'JihadJane' indictment alleges threat from within U.S.

American Colleen R. LaRose, 46, is accused of using the Internet to recruit and assist Muslim terrorist operations in Europe and Asia.

By Richard A. Serrano

March 10, 2010

Reporting from Washington

Using e-mail, YouTube videos, phony travel documents and a burning desire to kill "or die trying," a middle-aged American woman from Pennsylvania helped recruit a network for suicide attacks and other terrorist strikes in Europe and Asia, according to a federal grand jury indictment unsealed Tuesday.

Colleen R. LaRose, who dubbed herself "JihadJane," was so intent on waging jihad, authorities said, that she traveled to Sweden to kill an artist in a way that would frighten "the whole Kufar [nonbeliever] world."

With blond hair and green eyes, the 46-year-old woman bragged that she could go anywhere undetected, boasting in one e-mail that it was "an honour & great pleasure to die or kill for" jihad, or holy war, the indictment said.

"Only death will stop me here that I am so close to the target!" she wrote.

The indictment doesn't say whether the Swede was killed, but LaRose was not charged with murder. Authorities refused to identify the artist or to say whether the case was related to arrests in Ireland earlier Tuesday.

Irish police said they had detained seven people in the southern counties of Waterford and Cork in connection with an alleged plot to kill Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks, who had depicted the prophet Muhammad with the body of a dog.

In the indictment, authorities said LaRose solicited funds for terrorist organizations, helped arrange phony passports and other travel records, and used the Internet to recruit women to kill in Europe and men in Asia. LaRose was arrested Oct. 15 in Philadelphia.

Federal officials cited her as an example of how terrorists sometimes boldly operate inside the United States, fearless of the world watching them on the Internet.

"A woman from suburban America agreed to carry out murder overseas and to provide material support to terrorists," said David Kris, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's National Security Division. That, he emphasized, "underscores the evolving nature of the threat we face."

Michael L. Levy, the U.S. attorney in Philadelphia, said the case shows "the use terrorists can and do make" of communicating through e-mails and videos around the world. He called LaRose "yet another very real danger lurking on the Internet."

The other danger, authorities said, is that radical jihadists are turning to home-grown U.S. citizens to carry out their plots. "Terrorists are looking for Americans to join them in their cause," Levy said, adding that LaRose "shatters any lingering thought that we can spot a terrorist based on appearance."

But her possible motivation was not clear Tuesday night.

"She appeared to be one of those people who spend a lot of time online and go to all these radical websites and chat rooms," said one law enforcement source, who, like others interviewed, requested anonymity when discussing the case.

"If there was some moment in her life that changed her, I don't know," another law enforcement source said.

Officials said she began to respond to Internet requests from conspirators abroad and to take a leading role in ongoing plots. They said she stole a U.S. passport and "transferred or attempted to transfer it in an effort to facilitate an act of international terrorism."

The indictment, which also mentioned but did not identify five unindicted co-conspirators, said that LaRose first came to the attention of the FBI in June 2008 when she posted a comment on YouTube under the user name "JihadJane." She stated that she was "desperate to do something somehow to help" Muslim people.

By December of that year, she was allegedly e-mailing one of the conspirators about her desire to become a shahed , or martyr.

A second conspirator e-mailed her in January 2009 about a similar commitment, the indictment alleges. "I tried twice but I wasn't successful . . . [but] I will . . . try until Allah will m[a]ke it easy for me," the conspirator told LaRose.

By February 2009, the indictment said, LaRose was telling one of the conspirators that her physical appearance would allow her to "blend in with many people," which "may be a way to achieve what is in my heart."

In March, a third conspirator, in Asia, invited LaRose to "come here and get the training" so that they can "deal in bombs and explosives effecti[v]ely." The conspirator told LaRose that she was special because she could "get access to many places" because of her nationality, the indictment says.

One conspirator asked LaRose, also known as "Fatima LaRose," to "Marry me to get me inside Europe." She agreed, the indictment says.

She also e-mailed the Swedish Embassy in Washington, asking for instructions on acquiring permanent residency in Sweden. One collaborator allegedly told her: "Go to Sweden . . . find location [of an unidentified Swedish resident] . . . and kill him . . . that is what I say to u."

LaRose allegedly agreed. "I will make this my goal till I achieve it or die trying," she e-mailed back. "I agree that it is good I blend in."

The indictment said LaRose also was involved in soliciting "urgent funds for sisters" overseas. By August of last year, she seemed intent on putting plans into action, according to the indictment. "I will be away from here in a couple days. . . . Then . . . I will get to work on importan[t] matters," she wrote.

