The NYC Terror Plot: What Do We Know?

Zachary Roth | September 17, 2009, 2:19PM

Najibullah Zazi

Over on the main blog, Josh wrote the other day about the alleged terror plot which led police to raid an apartment building in Queens on Monday, and then a suburban Denver home yesterday. Josh noted that the Feds seem to being playing this one a lot closer to the vest than in other cases of recent years -- which could be a sign that it's more serious.

So let's take stock of what we know...

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Topics: Afghanistan, FBI, Newburgh 4, Seas of David

Newburgh 4

Feds: Americans Plotted "Violent Jihad" In Middle East

Zachary Roth | July 28, 2009, 4:08PM

So what's up with those seven men arrested yesterday and charged with plotting to wage "violent Jihad"?

The ringleader appears to be Daniel Boyd, 39, a North Carolina man who runs a drywall business, and who about 20 years ago had traveled to Afghanistan as a Muslim convert to fight the Soviet Union. According to the government, Boyd recruited six men -- including two of his sons -- to participate in a scheme "to advance violent jihad, including supporting and participating in terrorist activities abroad and committing acts of murder, kidnapping or maiming persons abroad."

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Topics: Afghanistan, FBI, Newburgh 4

Newburgh 4

Was Newburgh Plotter Seeking Money To Treat Brother's Deadly Disease?

Zachary Roth | May 26, 2009, 10:52AM

There's yet more evidence that the government informant in the Newburgh Four case used promises of financial support to lure his targets into participating in the fake terror plot for which they were arrested last week.

Lord McWilliams, the 20-year-old brother of one of the four, David Williams, has told the New York Daily News that Williams agreed to take part in the plot in order to get money to pay for McWilliams' treatment for a deadly liver disease.

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Topics: FBI, Newburgh 4

FBI

Defense Lawyer On Newburgh Informant: "A Real Snake"

Zachary Roth | May 25, 2009, 3:51PM

The lawyer for a man convicted of a terror-related crime that was engineered by the same government informant at the center of the Newburgh Four case describes the informant an unscrupulous liar who, in both cases, preyed on the ignorance and lack of sophistication of his targets.

In an interview with TPMmuckraker, defense lawyer Terence Kindlon called Shahed Hussain a "treacherous, clever, completely ingenious dissembler," and "a real snake."

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Topics: FBI, Newburgh 4

Newburgh 4

Counter-Terror Expert: You Wouldn't Catch al Qaeda With Newburgh Tactics

Zachary Roth | May 25, 2009, 2:42PM

We wondered earlier, in reference to the Newburgh Four: is sending a government mole out to scrounge up a few dim-witted ex-cons who can be talked -- and perhaps bribed -- into getting involved in a fictitious bomb plot really the best way to use our limited terror-fighting resources?

The picture is still a long way from being clear, but a prominent counter-terrorism expert we spoke to confirms there are legitimate questions about the wisdom of the approach.

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Topics: FBI, Newburgh 4

FBI

How A Government Mole Won The Loyalty Of The Newburgh Four

Zachary Roth | May 25, 2009, 11:31AM

Reports last week suggested that the Newburgh four -- the men arrested Wednesday for plotting to bomb two New York synagogues -- perhaps weren't the swiftest ships in her majesty's fleet. But over the weekend, people close to the four came forward to describe how the government informant at the center of the case against them -- the man known to the suspects as Maqsood -- aggressively courted the men before luring them into an imagined jihad.

Here's what the New York Daily News, Post, and Times reported about how "Maqsood" (identified as a Pakistani immigrant named Shahed Hussain) won the men's loyalty:

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Topics: FBI, Newburgh 4

FBI

The Newburgh Four -- And The Goverment Mole Who Betrayed Them

Zachary Roth | May 22, 2009, 11:57AM

We're starting to get a rich picture of the four hapless Jihadis who were arrested Wednesday night for plotting to bomb two New York synagogues, as well as the FBI informant who deceived them. And the overall portrait that's emerging is that of a group of struggling, disaffected petty criminals, who bonded at a Newburgh, NY mosque over having spent time in prison, before being taken in by a Pakistani immigrant looking to win leniency for a crime of his own.

There's little doubt the bumbling would-be bombers went far enough with the plot to demonstrate that they had the intention to commit terror, and for that they'll pay the price. But the whole tale comes off perhaps more as a sad glimpse into the lives of a loose group of aimless and obscurely embittered Americans than as a dire illustration of the threat of home-grown terrorism.

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Topics: FBI, Newburgh 4

FBI

Feds: "It's Hard To Envision A More Chilling Plot" Than One Involving Stoner And Schizophrenic

Zachary Roth | May 21, 2009, 6:23PM

OK, this really puts the nail in the coffin of any claims that those four guys arrested last night in connection with a plot to bomb two New York synagogues were some kind of highly dangerous terror cell.

Calling the men "amateurs every step of the way," the AP reports:

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Topics: FBI, Newburgh 4

FBI

Accused "Terror" Ringleader: I Smoked Pot Before Bust

Zachary Roth | May 21, 2009, 3:49PM

More evidence that those four guys arrested last night for a plot to blow up synagogues in New York weren't exactly fearsome, highly-trained terrorists.

NBC4 reports:

The ringleader of the four-man homegrown terror cell accused of a plotting to blow up synagogues in the Bronx and military planes in Newburgh admitted to a judge today that he had smoked pot before his bust last night.

When U.S. Magistrate Judge Lisa M. Smith asked James Cromatie (sic) if his judgment was impaired during his appearance in federal court in White Plains, the 55-year confessed: "No. I smoke it regularly...I understand everything you are saying."

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Topics: FBI, Newburgh 4

FBI

Thwarted New York Terror Plot: How Serious Was It?

Zachary Roth | May 21, 2009, 10:02AM

So what happened with that failed plan to bomb synagogues here in New York City? Was it a serious, well-organized terror plot, or more like a repeat of the Liberty Six?

First, here's what we know:

Four men, all Muslims living in Newburgh, New York, were arrested last night in what authorities said was a plot to bomb two synagogues in the Bronx and to fire Stinger missiles at military aircraft at an Air National Guard base in Newburgh.