FBI catches bombers across the street from my home!

[challer]

No joke!

I came home from the gym to see my home and the synagogue across the street from my home surrounded by cops, cars, armored SWAT cars, and FBI. Read the article below. Lord knows how many people could have been hurt tonight, including in my home. I am directly across the street. Right now the clergy of Riverdale, NY is being briefed in the synagogue by the NYPD Comissioner.

Tonight, I will say and extra prayer for the NYPD and FBI for keeping my family and my community safe.

FBI, NYPD Arrest 4 in Alleged Plot to Bomb NY Synagogues

The suspects also discussed trying to shoot down military planes at Stewart Airport

By JONATHAN DIENST

Updated 10:11 PM EDT, Wed, May 20, 2009

EXCLUSIVE: Four New York City men were arrested Wednesday in connection with an alleged plot to blow up New York City synagogues and other city locations, WNBC's Jonathan Dienst has learned.

Raids by the FBI-NYPD Joint Terrorist Task Force in the Bronx captured the suspected ringleader and three followers in what law enforcement sources are calling a homegrown terrorist plot.

Investigators stress the suspects' meetings had been infiltrated early on and there was "no chance" the alleged plot could succeed.

Investigators said several of the suspects are Muslims who allegedly talked about destroying two Jewish temples, including at least one in the Riverdale section of the Bronx.

Prosecutors also said the men discussed trying to shoot down military planes at Stewart Airport using stinger missiles.

The four suspects were identified as James Cromitie, David Williams, Onta Williams and Laguerre Payen.

The men ordered and accepted delivery of materials they believed were bomb-making ingredients, authorities said. But investigators said they made sure the materials the suspects received were inert. Officials tell WNBC they moved in now so the alleged plot could not progress any further.

The four men are in custody and are expected to be arraigned Thursday in White Plains federal court on terrorism-related counts.

An official announcement of the arrests is expected later Wednesday or Thursday morning.

The motives behind the alleged plot are not yet known, but authorities said that Cromitie was apparently upset over the war in Afghanistan.

Since the 9/11 attacks, authorities have arrested suspects in a number of alleged plots against area targets including the Fort Dix New Jersey military base, John F. Kennedy Airport, the Herald Square subway station in Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge.

Last December, a New Jersey jury convicted five foreign-born men, living and working in the area for years, of conspiring to kill U.S. soldiers at Ft. Dix. Three were brothers from Yugoslavia; the others were born in Jordan and Turkey. The FBI arrested them after 15 months of surveillance after they tried to buy AK-47s and M-16s. The men had claimed they were set up by an unscrupulous informant.

In June 2007, four alleged Muslim extremists -- a 63-year-old former JFK airport cargo employee living in Brooklyn and three others from Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago -- were charged with plotting to blow up fuel lines and gas tanks at the busy Queens airport. All four have pleaded not guilty.

Two men were convicted of plotting to bomb the Herald Square station including a Pakistani immigrant Shahawar Matin Siraj. He is serving 30 years in federal prison for conspiring to blow up the subway station on the eve of the 2004 Republican National Convention in nearby Madison Square Garden.

Al Qaeda operative Iman Faris of Columbus, Ohio, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Kashmir, is serving 20 years in federal prison for planning to destroy American targets including the Brooklyn Bridge, which he cased in 2002 and 2003.

Others have been charged with material support for terrorism. Two American born Muslim converts, Bronx jazz musician and martial arts expert Tarik Shah and emergency room doctor Rafiq Sabir, who had worked in New York and Florida, were convicted in 2007 of conspiring to provide material support to Al Qaeda.

Queens resident Mohammed Junaid Babar, who immigrated to the U.S., pleaded guilty in 2004 to supporting Al Qaeda and has since testified against terror suspects who plotted attacks in London.

