Operation Arabian Knight

On June 5, 2010, in a covert anti-terrorism operation named "Operation Arabian Knight", Mohamed Mahmood Alessa and Carlos "Omar" Eduardo Almonte, two Muslim men from New Jersey,^[1][2] were arrested at Kennedy International Airport in New York City.^[3] The men had attempted to board separate flights to Egypt, and, according to the affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, planned to travel from Egypt to Somalia to join an Al Qaeda-linked terrorist group based in Somalia.^[4] They were bound for Somalia, having allegedly planned to join an Islamic terrorist group, Al-Shahab, with the stated intention of killing American troops.^[5][6][7] They were charged with conspiring to kill, maim, and kidnap people outside the U.S.^[5][6][7]

The arrests followed those of other radicalized American citizens charged with terrorism-related offenses, known as homegrown terrorists, such as Faisal Shahzad, charged in the failed Times Square bombing, and Nidal Malik Hasan, the Fort Hood shooter.^[5][6][7]

The two were denied bail, and a preliminary hearing was set for June 21 on the charges they face.^[8] On October 18, 2010, a federal judge gave their lawyers time to "attempt to finalize a plea agreement."^[9]

Investigation

The covert investigation of the two, known as "Operation Arabian Knight", had begun in October 2006 as two separate probes after the FBI (on its website) and New Jersey Homeland Security detectives received separate tips about the two men.^{[3][10][11][12][13][14]} The name of the operation came from Alessa’s computer records, in which he had referred to himself and Almonte as "Arabian knights."^[3] They became the subjects of U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court-approved physical surveillance.^[3]

Arrests

The two men checked in at John F. Kennedy International Airport and – thinking they would be less conspicuous traveling apart – were preparing to board separate connecting flights to Cairo, Egypt, one the 6:30 p.m. Boeing 777 flight on Egyptair Flight 986 out of Terminal 4, the other a 9:55 p.m. Boeing 767 flight on Delta Air Lines Flight 84 out of Terminal 3.^[3][15] From there they planned to travel to Somalia by boat, to join Al-Shahab.^{[7][15][16][17][18][19]} The terminals, however, had a number of FBI agents and other members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force dressed as travelers.^[3]

They were allowed to make it to the jetway boarding ramps before they were apprehended.^[10] Federal prosecutors had insisted that they be allowed to go to the airport, and begin the boarding process, to limit the chance they could later say they had abandoned their plans.^[10] It also increased the possibility the Federal Bureau of Investigation could hear any last-minute phone calls the men might make before boarding their flights.^[15] Authorities wanted to ensure that passengers wouldn’t see the arrests, out of concern that the sight of bearded. dark-skinned men being arrested at the airport might cause panic.^[3] Authorities decided that the quietest, smallest place for each arrest would be at the end of the jetway, by the emergency door, and that cars would await below.^[3]

As each suspect walked down the passageway from the gate to the plane, passengers behind him were held up.^[3] Out of sight of those on the plane and those waiting to board, each was confronted by federal agents.^[3] Alessa put up a fight, was pushed into a jetway wall, and suffered a red welt on his left temple and cuts on his face before he was handcuffed.^[3] The arresting officers used the handcuffs of a detective with the state Homeland Security office who had guided the investigation from the start, but had died in July 2009.^[3] He was then brought down the stairs outside, to a waiting security car, and driven away.^[3] The 220-pound Almonte also reportedly resisted arrest, but was similarly apprehended.^[8][18][20]

The arrests were coordinated by the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF). JTTF agents had also gathered near the suspects' New Jersey homes before the arrests, and as soon as the arrests took place dozens of agents raided the two homes, taking away boxes of evidence.^{[3][11][12][13]} Federal counterterrorism officials said the investigation was ongoing, and that more arrests were anticipated.^[21]

Suspects

Mohamed Mahmood Alessa

Carlos Eduardo Almonte (left), and
Mohamed Mahmood Alessa (right)

