FBI foils terrorist plot in NYC

[madbrian]

Posted: 5/21/09 at 8:41am

Various media sources are reporting that the FBI arrested four people in a plot to blow up a synagogue in the Riverdale section of the Bronx. They also planned to shoot USAF planes down with Stinger missiles. The reports make no mention of any forms of torture being used to catch these people.

All done without torture

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 5/21/09 at 9:04am

i'm torn. on one hand i am heartened to see that terror plots that prior to 1/20/09 would have been dismissed as versions of the apple dumpling gang or brutal violations of the civil rights of american citizens in service to a nefarious plot to terrify the american people are now being taken seriously. on the other, i am incredulous that they being touted as evidence that a smile, a warm embrace and a heartfelt "i'm sorry that america is the worst country on earth. we'll do better, we pormise. would you like to kill some of our citizens to make up for our past evil deeds?" are all that are needed to protect america from terrorists.

but it is sure funny to see how things change when it's your side that stands to benefit from how a story is spun. kinda like the deadly serious and narrowly averted plot to assassinate obama by getting drunk and ramming his limo in a car covered with white power slogans. i hear those guys are still out there and they make al qaeda look like girl scouts.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 5/21/09 at 10:01am

It was actually two synagogues. The airport where the planes would have flown from is near my hometown.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 5/21/09 at 10:08am

The Riverdale Temple was my mother and father's synagogue, where their funerals were held.



During the last High Holy Days before my father died of Lou Gehrig's Disease, the rabbi asked if he would be in the procession with the Torah. My father had been very popular at the synagogue, he made people laugh a lot and he had served on the board through some difficult financial times. And they had loved my mother even more--so many people attended her funeral, they had to open up the back door and put extra chairs in.

During the procession, the rabbi and the cantor walk around the aisles of the synagogue with someone carrying the Torah scroll, and everyone in the congregation is supposed to lean in and touch the decorative outer cloth of the scroll with a fingertip or the tip of their prayerbook, and then kiss their finger or the book.

My father hadn't been to the synagogue in many months, and he could no longer move his arms or his legs, so they put the Torah scroll in his lap and I wrapped his arms around it. He clung to that heavy scroll with the little strength he still had, desperately afraid it would fall to the ground.

I pushed him in the wheelchair and a gasp slowly rolled through through the congregation as old friends realized "Skitch" was back. Instead of touching the cloth of the Torah, they all touched him. He was not a man to cry in public--or to cry at all--but the ALS had weakened all his muscles and nerves, and he couldn't hold back. He also couldn't lift an arm to wipe his tears. I couldn't either, without stopping the wheelchair and the procession. When we handed the Torah back to the rabbi and got back to where we were sitting, his face and collar were drenched with tears.

That was the last time he attended the Riverdale Temple. The last time I attended was his funeral.

Updated On: 5/21/09 at 10:08 AM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/21/09 at 10:10am

To me, the devil's in the details. To be informed of what the plot actually was and who the guys actually are makes me feel as if I am being treated like a grown-up citizen and not a child who is meant to be satisfied by "oh we stopped something, and it was BAD, you wouldn't believe it" vagaries.

Like Mr. Rogers said (and Bette Midler reiterated): "I like to be told."
Federal Complaint

[Gothampc]

Posted: 5/21/09 at 10:12am

I can't tell from the article. Were these people Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, Wiccan, Atheist? Hmm, I can't think of who would want to incite terrorism in the US.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/21/09 at 10:13am

Like that famous Buddhist Timothy McVeigh?

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 5/21/09 at 10:15am

PJ, that's a beautiful story.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/21/09 at 10:21am

Yes, gorgeous.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 5/21/09 at 10:26am

yeah, like these ones that were shrouded in mystery. i would link to how they were recieved at the time, but you can't search back beyond 2006 on bww. talk about revisionist...
there is no terror, it's all in your minds

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 5/21/09 at 10:27am

PJ, I hadn't realized it was that synagogue!

[PalJoey]

Posted: 5/21/09 at 10:56am

Reginald was at both funerals. I put that picture there so you'd recognize it, Reg.

I think Namo's point is important. As a sometime-student of mideast and near-east politics and culture, I fully believe that there were indeed plots that were stopped by the Bush Administration in the years after 9/11, as there will be plots in the future.

