Politics | 05/21/2009 7:45 am

FBI Foils Alleged Bomb Attack on Riverdale Jewish Center, Synagogue

Four men were arrested for plotting attacks against New York City Jewish centers, say authorities.

By The Staff at wowOwow.com

Four New York City men have been arrested for allegedly plotting bomb attacks against a synagogue and the Riverdale Jewish Center.

The FBI and the NYPD took the men into custody last night after the dastardly crew set up a car bomb and were set to travel to Newburgh, NY, where they hoped to shoot down a plane headed to either Iraq or Afghanistan. The FBI has been following the plot for about a year, and was tipped off by a source from one of the men’s mosques. That source told authorities he knew men who wanted to buy bombs, so the FBI sent an undercover agent, sold them phony explosives and a missile and waited until the plot began to take shape.

Headed by alleged ringleader James Cromitie, the group was apparently angry about the ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The New York Daily News reports that Cromitie recruited his gang — David Williams, Onta Williams and Leguerre Payen — at a Newburgh mosque. Cromitie and the Williamses were born in the United States and Payen was born in Haiti. The Americans converted to Islam while in jail for previous wrongdoings.

They will be arraigned later today.

13 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

Praise the Lord and pass the peas!

By laureen f on 05/21/2009 7:51 am

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Not only do we have "sleeper cells" of terrorists in the United States at this time but we have the radical loons….the terrorist wannabees….those criminals with black hearts converting to Islam….

Our system of surveillance works. God Bless George Bush for keeping us safe after 9/11. And God Bless the state of New York.

By deber B on 05/21/2009 8:07 am

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Deber…wasn’t it a few posts ago that you debated a poster about President Bush hadn’t kept us safe because there hasn’t been any plots against us since 9-11…..this is a good example, that there are many "sleeper cells" out there and are being watched, President Bush knew that we can’t take the eye off the ball, because there are many more out there waiting to attack….obama is now finding that out….God Bless President Bush for keeping us safe is a phrase we will be repeating over and over….oh…have a nice day Deber.

By Libra Lady on 05/21/2009 8:16 am

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And good morning to you, Libra Lady! President Obama is now aware of what George Bush faced every day. I hope he, too, will keep our country safe from terrorists and radical idiots!

By deber B on 05/21/2009 8:35 am

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They are no different than Timothy Mcveigh. Misguided and out of their head..The religious zealots of all beliefs are a scary bunch.

By S G on 05/21/2009 8:12 am

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"The New York Daily News reports that Cromitie recruited his gang — David Williams, Onta Williams and Leguerre Payen — at a Newburgh mosque."

Hmm…thank goodness the FBI is keeping tabs on this mosque, if it’s so easy for someone to just walk in and recruit total strangers for murderous acts of terror!

By Rachel F on 05/21/2009 8:19 am

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Apparently, the FBI used deep undercover operatives to foil this attempt at domestic man made disaster.

Substitute CIA for FBI; and foreign for domestic…and I think we get a picture of what alot of brave men and women do every day to keep us safe…here…and all around the world. That is why many of us are outraged at the politics being played with our intelligence community.

And one more point…will NY State charge concurrent with the Feds? Isn’t this a ‘Hate Crime?’ This case I think will be one of the those watermark ones…how will the Obama Justice Department ‘deal’ with this?

By Mary Quite-Contrary on 05/21/2009 8:34 am

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This event proves that everyday there are men and women working within the Government to keep us safe - whether the story makes the headlines or not.

What I find very encouraging about this story, other than the fact that the plot was stopped and the participants don’t appear to be all that bright, is the fact that the FBI was "tipped off by a source from one of the men’s mosques" - this too proves that most Americans - regardless of choice of faith - want to work together to keep all of us safe. I hope those that seem to be mistrusting of "mosques" will pay attention to this fact.

Hat’s off to the FBI for halting this potential disaster.

By Alesia Kaye on 05/21/2009 8:51 am

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Alesia, I’m not disagreeing with you, but I would like to point out that the fact that there was one man (do we even know if he wasn’t an undercover agent?) who would turn these swine in, but three who were eager to murder Jews, does not prove that a majority oppose their motives, as your post suggests. One to three is not a good ratio, and hardly "proves" what you’re suggesting.

By Rachel F on 05/21/2009 9:01 am

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to view a partial list of crimes committed by FBI agents over 1500 pages long see
http://www.forums.signonsandiego.com/showthread.php?t=59139

to view a partial list of FBI agents arrested for pedophilia see
http://www.dallasnews.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3574

By lois freeh on 05/21/2009 9:23 am

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Umm…how is this relevant, in a topic outlining the laudable success of the FBI in foiling an anti-Semitic terrorist attack??

By Rachel F on 05/21/2009 9:31 am

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Nothing like a bunch of home-grown crazies.

By f p on 05/21/2009 9:55 am

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I guess with Iran shooting off missles and now sleeper cells already here in the US…WOW Obama not as easy as you thought it was going to be? Maybe Bush policies worked for a reason…now you finally see why?

Thank GOD for the undercover men/women who work everyday putting their lives in danger to keep us safe. I am sure there was some wire tapping going on, and thank GOD for it.

And now that Obama still wants to close GITMO and bring more terrorists to the US what will happen then? More plots on our own soil to destroy other Americans? Nice…

By C Hardy on 05/21/2009 11:20 am