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Via CBS4 in Miami:
After an operation that started about four months ago, the FBI has arrested several suspects of domestic terrorism in a Miami low-income housing project.The arrests took place Thursday afternoon at the Scott Housing Projects in the area of NW 68th street and 15th Avenue. Miami Police officers were seen in the area securing a perimeter for the FBI to carry out their arrests.
Sources tell CBS4 News it is unclear whether weapons or bomb-making materials were found, but those detained are suspected of being involved in planning terrorist activity.
The Miami Herald has more:
FBI officials cordoned off an area in Liberty City on Thursday as part of what FBI Director Robert Mueller called a significant terror-related investigation.Mueller, appearing on CNN’s Larry King Live program, said he couldn’t comment extensively on the investigation, which he said involved both arrest warrants and search warrants.
About 20 FBI agents were on the scene at NW 15th Avenue, between 62nd and 63rd streets.
Authorities aren’t saying much except that the individuals arrested did not pose a threat to the Miami area. No other areas are at risk according to those involved.
It looks like we won’t get much information until Friday since the operation is being characterized as ongoing:
Miami U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta said in a statement that it was an ongoing operation and that more details would be released Friday. Local media was reporting that agents were raiding a warehouse in Miami’s Liberty City section.
Captain Ed speculates:
Domestic terrorism means that the threat involves American citizens. This could be militias, or perhaps enviromental or animal-rights nutcases. It could also have something to do with the Cuban community, but that sounds a bit far-fetched. However, one possibility is the Puerto Rican separatists.
WOW! this is sounding HUGE:
According to sources familiar with the investigation, the group allegedly planned to bomb the FBI building in Miami and the Sears Tower in Chicago.
The group has been under surveillance for some time and was infilitrated by a government informant who allegedly led them to believe he was an Islamic radical. The suspects are described as African Americans and at least one man of Caribbean descent.
Allah has also noticed that CNN is all over this story:
CNN is killing Fox on this, by the way. Nothing at all on FNC.
But with the Sears tower revelation, if accurate, ABC has the lead. That doesn’t go over too well at Speed of Thought though:
I don’t like the fact that ABC is telling us about this now, but I do like the fact that we are going to get these folks
Passionate America says:
We stopped them again…
That would seem to be the case.
They’re calling it homegrown terror but apparently these guys were lead to believe that they were helping a radical Islamic terrorist. That’s frightening.
Dan Riehl is plotting involved locations using MapQuest and Google. Very cool.
Bill Quick has a hunch:
Who could these people possibly be? What could conceivably motivate them?
Here’s a couple of wild-assed guesses: the “citizens” are either naturalized immigrants from the middle east, or part of the immediate families of same, and they share a particular set of religious beliefs that are Islamic in nature.
It’s just too early to tell but early reports seem to support that hunch. We’ll know soon.
CNN broadcast is reporting that one suspect took an “Al Qaeda Oath.” Bill’s hunch is sounding pretty solid. MSNBC has more info on the suspects:
The men — part of a radical Black Muslim group — were planning terror acts in Miami and Chicago, officials say. The planned targets were the Sears Tower in Chicago and a federal building in Miami.
Friday is going to be…interesting.
More on the suspects. They seemed to attract a lot of attention:
Residents near the warehouse said FBI agents spent several hours in the neighborhood showing photos of the suspects and seeking information. They said the men, who appeared to be in their teens or 20s, had lived in the area about a year.Tashawn Rose, 29, said they slept in the warehouse. “They would come out late at night and exercise. It seemed like a military boot camp that they were working on there. They would come out and stand guard.”
She talked to one of them about a month ago.
“They seemed brainwashed. They said they had given there lives to Allah,” Rose said.
She said they tried to recruit her younger brother and nephew for a karate class but it never happened.
“It was weird,” Rose said.
Benjamin Williams, 17, said the group had young children with them sometimes.
“We were under the assumption that they were opening up a garage business,” he said.
He said they wore normal clothes “but sometimes they would cover their faces. Sometimes they would wear things on their heads, like turbans.”
These guys weren’t very slick. Thank god.
Confederate Yankee is scanning the Democratic Underground for insanity…and finding it.
The tin-foil beanies are working overtime tonight:
And they just happened to arrest them today. Uh huh. What’s the matter? A good Orange Alert just doesn’t get out the vote like it used to?
