FBI says suspects sought to form own army

MIAMI (AP) -- Seven men accused of trying to blow up the Sears Tower with help from al-Qaida never actually made contact with the terrorist network and were instead caught in an FBI sting involving an informant who posed as an al-Qaida operative, authorities said Friday.

Federal prosecutors said the men - who operated out of a warehouse in Miami's blighted Liberty City section - took an oath to al-Qaida and plotted to create an "Islamic Army" bent on violence against the United States. Five of those arrested are U.S. citizens.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales stressed that there was no immediate threat in either Chicago or Miami because the group did not have explosives or other materials it was seeking.

"This group was more aspirational than operational," FBI Deputy Director John Pistole said.

Nevertheless, Gonzales said Thursday's arrests underscored the danger of "homegrown terrorists" who "view their home country as the enemy."

Those arrested ranged in age from 22 to 32 and included a legal immigrant from Haiti and a Haitian who was in this country illegally. Investigators said all members of the alleged plot were in custody on conspiracy charges.

"We are confident that we have identified every individual who had the intent of posing a threat to the United States," said R. Alexander Acosta, U.S. attorney in Miami.

Five of the defendants, including alleged ringleader Narseal Batiste, appeared in federal court in Miami on Friday under heavy security. They were brought in and out in single file, chained together at the wrists and wearing ankle chains.

Recent Stories Snow: Program vital to war on terrorism FBI says suspects sought to form own army

"It's an example of the philosophy of prevention. These arrests were made during the talking stage, long before any bomb-making stage," said Kendall Coffey, a former U.S. attorney in Florida. "While they may be seen as bungling wannabes, they are potentially dangerous wannabes who, based on the allegations, were pursuing extremely dangerous plans."

Joseph Phanor, the father of defendant Stanley Grant Phanor, said he did not believe "anything they say about" his son.

"This boy, he's not a violent boy. He never got into trouble. He didn't want to kill people," the elder Phanor said. Court records show that his son was convicted of carrying a concealed firearm in 2002 and sentenced to two years' probation.

Prosecutors said Batiste began recruiting and training the others in November. The FBI learned of the plot from someone the defendants tried to recruit, authorities said. The FBI then arranged for an informant of Arabic descent to pass himself off as an al-Qaida operative.

Batiste met several times in December with the informant and asked for boots, uniforms, machine guns, radios, vehicles and $50,000 to help him build an "Islamic Army," the indictment said.

In February, Batiste told the informant that he and his five soldiers wanted to attend al-Qaida training and planned a "full ground war" against the United States in order to "kill all the devils we can," according to the indictment. His mission would "be just as good or greater than 9/11," it said.

Prosecutors said the men plotted to blow up Chicago's Sears Tower, the tallest building in America, and other buildings such as the FBI offices in North Miami Beach. They were charged with conspiracy to destroy the structures and to wage war against the U.S. government.

Batiste and a co-defendant provided the informant with photographs of the FBI building, as well as video footage of other Miami government buildings, and discussed a plot to bomb the FBI building, the indictment said.

Richard Shultz, professor of International Security at Tufts University in Massachusetts, said that groups such as the one in Miami could pose a threat even if they do not make contact with al-Qaida.

"You don't have to go to Afghanistan like the internationalists did in the 1980s to join the jihadist movement; you can do it from your computer in Miami," he said.

Relatives described the defendants as deeply religious people who studied the Bible and took classes in Islam. The elder Phanor said that his son went to classes on Islam with a friend but that he read the Bible at his father's house.

Phanor's brother Michael said his brother owned a construction company and had been friends with this group for about a year. He said they were trying to do community service in the area where they grew up, studying martial arts to keep in shape and setting a good example for neighborhood kids.

No pleas were entered during Friday's court hearing. A federal magistrate scheduled another hearing for next Friday on whether to release the men on bail. He appointed lawyers for Batiste and the four others who said they could not afford one.

Batiste told the court he was self-employed, a father of four and earned about $30,000 a year, but he provided no details.

A sixth defendant, Lyglenson Lemorin, was arrested in Atlanta and made a court appearance there. Phanor did not appear in court. He was in custody on what authorities said was an unrelated state charge.

In addition to Batiste and Phanor, the defendants were identified as Patrick Abraham, or "Brother Pat"; Naudimar Herrera or "Brother Naudy"; Lemorin, also known as "Brother Levi" or Brother Levi-El"; Burson Augustin, also known as "Brother B"; and Rotschild Augustine, or "Brother Rot."

