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FBI Thwarts Attacks On NYC Temple, Upstate Airport
4 Men Arrested In Plot To Car Bomb Temple In Riverdale, Use Stinger Missiles Against Military Planes
Motive For Attack: Revenge For U.S. Actions In Afghanistan
Yearlong Undercover Op Supplied Suspects With Inert Weapons
Link Removed
NEW YORK (CBS) ― The FBI arrested four men in New York City on Wednesday evening in an alleged plot to detonate a bomb outside a Jewish temple and to attack an Air National Guard Base in upstate Newburgh.
Officials said arrests came after a long-running undercover operation that began in Newburgh. Federal authorities tell CBS 2 HD the motive for the attack was revenge over the United States' involvement in Afghanistan.
Federal authorities announced the arrests of James Cromitie -- a.k.a "Abdul Rahman," David Williams, Onta Williams and Laguerre Payen, all of Newburgh, on charges arising from a plot to detonate explosives near a synagogue in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, and to shoot military planes located at the New York Air National Guard Base at Stewart Airport in Newburgh with Stinger surface-to-air guided missiles.
In their efforts to obtain weapons, the defendants dealt with an informant acting under law enforcement supervision, and the FBI and other agencies monitored the defendants' actions up to the time of arrest, including providing an inactive missile and inert explosives to the informant for the defendants. The Feds told CBS 2 HD's Lou Young they picked up the inert weapons at a meeting in Stamford, Conn., and during the last few days secured small arms, including assorted handguns.
The investigation had been under way for about a year.
Rep. Peter King of New York, the senior Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee, was briefed on the case following the arrests.
"All the explosives and missiles were obtained from the FBI, so there was never any danger to anyone at any time, even, obviously, the four men involved," Rep. King, R-Long Island, told CBS 2 HD by phone. "[The suspects] thought these were real missiles and thought that C4 was real."
King said this bust was a long time in the making.
"This was a long, well-planned investigation, and it shows how real the threat is from homegrown terrorists," said King.
The feds also said had the weapons been real and the plan hatched successfully, the damage to the Riverdale area around the synagogue would have been devastating.
One witness to the raid, Ilya Varentsov, told CBS 2 HD the authorities, particularly the NYPD, moved quickly and decisively to apprehend the suspects.
"I saw the 18-wheeler pull up. After that, I think the battering ram and then the rest of the cops. They broke out all the windows at least on this side ... and they dragged them out and put them in the cars," Varentsov said.
The four suspects are being held at Federal Plaza in Manhattan and will be moved to White Plains on Thursday to appear before a federal magistrate.
Since the attacks that brought down the World Trade Center towers on Sept. 11, 2001, authorities have thwarted a number alleged plots against area targets including the Fort Dix military base in New Jersey, John F. Kennedy Airport, the Herald Square subway station and the Brooklyn Bridge.
Convicted in the Fort Dix case were: Jordanian-born cab driver Mohamad Shnewer; Turkish-born convenience store clerk Serdar Tatar; and brothers Dritan, Eljvir and Shain Duka, ethnic Albanians from the former Yugoslavia, who had a roofing business.
A sixth man arrested and charged only with gun offenses pleaded guilty earlier.
Please stay with CBS 2 HD starting at 5 a.m. on Thursday and with wcbstv.com for more on this developing story.
4 Men Arrested In Plot To Car Bomb Temple In Riverdale, Use Stinger Missiles Against Military Planes
Motive For Attack: Revenge For U.S. Actions In Afghanistan
Yearlong Undercover Op Supplied Suspects With Inert Weapons
Link Removed
NEW YORK (CBS) ― The FBI arrested four men in New York City on Wednesday evening in an alleged plot to detonate a bomb outside a Jewish temple and to attack an Air National Guard Base in upstate Newburgh.
Officials said arrests came after a long-running undercover operation that began in Newburgh. Federal authorities tell CBS 2 HD the motive for the attack was revenge over the United States' involvement in Afghanistan.
Federal authorities announced the arrests of James Cromitie -- a.k.a "Abdul Rahman," David Williams, Onta Williams and Laguerre Payen, all of Newburgh, on charges arising from a plot to detonate explosives near a synagogue in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, and to shoot military planes located at the New York Air National Guard Base at Stewart Airport in Newburgh with Stinger surface-to-air guided missiles.
In their efforts to obtain weapons, the defendants dealt with an informant acting under law enforcement supervision, and the FBI and other agencies monitored the defendants' actions up to the time of arrest, including providing an inactive missile and inert explosives to the informant for the defendants. The Feds told CBS 2 HD's Lou Young they picked up the inert weapons at a meeting in Stamford, Conn., and during the last few days secured small arms, including assorted handguns.
The investigation had been under way for about a year.
Rep. Peter King of New York, the senior Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee, was briefed on the case following the arrests.
"All the explosives and missiles were obtained from the FBI, so there was never any danger to anyone at any time, even, obviously, the four men involved," Rep. King, R-Long Island, told CBS 2 HD by phone. "[The suspects] thought these were real missiles and thought that C4 was real."
King said this bust was a long time in the making.
"This was a long, well-planned investigation, and it shows how real the threat is from homegrown terrorists," said King.
The feds also said had the weapons been real and the plan hatched successfully, the damage to the Riverdale area around the synagogue would have been devastating.
One witness to the raid, Ilya Varentsov, told CBS 2 HD the authorities, particularly the NYPD, moved quickly and decisively to apprehend the suspects.
"I saw the 18-wheeler pull up. After that, I think the battering ram and then the rest of the cops. They broke out all the windows at least on this side ... and they dragged them out and put them in the cars," Varentsov said.
The four suspects are being held at Federal Plaza in Manhattan and will be moved to White Plains on Thursday to appear before a federal magistrate.
Since the attacks that brought down the World Trade Center towers on Sept. 11, 2001, authorities have thwarted a number alleged plots against area targets including the Fort Dix military base in New Jersey, John F. Kennedy Airport, the Herald Square subway station and the Brooklyn Bridge.
Convicted in the Fort Dix case were: Jordanian-born cab driver Mohamad Shnewer; Turkish-born convenience store clerk Serdar Tatar; and brothers Dritan, Eljvir and Shain Duka, ethnic Albanians from the former Yugoslavia, who had a roofing business.
A sixth man arrested and charged only with gun offenses pleaded guilty earlier.
Please stay with CBS 2 HD starting at 5 a.m. on Thursday and with wcbstv.com for more on this developing story.