Authorities said she removed and concealed her computer hard drive in her home in Pennsburg, Pa., a rural spot between Philadelphia and Allentown. She left for Europe and joined an online community hosted by the Swedish resident she was believed to be targeting.

Some of her former neighbors in Pennsburg were shocked by the allegations. Others seemed to take them in stride.

"She was the weird, weird, weird lady who lived across the hall," said Eric R. Newell, 36, who works for a National Football League sports agent. "We always called her the crazy lady."

His wife, Kristy, recalled that LaRose "talked to her cats all the time."

The Newells, who moved out of the four-unit building about 18 months ago, said LaRose rarely left her apartment except at night, when she would go drinking and get into fights. They never heard her discuss politics or extremist plots, they said.

"We knew she was crazy," Newell said. "We never knew she was dangerous."

A downstairs neighbor, Renee Herbert, said LaRose often had two young children with her and, for a time, lived with a boyfriend and the boyfriend's ill father.

If convicted of the charges against her, LaRose could face life in prison and a $1-million fine.

Other women caught up in terrorism cases in the U.S. include Lynne F. Stewart, a New York attorney convicted in 2005 of passing prison messages from a radical sheik to his followers on the outside urging violent attacks. And last month Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani who lived in Boston but is not a U.S. citizen, was convicted in New York of attempting to kill U.S. military and law enforcement officials.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-na-jihad-jane10-2010mar10,0,3480481,print.story

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Federal agency to investigate L.A. schools

The focus of the Education Department probe will be the district's services for students learning English.

By Howard blume

March 10, 2010

The federal government has singled out the Los Angeles Unified School District for its first major investigation under a reinvigorated Office for Civil Rights, officials said Tuesday.

The focus of the probe, by an arm of the U.S. Department of Education, will be whether the nation's second-largest district provides adequate services to students learning English.

Officials turned their attention to L.A. Unified because so many English learners fare poorly and because they make up about a third of district enrollment, more than 220,000 students.

"This is about helping kids receive a good education, the education they deserve," said Russlynn Ali, the department's assistant secretary for civil rights. She plans to announce the inquiry at a news conference Wednesday.

L.A. school officials said they welcomed the federal examination.

The probe would provide an outside evaluation to help the district identify and expand successful programs, said Supt. Ramon C. Cortines. "And if there are egregious areas of misconduct by the district, I will move on it immediately."

Federal analysts will review how English learners are identified and when they are judged fluent enough to handle regular course work. They'll examine whether English learners have qualified, appropriately trained teachers. And they'll look at how teachers make math and science understandable for students with limited English.

The ultimate goal of federal officials is to exert pressure on L.A. Unified and other school districts to close the achievement gap that separates white, Asian and higher-income students from low-income, black and Latino students.

Federal authorities aren't accusing L.A. Unified of intentional discrimination, but the civil rights office seeks to uncover policies and practices that result in a "disparate outcome." Enforcement options include withholding federal money; more than 23% of the district's $7.16 billion operating budget comes from the federal government.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan launched the ramped-up enforcement effort Monday at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., where law enforcement officers beat and drove back 600 civil rights marchers on March 7, 1965. Without naming school systems, officials said 38 faced compliance reviews; on Tuesday it became clear that L.A. Unified was among them.

Some observers hailed a resurgent civil rights office they said had languished under the George W. Bush administration.

"This is a big deal after eight years of lackluster enforcement," said Thomas A. Saenz, president and general counsel of the locally based Mexican American Legal Defense & Educational Fund.

Less impressed was Mike Petrilli of the Fordham Institute, based in Washington, D.C.: "School districts are going to see this announcement and freak out, take shortcuts and just push minority kids into Advanced Placement whether they are ready for them or not," he wrote on his blog.

In L.A., second grade is the apparent high-water mark for English learners. At that level, 33% test as proficient in English. By eighth grade, proficiency levels decline to 2%, although that includes recent immigrants and excludes students who have moved into the "fluent" category. But even among newly fluent students, only 35% test as academically proficient in English in the 11th grade.

Language problems ultimately contribute to high dropout rates as well as the inability of many graduates to complete college and compete for jobs, researchers say.

The federal action comes two years after L.A. Unified convened what it billed as a historic summit on educating English learners.

"There was a litany of recommendations," said school board member Yolie Flores. "Then nothing happened."

She called the federal action "way overdue," adding, "unless we get external pressure or a mandate or a lawsuit, we are derelict in what we need to be doing for some students."

An internal district report cited numerous accomplishments, including the recent training of 15,000 teachers in English-language development strategies.