Officials at the 110-floor Sears Tower said in a statement: "Law enforcement continues to tell us that they have never found evidence of a credible terrorism threat against Sears Tower that has gone beyond criminal discussions."

John Huston, executive vice president of the Sears Tower, said that it was "business as usual" at the building Friday and that attendance was good at the skydeck on the 103rd floor.

Terrorism suspect makes appearance in Atlanta court

Associated Press

ATLANTA - Wearing baggy T-shirt and jeans and ankle chains just above his flip-flops, one of the seven young men arrested in an alleged plot against Chicago's Sears Tower made an appearance Friday in federal court.

Lyglenson Lemorin, also known as ``Brother Levi,'' followed along on a printed indictment as U.S. Magistrate Judge Linda Walker read charges against him, which include swearing an oath of loyalty to al-Qaida and attending a meeting where the bombing of FBI buildings in five cities was discussed.

At the request of public defender Jimmy Hardy, the judge postponed a bond hearing to Thursday for Lemorin. Federal prosecutors requested that Lemorin be held without bond under federal terrorist act provisions.

Lemorin, who had a beard and shoulder-length dreadlocks, showed no emotion as he listened to a reading of the Florida indictment, in which he and the six others are accused of conspiring to support al-Qaida as well as agreeing to provide manpower including themselves to the group to carry out terrorist acts in the United States.

Hardy told reporters that Lemorin had been living with his wife and children in the Atlanta area, where he was working in the clothing industry. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kurt Erskine declined to discuss Lemorin's connection to Atlanta.

Hardy said Miami police had contacted Lemorin and arranged to meet, after which he was arrested. Hardy did not give any further details about where his client was apprehended. The other six were taken into custody in Miami Thursday when authorities swarmed a warehouse.

Lemorin was originally from Haiti, but has lived in the U.S. since he was 11, Hardy said, declining to specify whether he had come to this country illegally.

Asked about the charges in the indictment, Hardy appeared to dismiss them by repeating several times that the only person in the group with declared al-Qaida ties was the FBI informant.

As to his client's reaction to the charges against him, he said, ``He has very serious charges he didn't expect and the normal person would be very concerned.''

All seven individuals including Lemorin and ranging in age from 22 to 32 were indicted Friday by a federal grand jury in Miami. Details of Lemorin's possible extradition to Florida were not discussed in Lemorin's Friday court hearing in Atlanta.

Federal officials identified Narseal Batiste as the group's alleged ringleader. In addition to Batiste and Lemorin, the other defendants were identified as Patrick Abraham, or ``Brother Pat''; Burson Augustin, or ``Brother B''; Stanley Grant Phanor, or ``Brother Sunni''; Naudimar Herrera or ``Brother Naudy''; and Rotschild Augustine, or ``Brother Rot.''

Five are U.S. citizens, one is a legal immigrant from Haiti and the other is a Haitian national who was in this country illegally.

Batiste and four other defendants made their initial appearances in federal court in downtown Miami on Friday. They were brought into and out of the courtroom under heavy security in single file, chained together at the wrists and wearing ankle chains. It was not immediately clear when the seventh man would have his first appearance.

At Lemorin's hearing, his wife, Charlene, declined to talk to the media. But outside the courthouse, she said her husband was innocent of all the allegations against him.

U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales stressed in a Friday news conference that ``there was no immediate threat'' in either Chicago or Miami because the group didn't have the materials it was seeking. FBI Deputy Director John Pistole concurred, saying, ``This group was more aspirational than operational.''

Gonzales outlined the contents of an indictment handed up Thursday, which identified Batiste as having recruited and trained others beginning in November 2005 ``for a mission to wage war against the United States government'' for which they sought help from al-Qaida.

Batiste met several times in December 2005 with a person purporting to be an al-Qaida member and asked for boots, uniforms, machine guns, radios, vehicles and $50,000 in cash to help him build an ``'Islamic Army' to wage jihad','' the indictment said. It said that Batiste said he would use his ``soldiers'' to destroy the Sears Tower.

Gonzales said ``the individual they thought was a member of al-Qaida was present at their meetings and in actuality he was working with the South Florida Joint Terrorism Task Force.''

Associated Press writers Curt Anderson, Kelli Kennedy and John Pain in Miami, and Michael J. Sniffen, Connie Cass and Mark Sherman in Washington contributed to this report.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.