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U.S.: 'Homegrown terrorists' eyed Sears Tower
Court documents: Black Muslim group sought to 'kill all the devils we can'

Calling them "homegrown terrorists," Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Friday that seven men had been charged with conspiring to work with al-Qaida to blow up Chicago's Sears Tower and five federal buildings.

“They were persons who for whatever reason came to view their home country as the enemy,” Gonzales said at a news conference at the Justice Department.

The suspects, ranging in age from 22 to 32, are five U.S. citizens, a legal immigrant from Haiti and a Haitian national who was in this country illegally.

Gonzales cited court documents that said the ringleader boasted of wanting to "kill all the devils we can" in a mission "just as good or greater than 9/11."

The seven individuals indicted by a federal grand jury were taken into custody Thursday when authorities swarmed a Miami warehouse that had been used by a Black Muslim group.

According to the court documents, a man identified as Narseal Batiste was the recruiter who wanted to organize "soldiers" to build an Islamic army to wage holy war.

The others were identified as Patrick Abraham, Stanley Grant Phanor, Naudimar Herrera, Burson Augustin, Lyglenson Lemorin, and Rotschild Augustine.

Gonzales said that “the convergence of globalization and technology has created a new brand of terrorism. Today terrorist threats come from smaller more loosely defined cells not affiliated with al-Qaida but who are inspired by a violent jihadist message, and left unchecked these homegrown terrorists may prove to be as dangerous as groups like al-Qaida.”

Batiste allegedly met last December in a hotel room with someone posing as a representative of al-Qaida — someone law enforcement officials say was actually an agent of a country friendly to the United States.

The indictment said Batiste initially asked for "boots, uniforms, machine guns, radios, and vehicles," as well as $50,000 in cash, to help him build an "Islamic Army to wage jihad.”

'Good or greater than 9/11'
In February, the indictment stated, Batiste told the foreign agent that he wanted him and his men to attend an al-Qaida training camp so as to "kill all the devils we can" in a mission he said "would be just as good or greater than 9/11" — beginning with the destruction of the Sears Tower.

At a meeting on March 16 at a warehouse in the Miami area, the seven defendants allegedly discussed a plot to bomb FBI buildings in five cities, and each swore an oath of loyalty to al-Qaida before the purported al-Qaida representative.

The person they believed to be an al-Qaida representative gave Batiste a video camera, which Batiste said he would use to film the North Miami Beach FBI building, the indictment said. At a March 26 meeting, Batiste and Augustin provided the foreign agent with photographs of the FBI building, as well as video of other Miami government buildings, and discussed the plot to bomb the FBI building.

But on May 24, the indictment said, Batiste told the foreign agent that he was experiencing delays “because of various problems within his organization.” Batiste said he wanted to continue his mission and his relationship with al-Qaida nonetheless, the document said.

The informant's ability to track the group from its early stages had neutralized the threat.

“There is no imminent threat to Miami or any other area because of these operations,” said Richard Kolko, spokesman for FBI headquarters in Washington. He declined further comment.

One source said the suspects had been trying to buy weapons and other things needed to carry out attacks. Ammonium nitrate, a fertilizer compound that can also be used as an explosive, was reportedly among the items.

'Like military boot camp'
Neighbors who lived nearby said young men, who appeared to be in their teens and 20s, slept in the warehouse, running what looked like a militaristic group. They appeared brainwashed, some said.

“They would come out late at night and exercise,” said Tashawn Rose. “It seemed like a military boot camp that they were working on there. They would come out and stand guard.”

Residents living near the warehouse said the men taken into custody described themselves as Muslims and had tried to recruit young people to join their group. Rose said they tried to recruit her younger brother and nephew for a karate class.

She said she talked to one of the men about a month ago. “They seemed brainwashed,” she said. “They said they had given their lives to Allah.”

Residents said FBI agents spent several hours in the neighborhood showing photos of the suspects and seeking information. They said the men had lived in the area for about a year.

Benjamin Williams, 17, said the group sometimes had young children with them. At times, he added, the men “would cover their faces. Sometimes they would wear things on their heads, like turbans.”