In other districts, the division also will look at equal access to college-prep classes, equal opportunity for African American students, sexual harassment, violence and services to the disabled.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lausd10-2010mar10,0,157626,print.story

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Schwarzenegger orders change in parole file policy

The governor wants documents on paroled sex offenders maintained indefinitely. The change was made after a lawmaker sought the file of a suspect in the Chelsea King case. It had been destroyed.

By Michael Rothfeld

March 10, 2010

Reporting from Sacramento

State prison officials, drawing fire for destroying the parole file of a man under scrutiny in the disappearances of two teenage girls, reversed their recordkeeping policy Tuesday on orders from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

John Albert Gardner III was charged last week in the suspected killing of Chelsea King, 17, of Poway and is a person of interest, police say, in the slaying of Amber Dubois, 14, who disappeared on her way to school more than a year ago. Her skeletal remains were found Saturday in northern San Diego County.

A convicted sex offender, Gardner, 30, was discharged from parole in 2008, and his file was purged after a year under departmental policy.

Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher (R-San Diego) requested the parole file earlier this month and, he said, received only a one-page summary of Gardner's interactions with the state correctional system. On Tuesday, Fletcher called for an investigation of state recordkeeping practice by a legislative panel and the inspector general who monitors the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Later Tuesday, the governor told corrections officials that all records relating to paroled sex offenders should be maintained indefinitely.

"It is in the best interest of public safety to retain all information on these individuals and to make as much information as possible available and transparent," he said in a statement.

Prisons chief Matt Cate said he had directed parole staff to make the policy change immediately.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-parole-policy10-2010mar10,0,6053646,print.story

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the Wall Street Journal

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two Dead in Ohio State Shooting

COLUMBUS, Ohio—An Ohio State University janitor who was about to lose his job walked into a maintenance building for his early morning shift Tuesday and shot two supervisors, killing one of them and fatally shooting himself. No students were hurt.

Nathaniel Brown, 51, arrived for work at the nation's largest university dressed in dark clothing, a hooded sweat shirt and a backpack. He then opened fire in an office suite using two handguns, campus Police Chief Paul Denton said.

Mr. Brown spent five years in prison in the 1970s and '80s for receiving stolen property but lied about it on his job application, records show. It wasn't immediately clear whether Ohio State had done a background check on him.

Ohio State released documents from Mr. Brown's personnel file showing that supervisors complained he was tardy, slept on the job and had problems following instructions. The university sent him a letter March 2 informing him that his employment was to end Saturday.

About a half-dozen other employees were in the building when the shooting began, Mr. Denton said. He described the shooting as work-related but didn't describe a motive.

The shooting was reported at 3:30 a.m. Tuesday. Police tactical units surrounded the building and found Mr. Brown with a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a garage bay, Mr. Denton said. He was pronounced dead at a campus hospital several hours later.

Mr. Brown had been scheduled to work his normal third shift, Mr. Denton said.

One of the victims, building services manager Larry Wallington, 48, died at the scene. The other, operations shift leader Henry Butler, 60, was in stable condition at Ohio State University Medical Center, officials said.

Mr. Butler wrote a letter Feb. 11 recommending that Mr. Brown be terminated, according records released by the university. Even though colleagues had made a special effort to help Mr. Brown, he was not improving, the letter said.

Mr. Denton declined to say whether other employees were targeted. Police also didn't describe the contents of Mr. Brown's backpack.

The other employees in the building at the time have been offered grief counseling, Mr. Denton said.

"This is a tragic event, and our hearts go out to all of the families,'' said Vernon Baisden, assistant vice president for public safety.

Police released two 911 calls. In one, a caller tells the dispatcher that he pulled into the garage and heard gunshots. He identifies Mr. Brown as the shooter and says Mr. Brown was in the process of being fired.

Mr. Brown, who was still on probation as a recent hire, had recently complained to a union representative that his supervisors were being unfair in their evaluation of him, said Richard Murray, president of Communications Workers of America Local 4501, which represents custodial workers at Ohio State.

"He was frustrated and upset, certainly. But he didn't make any threats or anything,'' Mr. Murray said. The union couldn't do more with the case because Mr. Brown didn't file a formal complaint, he said.

Mr. Brown was released from prison in 1984 after serving about five years on a charge of receiving stolen property, records show. Messages seeking additional information were left with a state prisons spokeswoman.

On his job application, he checked "no'' when asked if he had ever been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor. Ohio State's policy on background checks depends on the type of job position, Mr. Baisden said.

Both shooting victims had worked for the university for about 10 years. Family members reached Tuesday declined to comment.