Alessa, a dual U.S.-Jordanian citizen from North Bergen, New Jersey, born in Jersey City, New Jersey, to Palestinian and Jordanian immigrant parents, was 20 years old at the time of his arrest.^{[6][18][22][23][24][25]} After 9/11, when other families on his block displayed American flags, his home hung a Palestinian flag.^[14][26] A neighbor, Luis Lainez, said: "not ... very patriotic, that puts up a red flag at the end of the day.”^[14]

Alessa reportedly began to tell other children in his Boy Scout group that Osama bin Laden was a hero in his family, and that he wanted to grow up to be a martyr.^[27] When other boys and their parents complained, he was asked to leave the group.^[27] As a teenager, he began to spend time with a gang who called themselves the P.L.O., or the Arabian Knights.^{[6][23][28][29]}

He attended ninth grade at the Al-Huda High School, a private Islamic religious high school in Paterson, New Jersey.^[14] He then transferred to North Bergen High School in December 2004.^[2][30] Within three months, he was placed on administrative "home instruction" with a security officer present for "radicalized behavior that was very threatening," according to a school spokesman.^[14][30][31] In September 2005, he transferred to KAS Prep, an alternative high school for troubled youth in North Bergen, which he attended for one semester, before returning to North Bergen High School in March 2006, where he was again placed on security-officer-supervised home instruction.^[2][14][29] Both North Bergen and KAS Prep alerted the Department of Homeland Security about his escalating series of threats through 2005 and 2006.^[22] The Islamic Center of East Orange asked for and received his transcript in October 2007, but it is not clear whether he attended the school.^[14]

Alessa attended Bergen Community College from the Spring of 2009 through the Spring of 2010.^[32][33] Officials at several schools described him as violent.^[34]

He appeared to be an observant Muslim to neighbors, though one neighbor said he had seen Alessa drink alcohol.^[23] While his beard was generally long, he occasionally shaved it off, according to the neighbor. His landlord said Alessa visited Jordan about two years prior to his arrest, for six months.^[23]

Alessa reportedly said: “They only fear you when you have a gun and when you — when you start killing them, and when you — when you take their head, and you go like this, and you behead it on camera.”^[35] He discussed carrying out a suicide bombing in the U.S., adding: “We’ll start doing killing here, if I can’t do it over there.”^[6][36] And: “Only way I would come back here is if I was in the land of jihad and the leader ordered me to come back here and do something here. Ah, I love that.”^[6]

He allegedly would wield a large knife, and boast to family members that he would kill U.S. agents.^[37] Speaking of Nidal Malik Hasan, who allegedly killed 13 Americans at Fort Hood, he reportedly was recorded saying he would outdo him: "He's not better than me. I'll do twice what he did."^[19] According to court documents he also said: ""A lot of people need to get killed, bro. Swear to God.... My soul cannot rest until I shed blood. I wanna, like, be the world's [best] known terrorist."^[3][32]

His mother said in his defense that: "he's not a terrorist; he's a stupid kid."^[38][39][40]

Carlos "Omar" Eduardo Almonte

Almonte, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Santiago in the Dominican Republic, who has joint U.S.-Dominican citizenship, arrived in the U.S. at the age of five.^[41][42] He was 24 years old at the time of his arrest, and lived in Elmwood Park, New Jersey, where he had graduated from Elmwood Park Memorial High School in 2005.^{[1][6][23][41]} While in high school, he was arrested in 2004 both for aggravated assault, and for weapons possession.^[34][43][44]

He converted to Islam in 2004 (against the wishes of his father), visited mosques in Paterson, New Jersey, and Union City, New Jersey,^[22] renamed himself "Omar", and met Alessa in 2005.^{[3][6][38][45][45][46][47]} At the end of 2006 FBI agents talked with Almonte and a family member, and in March 2007 the FBI conducted a consensual search of his computer, which contained documents advocating jihad.^[32]

His father was so disgusted with him that he stayed home instead of going to his son's hearing, saying: "I'm not supporting anybody that does something wrong."^[48][49]

José Padilla, the Hispanic-American convert to Islam convicted in 2007 of conspiracy to murder, kidnap, and maim, and to materially aid terrorists, and Bryant Neal Vinas, the American son of Peruvian and Argentinean parents who converted to Islam and plead guilty in 2009 to participating in and supporting Al-Qaeda plots, are Islamic converts of Hispanic origin who preceded him in being arrested for terrorism.^[28][29]

