Thread: Illegal alien's suicide attack on U.S. Capitol foiled

Authorities: Suicide attack on U.S. Capitol foiled

From Carol Cratty, CNN
updated 7:21 PM EST, Fri February 17, 2012

Washington (CNN) -- A 29-year-old man from Morocco was arrested Friday and charged with attempting to bomb the U.S. Capitol building in a suicide attack, authorities said.

Suspect Amine El Khalifi made an initial appearance in court and, if convicted, faces a maximum penalty of life in prison, according to the Justice Department.

He allegedly went to a parking garage near the Capitol on Friday and received what he thought was a vest with explosives and a firearm, both of which had been rendered inoperable by law enforcement. He was arrested before leaving the garage.

"Today's case underscores the continuing threat we face from homegrown violent extremists," said Assistant Attorney General for National Security Lisa Monaco. "Thanks to a coordinated law enforcement effort, El Khalifi's alleged plot was thwarted before anyone was harmed."

The suspect was charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction against government property. Authorities say the public was never in any danger.

During his initial court appearance, he wore blue pants and a green T-shirt with the words "Ready in Season" on the back. El Khalifi had short black hair, a trimmed, thin beard and tattoos on his inner arm. He stood straight, showed no emotion and did not speak.

A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for Wednesday.

The suspect, an immigrant from Morocco, is in the United States illegally. He had been closely monitored as part of a lengthy and extensive undercover operation, police said, adding that U.S. Capitol Police had been "intimately" involved in the investigation.

The suspect entered the United States in June 1999 on a B2 visa -- which allows for trips for pleasure, tourism or medical treatment, according to an FBI affidavit. His visa expired that same year and he has been living in the United States illegally ever since.

In January 2011, a confidential source reported to the FBI that El Khalifi met with other individuals at a residence in Arlington, Virginia. A person there produced what appeared to be weapons and El Khalifi "expressed agreement with a statement by this individual that the 'war on terrorism' was a 'war on Muslim,' and said that the group needed to be ready for war," the affidavit read.

At another point, El Khalifi allegedly said he would "be happy killing 30 people," it said.

One law enforcement official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told CNN authorities are searching two locations in Virginia in connection to the investigation -- one in Arlington, the other in Alexandria.

A second law enforcement official said El Khalifi is not connected to a terrorist organization and was acting alone.

El Khalifi thought he had met al Qaeda members who would assist him, but in fact he was dealing with undercover FBI agents, said the second source, who declined to say whether the FBI has audio or video recordings of the suspect talking to undercover agents about his plans.

A third source briefed on the matter said the suspect was identified through an existing criminal, not terrorism investigation. When asked about possible entrapment, the U.S. government source said the suspect went out on his own to buy component pieces for an improvised explosive device.

After news of the arrest broke, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor hailed the work of the FBI and the U.S. Capitol Police in thwarting the alleged attack.

"These brave members of our law enforcement community make daily sacrifices in their work to keep us safe and deserve tremendous credit for their efforts leading up to today's successful sting," he said.

President Barack Obama was informed on Thursday about the FBI's plan to arrest El Khalifi, a White House spokesman said.

Top congressional leaders were also briefed on the arrest and operation, a congressional source said, though it was not clear exactly when.

In September last year, a federal grand jury indicted a man for allegedly plotting to use large remote-controlled model airplanes filled with explosives to attack the Capitol and the Pentagon.

A man was arrested in September 2008 two blocks from the Capitol after an officer spotted a rifle in his car.

And in July 1998, a gunman fired shots in the Capitol building, killing two U.S. Capitol Police officers.


http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/17/justic...st/?hpt=hp_bn3

February 17, 2012 2:11 PM

FBI arrests would-be Capitol bomber outside D.C.

A 29-year-old Moroccan man who authorities say wanted to be the first suicide bomber on U.S. soil was arrested Friday after strapping on what he thought was an explosive vest and heading for the U.S. Capitol, CBS News' John Miller reports.

