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U.S. terror suspects accused of targeting Marine base
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RALEIGH, North Carolina (Reuters) - Two men charged in North Carolina last month with plotting terrorist attacks overseas also planned to attack the U.S. Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia, authorities said on Thursday.
The two were among seven suspects arrested in August for conspiring to provide material support to terrorists and for conspiracy to murder, kidnap, maim and injure people overseas.
A new indictment unveiled on Thursday charged Daniel Patrick Boyd, the group's alleged ringleader, and Hysen Sherifi "with conspiring to murder U.S. military personnel" in connection with the planned assault on the Marine Corps base, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Raleigh said in a statement.
It offered no details, except to say that Boyd had undertaken reconnaissance of Quantico and obtained maps of the base in order to plan the attack.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said Boyd also possessed armor piercing ammunition, and had stated that it was "to attack the Americans."
"These additional charges hammer home the grim reality that today's home-grown terrorists are not limiting their violent plans to locations overseas, but instead are willing to set their sights on American citizens and American targets, right here at home," U.S. Attorney George E.B. Holding said.
All seven suspects in the North Carolina case were denied bail after a hearing in Raleigh last month at which prosecutors played FBI recordings as evidence that they had discussed waging "jihad" as part of a conspiracy to conduct attacks in foreign nations.
The United States has been on heightened security alert since the September 11 attacks in 2001 and authorities have publicized efforts to crush domestic terrorist cells before they have a chance to act.
Prosecutors have said Boyd trained in terrorist camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan from 1989 to 1992, and fought against the Soviets in Afghanistan.
Boyd is a U.S. citizen and Sherifi is a native of Kosovo and a legal permanent resident of the United States.
Feds: NC terror suspects targeted US military
ReplyDeletehttp://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090924/ap_on_re_us/us_nc_terror_arrests
RALEIGH, N.C. – Two North Carolina terrorism suspects plotted to kill U.S. military personnel and one of them obtained maps of a Marine Corps base in Virginia to plan an attack, prosecutors said Thursday.
A superseding indictment returned against Daniel Patrick Boyd and Hysen Sherifi is the first time authorities have said the homegrown terrorism ring had specific targets. Prosecutors said Boyd "undertook reconnaissance" of the base located about 30 miles south of Washington.
"These additional charges hammer home the grim reality that today's homegrown terrorists are not limiting their violent plans to locations overseas, but instead are willing to set their sights on American citizens and American targets, right here at home," U.S. Attorney George Holding said in a statement.
Authorities have previously said the men went on training expeditions in the weeks leading up to their arrest in July, practicing military tactics with armor-piercing bullets on a property in rural North Carolina. Seven men are awaiting trial in the case, and investigators say an eighth suspect is believed to be in Pakistan.
An initial indictment had accused the men of plotting international terrorism and conspiring to support terrorism, and investigators have said some of the men took trips to Jordan, Kosovo, Pakistan and Israel "to engage in violent jihad." There was never any sign that the suspects had considered any targets in the United States.
The new indictment adds charges for conspiring to kill military personnel. It also adds weapons charges for Boyd, Sherifi and Zakariya Boyd.
Prosecutors say Daniel Boyd, a drywall contractor and the father of suspects Zakariya and Dylan Boyd, was the ringleader of the aspiring terrorist group. In lengthy speeches at his home south of Raleigh, he decried the U.S. military, discussed the honor of martyrdom and bemoaned the struggle of Muslims, according to audio tapes played during a detention hearing in August.
The FBI has said agents seized some two dozen guns and more than 27,000 rounds of ammunition from Boyd's home. The superseding indictment says Boyd possessed the armor-piercing ammunition "to attack the Americans," according to the U.S. attorney's office in Raleigh. Prosecutors did not immediately release the complete indictment and did not explain Sherifi's role in planning to kill military personnel.