Thread: Feds: Mass. man planned mall terror attacks

Feds: Mass. man planned mall terror attacks

BOSTON (AP) — A Massachusetts man has been charged with conspiring with others to carry out terror attacks against shoppers in U.S. malls and against U.S. military in Iraq.

Authorities in Boston say Tarek Mehanna, 27, of Sudbury sought training in terrorist training camps and worked with others from 2001 to May 2008 on the conspiracy "kill, kidnap, maim or injure" people in foreign countries and to kill prominent U.S. politicians.

Federal prosecutors say Mehanna and his conspirators tried to get automatic weapons for a mall attack, but their plans were foiled when they could not get the weapons.

Mehanna's attorney, J.W. Carney Jr., did not immediately return calls for comment.

Mehanna was arrested last year for allegedly lying about a man who trained with al-Qaeda members with the goal of overthrowing the Somali government.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/200 ... etts_N.htm

Mass. Man Charged With Alleged Terror Plot to Attack U.S. Shopping Malls

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

A 27-year-old Massachusetts man has been charged with conspiring with others to support and plan violent jihad in and outside the United States, including terror plots to attack U.S. shopping malls and U.S. military in Iraq.

Federal officials in Boston say Tarek Mehanna of Sudbury worked with others from 2001 to May of 2008 to provide support and resources in a conspiracy to "kill, kidnap, main or injure" people in foreign countries and to kill prominent U.S. politicians.

Mehanna was charged in a complaint with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, according to the Department of Justice.

The complaint further alleges that the co-conspirators attempted to radicalize others and inspire each other by, among other things, watching and distributing jihadi videos.

The charges accuse the suspects of talking about their desire to participate in Islamist holy war and of their desire to die on the battlefield.

The case comes less than a month after an Afghan-born man, Najibullah Zazi, was accused of plotting a bomb attack against the United States.

Federal prosecutors say Mehanna and his conspirators planned the logistics of a mall attack — including the possibility of attacking emergency responders. However, authorities say the plot was not carried out because they could not get automatic weapons.

"Mehanna and the co-conspirators had multiple conversations about obtaining automatic weapons and randomly shooting people in a shopping mall, and that the conversations went so far as to discuss the logistics of a mall attack, including coordination, weapons needed and the possibility of attacking emergency responders," the Justice Department said.

Mehanna's attorney J.W. Carney Jr. did not immediately return calls for comment.

If convicted on the material support charge, Mehanna faces up to 15 years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine, the Justice Department said.

Mehanna was arrested in November 2008 for allegedly lying to authorities about the whereabouts of a man who trained with Al Qaeda members with the goal of overthrowing the Somali government.

In December 2006, Mehanna got a phone call from American Daniel Maldonado, who urged Mehanna to join him in Somalia, where he was training for jihad.

But when interviewed by FBI a few days later, he told FBI that Maldonado was in Egypt working for a Web site.

The FBI also interviewed Mehanna about a trip he and two othes made to Yemen in 2004.

The Associated Press and Fox News' Mike Levine contributed to this report.

Click here to read more on this story from MyFoxBoston.com.
http://www.myfoxboston.com/dpp/news/loc ... ter_102109


http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,568823,00.html

Interesting obsevation.

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Mass. Man Charged With Alleged Terror Plot to Attack U.S. Shopping Malls

Not unusual to figure out how to steal a cool $1 million, especially when the bills go unpaid. And what are the chances you end up in the same mall with these jihadists?

Feds: Mass. man plotted mall terrorist attacks

27-year-old and co-conspirators spoke of ‘violent jihad,’ prosecutors say

updated 2 hours, 29 minutes ago

BOSTON - A pharmacy college graduate and two friends tried and failed to get into terrorist training camps and then plotted to kill two prominent U.S. politicians and randomly shoot people at American shopping malls, authorities said Wednesday.

Tarek Mehanna, who recently taught math at a Muslim school in Worcester, was arrested early Wednesday at his parents' suburban Boston home. Mehanna was charged with conspiring with two other men — an American now in Syria and another man who is cooperating with authorities — to provide support to terrorists.

Ultimately, the trio never came close to pulling off an attack. Authorities say they never got the terrorist training they sought — that the men told friends they were turned down because of their nationality, ethnicity or inexperience, or that the people they'd hoped would get them into such camps were either in jail or on a religious pilgrimage.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33412513/ns ... -security/