According to the NY Daily News, the four terrorists, three of whom were said to be jailhouse converts to Islam,the other born to the religion of peace, also had a phony Stinger missile in their car.
Officials said they hoped to shoot down a plane at Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh in Orange County.
Sources said the four men were arrested after a year-long investigation that began when an informant connected to a mosque in Newburg said he knew men who wanted to buy explosives.
FBI agents posing as militants sold them what they thought was 30 pounds of C-4 and a plane-downing Stinger missile.
The weaponry was all phony.
The men were arrested as they planted fake bombs in front of the Riverdale Temple in the Bronx and under cars parked in front of the synagogue.
They also allegedly planned to blow up a nearby Jewish Community Center.
Witnesses said an NYPD vehicle blocked a black SUV outside the temple and then officers broke in the windows and handcuffed the four men inside the car.
All four men were US-born.
Arrested was alleged ringleader James Cromitie of Newburgh, the son of an Afghan immigrant and his African American wife.
Cromitie served a long stretch in prison in the past.
Alleged henchment David Williams, Onta Williams and Leguerre Payen were busted with him.
Sources said the three were jailhouse converts to Islam.
"This shows the real risks we face from homegrown terror and jailhouse converts, and the need for constant vigilance," said Rep. Pete King (R-NY).
The four alleged terrorists are expected to be arraigned Thursday in White Plains federal court.
"These guys were angry, they had intent and they were searching for capacity," a senior federal law enforcement official told The News.
But, the official added, "It's not exactly Al Qaeda."
Below is the press release from the NY Attorney's office
FOUR ARRESTED FOR PLOT TO BOMB SYNAGOGUE
AND JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER AND TO SHOOT
MILITARY PLANES WITH STINGER MISSILES
LEV L. DASSIN, the Acting United States Attorney for
the Southern District of New York, JOSEPH M. DEMAREST, JR., the
Assistant-Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Division of
the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI"), RAYMOND W. KELLY,
the Police Commissioner for the City of New York, HARRY J.
CORBITT, the Superintendent of the New York State Police
("NYSP"), and DANA SIMMONS, the Brigadier General of the United
States Air Force Office of Special Investigations ("AFOSI"),
announced the arrests tonight of JAMES CROMITIE, a/k/a "Abdul
Rahman," a/k/a "Abdul Rehman," DAVID WILLIAMS, a/k/a "Daoud,"
a/k/a "DL," ONTA WILLIAMS, a/k/a "Hamza," and LAGUERRE PAYEN,
a/k/a "Amin," a/k/a "Almondo," on charges arising from a plot to
detonate explosives near a synagogue in the Riverdale section of
the Bronx, New York, and to shoot military planes located at the
New York Air National Guard Base at Stewart Airport in Newburgh,
New York, with Stinger surface-to-air guided missiles. In their
efforts to obtain weapons, the defendants dealt with an informant
acting under law enforcement supervision, and the FBI and other
agencies monitored the defendants' actions up to the time of
arrest, including providing an inactive missile and inert
explosives to the informant for the defendants.
The charges, which are contained in a criminal
Complaint filed yesterday in White Plains federal court, include
conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction in the United
States and conspiracy to acquire and use anti-aircraft missiles.
The defendants are expected to appear in White Plains federal
court tomorrow. According to the Complaint:
In June 2008, an informant working with the FBI met
CROMITIE in Newburgh, New York. CROMITIE explained to the
informant that his parents had lived in Afghanistan and that he
was upset about the war there and that many Muslim people were
being killed in Afghanistan and Pakistan by the United States
Military forces. CROMITIE expressed interest in returning to
Afghanistan and spoke to the CW about how if he, CROMITIE, were
to die a martyr, he would go to "paradise." CROMITIE also
expressed an interest in doing "something to America." The
following month, CROMITIE and the informant discussed the
organization Jaish-e-Mohammed, a designated Foreign Terrorist
Organization based in Pakistan, with which the informant claimed
to be involved. CROMITIE stated to the informant that he,
CROMITIE, would be interested in joining Jaish-e-Mohammed to "do
jihad."
