John Walker Lindh, the ‘America Taliban’ from Marin County, remains a 9/11 enigma

John Walker Lindh was one of the many perplexing stories of 9/11 America.

The so-called American Taliban grew up in the affluent suburb of Marin County, a cradle of liberal values. But he ended up half a world away at a training camp run by Al Qaeda, conspiring with the enemy.

Lindh spent 17 years behind bars before being released Thursday from the federal prison in Terre Haute, Ind.

Lindh remains an enigma. There have been protests over his release, especially from the family of Mike Spann. The CIA officer was killed during an uprising of Taliban prisoners in Afghanistan shortly after Spann interrogated Lindh. There is also is evidence he continues to harbor extremist views.

It’s unclear whether Lindh plans to rejoin his family in California.

Here is the story of the American Taliban from the page of The Times:

An unusual upbringing in Marin County

The second of three children, Lindh was born John Phillip Walker Lindh, named after John Lennon, the Beatle who was killed a year before his birth. His family lived in Silver Spring, Md., before moving west.

Walker’s teenage years were spent in the wealthy Marin County enclave of San Anselmo, in a neighborhood that features a mix of 60-year-old cottages and houses such as the new 3,000-square-foot trilevel where he and his family lived.

Residents described the neighborhood with its narrow, tree-shaded streets as a mix of longtime locals and 1960s radicals who found success.

Walker lasted about a semester at Redwood High School, then transferred to an alternative public school next door. At Tamiscal High, an elite independent-study center for 100 artistically oriented musicians, dancers and others, Walker was allowed to chart his own scholastic course, checking in with teachers on a weekly basis.

Though raised a Roman Catholic, Walker developed an interest in Islam about this time as he read the classic American biography of Malcolm X, the African American activist who converted to Islam and was transformed from convict to political leader and cultural icon.

Walker embraced the religion, changing his name to Sulayman al Faris. His father said Walker began visiting a mosque in Mill Valley, a few miles down the highway from the family’s home. Later, he turned to the San Francisco Islamic Center.

Neighbors watched the young man — whom they described as a thin, academic-looking boy — slowly change as he entered high school. One neighbor said Walker began growing a beard and wearing traditional Islamic robes and a turban.

A move to the Middle East

In 1998, Walker graduated early by taking a high school equivalency test. He set off to Yemen at age 17 to learn Arabic and pursue religious studies.

Walker told his parents in 2000 he was going to Bannu, Pakistan, to continue his studies with the Tablighi Jamaat movement there.

The Jamaat is widely perceived as apolitical, though media reports from Pakistan suggest that some senior members have ties to radical Islamic factions. A revivalist movement that originated in India, the Jamaat has traditionally stressed personal piety.

Frank Lindh, his father, told The Times in 2002 that he lost touch after his son began studying at the religious school in Pakistan. At the time, the young man sent an email saying he was going to the mountains to escape the summer heat and would be in touch only infrequently, the elder Lindh said.

When his son still had not made contact after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Lindh said, “my anxiety went sky-high.”

The ‘American Taliban’

Prosecutors said John Walker Lindh sometimes sent angry emails home, distancing himself from his family. He claimed the U.S. had instigated the Persian Gulf War and showed no sympathy for the 17 lives lost in the terrorist bombing of the destroyer Cole.

Lindh found his way to a training camp that the government said was run by Al Qaeda, an ally of the Taliban. He learned to fight for the Taliban army and later surrendered to the Northern Alliance. He then was turned over to U.S. authorities.

Returned under heavy guard to the U.S., he was indicted by a federal grand jury on 10 counts, including a charge that he conspired to kill Americans and that he conspired with the Taliban and Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda network.

He also was implicated indirectly in the death of Spann.

Lindh agreed to plead guilty to two felony charges: He admitted serving as a soldier for the Taliban and said he carried a rifle and hand grenades while doing so.

In the frenzy after 9/11, the Lindh case captivated America. He was called the American Taliban, and many wondered how a kid from an upscale suburb could end up involved in terrorism.

Former President George H.W. Bush quipped once that Lindh was “some misguided Marin County hot-tubber.” He later apologized.