Classes went on as scheduled Tuesday. More than 55,000 students attend the main campus in Columbus. The maintenance building is next to a power plant and across the street from Ohio Stadium, home to the university's football team.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704784904575111301307754416.html?mod=WSJ_WSJ_US_News_5#printMode

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From Fox News

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

No-Fly List Nearly Doubles Since Detroit Plot

An intelligence official says that in the two months since a Nigerian man tried to blow up a Detroit-bound airplane, the government's list of suspected terrorists banned from flying grew from about 3,400 to 6,000.

WASHINGTON - An intelligence official says the government has nearly doubled the number of people on the no-fly list since the attempted Christmas Day attack near Detroit.

The official says that in the two months since a Nigerian man tried to blow up a Detroit-bound airplane, the government's list of suspected terrorists banned from flying grew from about 3,400 to 6,000.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive security issues.

The list expanded, in part, to add people associated with Al Qaeda's Yemen branch and others from Nigeria and Yemen with potential ties to the alleged would-be bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

Reviewing and updating the no-fly list were among President Barack Obama's immediate responses to the Dec. 25 attack.

Despite changes over time, the list remains an imperfect tool, dependent on the work of hundreds of government terrorism analysts who sift through massive flows of information. The list ballooned after 9/11 and has fluctuated in size over the past decade. In 2004, it included about 20,000 people. The standards for getting on the list have been refined over the years, and technology has improved to make the matching process more reliable.

It could take minutes to put a name on the list. Or it could take hours, days or months.

That's because the list is only as good as the nation's intelligence and the experts who analyze it. If an intelligence lead is not shared, or if an analyst is unable to connect one piece of information to another, a terrorist could slip onto an airplane. Officials allege that's just what took place ahead of the attempted Christmas Day attack on a Detroit-bound jet.

There are four steps to banning a person from flying:

--It begins with law enforcement and intelligence officials collecting the smallest scraps of intelligence -- a tip from a CIA informant or a wiretapped conversation.

The information is then sent to the National Counterterrorism Center, a Northern Virginia nerve center set up after 9/11. There, analysts put names -- even partial names -- into a huge classified database of known and suspected terrorists. The database, called Terrorist Identities Datamart Enterprise, or TIDE, also includes some suspects' relatives and others in contact with the suspects. About 2 percent of the people in this database are Americans.

Analysts scour the database trying to make connections and update files as new intelligence flows in. Abdulmutallab's name was in TIDE before the Christmas Day attempt, thanks to a warning his father gave the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria about the alleged bomber's extremist ties in Yemen.

But much of the information coming into the center is incomplete. This is one reason analysts didn't connect Abdulmutallab's father's warning to other fragmented pieces of information. Because of this, analysts did not send his name to the next tier of analysis at the Terrorist Screening Center, another Northern Virginia intelligence center, staffed by analysts from federal law enforcement agencies across the government.

--About 350 names a day are sent to the Terrorist Screening Center for more analysis and consideration to be put on the government-wide terror watch list. This is a list of about 418,000 people, maintained by the FBI.

To place a name on that list, analysts must have a reasonable suspicion that the person is connected to terrorism. People on this watch list may be questioned at a U.S. border checkpoint or when applying for a visa. But just being on this list isn't enough to keep a person off an airplane. Authorities must have a suspect's full name and date of birth as well as adequate information showing the suspect is a threat to aviation or national security.

--Once armed with information for those three categories, about a half-dozen experts from the Transportation Security Administration who work at the screening center have two options. They can add a suspect to the "selectee list," a roster of about 18,000 people who can still fly but must go through extra screening at the airport. Or, if analysts determine a person is too dangerous to board a plane, they can put the suspect on the no-fly list.

The names on each list are constantly under review and updated as the threat changes.

In 2007, officials removed people who were no longer considered threats. Some were inactive members of the Irish Republican Army, a former law enforcement official said. And in 2008, the criteria was expanded to include information about young Somali-American men leaving the U.S. to join the international terrorist group al-Shabab, the senior intelligence official said. If a person on the no-fly list dies, his name could stay on the list so that the government can catch anyone trying to assume his identity.

At times, officials have allowed passengers to fly even if they are on the no-fly list, the former law enforcement official said. In some cases, this is to let agents shadow suspected terrorists while they're in the U.S. Before this happens, FBI agents and TSA experts consult with each other. If it is decided a suspected terrorist should be allowed on the flight, he and his belongings might then go through extra screening, he might be watched on camera at the airport, and more federal air marshals might be assigned to monitor him during his flight, the former official said.

As the government takes on more responsibility for checking names against the lists, officials hope the number of mistaken identity cases will dramatically decrease. And since Dec. 25, national security officials have been looking at ways to change and improve the standards for placing people on it.

