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It’s also useful to look at the lectures in the context of his personal history. Awlaki’s earlier lectures had been delivered in a clear, steady voice. As the content became more and more hysterical, so too did Awlaki’s voice. His lectures came faster and at a higher pitch and volume. His voice at times wavered as he sought to generalize the actions of law enforcement into a broad alarm for American Muslims.

When the FBI raided several Islamic institutions in Virginia as part of a terrorism-financing investigation in early 2002, Awlaki made the stakes as plain as could be during a khutba delivered at Dar Al Hijra:

So this is not now a war on terrorism. We need to all be clear about this. This is a war against Muslims. It is a war against Muslims and Islam. Not only is it happening worldwide but it’s happening right here in America, that is claiming to be fighting this war for the sake of freedom, while it’s infringing on the freedom of its own citizens just because they’re Muslims. For no other reason.

And as Muslims, if we allow this to continue, if we do not stop it, it ain’t gonna stop! It’s not gonna stop. [ … ] Maybe the next day the Congress will pass a bill that Islam is illegal in America. Don’t think this is a strange thing to happen. Anything is probable in the world of today because there are no rights unless there’s a struggle for those rights.14

In March 2002, shortly after giving this speech, Awlaki left the country and his post at Dar Al Hijrah for London. In August he gave a speech before the annual conference of an Islamic charity known as JIMAS (Jamiat Ihyaa Minhaaj Al Sunnah). The topic was the role of Muslims living in the West.

After a largely unremarkable hour of speaking, Awlaki suddenly turned apocalyptic—literally—with a digression into his own belief, based on Muslim traditions, about what will happen at the end of time during the Islamic version of Armageddon:

Dawah [the invitation to Islam] will flourish in the West, and many Westerners will become Muslim. And they will be with the Muslims. [ … ] However, the majority won’t, and the majority who won’t become Muslim are going to be the spearhead in the effort to fight Islam. [ … ] The Romans are going to approach all of the Arabs who are living in their midst, and every Arab man and woman and child will be killed. They will all be exterminated. A holocaust.

Awlaki’s speech was cut short by the organizers, purportedly due to his exceeding his allotted time. He seemed to realize he had gone too far. Poignantly, he groped for an upbeat conclusion.

I have to take few more minutes. I don’t want to close on this pessimistic tone. We have to have a better ending. [ … ] Islam will flourish all over the world. [ … ] Our Dawah in the West is a peaceful Dawah. We are not allowed to commit aggression, to take up arms. It is a Dawah of patience and subtlety. [ … ] We do not fight back. We do not strike back.15

In the United States, the FBI was engaged in a heated internal debate about the imam’s status. The Joint Terrorism Task Force in San Diego, having scrutinized Awlaki’s contacts with the hijackers, was eager to press a case against the imam.

The consensus was that the evidence didn’t yet justify charging the cleric in relation to 9/11. The task force had other options. In Awlaki’s traffic with prostitutes in Washington, D.C., he had transported some of the women across state lines, which opened the possibility of federal charges, although it would be clear to everyone that this was only a pretext to get him into custody, with an eye toward additional charges later.

Awlaki had also lied on his passport application in the 1990s, claiming he had been born in Yemen in order to obtain a U.S. government–funded scholarship. An immigration charge looked better, and it was a standard tactic for making a pre-textual arrest. Because the passport fraud had taken place in Colorado, the charges were filed there, and a judge issued an arrest