A source told CBS News' John Nolen that the suspect was identified as Amine El Khalifi, a Moroccan citizen who has lived in the United States for more than 12 years. He was taken down by FBI agents and U.S. Capitol Police officers in Alexandria, Va., outside Washington. An intelligence source confirmed the suspect's name to CBS News.

The Justice Department announced that El Khalifi was charged "by criminal complaint with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction against property that is owned and used by the United States." He faces life in prison if convicted.

Read the federal criminal complaint against El Khalifi

El Khalifi made a brief appearance in federal court in Alexandria on Friday afternoon. He was wearing a green shirt and black parts and holding his arms together behind his back.

A judge set a bail hearing in his case for Wednesday at 2 p.m.

In a statement released by the Justice Department, Assistant Attorney General for National Security Lisa Monaco said: "Today's case underscores the continuing threat we face from homegrown violent extremists. Thanks to a coordinated law enforcement effort, El Khalifi's alleged plot was thwarted before anyone was harmed."

Added FBI Assistant Director in Charge James W. McJunkin: "This individual allegedly followed a twisted, radical ideology that is not representative of the Muslim community in the United States. He became known to the JTTF (Joint Terrorism Task Force) because of his stated desire to carry out attacks in the U.S., specifically, the U.S. Capitol building. This arrest is the result of dedicated special agents, task force officers and intelligence analysts from the FBI and our partner law enforcement agencies that make up the JTTF."

Last December, the suspect allegedly told an undercover law enforcement officer that he planned to detonate a bomb at an Alexandria building that contained offices for the U.S. military, Nolen reported. His plans changed until he settled on the Capitol. Other targets the suspect allegedly considered were a synagogue and a Washington restaurant frequented by members of the military.

Man says he reported Capitol suspect to police
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A high-ranking source told CBS News the man was "never a real threat."

Undercover FBI agents met with the suspect Friday morning in his garage, giving him a vest filled with explosives that had previously been rendered inoperable, Miller reported. The agents also provided the suspect with an impaired automatic firearm that he allegedly planned to use to shoot U.S. Capitol Police officers, Nolen reported.

Both the House and the Senate were in session Friday voting on a deal to extend the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits.

Congress passes payroll tax cut extension

At some point, the suspect came close to actual explosives and allegedly participated in a demonstration of an improvised-explosive device in a quarry, Nolen reported.

El Khalifi came to the U.S. when he was 16 years old and is unemployed and not believed to be associated with al Qaeda. He had been under investigation for about a year and had overstayed his visitor visa for years, a counterterrorism official and a government official briefed on the matter told The Associated Press on a condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

According to the affidavit filed by an FBI agent, El Khalifi told acquaintances in January 2011 that he agreed the "war on terrorism" was a "war on Muslims" and that they needed to be ready for war.

A former landlord in Arlington, Va., said he believed El Khalifi was suspicious and called police a year and a half ago.

Frank Dynda said when he told El Khalifi to leave, the suspect said he had a right to stay and threatened to beat up Dynda. Dynda said he thought El Khalifi was making bombs, but police told him to leave the man alone. Dynda had El Khalifi evicted in 2010.

El Khalifi had several men staying with him and based on packages left for him, Dynda said. It appeared that he was running a luggage business from the apartment, though Dynda never saw any bags.

"I reported to police I think he's making bombs," Dynda said. "I was ready to get my shotgun and run him out of the building, but that would have been a lot of trouble."

Two people briefed on the matter told The Associated Presst he FBI has had him under surveillance around the clock for several weeks. They spoke on a condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

Police are close to arresting one of his associates on charges unrelated to the terror conspiracy, the counterterrorism official said. The associate was said to also be a Moroccan, living here illegally. Police are investigating others El Khalifi associated with, but not because they believe the associates were part of a terror conspiracy, the official said.

