More Details Emerge On Thwarted NYC Terror Plot

While more details continue to trickle out about the thwarted NYC metro area terror plot, which included attempted bombings of two synagogues in the Bronx and steps taken to acquire surface to air missiles to hit military aircraft flying out of the Air National Guard base at Stewart Airport, Jammie notes that there are idiots who are trying to claim that this is just another setup.

These are many of the same people who want to believe that the Fort Dix Six weren't planning terrorist attacks against the military personnel at Fort Dix (5 of 6 were convicted and will spend life or life plus 30 years in prison; the sixth served 20 months on charges stemming from providing weapons to illegal aliens). They're quick to jump on the FBI for investigating and carrying out survelliance to thwart terrorists from carrying out their plans.

In this case, these four terrorist suspects were trying to actively bomb the synagogues. They obtained what they believed was C4 to bomb the synagogues and an anti-aircraft missile. Since the person providing the weapons and explosives was an informant posing as a Pakistani militant, the FBI swapped the real explosives for inert replicas. The intent was there, and these four were stopped only because of the FBI's actions.

The suspects - three U.S.-born citizens and one Haitian immigrant - at least three of whom were said to be jailhouse converts to Islam, were angry about the deaths of Muslims in Afghanistan, sources told The News.

"They wanted to make a statement," a law enforcement source said. "They were filled with rage and wanted to take it out on what they considered the source of all problems in America - the Jews."

The group's alleged ringleader, James Cromitie, according to the complaint, discussed targets with an undercover agent. "The best target [the World Trade Center] was hit already," he allegedly told the agent. Later, he rejoiced in a terrorist attack on a synagogue.

"I hate those motherf-----s, those f---ing Jewish bastards. . . . I would like to get [destroy] a synagogue."

The men allegedly parked car bombs wired to cell phones outside the Riverdale Temple and nearby Riverdale Jewish Center. They were also heading to Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh, Orange County, when the law swooped in on them.

Read more: "FBI arrest four in alleged plot to bomb Bronx synagogues, shoot down plane" - http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/05/20/2009-05-20_fbi_arrest_four_in_alleged_plot_to_car_bomb_bronx_synagogue.html#ixzz0G9EKkDO1&A

New York area papers and media reports are clearly indicating that these were terrorists on jihad - that they sought to attack National Guard aircraft because they support the US mission in Afghanistan, and they wanted to target Jews living in the Bronx. Ray Kelly, commissioner of the NYPD says that the two synagogues targeted appear to have been selected because of their proximity to local highways for speedy access upstate to Newburgh where the four terrorist suspects lived. Stewart Airport is a short drive from Newburgh.

UPDATE:
Jules Crittenden links. Thanks!

Keep in mind that the same kind of complaints about entrapment were made about the Lackawanna Six and other terror plots disrupted around the nation both before and since 9/11. That they were disrupted should be applauded, but these people feel compelled to attack the FBI and local law enforcement for being proactive and doing their utmost to infiltrate and thwart these terror attacks. Imagine what would have happened had the NYPD and FBI thwarted the first WTC bombing or even the 9/11 attacks. That's the point of infiltrating the terror cells hellbent on carrying out mass casualty attacks - it's to prevent the kind of carnage seen on 9/11 and repeated elsewhere around the world in a series of mass casualty attacks.

UPDATE:
Sister Toldjah is following the situation and mentions a thwarted plot in Miami that resulted in convictions.

UPDATE:
The leader of the mosque that these four attended (and one of whose other members informed the FBI as to the intentions of the foursome) noted that he had to repeatedly correct one of the suspected terrorists on Islamic law.

Hamin Rashada told the Times Herald-Record of Middletown today that 21-year-old Laguerre Payen told him he was a Muslim. Rashada says Payen occasionally attended a Newburgh mosque where his statements on Islam often had to be corrected.

Rashada, an assistant imam at the mosque, says he met Payen through a program that helps parolees reintegrate after being released from prison.

Rashada says Payen lived in Middletown and Newburgh, where he stayed in a rooming house. State police and FBI searched his room for several hours last night and early this morning.

Video of the imam speaking about the arrests can be found here.

Rashada is a member of the Board of the Islamic Learning Center of Orange County/Masjid Alikhlas.

UPDATE:
No bail for three of the terror suspects. A fourth suspect is expected to be arraigned this afternoon.

The shackled suspects - James Cromitie, 55; James Williams, 28; and Onta Williams, 32 - were led into the courtroom in White Plains federal court wearing the same clothes they were wearing when they were arrested late Wednesday.

Snyder branded David Williams as the worst of the bad-news bunch of wannabe terrorists.

"[He was] bragging, boasting he would shoot anyone who tried to stop them," Snyder said.

The three suspects did not ask for bail and a judge ordered them detained until a hearing on June 6.

The fourth suspect, Haitian immigrant Laguerre Payen, was expected to be arraigned Thursday afternoon.

There were additional details about the takedown provided as well. They include that the suspects cased the two synagogues before attacking them with cars laden with 34 pounds of what they believed was C4. The NYPD cordoned off both ends of the block with 18-wheelers and swarmed in with their counter-terrorist police unit.

Some people want to think that the NYPD was some podunk police force and that the take-down should have been handled by the FBI, but in this case, the NYPD has more manpower and capabilities than the FBI.

After all, the NYPD has nearly 40,000 police officers with hundreds assigned to counterterrorism duties, while the FBI has just over 30,000 spread out across the nation.