Find this article at:
http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/FBI-Bust-Plot-Foiled.html

 

[MKB419]

Just watched the story on ch 5. Stay safe
Mary Kay

 

[challer]

I just spoke to my local city councilman right outside. He said that they planned to bomb two synagogues - the Reform Temple and the Orthodox Temple - which are 2 block apart from each other.

Also, the undercover FBI agent sold them fake stinger missiles.

Thank you, Homeland Security!

 

[daneenm]

Wow! Very scary!

I'm so glad they were stopped.

 

[tinkbutt]

WOW that's crazy!!

 

[hardhead]

They ought to shoot the four of them.

 

[BeamsofLight]

Geez, that's crazy scary. Glad everyone is safe!

 

[challer]

I'm not sure what's more scary. That they tried to bomb my synagogue, or that they were four American-born citizens trying to bomb my synagogue.

Anyway, I just got a call from my Rabbi. NYC Mayor Bloomberg is coming to pray with us tomorrow morning in the synagogue.

Thank you again:

• FBI
• NYPD
• Dept Homeland Security

 

[BriarRosie]

I know you were frazzled in chat. I'm glad that the FBI was on the ball.

 

[Launchpad11B]

I'm not sure what's more scary. That they tried to bomb my synagogue, or that they were four American-born citizens trying to bomb my synagogue.

Anyway, I just got a call from my Rabbi. NYC Mayor Bloomberg is coming to pray with us tomorrow morning in the synagogue.

Thank you again:

• FBI
• NYPD
• Dept Homeland Security

 

[dpuck1998]

Know anything about this Paul? Or would you have to kill us?

 

[mikelan6]

WOW. I'm glad this situation was "under control" and that the authorities weren't going to let this happen. It's so sad how people can make these plots and think they are doing the right thing.

 

[challer]

OK, after digesting this whole thing and learning more about how the FBI was all over this for a long time, I feel a bit better. But not 100%.

I have two questions that linger:

(This may be controversial, so if it falls outside of what's acceptable on the DIS, i'll remove it. It's just that after being a target of terrorism here, I feel like I'd like a few questions answered.)

1. The ringleader apparently did this because he is upset at what is happening in Afghanistan & Pakistan. (His father is Afghan.) If so, how does that translate into, "Let's kill Jews in their house of worship?" From where does this logic come from?

2. These people claim they did this as a "jihad." I'm curious to see how Muslim leaders respond to this. After a bomb attempt on a synagogue here a few years ago, the Yonkers Muslim community members responded on TV with claims of, "None of this is true" and "The Jews are always making things up" and "They are born liars." (Those bombers where prosecuted and found guilty of hate crimes, and lost their appeal.) I haven't seen a sound byte from the Newburgh mosque yet.

Again & forever, I thank the NYPD, FBI, and Homeland Security for a job well done, and I'm glad my family and I were never in any real danger. But I still don't like being a target of terror and hate.

 

[soupy11]

OK, after digesting this whole thing and learning more about how the FBI was all over this for a long time, I feel a bit better. But not 100%.

I have two questions that linger:

(This may be controversial, so if it falls outside of what's acceptable on the DIS, i'll remove it. It's just that after being a target of terrorism here, I feel like I'd like a few questions answered.)

1. The ringleader apparently did this because he is upset at what is happening in Afghanistan & Pakistan. (His father is Afghan.) If so, how does that translate into, "Let's kill Jews in their house of worship?" From where does this logic come from?

2. These people claim they did this as a "jihad." I'm curious to see how Muslim leaders respond to this. After a bomb attempt on a synagogue here a few years ago, the Yonkers Muslim community members responded on TV with claims of, "None of this is true" and "The Jews are always making things up" and "They are born liars." (Those bombers where prosecuted and found guilty of hate crimes, and lost their appeal.) I haven't seen a sound byte from the Newburgh mosque yet.

Again & forever, I thank the NYPD, FBI, and Homeland Security for a job well done, and I'm glad my family and I were never in any real danger. But I still don't like being a target of terror and hate.

First of all - WAY TO GO POLICE/AGENTS!!!! Awesome work.

