Free Republic

Homegrown terrorist Jeffrey Leon Battle considered America the “land of the kaffirs,” or unbelievers, and the American people “pigs.” He once lamented to an acquaintance—who happened to be a government informant—that the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks did not sufficiently damage the U.S. economy. “This is the land of the enemy,” he said of his own country in a May 8, 2002, conversation secretly recorded by the government. He explained to a friend how his “burning desire” to become an Islamic martyr had inspired his aborted quest to join forces with al Qaeda in Afghanistan, where he could kill American...

PORTLAND -- The final two defendants in the alleged terrorist cell known as the "Portland Seven" have pleaded guilty and agreed to serve 18 years in federal prison. Patrice Ford and Jeffrey Battle were among seven Portland area residents who had been charged with plotting to wage war against the United States. The charge carried a maximum sentence of 20 years and a $250,000 fine. They had initially also been charged with money laundering, supporting terrorism and other offenses. Four others had earlier pleaded guilty. The pleas came during a hearing when defense attorneys had intended to challenge evidence gathered...

PORTLAND, Ore.--Attorneys for two American Muslims charged with conspiring to wage war against the United States have asked a federal judge to throw out evidence gathered under the FBI's new spy powers in the Patriot Act. The attorneys could not offer specific arguments for why the evidence should be dismissed, because the government has classified affidavits that explain its reasons for collecting the information. The attorneys asked to suppress 36 secret warrants that allowed the FBI to electronically intercept 271 conversations and bug the Portland-area home of at least one of seven defendants. FBI agents arrested the members of the...

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- A federal grand jury has indicted seven people from the Portland area accused of conspiring to join the al-Qaida and Taliban terrorist organizations to wage war on the United States in Afghanistan. Six people were charged last fall and the seventh, Maher "Mike" Hawash, was taken into custody as a material witness last month before he was charged. The indictment lists Hawash along with Jeffrey Battle, Patrice Lumumba Ford, brothers Ahmed and Muhammad Bilal, Habis al Saoub and October Martinique Lewis. All but al Saoub are in federal custody. The indictment issued Friday supersedes previous indictments...