Thread: 6 Held On Terror Conspiracy Charges In NJ

6 held on terror conspiracy charges in N.J.
Group allegedly plotted to attack Fort Dix military base, WNBC reports
NBC, MSNBC and news services
Updated: 25 minutes ago
NEW YORK - Six men were arrested overnight on terror conspiracy charges in New Jersey, WNBC reported on Tuesday.

Investigators said the men wanted to use AK-47s to storm the Fort Dix military base. The arrests were first reported by WNBC's Jonathan Dienst. WNBC is the flagship NBC television station for the New York tri-state area.

Investigators told the station that the group discussed a number of possible targets, including the the Dover Air base, Fort Monmouth and Coast Guard stations, but that they concluded the best target was Fort Dix.

Story continues below ↓
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
advertisement

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fort Dix, which is run in part by the U.S. Army, is an reserve training center but active units also take part in training at the base, some of which is focused on counter-terrorism.

Federal law enforcement officials confirmed the arrests, saying that the six were planning to get automatic weapons to shoot at U.S. service members. Investigators told NBC’s Pete Williams that the plot was in the planning stages but was not imminent.


Click for related content
WNBC's full report on the plot


Acting on a tip, and with the help of an informant, the men were placed under surveillance. Investigators say some of the group's members -- all men and all believed to be Islamic radicals -- went to the Poconos over the past several months to practice firing guns. Some of the men were born overseas, in Albania and the former Yugoslavia.

Intelligence officials told NBC News' Robert Windrem that they do not believe the plot was directed by al-Qaida because it did not match the key al-Qaida tenet: spectacular multiple simultaneous attacks.

However, the idea that the men were using al-Qaida training films and following al-Qaida goals shows that there is a large number of people who can create such plots inspired by the terrorist organization, the officials said.

The FBI and the US attorney plan a news conference later Tuesday to discuss the investigation.

NBC News' Pete Williams and Robert Windrem contributed to this report.



http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18549005/

I'm in total shock. This base is very close to my area. I'm very glad they found these creeps.

I have family only minutes from Fort Dix.

Scary stuff. Good job on catching them!

Six arrested in death plot
Planned attack on U.S. soldiers at Fort Dix

Published: Tuesday, May 8, 2007 - 7:58 am
Updated: Tuesday, May 8, 2007 - 8:52 am


THE ASSOCIATED PRESS


MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. (AP) -- Six nationals of the former Yugoslavia were arrested on charges they plotted to attack the Fort Dix Army base and “kill as many soldiers as possible,” federal authorities said today.

The six were scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Camden later Tuesday to face charges of conspiracy to kill U.S. servicemen, said Michael Drewniak, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey.

Five of them lived in Cherry Hill, about 10 miles east of Philadelphia and 20 miles southwest of Fort Dix, he said.

A law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity because documents in the case remain sealed, said the attack was stopped in the planning stages.

Advertisement


The men were arrested while trying to buy automatic weapons in a sale set-up by law enforcement authorities, the official said. Authorities believe the men trained for the attack in the Pocono and allegedly conducted surveillance at other area military institutions, including the Army’s Fort Monmouth, the official said.

The official said that the men had lived in the United States for some time and were arrested as part of a joint federal and local investigation.

The Star-Ledger of Newark reported on its Web site that the men had agreed to buy AK-47 assault rifles from an arms dealer who was secretly cooperating with the FBI. It cited a law enforcement person who spoke on condition of anonymity because the source was not authorized to speak about the arrests.

FBI spokeswoman Jerri Williams said U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie and J.P. Weis, special agent in charge of the FBI in Philadelphia, planned a 2:30 p.m. news conference to discuss the arrests.