And now on to your questions. I find that you can't rationalize the actions of extremists. In our sick world, targeting Jews seems to equate to some kind of freedom fight for these creatures.

 

[ericafny]

Challer - I can't believe that was your synagogue they were planning on bombing. I first heard about this on CNN from Anderson Cooper last night and he interviewed Peter King who is a Congressman here on Long Island. I then read about it in Newsday this morning. It is sick and despicable that this would happen but I am glad that the appropriate people acted accordingly.

Let's hope this doesn't happen again here in America - people targeting ANY religion or cultural background..

 

[challer]

First of all - WAY TO GO POLICE/AGENTS!!!! Awesome work.

And now on to your questions. I find that you can't rationalize the actions of extremists. In our sick world, targeting Jews seems to equate to some kind of freedom fight for these creatures.

That's a good answer for question #1, but question #2 still stands.

 

[soupy11]

That's a good answer for question #1, but question #2 still stands.

That one bothers me to no end. The PC police have twisted us all around to the point where down is up and right is left. Mohammad in cartoon form equals riots, murders, and bedlam. Yet calling the Jews responsible for all the world's troubles gets a pass. You really can't shake your head hard enough.

 

[challer]

Anyway, back to the more positive aspect of this situation.

I just received this email message:

Tomorrow, Friday May 22, 2009 at 9 A.M., faith and community leaders will come together to condemn the plot to bomb the Riverdale Jewish Center and the Riverdale Temple in Riverdale, New York. The event will be held at Riverdale Jewish Center, 3700 Independence Avenue, at the corner of West 237th Street.

Our purpose is also to express our solidarity with Rabbi Jonathan Rosenblatt and the Riverdale Jewish Center and Rabbi Judith Lewis and the Riverdale Temple, and our gratitude to the Joint Terrorism Task Force, and the FBI, NYPD and other law enforcement agencies that comprise it, for the swift action that foiled the plot. As leaders of New York's diverse communities, we stand together against the poisonous hatred that drove four men to attempt murder and destruction.

At this moment of tragedy averted, we are inspired by the beliefs that unify our communities of faith and our great city and nation: our belief in the inherent dignity of all persons; our belief that our diversity is our strength, and that religious, racial and ethnic bigotry cannot be tolerated. It is these shared beliefs that are the antidote to the hatred and bigotry that endanger us all.

This gathering is being coordinated by: American Jewish Committee, The Anti-Defamation League, The Council of People's Organization, The Interfaith Center of New York, The Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, The Riverdale Jewish Community Council, The Riverdale Jewish Center, The Riverdale Temple.

Unfortunately, I will be at work during this time, but I do look forward to going to this synagogue over the Sabbath. My community always has been wonderful during critical or trying times. In my entire life, I will never forget going to synagogue right after 9/11...

All of the faith and community leaders have been stellar. My nephew goes to nursery school at the RJC, and her first reaction was to keep him home from school. After our community leaders, rabbis, police chief & officers, and Mayor Mike Bloomberg eased the Riverdale community, Max went to school, along with the rest of the children - 100% attendance!!!!! (The second targeted Temple was where my 2 children went to nursery.)

BTW, it's kind of nice having a constant police presence right near my home for the last 24 hours. However, the presence of all the news vans making parking a real pain!

 

[challer]

Wow. The news teams are out in full force for this event this morning. NYers should be seeing coverage on the local news broadcasts - they're all here.

One shocker - the Hebrew Home for the Aged here in Riverdale is inspecting each car coming into their lot for bombs.

 

[challer]

Thankfully, all the news teams have gone, and all that's left is a police officer who will be providing 24 hrs surveillance. (For how long?) I can see him from by bedroom window.

Today, in front of a packed house at Sabbath services, the Rabbi invited the Chief of the local precinct. When he was introduced an thanked publicly, he got a rousing standing ovation! (I actually cried.)

I'm going to go out to offer the police officer a hot chocolate.