FBI: 'Jihad' prevented in Los Angeles

[__Kratos__]

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Three men charged in a terror investigation were planning shooting rampages at Los Angeles-area military sites to retaliate for what they called the oppression of Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to court documents.

The men were indicted last month on federal charges of conspiring to wage war against the U.S. government through terrorism. All three -- Levar H. Washington, 25, Gregory V. Patterson, 21, and Hammad R. Samana, 21 -- have pleaded not guilty.

Appearing in Los Angeles Thursday, FBI Director Robert Mueller praised local police agencies that uncovered the alleged plot in July while investigating a string of gas station robberies.

"Terrorist threats against the city and county of Los Angeles ... were prevented," Mueller said.

According to an FBI affidavit unsealed recently, Washington told authorities he was the leader of a "council" of Muslims who planned to carry out operations in Southern California as part of a jihad, or holy war, against the United States.

The suspects allegedly targeted military recruitment centers in Southern California, estimating that 10 attacks could kill as many as 40 people, the affidavit said.

Patterson's lawyer, Winston McKesson, said his client had asked him not to comment on the case. Lawyers for Washington and Samana, a student originally from Pakistan, did not return calls seeking comment.

Samana told investigators the three men planned to storm a facility with firearms in September or October, then flee in a vehicle, the affidavit said.

The FBI said Patterson bought a .223-caliber rifle and Samana practiced shooting at a local park, possibly with a shotgun.

All accepted the possibility of dying in an attack, with Patterson believing "the ultimate goal is to die for Allah in jihad," according to the affidavit.

Prosecutors contend the men were working at the behest of Kevin James, a California State Prison, Sacramento, inmate who founded the radical group Jamiyyat Ul-Islam Is-Saheeh, or JIS. Washington converted to Islam while imprisoned there for a previous robbery conviction.

James, 29, is scheduled to be arraigned next week. All four face counts of conspiring to wage war against the U.S. government, kill armed service members or murder foreign officials, among other charges.

Washington, Patterson and Samana -- who attended the same Inglewood mosque -- allegedly conducted surveillance of military sites, synagogues, the Israeli Consulate and El Al airline facilities in the Los Angeles area as well as Internet research on Jewish holidays, prosecutors said.

The affidavit mentions only military facilities. But the indictment, returned after the affidavit was filed, refers to both military and Jewish targets.

Prosecutors suspect that Washington, Patterson and Samana robbed gas stations in Los Angeles and Orange counties to finance their plans.

Washington and Patterson previously pleaded not guilty to robbery charges in a related state case. Samana has not been charged in that case.

Source

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Patterson bought a .223-caliber rifle

.223 is what the DC sniper used in his attacks as well. Guess it is the civillian version of the M16.

Glad to see these guys were stopped.

[nick_fury]

The men were indicted last month on federal charges of conspiring to wage war against the U.S. government through terrorism. All three -- Levar H. Washington, 25, Gregory V. Patterson, 21, and Hammad R. Samana, 21 -- have pleaded not guilty.

I hope the irony here doesn't escape anyone

Edited September 25, 2005 by nick_fury

[__Kratos__]

I hope the irony here doesn't escape anyone

...you need to have a certain name to be a terrorist? Wasn't aware of that...

[iaapac]

After the FBI accusing the doctor in Washington of producing Anthrax (he was later found innocent) and accusing the security guard of putting the bomb in the Atlanta Olympics (he was later found to be innocent) and accusing the university professor in Florida of terrorist participation (now they don't want to proceed with indictment). . . . I find it a little difficult to believe anything that comes out of their press agent's mouth.

[__Kratos__]

Following leads discredits the FBI?

I know, next time something happens lets wait for the terrorist to turn himself in. That would be most lovely wouldn't it be, iaapac?

Edited September 25, 2005 by __Kratos__

[iaapac]

No, let's arrest him without charges and hold him for three years (Jose Padilla), keep 1,300 persons in secret confinement centers without charges (London Times 3/09/05), suspend Constitutional rights to all citizens by listening to their telephone calls and intercepting their e-mails, plan the initiation of martial law, make FBI agents also customs agents so that arrests can be made without the permission of a judge and then everyone can sit back and relish the thought that they live in the land of the free.

These events are not the product of terrorism, they are the exploitations and manipulations of an administration wanting control. It is the result of an administration wanting to justify any action it chooses to make by placing it under the label of a war on terrorism. An administration that usurped the authority to stop international ships on international waters and to search them in complete violation of international law. An administration that lacks the courage to admit that it has sacrificed 2,000 young Americans and killed and maimed hundreds of thousands of Iraquis on the basis of untruths that were either deliberate or the result of a general incompetence.

And in spite of all this, the government itself admits that it has had no affect that that it is not a question of "if" there will be another attack, but rather, "when."

[The Skeptic Eric Raven]

[__Kratos__]

Went from terrorists to a completely off-topic rant, iaapac. I think you should learn to control your anger a bit more and post on the correct topics at hand.

Perhaps you would have liked to see these men gun down innocent people?

[iaapac]

Nothing of anger, just an expression of my opinions as based on the facts as I see them. As far as I can see, my response dealt completely with terrorism and the reactions of the government to it.

[__Kratos__]

Nothing of anger, just an expression of my opinions as based on the facts as I see them. As far as I can see, my response dealt completely with terrorism and the reactions of the government to it.

Reactions towards terrorism should be strong. Terrorism is bad. I noticed in your defense you didn't add innocent people so... guess you don't care about them you just don't like terrorists being held and questioned.

[iaapac]

I did mention innocent victims . . . . 2,000 young Americans and thousands of Iraquis . . . . I did not mention the victims of 9/11 because all of this had to begin somewhere and obviously that beginning would have victims.

It is not prudent to assume that all of the people held are terrorist. The government has produced a horrible record of convictions as compared to detainments and many, as I mentioned in my examples, have been proven to be innocent. And yes, I do care about these people who have been denied due process and I care about the dangers of mounting government powers and the diluting of civil rights. I also care about the general apathy that condones such things and even goes to the point of supporting them.

[__Kratos__]

Would you mind giving sources to your claims?

[nick_fury]

...you need to have a certain name to be a terrorist? Wasn't aware of that...

No. The fact that someone carrying the surname of a nation's founding leader is commiting treason against it.

It's like someone called Lenin trying to bring down communism

[iaapac]

Would you mind giving sources to your claims?

What claim?

[sanchera1978]

your claim that the government makes mistakes and imprisons the wrong people sometimes. Your 3 references you listed above arent enough to show why you wouldnt trust everything about these press releases. Dang it Iaapac dont you know that good american citzens should never question their government under these circumstances. They are trying to fight the war on terror the last thing they need is for citzens to actually make sure they are fighting the war correctly and effectively its their job not ours..