Fort Dix is used to train soldiers, particularly reservists. It also housed refugees from Kosovo in 1999.

http://www.tribunetimes.com/apps/pbcs.d ... IBUNETIMES

Islamic radicals' arrested in plot to kill Fort Dix soldiers
POSTED: 9:47 a.m. EDT, May 8, 2007
Story Highlights
• NEW: Those arrested are "Islamic radicals," U.S. Attorney's Office says
• News conference scheduled for 2:30 p.m. ET
• Sources say six men were planning to shoot soldiers at Army base
• Informant played key role in investigation, sources say
Adjust font size:
Decrease fontDecrease font
Enlarge fontEnlarge font

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Six "Islamic radicals" involved in a plot to kill U.S. soldiers at Fort Dix in New Jersey were arrested Monday night, the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Jersey said Tuesday.


One of the suspects was born in Jordan, another in Turkey, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. The rest are believed to be Yugoslavian, "either U.S. citizens or living illegally in the United States," the office said in a statement.

"Their alleged intention was to conduct an armed assault on the army base and to kill as many soldiers as possible," according to the statement.

The six are expected to appear in U.S. District Court in Camden on Tuesday afternoon, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement.

The district attorney scheduled a news conference at 2:30 p.m. ET to discuss the case.

The men were planning to use automatic weapons to shoot soldiers at the Army post, according to a federal law enforcement source and a senior government source.

The men, some of whom were related to each other, had been doing surveillance and planning "for a while," and they trained in the Poconos Mountains in northeastern Pennsylvania, according to the federal law enforcement source.

They played paintball and test-fired weapons, a law enforcement source said.

New Jersey state troopers and the FBI were involved in investigating and arresting the suspects. An informant played a key role in the investigation, the sources said.

One of the sources said there is a video and an audiotape of the planning.

The Newark Star-Ledger reported on its Web site that the men took a videotape of their practice sessions to a store to have it burned to a DVD, and that a store employee contacted the FBI because of the video's contents.

Sources told the Star-Ledger the men were lured to a meeting with an FBI informant posing as an arms dealer. The newspaper's sources requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case.

While authorities are glad to have arrested them, the individuals are "hardly hard core terrorists," one law enforcement source said.

Another source said that while the allegations are "troubling," they are "not the type that made the hair on the back of your neck stand up."

Fort Dix is an Army installation that trains and mobilizes reserves, National Guard and active soldiers going to war.

It was used in 1999 to house ethnic Albanian refugees from Kosovo, according to the Defense Department Web site.

CNN's Kevin Bohn and Kelli Arena contributed to this report.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/05/08/fortdi ... index.html

Fox new just advised 3 are here ILLEGALLY

Wake up Prez. Boosh! We need to secure our borders!

6 charged with plot on Army post in N.J.
By WAYNE PARRY
Associated Press Writer

FORT DIX, N.J. --
Six Islamic militants from Yugoslavia and the Middle East were arrested on charges of plotting to attack the Fort Dix Army post and "kill as many soldiers as possible," authorities said Tuesday.

White House spokesman Tony Snow said Tuesday there is "no direct evidence" that the men have ties to international terrorism.

"They are not charged with being members of an international terrorism organization," Snow said. "At least at this point, there is no evidence that they received direction from international terror organizations."

The FBI was tipped off to the group in early 2006 after someone brought a video to a store to be copied onto DVD, according to the agency's criminal complaint. The video showed 10 men, including the six arrested, shooting assault weapons in militia style and calling for jihad, the complaint said.

"What concerns us is, obviously, they began conducting surveillance and weapons training in the woods and were discussing killing large numbers of soldiers," said Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd.

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., said U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie told him one of the suspects had a job delivering pizzas to the base and used that opportunity to scout out the possible attack.

Smith said the men had been under surveillance for 16 months and practiced their attacks in the Pocono Mountains in northeastern Pennsylvania. He said they also watched Osama bin Laden videos.

The six were scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Camden later Tuesday to face charges of conspiracy to kill U.S. servicemen, said Michael Drewniak, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Jersey.

Officials said four of the men were born in the former Yugoslavia, one in Jordan and one in Turkey. All had lived in the United States for years. Three were in the United States illegally, two had work permits, and the other is a U.S. citizen.

The men were identified in court papers as Mohamad Ibrahim Shnewer, Dritan Duka, Eljvir Duka, Shain Duka, Serdar Tatar and Agron Abdullahu. Checks with Immigration and Customs Enforcement show that Dritan Duka, Eljvir Duka and Shain Duka are illegally living in the United States, according to FBI complaints unsealed with their arrests.

