmann/the-real-online-terrorist-threat.html |title = The Real Online Terrorist Threat |publisher = Foreign Affairs |author = Evan Kohlmann |date = September–October 2006 |access-date = February 18, 2008 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080302120624/http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20060901faessay85510/evan-f-kohlmann/the-real-online-terrorist-threat.html |archive-date = March 2, 2008 }} * {{cite news |url=http://www.nefafoundation.org/miscellaneous/FeaturedDocs/nefabahlulsahaab1208.pdf |title=Inside As-Sahaab: The Story of Ali al-Bahlul and the Evolution of Al-Qaida's Propaganda |publisher=NEFA Foundation |author=Evan Kohlmann |date=December 2008 |access-date=December 3, 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090306133624/http://nefafoundation.org/miscellaneous/FeaturedDocs/nefabahlulsahaab1208.pdf |archive-date=March 6, 2009 }} *{{cite journal|last=Evan F. Kohlmann (2008)|title=Homegrown" Terrorists: Theory and Cases in the War on Terror's Newest Front|journal=Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science|volume=618| issue = 1|pages=95–109|doi=10.1177/0002716208317203|year=2008|s2cid=144206641}}

==See also== *Jarret Brachman *Steven Emerson *Rita Katz

==References== {{reflist|2}}

==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20120126003613/http://www.globalterroralert.com/ Flashpoint Partners] Archived from [http://www.globalterroralert.com/ the original] * [https://burst.cloud Cloudburst Technologies]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kohlmann, Evan F.}} Category:1979 births Category:American male bloggers Category:American bloggers Category:American male writers Category:Walsh School of Foreign Service alumni Category:Intelligence analysts Category:Living people Category:Scholars of terrorism Category:University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni