Witness describes weapons, tactical training videos recovered at Taos compound

Oct. 4—Prosecutors offered testimony Wednesday to support their allegation that four people on trial for federal charges of terrorism and kidnapping had prepared for violent attacks before they were arrested at a ramshackle compound near Taos in 2018.

A military weapons expert told jurors that more than 90 videos recovered at the remote property show weapons and tactical training he described as "mission preparation" by men and juveniles at the compound.

"In my opinion, a majority of the training was offensive in nature," said Randy Watt, a retired U.S. Army colonel and special forces commander. "This was far removed from your standard security guard training."

Watt also testified that the squalid compound where federal and local law enforcement officers found five adults and 11 malnourished children appeared to be designed to guard against surveillance and attack.

"The compound, the firing range, was designed to support offensive training preparation to attack a target," Watt told jurors. The compound featured a sunken area Watt described as a bunker surrounded by a berm made of earth and tires and topped with broken glass.

The compound also featured a 100-foot tunnel with an opening outside the compound accessible by a ladder, Watt said. Some of the 11 firearms found at the complex were found inside the tunnel, he said.

"The tunnel adds a dimension to the complex" that offered both an escape route and a means of flanking attackers, Watt testified.

Siraj Ibn Wahhaj, 45, his sisters Hujrah Wahhaj, 42, and Subhanah Wahhaj, 30, and Subhanah's husband, Lucas Morton, 45, all were indicted by a federal grand jury in March 2019 on charges including providing material support to terrorists and conspiracy to murder an officer or employee of the United States.

Siraj Ibn Wahhaj was not charged with kidnapping because federal law prohibits a parent from being so charged. His sisters and brother-in-law are charged with kidnapping and conspiracy to commit kidnapping.

New Mexico became the focus of national attention in August 2018 when FBI agents and Taos County Sheriff's deputies raided the compound near the Colorado border searching for a 3-year-old boy reported missing in December 2017 by his mother in Georgia. The boy's decomposed remains were found in a 100-foot tunnel at the compound.

Prosecutors allege the group believed that the boy, Abdul Ghani Wahhaj, would be resurrected as "Isa," a prophet or messiah, who would instruct followers how to rid the world of "corrupt institutions," including military, law enforcement and financial institutions.

Attorneys for the defendants said in opening statements that residents at the compound never attacked or identified any targets and the government's claims are based on "speculative" events predicted in a journal kept by Jany Laveille, a fifth adult who lived at the compound.

Laveille, 40, a Haitian national, pleaded guilty in February to a federal firearms charge and one conspiracy charge and faces 15 years in prison.

Prosecutors showed some of the videos recorded at the compound that Watt described as "offensive training videos." The videos show firearms and tactical training exercises that Watt said were directed by Siraj Ibn Wahhaj.