NY: Little sympathy for unrepentant would-be terrorists

Four men with plans to bomb two NYC synagogues and shoot down U.S. military planes appeared in court yesterday after being arrested on Wednesday night. A federal prosecutor on the case said that the men – far from being repentant – were disappointed they’d missed out on the opp to bomb the World Trade Center.

The cops arrested the foursome (who had been planning and communicating in code) just after they planted heaps of fake explosives in cars in front of the two targeted synagogues in Riverdale. Why the faux bombs? Rest assured it wasn’t because they were being nice. The FBI had a spy on the inside of the ring, who reported on plans and provided the “explosives” for the mission, which he got from the FBI.

Three of the suspects were brought to court first with hands cuffed at their waists. The fourth, Laguerre Payen, who is apparently a Haitian citizen – not American like the others (as earlier reports suggested), came to court later in the day. Even though the suspects’ lawyers did not ask for bail, the prosecution was ready with arguments against it, saying “it’s hard to envision a more chilling plot” and that the men are “extremely violent.” No plea has been entered for the defendants as yet.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Snyder also said that the men were “disappointed…that the best target (the WTC) was hit already” and that they were “eager to bring death to Jews.” According to Counsel Snyder, Cromitie wanted to be able to see the damage he’d done on TV and declare: “I’m the one who did that.”

Payen’s lawyer, Marilyn Reader, said that her client is both schizophrenic and bipolar and that he cannot read nor write in English. He arrived in court with a bandage wrapped around his head.

The informant – who was quintessential to the FBI’s success in cracking the case – originally got in good with Cromitie by telling him that he had contacts in Jaish-e-Mohammed, a Pakistani terrorist group suspected of being connected to national Pakistani intelligence. Jaish set up training camps in Afghanistan under the Taliban and several of its senior operatives were allowed entrance into Osama bin Laden’s inner circle.

Riverdale residents are understandably shaken, and a statement has been issued by the Council on American-Islamic Relations praising law enforcers and condemning those using religion to justify violent crimes. It seems the men have no real connections to international terror groups and are being referred to as “homegrown terrorists” by the police.

image courtesy of www.stuff.co.nz