One thing is for sure: Another incident like the Christmas Day near-miss will cause more re-examinations of a system still far from foolproof.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/ci.No-Fly+List+Nearly+Doubles+Since+Detroit+Plot.opinionPrint

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the Department of Homeland Security

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Super Smartphones Sniff Out Suspicious Substances

Years ago, if you wanted to take a picture, you needed a dedicated camera. You needed to buy batteries for it, keep it charged, learn its controls, and lug it around. Today, chances are your cell phone is called a “smartphone” and came with a three-to-five megapixel lens built-in—not to mention an MP3 player, GPS, or even a bar code scanner.

This Swiss Army knife trend represents the natural progression of technology—as chips become smaller and more advanced, cell phones continue to absorb new functions. Yet, in the future, these new functions may not only make our lives easier, they could also protect us—and maybe even save our lives.

The Cell-All initiative may be one such savior. Spearheaded by the Department of Homeland Security's  Science and Technology Directorate (S&T), Cell-All aims to equip your cell phone with a sensor capable of detecting deadly chemicals at minimal cost—to the manufacturer (a buck a sensor) and to your phone's battery life. “Our goal is to create a lightweight, cost-effective, power-efficient solution,” says Stephen Dennis, Cell-All's program manager.

How would this wizardry work? Just as antivirus software bides its time in the background and springs to life when it spies suspicious activity, so Cell-All regularly sniffs the surrounding air for certain volatile chemical compounds.

When a threat is sensed, a virtual ah-choo! ensues in one of two ways. For personal safety issues such as a chlorine gas leak, a warning is sounded; the user can choose a vibration, noise, text message, or phone call. For catastrophes such as a sarin gas attack, details—including time, location, and the compound—are phoned home to an emergency operations center.

While the first warning is beamed to individuals—a grandmother taking a siesta or a teenager hiking through the woods—the second warning works best with crowds. And that's where the genius of Cell-All lies—in crowdsourcing human safety.

Currently, if a person suspects that something is amiss, he might dial 9-1-1, though behavioral science tells us that it's easier to do nothing. If he does do something, it may be at a risk to his own life. And as is often the case when someone phones in an emergency, the caller may be frantic and difficult to understand, diminishing the quality of information that's relayed to first responders. An even worse scenario: the person may not even be aware of the danger, like the South Carolina woman who last year drove into a colorless, odorless, and poisonous ammonia cloud.

In contrast, anywhere a chemical threat breaks out—a mall, a bus, subway, or office—Cell-All will alert the authorities automatically. Detection, identification, and notification all take place in less than 60 seconds. Because the data are delivered digitally, Cell-All reduces the chance of human error. And by activating alerts from many people at once, Cell-All cleverly avoids the longstanding problem of false positives. The end result: emergency responders can get to the scene sooner and cover a larger area—essentially anywhere people are—casting a wider net than stationary sensors can.

But what about your privacy? Does this always-on surveillance mean that the government can track your precise whereabouts whenever it wants? To the contrary, Cell-All will operate only on an opt-in basis and will transmit data anonymously. “Privacy is as important as technology,” avers Dennis. “After all, for Cell-All to succeed, people must be comfortable enough to turn it on in the first place.”

For years, the idea of a handheld weapons of mass destruction detector has engaged engineers. In 2007, S&T called upon the private sector to develop concepts of operations. Today, thanks to increasingly successful prototype demonstrations, the Directorate is actively funding the next step in R&D—a proof of principle—to see if the concept is workable.

To this end, three teams from Qualcomm, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and Rhevision Technology are perfecting their specific area of expertise. Qualcomm engineers specialize in miniaturization and know how to shepherd a product to market. Scientists from the Center for Nanotechnology at NASA's Ames Research Center have experience with chemical sensing on low-powered platforms, such as the International Space Station. And technologists from Rhevision have developed an artificial nose—a piece of porous silicon that changes colors in the presence of certain molecules, which can be read spectrographically.

Similarly, S&T is pursuing what's known as  cooperative research and development agreements  with four cell phone manufacturers: Qualcomm, LG, Apple, and Samsung. These written agreements, which bring together a private company and a government agency for a specific project, often accelerate the commercialization of technology developed for government purposes. As a result, Dennis hopes to have 40 prototypes in about a year, the first of which will sniff out carbon monoxide and fire.

To be sure, Cell-All's commercialization may take several years. Yet the goal seems imminently achievable: Just as Bill Gates once envisioned a computer on every desk in every home, so Stephen Dennis envisions a chemical sensor in every cell phone in every pocket, purse, or belt holster. If it's not already the case, our smartphones may soon be smarter than we are.

http://www.dhs.gov/files/programs/gc_1268073038372.shtm

.