"Death to all Juice"

Almonte had posted a photo of himself demonstrating with a large placard, bearing the inscription "Death to all Juice"^[50] (sic), at the 2008 Israel Day Parade in New York City, on his Facebook page noted The Jawa Report.^{[51][52][53][54][55]} At the time of its public release, the photo sparked a debate over whether the man was an illiterate anti-Semite, or a pro-Israel plant trying to make the protesters appear to be illiterate anti-Semites.^[52][56]

True/Slant featured the photo in an article entitled "Meet America's Dumbest Jihadis", with the caption: "Carlos Almonte: The only thing he hates more than Jews is English class".^[57] The New York Daily News discussed the photo in an article entitled: "Jersey jihadist Carlos Almonte is terror at spelling, too".^[58] A supervisor at a New Jersey computer shop at which he worked for more than a year said: "I'm telling you, this kid is not smart."^[59]

Collective activities

The two lived 12 miles apart in New Jersey.^[23] They had been under Federal Bureau of Investigation scrutiny since October 2006.^[6][60] Recordings of them discussing their plans at a number of meetings were made by a New York Police Department undercover officer.^[6]

The two reportedly traveled to Jordan in February 2007, and tried without success to get into Iraq. According to Almonte, they tried unsuccessfully to become mujahedeen to fight against U.S. troops, and were “upset with the individuals who failed to recruit them".^{[6][18][19][61]}

They had simulated combat at an outdoor paintball facility in West Milford, New Jersey, and engaged in tactical training, trained in hand-to-hand combat, and acquired military gear and combat apparel, according to the complaint against them.^{[6][62][63][64][65]} The allegation about their paintball training was similar to the use by the 11 men, convicted of comprising the Virginia Jihad Network, of paintball training to simulate small-unit tactical operations, according to prosecutors.^[63][64][66] It was also reminiscent of the 2007 use of paintball training by five Muslims later convicted of preparing to kill American soldiers in an attack on Fort Dix, New Jersey, officials said.^[64][66][67]

They also were followers of the Islamic Thinkers Society, a radical Islamist group based in New York that often holds joint events with Revolution Muslim; both are offshoots of Al Muhajiroun, a pro-al Qaeda British Islamist extremist group.^[68] CNN posted a photo of them demonstrating in a protest in New York City, a week before their arrests, organized by the Islamic Thinkers Society, with one holding a poster with the slogan, "Exterminate the Zionist Roaches."^[68]

During an ITS protest against the Israeli Day Parade in New York in May 2010, Alessa led a chant with the anti-Jewish slogan, "Khaibar, Khaibar ya Yahud, jaish Muhammad sawfa ya'ud," evoking the Quran's account of a battle between the Prophet Muhammad and the Jews of the town of Khaibar, which resulted in the subjugation of the Jews of Arabia.^[4]

Alessa also attended ITS and RM rallies in Washington, D.C. in March 2010, where he appeared in videos standing next to Zachary Chesser. Chesser has since been arrested and charged for attempting to join Al Shabaab in Somalia.^[69]

They talked about what they said was their obligation to wage violent jihad, expressed a willingness to commit acts of violence in the U.S., and talked of the best ways to chop off their victims' heads, according to the federal complaint.according to the complaint.^[6][70]

Regarding the U.S. soldiers overseas, Almonte reportedly said: "I just want the troops to come back home safely and cozily." "In body bags – in caskets," Alessa said. "In caskets," Almonte agreed. "Sliced up in a thousand pieces, cozy in the grave, in hell," added Alessa.^[71][72]

Inspiration: Anwar al-Awlaki

Anwar al-Awlaki

See also: Anwar al-Awlaki

Authorities said Anwar al-Awlaki's ability to sway young Western men to wage jihad is at the heart of plot by the two New Jersey men.^[73]

The men watched video and audio recordings promoting violent jihad, including lectures by al-Awlaki, who is suspected of inciting Muslims to violence.^[6] Almonte reportedly kept an audio recording of al-Awlaki on his cell phone, in which al-Awlaki lectured about the importance of violent jihad and different types of martyrs, watched a jihadist video in which al-Awlaki justified the killing of civilians in the course of waging violent jihad, and shared with others a pamphlet on jihad by al-Awlaki.^[60][63]

