A decade before the terrorist plot organizer Anwar Al-Awlaki was shot down by an American drone in Yemen, he was eating pizza at the on-campus Bertucci’s, spending time with prostitutes in Virginia and earning As at GW, according to recently released federal documents.
The FBI followed the Muslim cleric — who was also a student at the Graduate School of Education and Human Development — for weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Documents show that officials tailed him as he rode the Metro from a West Falls Church mosque to Foggy Bottom that November as he entered Bertucci’s at about 4 p.m., Politico reported Tuesday.
“407 at Bertucci’s eating solo,” read the notes, which conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. “436 eating pizza, 2 slices left…445 finished eating-doing work.”
The documents also came with the former student’s report card from several years prior: He was awarded an A in Leadership in Organizations and an “incomplete” in Group Dynamics in Organization in fall 1992.
The FBI investigation was related to Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, according to the FBI records. “Bin Laden of the Internet,” as he was called by some, also had a hand in the 2009 underwear bomb attack.
Born in New Mexico, al-Awlaki lived in Yemen for a portion of his childhood before returning to the U.S. to further his education.
While at GW as a part-time doctoral student, al-Awlaki served as an assistant to a Muslim chaplain who was a member of the now defunct Interfaith Board of Chaplains.