Domestic Terrorism and National Security

The Army’s top civilian and enlisted leaders privately awarded two Purple Hearts and eight Meritorious Service Medals to Old Dominion University ROTC cadets who overpowered and killed the March 12 classroom gunman later identified as Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, a convicted ISIS supporter and former National Guardsman. Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll and Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael Weimer presented the honors this week, with cadet names withheld for privacy, after the FBI labeled the attack an act of terrorism that killed military science professor Lt. Col. Brandon Shah and wounded two others. FBI Norfolk special agent in charge Dominique Evans said the unarmed cadets "terminated the threat" by subduing and fatally stabbing Jalloh before he could inflict more casualties, a detail that has driven widespread praise on social media. The article notes that Jalloh had pleaded guilty in 2016 to attempting to provide material support to ISIS and was released about 2½ years early in December 2024 under a Justice Department drug‑treatment program, raising renewed questions about federal supervision and early‑release decisions for terrorism convicts. The awards highlight both the cadets’ actions and the policy failures that allowed a previously convicted ISIS supporter back into the community in time to attack during ongoing U.S. military operations against Iran.