Read the comments where you’ll learn that Karl Rove is behind this…of course.
Rob at Say Anything hopes the Bush administration doesn’t drop the ball on the communications side:
It will be interesting to find out how we got onto these guys. If the stuff the NSA is doing helped in any way it would be in the Bush administration’s best interest to make sure that fact gets out there front and center.
Not saying the NSA was involved, of course, but if they were I hope the guys in the White House play this right.
I’d say that’s a valid concern.
Another angle on this story - CNN broadcast is reporting that one of those arrested is an illegal alien on a visa overstay. I’m telling you Friday is going to be crazy.
Michelle Malkin isn’t surprised:
There have been several black Muslim jihadi plots and prosecutions before and after 9/11.
She reviews some recent cases to support her point.
The Florida Masochist shrugs and goes to bed:
I’m not going to speculate on what was going on in Miami. This news just broke in Miami and the MSM is rushing to find out why it went down. A law enforcement official? That could be the janitor at the FBI office for all we know. Why is the blogosphere so eager to rush in? Hasn’t AP blown it before? Anyone remember the coverage of New Orleans after Katrina?No rush here, I’m going to bed.
My bed was calling too but the corner coffee shop hooked me up with some juice so I might as well keep blogging…
A thank you from PartisanTimes.com:
Today, we owe a debt of gratitude to our intelligence agencies and federal agents. We should also be thankful that these homegrown Jihadists were absolute morons who never stood a chance of carrying out the attacks.
I’ll second that.
I’ll be liveblogging the various press conferences and other aspects of this story during the day Friday. I’m still monitoring it tonight though…
CNN is interviewing “Brother Corey” a member of this odd group. They call themselves the “Seas of David”. He isn’t making a whole lot of sense. “We ain’t not no terrorists…Yes we have soldiers in Chicago.” Just weird. He definitely dodged the reporter when he was asked if the group had any connection to Al Qaeda. My InstaVerdict? Guilty.
Debbie Schlussel say the whole thing reminds her of HBO’s Sleeper Cell. I didn’t catch it.
Friday’s events will be covered in a new post.
Also Blogging:
Instapundit
Little Green Footballs
Outside the Beltway
Wizbang!
The Moderate Voice
Stop the ACLU
The Uncooperative Blogger
Protein Wisdom
Macsmind
The Real Ugly American
Gateway Pundit
Sister Toldjah
Florida Cracker
The Politburo Diktat
My Right Wing Conspiracy
Hugh Hewitt
Jihad Watch
Dean Esmay
Conservative Thinking
Hyscience
Miami Media:
NBC 6
CBS 4
The Miami Herald
Related:
The Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Sears Tower
Wikipedia - Sears Tower
Video - Observation deck of the Sears Tower.
Related Content by Sphere
More Blogs of War:
Miami Terror Cell’s Sears Tower Plot - Day 2
Miami-Dade Police Testing UAV
al-Zarqawi Strike Provides ‘huge treasure’
al-Qaeda Terrorist Spoke of Fire Plot
Terrorist Plot Foiled: Mall Attack Planned in Chicago Area
Filed Under:
Terrorism
27 Responses to “Seas of David: Miami Group Busted in Sears Tower Terror Plot”
Readers are solely responsible for the comments they post. Comments do not necessarily reflect the opinion or approval of Blogs of War or John Little.
June 23rd, 2006 at 12:46 am
Breaking…
Nice of ABC to warn the terrorists:
(No link yet.)
Update: I don’t like the fact that ABC is telling us about this now, but I do like the fact that we are going to get these folks:
June 22, 2006 — ABC News has learned that federal ag…
June 23rd, 2006 at 12:49 am
Suspected Terrorists Arrested in FL
Breaking news at CBS, and CNN:
WASHINGTON (CNN) — FBI agents were raiding sites in Miami, Florida, on Thursday in connection with a domestic terrorism investigation, law enforcement sources said.
Officials said no weapons or bomb-making materials…
June 23rd, 2006 at 1:11 am
Breaking: Florida Terrorism Raid
Scattered reports of a large terrorism raid in southern Florida are starting to appear in the news.There is no imminent threat to Miami or any other area because of these operations, said Richard Kolko, spokesman for FBI headquarters in Washington.