A man who called himself Brother Corey and claimed to be a member of the group told CNN late Thursday that the individuals worship at the building and call themselves the “Seas of David.”

He dismissed any suggestion that the men were contemplating violence. “We are peaceful,” he said. He added that the group has “soldiers” in Chicago but is not a terrorist organization.

Xavier Smith, who attends the nearby United Christian Outreach, said the men would often come by the church and ask for water.

“They were very private,” said Smith.

Sears Tower
Managers of the Sears Tower, the nation’s tallest building, said in a statement they speak regularly with the FBI and local law enforcement about terror threats and that Thursday “was no exception.”

Security at the 110-floor Sears Tower, a Chicago landmark, was ramped up after the Sept. 11 attacks, and the 103rd-floor skydeck was closed for about a month and a half.

“Law enforcement continues to tell us that they have never found evidence of a credible terrorism threat against Sears Tower that has gone beyond criminal discussions,” the statement said.

The warehouse owner declined comment. “I heard the news just like you guys,” George F. Mobassaleh told the AP. “I can’t talk to you.”

South Florida has been linked to several terrorism investigations in the past. Several of the Sept. 11 hijackers lived and trained in the area, including ringleader Mohamed Atta and several plots by Cuban Americans against the government of Fidel Castro have also been based in Miami.

Jose Padilla, a former resident once accused of plotting to detonate a radioactive bomb in the country, is charged in Miami with being part of a North American terror support cell to al-Qaida and other violent Islamic extremist organizations. He has been in federal custody since 2002 and is scheduled for trial in September.

Padilla was originally designated an "enemy combatant" and held for three years without charge by the Bush administration shortly after his May 2002 arrest at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.

Officials say terror suspects lacked the means to match ambitions

 
Miami--Seven South Floridians accused of domestic terrorism were long on ambition, according to prosecutors, but they were far short on substance, according to neighbors and relatives.

A federal indictment unsealed Friday said the seven young men arrested for attempting to establish an al-Qaida terrorist cell harbored dreams of forming an "Islamic Army" in Liberty City to unleash a "full ground war" against targets in the United States.

 But the alleged plot didn't get far. The men acquired combat boots, photographed targets and recited a loyalty pledge, or "bayat" to al-Qaida -- then told a government informant their organization was having "various problems."

"They certainly had the will," Miami U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta said Friday. "They were searching for the way."

Those arrested are: Patrick "Brother Pat" Abraham, 26, North Miami; Burson "Brother B" Augustin, 21, Miami; Rotschild "Brother Rot" Augustine, 22, Miami-Dade County; Narseal "Prince Manna" Batiste, 32, Miami; Naudimar "Brother Naudy" Herrera, 22, Miami; Lyglenson� "Brother Levi" Lemorin, 31, Miami; and Stanley Grant "Brother Sunni" Phanor, 31, Miami.

Each was indicted on two counts of conspiring to support a foreign terrorist organization, one count of conspiring to destroy buildings by use of explosives, and one count of conspiring to levy war against the government. Each, if convicted, faces a maximum sentence of 70 years.

The men's families, however, insisted the group was more humanitarian than military, and incapable of what they are accused of plotting.

"This is a very spiritual thing. It has nothing to do with terrorism," said Sylvain Plantin, cousin of one of the defendants.

Leo Casino, a musician who lives near the Liberty City warehouse where some of the men were arrested Thursday, agreed. He said the suspects were vegetarians who fed the homeless.

The group didn't carry guns, Casino said, and "the neighbors weren't afraid of them."

The case may be a tough one for the government to prove because it weighs heavily on an informant's involvement, said Jeffrey Harris, president of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

"If the authorities created the crime, that's classic entrapment," he added.

According to the indictment, the seven men plotted to "kill all the devils we can" by blowing up FBI buildings in downtown Miami and four other cities, as well as Chicago's 110-story tall Sears Tower.

"They hoped for their attacks to be, quote, 'just as good or greater than 9-11,'." U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said in Washington, D.C.

