Two homegrown jihadis have been arrested for plotting to shoot up a military entrance processing station (MEPS) in Seattle.
Seattle Times:
Abu Khalid Abdul-Latif, also known as Joseph Anthony Davis, 33, of SeaTac, and Walli Mujahidh, aka Frederick Domingue Jr., 32, of Los Angeles, appeared in U.S. District Court in Seattle on Thursday on charges alleging they purchased machine guns and grenades from a paid police informant earlier this week as they moved into the final stages of planning an attack they hoped would inspire an uprising among radical Muslims in the United States.
Mujahidh arrived in Seattle from Los Angeles on Tuesday and he, Abdul-Latif and the informant went to lunch, according to details contained in a 38-page complaint. The men discussed details of the attack, including where they would hide the weapons.
The informant predicted, according to the complaint, that the case would make the news, and Mujahidh "described the imaginary headline of a newspaper article: 'Three Muslim Males Walk Into MEPS building, Seattle, Washington, and Gun Down Everybody.' "
The men face up to life in prison if convicted.
Details contained in the complaint and gleaned from other court documents and interviews show the men to be "self-radicalized," with no known affiliation to al-Qaida or other terrorist organizations.
Authorities recovered tapes, DVD's, and other jihadist literature from the homes of the suspects. Describing them as "self radicalized" is a misnomer. It is likely that Abdul-Latif was radicalized in prison where he spent 2 1/2 years for robbery and assault.
And it would be interesting to trace the internet use of the two suspects. Radical websites have been known to be a source of inspiration for these kinds of plots in the past.
How far had it progressed? The weapons had been procurred and they had scouted out the MEPS facility. They were clearly ready and willing to carry out the attack.
Recorded conversations show that both men were inspired by the Fort Hood massacre carried out by Nidal Hasan.
Update from David Paulin:
The DOJ's news release (from its Office of Public Affairs) does not say anything about the religion of the two would-be terrorists. It says only that the plotters were devoted to a "violent, extreme ideology." That's it. Of course, you can guess what that ideology might be when you read the names of the plotters in the one-page news release.
Fortunately, though, the U.S. Attorney's complaint does go into a lot of detail about what that ideology is. It mentions that Osama bin Ladin was their hero; that they were devoted to "jihad;" and that they were inspired by the Fort Hood massacre. Who would have guessed?
Unfortunately, a quick glance at some of today's papers shows that not all are picking up on the juiciest details of the complaint that runs more than 30 pages
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