Five of the men lived in Cherry Hill, a Philadelphia suburb about 20 miles from Fort Dix.

"They were planning an attack on Fort Dix in which they would kill as many soldiers as possible," Drewniak said.

A law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity because documents in the case remain sealed, said the attack was stopped in the planning stages. The men also allegedly conducted surveillance at other area military institutions, including Fort Monmouth, a U.S. Army installation, the official said.

The men were arrested Monday trying to buy automatic weapons in a sale setup by law enforcement authorities who had been investigating the men, the official said.

Fort Dix is used to train soldiers, particularly reservists. It also housed refugees from Kosovo in 1999.

Republican U.S. Rep. James Saxton, who represents Fort Dix, said the base, along with adjacent McGuire Air Force Base, has been on its highest security alert level.

"This serves as a stark reminder that the threat of jihadists around the world and even here at home is very, very real," Saxton said. "It is not a threat that exists only in Iraq and the rest of the Middle East."

Jeff Sagnip, a spokesman for Saxton, said Fort Dix typically has 15,000 people, including 3,000 soldiers, while McGuire, which is adjacent to Fort Dix, has about 11,500 people.

Soldiers at Fort Dix have been training for warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan, Sagnip said.

"Everything is a replica of what they would face in the field," he said.

Since 2001, the base has been closed to the public. There are heavily armed guards at entrances, along with X-ray machines. Yet the main road through neighboring Cookstown cuts through the base and is accessible to the public. A half-dozen locations on the base, including at least two where soldiers were conducting maneuvers Tuesday morning, were only a few hundred yards off the main road.

The description of the suspects as "Islamic militants" renewed fears in New Jersey's Muslim community. Hundreds of Muslim men from New Jersey were rounded up and detained by authorities in the months following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, but none was connected to that plot.

"If these people did something, then they deserve to be punished to the fullest extent of the law," said Sohail Mohammed, a lawyer who represented scores of detainees after the 2001 attacks. "But when the government says 'Islamic militants,' it sends a message to the public that Islam and militancy are synonymous.

"Don't equate actions with religion," he said.

http://www.charlotte.com/118/story/114281.html

http://www.wnbc.com/news/13274813/de...l?dl=mainclick NEW YORK -- Six men from New Jersey have been arrested in an alleged terror plot against soldiers at Fort Dix, according to law enforcement sources.

Investigators said the men planned to use automatic rifles to enter Fort Dix and kill as many soldiers as they could at the New Jersey military base. Fort Dix was just one of several military and security locations allegedly scouted by this group, authorities said.


The suspects, identified as Dritan Duka, Eljvir Duka, Shain Duka, Mohamad Shnewer, Derdar Tatar and Agron Abdullahu, have been charged with conspiring to kill U.S. government employees. Separately, the Duka brothers have been charged with being illegal aliens in possession of firearms.

The Dukas, believed to be Islamic radicals, are in the United States illegally, while Shnewer is a U.S. citizen born in Jordan, according to the Justice Department. ....

Investigators said the group discussed targeting numerous locations -- such as Dover Air base, Fort Monmouth, a Coast Guard building in Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Federal building -- before deciding on Fort Dix as their intended target. Fort Dix is run in part by the Army and is a reserve-training center, but active units take part in training, some of which focuses on counter-terrorism.
....

here is the link to a video news casts NOTE they do not mention the men being illegal:
http://video.wnbc.com/player/?id=101495

here is a link to the pdf version of the charges filed against them:
http://www.wnbc.com/download/2007/0508/13276184.pdf


It's pretty sad that our service men and women have to fight terrorists and thugs over seas to then have to come home and be attacked here.
President Bush, HELLOOOOOOO???!!!!

Sources have told NewsChannel 4's Brian Thompson that the suspects tried to have a training videotape converted to DVD at a store in Cherry Hill, N.J., but the store owner alerted authorities.

Wow, give that person a medal - good catch! (Thanks)