Federal Corrections Officer Louis Pepe was 43 years old at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York when he was jumped by 2 inmates.
On November 1, 2000, Officer Pepe was attacked by an inmate who was an advisor to Osama bin Laden and his cellmate. While escorting the inmates back to their cell, hot sauce was used by the inmates against Officer Pepe. He was stabbed in the left eye with a comb that was sharpened into a shiv. The two prisoners continued the attack for close to an hour in an effort to take Officer Pepe’s keys and escape.
Officer Pepe was believed to be the first victim of Al Qaeda in America, with his assault taking place 10 months before the September 11 attacks.
For security reasons, his identity wasn’t made public for many years. During his 2 1/2 year hospital stay following the attack, he was visited by U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno. After he was home, U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer visited Officer Pepe in his home and got him a wheelchair-accessible van. CPOF was there to offer catastrophic assistance to Officer Pepe following his assault.
Officer Pepe lived for 24 years after losing his eye and having the left side of his skull sunken in by Al Qaeda terrorists.