But the way this information is being shared with the public--including the clear information that these four men are "home-grown" Americans and that this plot was NOT connected to Al Qaeda--is more responsible than the way such information was shared from 2001 through 2008.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 5/21/09 at 11:02am

Here's the article from the Riverdale Press blog today:
Bombing Attempt Foiled at Riverdale Temple

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 5/21/09 at 11:03am

uh huh. say, these guys are not members of any organized religion are they?

[PalJoey]

Posted: 5/21/09 at 11:06am

Reg--this Daily News article quotes Rabbi Franklin.





Bronx terror plot 'shocking,' says rabbi in Riverdale

Updated On: 5/21/09 at 11:06 AM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 5/21/09 at 11:09am

Newsday has photographs:




FBI officials and the NYPD arrested four men in connection with plots to bomb Jewish temples. (WNBC TV / May 20, 2009)




James Cromitie, the alleged mastermind of a New York terror plot, is escorted out of the FBI offices after being taken into custody. Four men were arrested for an alleged plot to bomb the Riverdale Temple and the nearby Riverdale Jewish Center, according to the U.S. Attorney's office. The men also wanted to use surface-to-air missiles to fire at U.S. military planes, according to a criminal complaint filed. (Photo by Patrick Andrade / May 21, 2009)



David Williams is escorted out of the FBI offices after being taken into custody. Four men were arrested for an alleged plot to bomb the Riverdale Temple and the nearby Riverdale Jewish Center, according to the U.S. Attorney's office. The men also wanted to use surface-to-air missiles to fire at U.S. military planes, according to a criminal complaint filed in White Plains, New York. (Photo by Patrick Andrade / May 21, 2009)



Onta Williams is seen seated in a police car after being taken out from a federal building. Four men were arrested for an alleged plot to bomb the Riverdale Temple and the nearby Riverdale Jewish Center, according to the U.S. Attorney's office. The men also wanted to use surface-to-air missiles to fire at U.S. military planes, according to a criminal complaint filed in White Plains, New York. (AP Photo / May 21, 2009)

Updated On: 5/21/09 at 11:09 AM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 5/21/09 at 11:14am

The Times blog has some fascinating quotes from Cromitie's sister.
Police Detail Disruption of Terror Plot

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 5/21/09 at 11:15am

well, unlike some people who turn facist depending on who is in the white house, i am glad to see that there are still those who believe that these silly terrorist plots are nothign serious and would not happen without the help of the evil fbi.
tpm stays true to their faith

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/21/09 at 11:27am

Now that's a pull quote:

Ms. Cromitie said she did not believe her brother was a Muslim, but noted that many inmates convert to Islam in prison. ?They do a little time in jail and they don?t eat pork no more,? she said.

And I know this is off-topic and cheapening our cause and I know he's a douchetool, but I just wanna rub my hands all over Ray Kelly's buzzcut.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 5/21/09 at 11:27am

And this opening graf of the Times article is encouraging:

A group of Jewish and Muslim leaders have scheduled a 1 p.m. news conference at the Islamic Cultural Center of New York, one of the city?s largest mosques, to condemn violence.

Imam Muhammad Shamsi Ali, the spiritual leader of the mosque, on East 96th Street near Third Avenue, and Rabbi Marc Schneier, president of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding and founding rabbi of The New York Synagogue, are to attend. "We call upon Muslim leaders to stand firm against the forces of evil," Imam Ali said.

Rabbi Schneier said in a statement: "It is reassuring to hear the voices of Muslim leaders speaking out in solidarity with the Jewish community and unequivocally condemning acts of terrorism and violence."

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/21/09 at 11:28am

Agreed.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 5/21/09 at 11:29am

Namo, I bet Ray's son the newscaster would let you rub his head...

Updated On: 5/21/09 at 11:29 AM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/21/09 at 11:40am

That assertion is useless without a link!

[PalJoey]

Posted: 5/21/09 at 11:57am

Greg Kelly, co-host of Fox 5's "Good Day New York"

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 5/21/09 at 12:07pm

Here's a fansite, with Greg in fatigues and stuff:

http://www.mindspring.com/~jdpnlp/