June 23rd, 2006 at 1:35 am
“Who could these people possibly be?”
I think it goes without saying that they come from a broad strata of American society.
(Or at least some people will feel the need to say that.)
June 23rd, 2006 at 1:45 am
Terror Cell Broken In Miami
The FBI has conducted a raid in Miami and made several arrests. The raids are being considered counterterrorism and that law enforcement has infiltrated a cell that thought it was plotting terrorism in conjunction with al Qaeda.
June 23rd, 2006 at 1:49 am
Maybe it was Sharpton and Jackson on another corporate extortion racket exercise. Maybe some executive got tired of it and ratted them out….heh
June 23rd, 2006 at 2:29 am
Accused Terrorists Arrested In Miama
Supposedly planning to target the Sears Tower in Chicago. Gateway Pundit has preliminary details.
Press conference tomorr…
June 23rd, 2006 at 2:51 am
Homegrown terrorists (Or Rushing on in)
This news just broke in Miami and the MSM is rushing to find out why it went down. A law enforcement official? That could be the janitor at the FBI office for all we know. Why is the blogosphere so eager to rush in? Hasn’t AP blown it before? Anyone …
June 23rd, 2006 at 3:41 am
Knee-jerk conspiracy theory: These aren’t real terrorists. These are CIA plants who are really “missing” from Gitmo. The government just needed a public “win” so it could continue shoving Big Brother legislation down our throats. Now they can say, “See, see! We told you that you’re not safe. Give us more money. Stop complaining about your civil liberties. We’re the government and we’re here to protect you. Trust us.”
OR NOT…
June 23rd, 2006 at 4:07 am
When asked by the CNN reporter if his group was affiliated with Al Qaida Brother Corey said he didn’t want to release any information.
When asked a second time he said members of his group were not terrorists but all kinds are welcome.
June 23rd, 2006 at 4:30 am
It only takes two words to describe who they are, Black-Islam. Add any race but you’ll always have Islam as the culpit. Time to tell these folks we enjoy freedom of religion (except the lefties favorite ACLU losers) and we have decided that Islam does not qualify as a religion. Barbaric animals can’t pollibly be counted as humans much less a religion. Yep, three years ago i thought nothing of Islam, now i don’t trust anyone connected with the ‘religion of torture and slaughter’.
I posted last night and this morning that if you live in or near a large city, move, especially if you have children you care anything about. Didn’t take long for the warning to bear fruit. The religion of peace has no morals. To satisfy the left Old do nothing Bush should have let this one slip by to see how fast the Sears tower would hit the ground. The 500 non-existant (democrat rant) WMD packages found in Iraq aren’t close to all of it. With help from the ‘help the criminals across the border lefties’ a lot of it is already in the country waiting to be used. Wanna bet it isn’t?
June 23rd, 2006 at 4:52 am
Huge Terror Raid Going On In Florida - Related To Sears Tower Plot
If your are thinking that these terrorists are of a particular religious persuasion, you’re right. And whoever the hell this “Allah” guy is, he’s certainly associated with a hell of a lot of terrorism, hate, and intolerance on our planet!
June 23rd, 2006 at 5:27 am
Terrorist group arrested in Miami
[LINK] Blogs of War[LINK] MSNBC The men — part of a radical Black Muslim group — were planning terror acts in Miami and Chicago, officials say. The MSM should develop the story further
June 23rd, 2006 at 12:48 pm
Liberty City Terrorist Arrests
Lots of buzz around the blogosphere about yesterday afternoon’s arrest of seven terror suspects here in Miami. Michelle Malkin has a great round-up, as does Allah at Hot Air, Gateway Pundit and Blogs of War. I dont have much to…
June 23rd, 2006 at 1:05 pm
Crazies making crazies
Here we go. The FBI blow-torch raid and arrests of the Karate Seven down here in South “Flaw-duh” has launched the right wing crazy boat online.
June 23rd, 2006 at 1:21 pm
Hey There,
My name is Karen Shacham and I work with CNN Pipeline in Atlanta.
I thought you might be interested to know that CNN Pipeline will be featuring FBI Director Robert Mueller giving a speech to the City Club of Cleveland regarding home grown terrorism. He is expected to have a short press conference afterwards. Both will be LIVE on CNN Pipeline at 12PM ET.
