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They say now that they only pledged loyalty to Al-Qaeda to get money. From Associated Press:
Statements given to the FBI by seven Miami men accused of plotting to destroy Chicago's Sears Tower and other buildings show that some didn't believe the talk of joining up with al Qaeda and others from the Liberty City neighborhood were motivated by money rather than Islamic radicalism.Some were clearly bewildered by what had happened to them. One of those arrested in June 2006 even asked the FBI agents interrogating him whether he could have some of the marijuana he had been carrying, according to the statements filed recently in federal court.
That defendant, 23-year-old Naudimar Herrera, asked for ''a rub of my green'' after the agents showed him a videotape of the group swearing loyalty to al Qaeda and its leader, Osama bin Laden, at the direction of an FBI informant the men knew as Mohammed.
''Herrera said that he needed the substance to calm his nerves. . . . Herrera was provided with a bottle of water to drink and was allowed to take a restroom break,'' an FBI summary said.
The same files said the men allegedly honed their battle skills with paintball drills in the woods outside of Miami.
The FBI statements by six group members are key pieces of evidence in a case scheduled to go to trial this fall. The group, known as the ''Liberty City Seven,'' has been in custody since their arrests over a year ago on charges of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists and conspiring to wage war against the United States.
Prosecutors say they discussed blowing up the Sears Tower and destroying FBI offices and other buildings in Miami, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Washington. Authorities have said their purported plot never moved beyond the preliminary stages and the group never possessed explosives or other weapons to carry it out, but insist the men were serious about their intentions....
In the statements, some of the group members appear to play down their roles or minimize what they knew about the purported bombing plots. The alleged ringleader, 33-year-old Narseal Batiste, told the FBI that he only played along with joining al Qaeda so he could extort as much as $50,000 from Mohammed.
''Batiste stated that during his relationship with Mohammed that he agreed to blow up buildings, but that was not his intention,'' the summary said.
Much of the evidence consists of FBI audio and video surveillance, including the al Qaeda allegiance or bayat ceremony staged by Mohammed on March 10, 2006, at a warehouse the group used as a headquarters.
''I thought it was a joke, and I didn't take it serious,'' Rotschild Augustine, 23, said in a written statement to the FBI. ``I felt as though we were all manipulated and [forced] to do things that didn't feel right. . . . I'm just mad I even ended up meeting with these people and getting me and the rest of us into this situation and being fooled.''
Another defendant, 32-year-old Lyglenson Lemorin, told FBI agents he grew ''fearful'' after the ceremony and that he 'knew nothing good would come from this. Lemorin has seen al Qaeda on TV and advised that `they do killing' and that he does not want to be associated with that,'' according to an FBI summary.
Well, at least that much is true. Nothing good would or could have come from it.
Posted by Robert at July 9, 2007 6:17 PM
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honed their battle skills with paintball drills in the woods
these cowardly islamists hone their skills by hitting trees so they can attack unarmed civilians at that, what a bunch of cowards the whole pack of them. send them to Gitmo or dump them over the sea and let their demon allah save them.
Posted by: ZenaWarriorPrincess![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jihadwatch.org/nav-commenters.gif)
at July 9, 2007 6:38 PM
These guys are numbnutz. The FBI should go after real terrorists
Posted by: dennisw at July 9, 2007 6:42 PM
Too bad. Ride with an outlaw, die with an outlaw. They deserve to be punished severely.
Posted by: atheling at July 9, 2007 7:00 PM
They say the "doctors" in the UK were amateurs.
Looks like these are in a similar league.
Let's hope more and more of them don't succeed and get caught and punished as they deserve it.
Posted by: Gramfan at July 9, 2007 7:17 PM
Are they even muslims? Some of their names aren't much help...
I don't care if they were just stupid dopeheads playing with fire - everyone needs to know that this stuff is serious, so they should be prosecuted. Any terrorist could say 'I didn't really mean it'.
Posted by: Lili at July 9, 2007 7:21 PM
". . . group swearing loyalty to al Qaeda and its leader, Osama bin Laden, at the direction of an FBI informant the men knew as Mohammed."
The FBI needs to be careful with how they handle this case; "at the direction of an FBI informant" sounds like this could be entrapment.
at July 9, 2007 7:54 PM
Even incompetents can be dangerous. Many common criminals are flat out stupid, but stupid and mean can be a dangerous combination. They only have to get it right once.
Posted by: MP at July 9, 2007 8:07 PM
Haven’t these guys been paying attention? Have they not seen the recent beatdowns of potential terrorists by middle aged and even older guys? These guys that are too old to join the military but not too old to beatdown an idiot islamist are showing the way, setting an example for the younger guys and that is good for us. Soon our youth who have been temporarily subdued by pcbs will start to fight back. They will say, hey, look at those older guys, are we going to sit here and be outdone by a bunch of duffers? Go gettum boys!
Posted by: tgusa at July 9, 2007 9:02 PM
Well gee, I guess that about clears it up! Taqiyya!
Posted by: MZ at July 9, 2007 9:36 PM
Stupid?
Only as stupid as their pedophile thieving leader.
Who convinced countless suckers that an angel gave him the right to rape, steal, pillage, lie, murder and conquer the world.
Stupid can be mighty deadly if allowed to run loose...
Posted by: profitsbeard at July 9, 2007 10:39 PM
Rusty, heck yeah!
On the air he’s a terrorist nightmare. Hey that’s his intro don’t blame me just because it is cornie.
Rusty video in London, http://www.talktorusty.com/.
Shocker for Rusty, they really want to kill us! No duh Rusty but thanks for getting your head out of your arse before it is too late.
at July 9, 2007 10:45 PM
That defendant, 23-year-old Naudimar Herrera, asked for ''a rub of my green'' after the agents showed him a videotape of the group swearing loyalty to al Qaeda and its leader, Osama bin Laden, at the direction of an FBI informant the men knew as Mohammed.
''Herrera said that he needed the substance to calm his nerves. . .
since this statement was made
PM Brown refuses to link terrorist (jihad) and muslims
Bush takes off shoes and prays with reps from the ROP
Madrassass to be built in Afghanistan w/ US tax dollars
Rice tells Sunnis and Shia they are going to have to just overcome their little schoolyard spat
...and this guy needs his nerves calmed.
I'd like some of that green to rub for myself. But I promise...I will NOT inhale.
at July 9, 2007 11:34 PM
Preparing for their "quiet introspective struggle" by target practicing with paintguns. Right.
Posted by: special_guest at July 10, 2007 2:19 AM
...these black terrorist wannabees certainly made no attempt to contact authorities to report the "terrorist recruiter"....They chose instead to take a terrorist oath to known terrorist leaders.....This clearly shows me what their intentions were.....
he says:
"I'm just mad I even ended up meeting with these people and getting me and the rest of us into this situation and being fooled.''
....."they" did not get you into the situation "you did"...and if you were fooled...well, apparently that was the easy part...
...never forget...Muslims and terrorists lie...the Qur'an permits it and the AL-Qaeda manuel gives instructions to do so, especially if captured.....
Islam is for losers....Ban Muslim immigration...
Posted by: exsgtbrown at July 10, 2007 5:50 AM
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