Beginning in October 2008, the informant began meeting
with CROMITIE at a house in Newburgh, New York that the FBI had
equipped with concealed video and audio equipment. During
meetings at this location, CROMITIE, DAVID WILLIAMS, ONTA
WILLIAMS, and PAYEN discussed their desire to attack certain
targets in New York, including a synagogue in the Bronx and
military aircraft located at the Air National Guard Base.
CROMITIE asked the informant to supply surface-to-air guided
missiles and explosives for the planned operations. The
informant responded that he could provide CROMITIE with C-4
plastic explosives.
Beginning in April 2009, CROMITIE, DAVID WILLIAMS,
ONTA WILLIAMS, and PAYEN selected the synagogue and Jewish
community center they intended to target, and conducted
surveillance, including photographs, of military planes at the
Air National Guard Base. In late April 2009, CROMITIE and DAVID
WILLIAMS purchased a 9-millimeter semi-automatic pistol for use
during the planned terrorist operations. At around the same
time, CROMITIE and DAVID WILLIAMS traveled to the location from
which they could shoot at the military planes using surface-toair
guided missiles. In early May 2009, CROMITIE, DAVID
WILLIAMS, and PAYEN drove with the informant toward Stamford,
Connecticut, to obtain what the defendants were told would be a
surface-to-air guided missile system and three improvised
explosive devices ("IEDs") containing C-4 plastic explosive material.
The informant provided the defendants with a Stinger
surface-to-air guided missile provided by the FBI that was not
capable of being fired, telling the defendants that he had
obtained it from Jaish-e-Mohammed. The informant also provided
three IEDs that each contained over 30 pounds of inert C-4
plastic explosives, again telling the defendants that he had
obtained them from Jaish-e-Mohammed. CROMITIE, DAVID WILLIAMS,
and PAYEN transported these apparent weapons back to Newburgh.
Two days later, CROMITIE, DAVID WILLIAMS, ONTA WILLIAMS, and
PAYEN met to inspect the "missile system" and the "explosive
devices" and to further discuss the logistics of the operation.
CROMITIE, DAVID WILLIAMS, ONTA WILLIAMS, and PAYEN each
are charged with one count of conspiracy to use weapons of mass
destruction within the U.S., which carries a maximum penalty of
life in prison, and one count of conspiracy to acquire and use
anti-aircraft missiles, which carries a maximum penalty of life
in prison and a mandatory minimum of 25 years in prison.
CROMITIE, DAVID WILLIAMS, ONTA WILLIAMS, and PAYEN
currently reside in Newburgh, New York.
The charges filed yesterday were the result of the
cooperative efforts of the United States Attorney's Office for
the Southern District of New York, FBI, NYPD, NYSP, Newburgh City
Police Department, Town of New Windsor Police Department, United
States Air Force Office of Special Investigations, and New York
State Office of Homeland Security. Mr. DASSIN praised the
investigative work and efforts of these agencies.
"As alleged in the Complaint, the defendants wanted to
engage in terrorist attacks. They selected targets and sought
the weapons necessary to carry out their plans. Fortunately, the
defendants sought the assistance of a witness cooperating with
the Government. While the weapons provided to the defendants by
the cooperating witness were fake, the defendants thought they
were absolutely real," said Acting United States Attorney LEV L.
DASSIN. "The defendants planned to strike military planes with
surface-to-air guided missiles and to destroy a synagogue and a
Jewish community center with C-4 plastic explosives. Thanks to
the extraordinary, collaborative work of our law enforcement
partners, the defendants' plans were thwarted and the defendants
are under arrest."
Assistant United States Attorneys ERIC SNYDER and DAVID
LEIBOWITZ are in charge of the prosecution.
The charges contained in the Complaint are merely
accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and
until proven guilty
If you would like to read the Criminal Complaint Click below:
Read The Criminal Complaint (PDF)
Of course if these idiot terrorists looked over their equiptment before running to use it, they could have figured out that it wasn't the real thing:
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