Two Muslims arrested, wanted to kill Jews, blow up synagogue & Empire State Building (video)

Posted on May 12, 2011
by creepingsharia

Video added:

From NY 1, video at link. Two Men Arraigned In Connection With Plot To Blow Up City Synagogue

Two men from East Elmhurst, Queens have been arraigned on charges of plotting to blow up a Manhattan synagogue.

Ahmed Ferhani, 26, a native of Algeria, and Mohamed Mamdouh, 20, a native of Morocco, were arrested around 6 p.m. Wednesday in Midtown and face charges of engaging in terrorism, weapons possession and hate crimes.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg was joined by top city law enforcement officials at City Hall earlier today to announce the arrests.

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said the men told undercover officers that they hated Jews and wanted to kill them.

The commissioner also said the suspects had secured two .380 handguns, one 9mm gun, a grenade and 100 rounds of ammunition last night, and were seeking to purchase more.

Kelly said Ferhani was heard saying he wanted to blow up a synagogue in Manhattan and the Empire State Building.

The police commissioner also described the men as “lone wolves,” saying they had no connection to terror network al-Qaeda. The suspects have been in contact with underground policemen for the last seven months.

Ferhani, seen above left, is unemployed and claimed asylum when he came to the United States with his family in 1995.

Mamdouh, above right, is a livery-service dispatcher and a naturalized citizen who came to the United States with his family in 1999.

Law enforcement has been on high alert for attacks in retaliation for last week’s killing of September 11th mastermind Osama bin Laden.

While addressing reporters, Mayor Bloomberg says keeping New Yorkers safe is his highest priority.

“By assigning a thousand of our best officers to counter-terrorism and intelligence duties, and by investing in high-tech systems that improve our ability to identify and react to potentially terrorist activity, the NYPD has been able to prevent terrorists from striking our city since the attacks of 9/11,” Bloomberg said.

The case is being handled by the New York City Police Department and Manhattan district attorney’s office.

Federal law enforcement would normally be involved in a terror case, but has declined to get involved.

If convicted, both men face a life sentence in prison without parole.

Federal law enforcement and the Joint Terrorism Task Force declined to prosecute because it was ONLY aspirational? via Terror plot arrest: Two men, one born in New York, charged in planned synagogue attacks, say sources.

The men were caught on wiretaps discussing the plot, the sources said, adding that the chilling plan was hatched several months ago and appears to have pre-dated the killing of Osama Bin Laden.

Neither man has any known ties to terror organizations and no other arrests are imminent, the sources said.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office is expected to hold a press conference later Thursday to detail the arrests.

In an unusual move, investigators with the Joint Terrorism Task Force declined to prosecute the case, saying the plan was more aspirational than operational, sources said.

The district attorney’s office then picked up the case and is expected to charge the men under a state anti-terrorism law.

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