The FBI has once again, established the “fact” (or made a poor attempt to) that “terrorists” are out to bomb the Sears Tower.
Funny how these kids were allegedly going to blow up the Sears and the Miami FBI office. Where was the informant operating out of? Miami? Who’s now in charge of the investigation? FBI Miami?
• Note that, today, Cheney is in Chicago and Mayor Daley is in California meeting with the Olympic committee.
NBC News and news services
MIAMI - Seven men were charged Friday with conspiring to work with al-Qaida to blow up Chicago’s Sears Tower and a federal building. Court documents obtained by NBC News said the ringleader boasted of wanting to “kill all the devils we can” in a mission “just as good or greater than 9/11.”
The seven individuals indicted by a federal grand jury were taken into custody Thursday when authorities swarmed a Miami warehouse that had been used by a Black Muslim group. The indictment alleges the suspects planned to blow up Sears Tower and a federal building in Miami in conjunction with the al-Qaida terrorist network.
According to the court documents, a man identified as Narseal Batiste was the recruiter who wanted to organize “soldiers” to build an Islamic army to wage holy war.
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The others were identified as Patrick Abraham, Stanley Grant Phanor, Naudimar Herrera, Burson Augustin, Lyglenson Lemorin, and Rotschild Augustine.
Batiste allegedly met last December in a hotel room with someone posing as a representative of al-Qaida — someone law enforcement officials say was actually an agent of a country friendly to the United States.
The indictment states that Batiste initially asked for “boots, uniforms, machine guns, radios, and vehicles,” as well as $50,000 in cash, to help him build an “Islamic Army to wage jihad.”
In February, according to the indictment, Batiste told the foreign agent that he wanted him and his men to attend an al-Qaida training camp so as to “kill all the devils we can” in a mission he said “would be just as good or greater than 9/11″ — beginning with the destruction of the Sears Tower.
Later, the group allegedly added the federal office building in Miami that houses the FBI.
All members of the group swore allegiance to al-Qaida, the indictment stated.
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Read the entire indictment (Requires PDF reader)
The informant’s ability to track the group from its early stages had neutralized the threat.
“There is no imminent threat to Miami or any other area because of these operations,” said Richard Kolko, spokesman for FBI headquarters in Washington. He declined further comment.
One source said the suspects had been trying to buy weapons and other things needed to carry out attacks. Ammonium nitrate, a fertilizer compound that can also be used as an explosive, was reportedly among the items.
U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is scheduled to hold a news conference Friday to discuss the arrests. A news conference also will be held in Miami.
‘Like military boot camp’
Neighbors who lived nearby said young men, who appeared to be in their teens and 20s, slept in the warehouse, running what looked like a militaristic group. They appeared brainwashed, some said.
“They would come out late at night and exercise,” said Tashawn Rose. “It seemed like a military boot camp that they were working on there. They would come out and stand guard.”
Residents living near the warehouse said the men taken into custody described themselves as Muslims and had tried to recruit young people to join their group. Rose said they tried to recruit her younger brother and nephew for a karate class.
She said she talked to one of the men about a month ago. “They seemed brainwashed,” she said. “They said they had given their lives to Allah.”
Residents said FBI agents spent several hours in the neighborhood showing photos of the suspects and seeking information. They said the men had lived in the area for about a year.
Benjamin Williams, 17, said the group sometimes had young children with them. At times, he added, the men “would cover their faces. Sometimes they would wear things on their heads, like turbans.”
A man who called himself Brother Corey and claimed to be a member of the group told CNN late Thursday that the individuals worship at the building and call themselves the “Seas of David.”
He dismissed any suggestion that the men were contemplating violence. “We are peaceful,” he said. He added that the group has “soldiers” in Chicago but is not a terrorist organization.
Xavier Smith, who attends the nearby United Christian Outreach, said the men would often come by the church and ask for water.
“They were very private,” said Smith.
Sears Tower
Managers of the Sears Tower, the nation’s tallest building, said in a statement they speak regularly with the FBI and local law enforcement about terror threats and that Thursday “was no exception.”
Security at the 110-floor Sears Tower, a Chicago landmark, was ramped up after the Sept. 11 attacks, and the 103rd-floor skydeck was closed for about a month and a half.
“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,” the statement said.
The warehouse owner declined comment. “I heard the news just like you guys,” George F. Mobassaleh told the AP. “I can’t talk to you.”
South Florida has been linked to several terrorism investigations in the past. Several of the Sept. 11 hijackers lived and trained in the area, including ringleader Mohamed Atta and several plots by Cuban Americans against the government of Fidel Castro have also been based in Miami.
Jose Padilla, a former resident once accused of plotting to detonate a radioactive bomb in the country, is charged in Miami with being part of a North American terror support cell to al-Qaida and other violent Islamic extremist organizations. He has been in federal custody since 2002 and is scheduled for trial in September.
Padilla was originally designated an “enemy combatant” and held for three years without charge by the Bush administration shortly after his May 2002 arrest at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.
NBC News’ Pete Williams, Jim Popkin, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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