Thread: Feds Arrest Man Allegedly Heading To U.S. Capitol For Suicide Mission

Feds Arrest Man Allegedly Heading To U.S. Capitol for Suicide Mission

Exclusive: Feds Arrest Man Allegedly Heading To U.S. Capitol For Suicide Mission After Sting Investigation | Fox News
Feds arrest man allegedly heading to U.S. Capitol for suicide mission after sting investigation

By Mike Levine
Published February 17, 2012
| FoxNews.com

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  AP
  The U.S. Capitol is seen on Feb. 15, 2012.

Authorities have arrested a man allegedly on his way to the U.S. Capitol for what he thought would be a suicide attack on one of the nation's most symbolic landmarks, Fox News has learned exclusively.
The man, in his 30s and of Moroccan descent, was nabbed following a lengthy investigation by the FBI, initiated after he expressed interest in conducting an attack. It's unclear how the FBI learned of his aspirations, though he came onto the radar screen of law enforcement in early December.

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  Shown here is the alley near Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., where a man was arrested on his way, authorities said, to conduct what he thought was a suicide attack on the Capitol.

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The suspect, who has been in the United States for about 12 years but according to one source is not a U.S. citizen, allegedly weighed hitting various targets ranging from a military installation to synagogues before settling on the Capitol.
The man thought undercover FBI agents assisting him in his plot were associates of Al Qaeda.
When he was arrested Friday in Washington, he was carrying with him a vest supposedly packed with explosives, but the material inside was not actually dangerous, Fox News was told.
A short time earlier, he had been praying at a mosque in the Washington area. His destination was Capitol Hill.
The public was never in danger, as he had been under constant surveillance for some time, officials said. The FBI provided the suspect with a disabled gun during their ongoing operation, Fox News has learned.
In a statement that did not get into the details of the alleged plot, the U.S. Capitol Police said the suspect was "closely and carefully monitored." Capitol Police confirmed the suspect was arrested on Friday.
"At no time was the public or congressional community in any danger," the department said.
A senior source involved with law enforcement at the Capitol also told Fox News the investigation was "all very controlled." The source said the U.S. Capitol Police was involved with the FBI and other agencies in tracking the suspect "not more than a year."
An arrest usually indicates charges have been filed in some form, but it's unclear when or how charges would have been filed in this case. It's also unclear if the suspect will be appearing in court Friday. In similar past cases, suspects have made their initial court appearance within hours of their arrest.
On Capitol Hill, lawmakers in leadership positions had been briefed on the investigation, though rank-and-file members did not appear to have prior knowledge of the case.
Sites in Washington have long been a target for terrorists, especially self-radicalized extremists caught in FBI stings.
In September, a Massachusetts man was arrested for allegedly plotting to fly bomb-laden model planes into the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol. FBI agents claiming to be associates of Al Qaeda provided 26-year-old Rezwan Ferdaus with what he thought was explosive material for the remote-controlled planes.
Nearly a year earlier, a Virginia man was arrested for trying to help Al Qaeda plan multiple bombings against Washington's Metrorail system. For months, 34-year-old Farooque Ahmed of Ashburn, Va., had been meeting and discussing "jihad" with individuals he thought were affiliated with Al Qaeda, but in fact he was meeting with FBI agents.
In the past year alone, at least 20 people have been arrested in the United States on terrorism-related charges, according to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
"Most of the arrests" have involved "lone wolves," radicalized online and able to use the Internet to build bombs, FBI Director Robert Mueller told the Senate committee last month.
At the time of Ahmed's arrest in October 2010, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Neil MacBride, said the case showcases "our ability to find those seeking to harm U.S. citizens and neutralize them before they can act."
Fox News' Catherine Herridge and Chad Pergram contributed to this report.




Read more: Exclusive: Feds Arrest Man Allegedly Heading To U.S. Capitol For Suicide Mission After Sting Investigation | Fox News

US News

Man charged with would-be suicide attack on US Capitol

Feb 17, 2012, 23:16 GMT


Washington - An alleged would-be suicide bomber was arrested on his way to what he believed would be an attack on the US Capitol Friday, the US Justice Department said.

Amine El Khalifi, 29, an illegal immigrant from Morocco, was charged in a Virginia court with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction against government property. He could face up to life in prison.
Law enforcement officials had become aware of his alleged desire to attack US targets and he was later introduced to agents posing as members of al-Qaeda
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El Khalifi proposed a bomb attack against US military facilities, a synagogue or a restaurant frequented by military officers before settling on the Capitol as a target in what he allegedly believed was a broader al-Qaeda operation, the Justice Department said.

Agents posing as al-Qaeda members had provided him with a fake gun and fake explosives in a suicide vest at a parking garage on Friday that they claim he intended to set off at the Capitol. He had apparently surveyed the building on multiple occasions in recent weeks and met with the agents to discuss details of the attack.

The US Capitol Police and the FBI arrested El Khalifi in the parking garage near the Capitol.

'At no time was the public or Congressional community in any danger,' a police spokeswoman said.

Story HERE

Second link to Chicago Trib, same story

Shame on the Washington Times for pussy footing around the fact that he was an illegal.


Terror suspect arrested near U.S. Capitol

By Tom Howell Jr.
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The Washington Times



A 29-year-old Moroccan man was arrested Friday on accusations he planned to detonate a suicide bomb in the U.S. Capitol before undercover agents thwarted him through a lengthy sting operation, the Department of Justice said.

Amine el Khalifi, who lived in Alexandria but had no legal residency in the United States, faces up to life in prison if he is convicted of charges he attempted to use a weapon of mass destruction against federal property.

FBI agents had tracked el Khalifi since January 2011, when a confidential informant reported el Khalifi met with individuals in Arlington and expressed terrorist sentiments, federal officials said.

The group produced an AK-47, two revolvers and ammunition, and federal agents say el Khalifi noted the “war on terrorism” is a “war on Muslims.”

Federal officials said that by December, el Khalifi had aligned himself with an undercover officer he thought would help him plan an attack on one of several proposed targets in the D.C. area. By mid-January he abandoned plans to blow up a restaurant and settled on an attack on the U.S. Capitol, according to the Department of Justice.

Federal officials said he used a cell phone to set off a test bomb in a quarry in West Virginia and planned the specific time and location of an attack on the U.S. Capitol. They said el Khalifi went to a parking garage near the U.S. Capitol on Friday with an automatic weapon and a vest that he thought contained a bomb — however both had been rendered inoperable by agents.

El Khalifi was arrested before he exited the garage near the U.S. Capitol, federal officials said. He made his first appearance in U.S. District Court before Judge T. Rawles Jones Jr. on Friday afternoon.
Federal officials did not give any indication el Khalifi has formal ties to al Qaeda.

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

WASHINGTON TIMES

Landlord says he reported terror suspect to police

By Associated Press
Friday, February 17, 2012 - Added 3 hours ago

WASHINGTON — A northern Virginia landlord says he thought a Moroccan man arrested in an alleged suicide bombing plot in Washington was suspicious and called police a year and a half ago.

Frank Dynda said today that a woman who leased an apartment in his Arlington building apparently married Amine El Khalifi and then moved out. He says when Dynda told El Khalifi to leave, he said he had a right to stay and threatened to beat Dynda up.

A counterterrorism official says El Khalifi was taken into custody Friday near the U.S. Capitol with an inoperable gun and inert explosives in a suicide vest given to him by the FBI.

Dynda says he thought El Khalifi was making bombs, but police told him to leave the man alone. Dynda had El Khalifi evicted in 2010

Boston Herald