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Los Angeles

Feds arrest four Inland Empire men in terrorism plot

by Doug Saunders

Documents: FBI press release | Criminal complaint

Four Inland Empire men were arrested Monday in connection to a terrorist plot that was foiled by federal officials.

Sohiel Omar Kabir, 34, an Afghanistan native and former resident of Pomona; Ralph Deleon, 23, of Ontario and a native of the Philippines; Miguel Alejandro Santana Vidriales 21, of Upland; and Arifeen David Gojali, 21, of Riverside, a United States citizen, were arrested with plotting to join Al-Qaida and the Taliban in Afghanistan in hopes of killing Americans.

According to the complaint that was filed in U.S. District Court in the Central District of California, the four conspired to provide material support to terrorists in preparation for or in carrying out acts of terrorism.

The charges in the criminal complaint are conspiracy to kill, kidnap, maim, or injure persons and damage property in a foreign country, killing and attempting to kill officers and employees of the United States, killing nationals of the United States, conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction outside the United States; and bombing places of public use and government facilities.

In 2010, Kabir introduced Deleon and Santana to radical and violent Islamic extremist material according to the complaint.

In September 2012, Deleon and Santana recruited defendant Gojali to join them and to travel overseas to commit violent jihad, according to the complaint.

The complaint further alleges that Santana, Deleon and Gojali made plans to join Kabir in Afghanistan to attend terrorist training.

According to the complaint in communicating with their handlers the four used the term "students" when referring to the Taliban and "professors" when referring to Al Qaida.

The complaint further alleges that Santana, Deleon, and Gojali conducted preliminary training in Southern California at firearms and paintball facilities to prepare for terrorist training overseas.

The four were apprehended on Friday without incident by members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force and had their initial appearance before a federal magistrate this afternoon in U.S. District Court in Riverside, California. Santana and Deleon were remanded to federal custody and Gojali's detention hearing was continued to Nov. 26.

Kabir is in custody in Afghanistan.

http://www.dailynews.com/breakingnews/ci_22031157/feds-arrest-four-inland-empire-men-terrorism-plot

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New York City

Police Hunt Serial Killer of Brooklyn Shopkeepers

by Jonathan Dienst, Shimon Prokupecz and AP

Authorities are searching for a possible serial killer who has gunned down three Brooklyn business owners since the summer, and police believe the victims could have been targeted because they were Middle Eastern.

Detectives who specialize in hate crimes and FBI analysts who specialize in behavioral analysis have joined the case, authorities said.

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said Monday that police are trying to identify a tall, balding man with a mustache who was seen on surveillance video wearing an overcoat and carrying a black duffel bag near the scene of the latest shooting. NBC 4 New York has learned that the same man was also seen on video near the second shooting in August.

Authorities say two other possible witnesses seen on video have been questioned and released.

The latest victim, 78-year-old Rahmatollah Vahidipour, a Jewish man from Iran, was killed in his women's clothing boutique on Flatbush Avenue Friday.

"The possibility of a bias motive here is something that can't be excluded," Kelly said.

After the latest killing, detectives discovered the same gun was used in the fatal shootings of two other shopkeepers when ballistics matched the .22-caliber gun shell casings on all three. On July 6, Mohamed Gebeli, 65, an Egyptian immigrant and a Muslim, was found shot in the back of his shop, Valentino Fashion Inc. On Aug. 6, Isaac Kadare, 59, also Egyptian but Jewish, was shot in the head in his store, Amazing 99 Cent Deal.

There were other similarities, authorities said: The bodies were all partially obscured by clothing or, in one case, a box. The shops all lacked surveillance cameras, and the owners were alone in the store. The locations of the shops are each about 4 miles apart, with addresses that contain the number eight. Money was taken from everyone but Vahidipour, who had $171 in his pocket.

"We're trying to put it together. We're talking to the FBI; we're doing an all-out effort to solve these murders," Kelly said.

Kelly said it's reasonable to think the shooter had canvassed the area to find locations where no cameras existed. "Here you have three stores where the proprietor is there by himself, no cameras in any of these," he said. "You'd have to speculate that some sort of reconnaissance was going on before the murders took place." Kelly said they would like the tall man to come forward and identify himself. The commissioner said no one has been named a suspect and no arrests had been made. The killings chilled local shopkeepers. "Pretty nerve-wracking that a serial killer is on the loose in Brooklyn. You know it's the third one with the same gun," said Howard Prince, the manager of a business near the She She Boutique. Prince said police were stressing that no one should work alone. "I mean that's not the part that concerns me," he said. "The part that concerns me is you take somebody's life that's 78 years old for no reason." Kelly said city shop owners should be alert and aware of their surroundings and should call police or 911 at the sign of trouble.

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Serial-Killer-Brooklyn-Store-Shopkeeper-Clothing-New-York-City-Police-180124891.html

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Ohio

3 of 5 defendants face sentencing in northeast Ohio in unsuccessful bridge bombing plot

by Associated Press

AKRON, Ohio — Three men who pleaded guilty in an unsuccessful plot to bomb a highway bridge in Ohio face sentencing before a judge who agreed with prosecutors that they should be punished as terrorists.

Alleged ringleader Douglas Wright, 26, could face more than 30 years in prison. Guidelines call for shorter sentences for the other two men.

U.S. District Judge David Dowd scheduled sentencing Tuesday morning for Wright, of Indianapolis; Connor Stevens, 20, of Berea in suburban Cleveland; and Brandon Baxter, 20, of Lakewood, also in suburban Cleveland.

A fourth defendant will be sentenced on Wednesday and a fifth is undergoing a psychiatric exam.

Stevens, Baxter and Wright pleaded guilty to conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction, knowingly attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and attempting to damage property with explosives. There was no plea deal that would have reduced their sentences.

Last week Dowd backed a government request to consider stricter sentences based on a “terrorist enhancement” for the trio. The ruling that the three were trying to intimidate the government expanded possible sentences from five or six years to 15 to 30 years or more.

The men were arrested by the FBI and had targeted a bridge over the Cuyahoga Valley National Park between Cleveland and Akron. The FBI has said the public was never in danger and the device was a dud provided by an informant.

The suspects were described by the government as self-proclaimed anarchists who acted out of anger against corporate America and the government.

The defense called the case entrapment, with the informant guiding the way, and said the plot was more an act of vandalism than anti-government terrorism. They asked for sentences in the range of five years.

The government said the plot “was meant to convey a message to the civilian population, the corporate world, the financial system, and all levels of government.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/3-of-5-defendants-face-sentencing-in-northeast-ohio-in-unsuccessful-bridge-bombing-plot.html