FBI arrests would-be Capitol bomber outside D.C. - CBS News

Bomb plot suspect said he 'would be happy killing 30 people

FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force agents conduct a terrorism investigation at a house in Arlington, Va. The search was related to the arrest earlier in the day of a Moroccan man who is accused of planning to carry out a suicide attack on the U.S. Capitol. (Olivier Douliery / Abaca Press / February 17, 2012)

By Richard A. Serrano February 17, 2012, 3:07 p.mReporting from Washington —

An immigrant from Morocco armed with a jammed automatic weapon and wearing a suicide vest packed with what he thought were explosives was arrested Friday near the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, officials announced.

Amine El Khalifi, 29, who allegedly had overstayed his visa after arriving in the U.S. when he was 16, was charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction against government property. FBI agents had been closely monitoring him for more than a year in an undercover sting operation.

An affidavit described El Khalifi strutting around a hotel room with the gun and vest, watching himself in the mirror as he practiced how to pull the trigger and detonate the vest bomb by calling a cellphone number.

He also allegedly discussed hitting military targets near the Pentagon and a restaurant during the crowded lunch hour in Washington. But eventually he settled on the Capitol, authorities said, planning to shoot his way inside and detonating the bomb. He reportedly told undercover FBI agents he “would be happy killing 30 people.”

He appeared briefly in federal court in nearby Alexandria, Va., where most of the investigation was handled, but did not enter a plea. He faces life in prison if convicted.

According to Neil MacBride, the U.S. attorney in Alexandria, El Khalifi believed he was working for Al Qaeda. MacBride said El Khalifi “devised the plot, the targets and the methods on his own.”

He was arrested Friday morning in a parking garage near the Capitol building after taking the MAC-10 automatic weapon from a van and strapping on the bomb vest. But both the weapon and explosive device had been rendered inoperable, authorities said.

He then walked alone from his vehicle toward the Capitol building just two blocks away, officials said, “where he intended to shoot people and detonate the bomb.” But agents arrested him before he made it out of the garage or could approach the Capitol, where lawmakers were busy voting on a $150-billion economic package to extend the payroll tax cut.

Twenty people have been arrested in the last year on suspicion of plotting terrorist attacks in this country, many of them after the FBI was tipped off by their friends or associates and then placed under surveillance by undercover agents posing as Al Qaeda operatives.

A Massachusetts man of Bangladeshi descent, Rezwan Ferdaus, was arrested in September for allegedly conspiring to fly deadly model planes into the Pentagon and the Capitol, and Farooque Ahmed, a Pakistani American from Virginia, was given 23 years in prison for plotting to attack Washington area subway stations. According to Steven W. Hersem, supervisor in the FBI’s Washington Field Office’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, agents first learned of El Khalifi in January 2011. They were told El Khalifi had become angry about the U.S. war on terrorism and the “war on Muslims.”

To get closer to El Khalifi, the FBI placed an undercover officer known as “Yusuf” close to him. The defendant allegedly talked to him about several targets — an office building in Alexandria, popular sites where U.S. military personnel gather, the home of an Army general and the Washington restaurant.

The affidavit said he cased the Capitol, searching for an entrance to shoot a guard and then detonate the bomb inside the structure. At one point last month, he purchased nails and glue and other bomb components, and drove with Yusuf to a West Virginia quarry where he allegedly test-fired explosives inside a vest.

It was then, officials said, that El Khalifi decided that “rather than leaving a bomb in a restaurant, he wanted to conduct a suicide/martyrdom operation in which he would blow himself up in the United States Capitol building.” They added that he decided against leaving behind a “martyrdom video” because “he did not want people to know who conducted the attack.”
richard.serrano@latimes.com

Bomb plot suspect said he 'would be happy killing 30 people' - latimes.com

Added first article to the Homepage:
http://www.alipac.us/content/illegal...ol-foiled-183/

And here's the best part Obama and Napolitano are saying this radicalized muslim from Morocco is a "Homegrown" terrorist! Ain't that a kick in the shin?

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VIDEO: Story behind alleged plot to bomb Capitol - CBS News Video