TV Verdict

CURRENT TV’S DOCUMENTARY SERIES VANGUARD EXPLORES HOMEGROWN TERRORISM IN “AMERICAN JIHADI,” PREMIERING JUNE 30 AT 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT

At 16, Omar Hammami was a bright, popular student at Alabama’s Daphne High School. A decade later, he is known as Abu Monsoor Al-Amriki, a top commander in an Al-Qaeda affiliated terrorist group in Somalia. With the help of Omar’s best friend from Daphne High, Bernie Culveyhouse, Vanguard correspondent Christof Putzel retraces Omar’s path to extremism as he journeys from Alabama to Canada and the Middle East, and finally Somalia.

With Bernie as his guide, Putzel visits Daphne, Alabama, where Omar converted to Islam. From there, Putzel travels to Toronto, Canada, where Omar integrated himself into the local Somali community, marrying a Somali woman and becoming preoccupied with jihad. Omar’s wife also discusses with Putzel the couple’s move to Egypt, after which Omar cut ties with his wife and infant child, and disappeared into Somalia.

Putzel also highlights Omar’s tactics in reaching out to young American Muslims through a series of online videos that show him leading militants and engaging in Guerilla warfare, often speaking English. Since 2007, more than 30 young Muslims have vanished from their homes in the US and Canada – several of them reappearing in Omar’s videos.