Overview

Abdulrahman Anwar al-Awlaki was a 16-year-old American citizen born in Denver; Colorado; who was killed by a U.S. drone strike on October 14; 2011; in al-Bayda Province; Yemen; just two weeks after his father Anwar al-Awlaki was killed in a separate drone strike. Abdulrahman had no known connection to terrorism and was never charged with any crime. He had reportedly left his grandparents' home in Sana'a to search for his father; unaware that his father had already been killed. The strike that killed Abdulrahman also killed his 17-year-old cousin and several other civilians at an outdoor restaurant. The Obama administration initially claimed the target was Ibrahim al-Banna; an Egyptian AQAP operative; but later reports indicated al-Banna was not present. When asked about the killing of the teenager; Obama's former press secretary Robert Gibbs infamously said Abdulrahman "should have [had] a far more responsible father." No U.S. official has ever been held accountable for his death. In January 2017; Abdulrahman's 8-year-old sister Nawar al-Awlaki (also an American citizen) was killed during a U.S. Navy SEAL raid in Yemen ordered by President Trump; making the al-Awlaki family one of the most tragic cases in the history of America's War on Terror drone program. A federal judge dismissed a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Abdulrahman's grandfather Nasser al-Awlaki; ruling that courts could not second-guess executive branch targeting decisions.

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