Al-Awlaki has also praised al-Shabab.^[63][74] Authorities said the two men were among a number of U.S. terrorism suspects inspired by al-Awlaki. He is believed to have helped inspire the 2009 Fort Hood shooting, the failed 2009 Christmas Day bombing, the failed 2010 Times Square bombing, and those convicted in the 2007 Fort Dix plot.^[32][75][76]

Charges and plea negotiations

Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center

The suspects were charged with conspiring to kill, maim, and kidnap people outside the U.S.^[6] The same law has been used in the 2010 charging of Colleen LaRose, otherwise known as Jihad Jane.^[67] If convicted, they could each face a sentence of life in prison, and fines of up to $250,000.^[6] Federal prosecutors will reportedly seek life sentences in the case.^[77]

On June 7, 2010, the men appeared before Magistrate Judge Madeline Cox Arleo in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey in Newark, New Jersey.^[8][78][79] Lawyers were appointed to represent them, and a bail hearing was scheduled for June 10, and a preliminary hearing for June 21 on the charges they face.^[8]

On June 10, Magistrate Arleo denied the two men bail, citing the seriousness of the charges against them, the credibility of the evidence, and the risk of flight.^[24][80] They are being held at the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center.^[81]

On October 18, 2010, a federal judge gave their lawyers time to "attempt to finalize a plea agreement."^[9]

Related charges and guilty plea

Mohamed Osman, 19 years old, of Bayonne, New Jersey, pled guilty on September 15, 2010, before Senior U.S. District Judge Dickinson R. Debevoise making materially false statements to members of the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force who were investigating Alessa and Almonte in a matter involving international terrorism. Osman had denied knowing about the two men’s plans. He later admitted that was a lie. He faces a potential eight years in jail and $250,000 fine when he will be sentenced on December 20, 2010.^[82]

Al-Shahab

Al-Shahab flag

The two were seeking to join the violent hard-line Islamic extremist group al-Shahab in Somalia when they were arrested.^[5][7][19] Al-Shahab was designated a terrorist group by the U.S. in 2008.^[83][84] It has several thousand militants, and claims ideological kinship with al-Qaeda.^[85][86] It has recruited hundreds of foreign fighters to help fight a civil war in Somalia, and some of the recruits had been killed.^[5][6][19] Approximately 20 Americans have joined Al-Shabab, and at least six have been killed, according to friends and relatives.^[5]

The group's Islamist ideology calls for amputations and public stonings for violations of Islamic law, and prohibits music and television.^[5] Al-Shabab was also praised by Osama Bin Laden prior to his death in May of 2011. ^[63]

Its leaders have reputedly worked closely with terrorists of al-Qaeda in Yemen and Pakistan.^[5] It is thought to have harbored al-Qaeda terrorists responsible for the 1998 Kenya and Tanzania U.S. embassy bombings.^[6][87]

Sheik Abdirisaq Mohamed Qaylow, a spokesman for the Somalia Ministry of Information, welcomed the arrests of Alessa and Almonte, saying: "Foreign terrorists here are an obstacle to lasting peace in Somalia. So we welcome the move and we are calling on all governments to take such steps against al-Shabab and all terrorists at large".^[88]

Reaction

Bernard Kerik, former New York City Police Commissioner from 2000 to 2001, Secretary of Homeland Security nominee, and now serving a federal prison sentence in Cumberland, Maryland,^[89] blogged that since 9/11 he and several others had predicted that "some of our greatest threats would eventually come from within, from home grown and naturalized citizens who were radicalized and hate this country", and that the arrests of Alessa and Almonte were an example of that.^[90]

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External links

• Criminal Complaint in U.S. v. Alessa, U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey, June 4, 2010
• "Two New Jersey Men Arrested and Charged With Conspiring to Kill Persons Outside the United States — Defendants Allegedly Intended to Join Designated Foreign Terrorist Organization Al Shabaab", Press Release, U.S. Attorney's Office, District of New Jersey, June 6, 2010