CNN Pipeline is an online, commercial-free, multiple live-news feed. It showcases four simultaneous news feeds from around the world and an on-demand function that allows you to select from a variety of news stories.
Please let your members know that they can go to http://www.cnn.com and click on the CNN Pipeline link to watch it *live* and get a two week free trial.
Thanks,
Karen
June 23rd, 2006 at 1:35 pm
Seven terrorist gang leaders arrested in Sears T..
From the looks of things, this appears to have been a local militia-style gang as well. Worse, some of them may have been homegrown too, but certainly in their teens and twenties. From the AP Wire:
June 23rd, 2006 at 2:13 pm
Liberty City 7 terror plot foiled
While I was out the FBI and Miami authorities busted a terror cell in Miami. Yeah, I know, I was AFK through the initial reports downplaying the jihad connection. The press keeps saying “homegrown” terrorists, but most were naturalized immigrants wit…
June 23rd, 2006 at 2:47 pm
Neighboring Miami Terrorists Arrested Right Here
Right here in my backyard basically, in Miami, here in south Florida, more Islamic terrorists, homegrown or not, seven arrested in a raid. We had several of the 9/11 hijackers residing and training here including the Al-Qaeda’s ringleader Moham ……
June 23rd, 2006 at 3:07 pm
Diligence
I’ve worried for some time about a hook-up between al Qaeda and the more radical branches of the black Muslim movement. I thought about it during the riots in France and I think about it whenever I remember the Black Panthers who were about during m…
June 25th, 2006 at 3:50 am
Geez…by this route the FBI and Homeland Security can ultimately round-up 200,000 suspected terrorists by next weekend.
This is roughly the number of disillusioned young males you can find, on any given day and in any given inner-city, talking tough trash about blowing things up and killing people.
I think Homeland Security has done a great job since its inception, but we should not be prosecuting people just for talking and acting tough. That, in itself, is un-American.
June 25th, 2006 at 6:07 am
Muslim? Jihad? Give me a break.
1) They got together for bible studies.
2) They were caught at a Masonic Lodge.
3) Their group is called “The Seas of David.”
4) They wear Stars of David on their uniforms.
5) They haven’t proclaimed themselves to be Muslim.
6) They worshipped at a “temple,” not a Mosque.
If anything, they seem to be some kind of radical black Christian cult.
They are also Haitian, not Arab.
How someone could associate “Islam” and “Jihad” with these guys is fascinating. But hey, it makes for better news, doesn’t it?
June 25th, 2006 at 4:48 pm
THe thing about the media is that words “ISLAM” and “TERRORIST” make a good sell. Please dont fall for the deceptive media… if you believe everything without further investigating the evidence and legitimacy of the information, then you are an average stupid american living in a box.
The person who was resposible for the construction of the Sears Tower was a MUSLIM for crying out loud. Using anti-islam logic, i guess ALLAH is responsible for making really tall bulidings (i.e. sears tower and petronas towers in malaysia).
June 26th, 2006 at 7:22 am
give me a break! these guys were’nt going to do an-y-thing!!! but it sure looks good to see that we’re stopping homegrown terrorism in it’s tracks.
a nut job, disillusioned, fringe group, with no weapons, no means, led into entrapment by someone claiming they were with al-queada. perfect patsies. no threat here at all!
June 26th, 2006 at 7:39 am
they were’nt even muslims!!!
don’t believe the hype people.
June 27th, 2006 at 3:17 am
Wow…the ignorance in SOME of these posts is amazing. They were Christian…do your research. So how does that make you feel now? a little uneasy?? read a book, enlighten your mind, and get out of the little bubble you live in.
August 5th, 2006 at 9:19 pm
The miami media is a bunch of racist dogs. They will report on anything negative about Black Miami.Sure we have our problems, but we are also trying to iron them out. The media will not report on the curruption in the federal court systems that violate Black rights to a fair and inpartial trial. The media and congressional representatives will not help to expose, correct, or ensure equal justice is had. Why would’t you believe that many Black American may seek assistance from others, which may include terrorist organigation, to receive their basic human and civil rights, when peaceful attempts fails? Wouldn’t you fight with all available means for your freedom ?