But the planned attacks, deputy FBI dDirector John Pistole said from Washington, were "more aspirational than operational."

The group never attained any bombs or weapons, but Acosta said the government decided to act before the plot developed further.

"I don't think anyone would want us to wait until they had acquired the capability to execute their plan," Acosta said.

Batiste first came to the attention of law enforcement in October 2005, when, according to court documents, he asked an individual who was traveling to the Middle East to help him find foreign Islamic extremists to fund his mission. Instead, court documents say, the person alerted the FBI, which in turn infiltrated the group.

By then, the men had caught the attention of many of their neighbors in Liberty City, a predominantly black Miami area indelibly scarred by the city's worst race riots in 1980.

The charging document said that starting in November, the men met with the informant and pledged an oath to al-Qaida in hopes of obtaining uniforms, cash, guns, radios and vehicles. In December, the informant produced eight pairs of military boots, a cell phone, $3,500 and a digital camera to photograph targets.

 Batiste, a construction worker who once lived in Chicago, spoke about taking down the Sears Tower. "If I can put up a building, I should definitely know how to take one down," the brief quoted him as saying.

Batiste also said he wanted to use land he owned in Louisiana to set up an al-Qaida-style training camp, according to the brief.

 Though the government said the defendants dreamed grand schemes, they actually had a hard time maintaining their warehouse headquarters. A neighbor said the structure, near Northwest 15th Avenue and 62nd Street, had no water or electricity, and was lit by candles.

The seven apparently lived at the warehouse and variously told neighbors they were building a temple or starting a karate school. The warehouse's interior resembled a living room, with chairs and tables, said Marilyn Rose, who lives across the street. During the day, the men dressed normally, Rose said. Her daughter, Latia Williams, 14, said at night they wore black and exercised behind the warehouse. "They looked like a cult," Rose said.

Though the government called the defendants a "radical Islamic group," Casino said that may be innacurate. "I think it was a hodgepodge of religions -- Muslim, Christian, even Hebrew Israelite," he said.

Each defendant except Phanor and Lemorin appeared in Miami federal court Friday. Batiste, the alleged ringleader, spoke softly and displayed little emotion as he answered questions.

Batiste said he was self-employed, earning roughly $30,000 annually. He said he had four children and owns no property worth more than $5,000.

Magistrate Patrick White ruled all were entitled to be represented at no cost. The defendants are scheduled to be back in court June 30 for a bond hearing.

The U.S. Attorney's Office said Abraham was here illegally from Haiti. Others were native-born or had attained citizenship.

Lemorin and Phanor grew up on the same street in a working class neighborhood in northwest Miami, family members said. Both were Haitian-American.

Lemorin was arrested in Atlanta, where his mother, Julian Olibrice, said he had been living for the past few months.

She sobbed outside her Miami home Friday, and denied any wrongdoing by her son. "My son never go to jail. My son never had problem," Olibrice said. "My son did nothing."

Phanor and Lemorin, a single father of two, were intrigued by Batiste's view of the Bible and his martial arts skills, said Lemorin's cousin Plantin. The men were in a Bible study group with Batiste, who also got them construction jobs.

Phanor's mother, Elizene Phanor, said her son helped support her, a sister and nieces and nephews. "He don't have the heart to kill people," she said.

This is the fruit that the ACLU and the 'politically correct' has borne, they wanted God out of schools, they wanted prayers out of schools, they wanted morrality out of schools. These are the results of those that were raised in our own Country and went to our own public schools, where they were deprived of knowing the one and only true God, and allowed to look to other dieties to serve.

If they had been raised during the times when prayer was allowed in school, when Christianity was our main religion, chances are that they wouldn't have made these poor choices. The ACLU and all anti-Christian groups are the hust as responsible for these events.

Amen sister, Yes we had problems even when prayer and Bible reading was allowed in schools but they were much less than what there is now. The teaching of morality now is anything goes and this teaching comes from atheists, the ACLU, CAIR, and many others. The Godless are running rampant even in our midst.