FBI nabs Terror suspects in NC

[PegLeg45]

Got this just now from an old friend in the FBI (posted about him previously). This is something he's been working on for many days but was just able to release the info.


Department of Justice Press Release
For Immediate Release
July 27, 2009    
United States Attorney's Office
Eastern District of North Carolina
Contact: (919) 856-4530

Seven Charged with Terrorism Violations in North Carolina

RALEIGH, NC—Seven individuals have been charged with conspiring to provide material support to terrorists and conspiring to murder, kidnap, maim, and injure persons abroad, David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division; George E.B. Holding, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina; and Owen D. Harris, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Charlotte Field Division, announced today.

On Wednesday, July 22, 2009, a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of North Carolina returned a sealed seven-count indictment against the following defendants:

    * Daniel Patrick Boyd, 39, a U.S. citizen and resident of North Carolina
    * Hysen Sherifi, 24, a native of Kosovo and a U.S. legal permanent resident located in North Carolina
    * Anes Subasic, 33, a naturalized U.S. citizen and resident of North Carolina
    * Zakariya Boyd, 20, a U.S. citizen and resident of North Carolina
    * Dylan Boyd, 22, a U.S. citizen and resident of North Carolina
    * Mohammad Omar Aly Hassan, 22, a U.S. citizen and resident of North Carolina
    * Ziyad Yaghi, 21, a U.S. citizen and resident of North Carolina

All the defendants are charged with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, as well as conspiracy to murder, kidnap, maim and injure persons abroad. In addition, Daniel Boyd, Hysen Sherifi and Zakariya Boyd are each charged with possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. Daniel Boyd and Dylan Boyd are also each charged with selling a firearm to a convicted felon. Finally, Daniel Boyd is also charged with receiving a firearm through interstate commerce and two counts of making false statements in a terrorism investigation.

The defendants were arrested at various locations this morning by the FBI and other law enforcement agencies. They made their initial appearances today in federal court in Raleigh, N.C. At that time, the indictment was unsealed.

“The indictment alleges that Daniel Boyd is a veteran of terrorist training camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan who, over the past three years, has conspired with others in this country to recruit and help young men travel overseas in order to kill. Given the weapons allegedly involved in this conspiracy and the seriousness of the charges, the many agents, analysts, and prosecutors who were able to bring about this case and safely remove these defendants from our streets deserve special thanks,” said David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division.

“These charges hammer home the point that terrorists and their supporters are not confined to the remote regions of some far away land but can grow and fester right here at home. Terrorists and their supporters are relentless and constant in their efforts to hurt and kill innocent people across the globe. We must be equally relentless and constant in our efforts to stop them,” said U.S. Attorney George E.B. Holding.

“The threat that extremists and radicals pose to America and our allies has not dulled or gone away. These arrests today show there are people living among us, in our communities in North Carolina and around the U.S., that are honing their skills to carry out acts of murder and mayhem. Their ultimate goal is to wage war on freedom and democracy. The FBI and our law enforcement partners are doing all we can to stop them from thriving and successfully attacking again,” said Owen D. Harris, Special Agent in Charge of the Charlotte Division of the FBI. “We will remain vigilant, so must the public. If you see or hear something—act—call your local police department or the FBI. September 11th is not a vague memory for us, nor should it be for anyone.”

“The cooperation between federal, state and local authorities throughout this investigation has been outstanding. It is only with our ongoing law enforcement partnership through the Joint Terrorism Task Force in conjunction with North Carolina’s fusion center, ISAAC, that we are able to ensure public safety from these terrorist threats,” said North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation Director Robin P. Pendergraft.

The Conspiracy

According to the indictment, during the period from 1989 through 1992, Daniel Boyd traveled to Pakistan and Afghanistan where he received military-style training in terrorist training camps for the purpose of engaging in violent jihad. Following this training, he allegedly fought in Afghanistan.

From roughly November 2006 through at least July 2009, the indictment alleges that Daniel Boyd and the other defendants conspired to provide material support and resources to terrorists, including currency, training, transportation, and personnel. The defendants also conspired to murder, kidnap, maim, and injure persons abroad during this period. The object of the conspiracy, according to the indictment, was to advance violent jihad, including supporting and participating in terrorist activities abroad and committing acts of murder, kidnapping, or maiming persons abroad.

The indictment alleges that, as part of the conspiracy, the defendants prepared themselves to engage in violent jihad and were willing to die as martyrs. They also allegedly offered training in weapons and financing, and helped arrange overseas travel and contacts so others could wage violent jihad overseas.

As part of the conspiracy, the indictment further alleges that the defendants raised money to support training efforts, disguised the destination of such monies from the donors, and obtained assault weapons to develop skills with the weapons. Some defendants also allegedly radicalized others to believe that violent jihad was a personal religious obligation.

Recruitment and Travels

Among other acts, the indictment alleges that Daniel Boyd traveled to Gaza in March 2006 and attempted to enter Palestine in order to introduce his son to individuals who also believed that violent jihad was a personal religious obligation. Later, in October 2006, defendant Ziyad Yaghi allegedly departed the United States for Jordan to engage in violent jihad.

In June 2007, Daniel Boyd and several other defendants departed the United States for Israel in an effort to engage in violent jihad, but ultimately returned to the United States after failing in their efforts. According to the indictment, after his return to the United States, Daniel Boyd made false statements twice to federal officials about who he had planned to meet on his trip to Israel.

In February 2008, Daniel Boyd allegedly solicited money to fund the travel of additional individuals overseas to engage in violent jihad and in March 2008, discussed with Anes Subasic preparations to send two individuals abroad for this purpose. He allegedly accepted $500 in cash from defendant Hysen Sherifi to be used to help fund jihad overseas and later showed Sherifi how to operate an AK-47 assault weapon.

In July 2008, Sharifi allegedly departed the United States for Kosovo to engage in violent jihad. According to the indictment, Sharifi later returned to North Carolina in April 2009, for the purpose of soliciting funds and personnel to support the mujihadeen.

Weapons and Training

The indictment also alleges that Daniel Boyd obtained a variety of weapons in furtherance of the conspiracy to murder persons overseas and provide material support to terrorists. These included a Bushmaster M4A3 rifle that Boyd allegedly received illegally via interstate commerce in 2006, as well as an ETA M16 V System C-MAG that he purchased in 2006. In 2007, he allegedly purchased a Ruger mini 14 long gun.

During 2008, the indictment alleges that Boyd purchased a Mossburg 100 ATR .270 rifle, a Llama Camanche III .357 revolver, a Century Arms AK Sporter 7.62 X 39 rifle and a Ruger mini 30 7.62 X 39 rifle.  During 2009, Boyd allegedly purchased a Ishmash SAGA .308 rifle, a Century Arms Polish Tantal 5.45 X 39 rifle, a Century Arms C91 rifle .308, a Century Arms M70B1 7.62 X 34 rifle, a Ruger mini 14 5.56 rifle, and a Smith & Wesson MP15 .223 rifle.

The indictment further alleges that in February 2009, Daniel Boyd and his son, Dylan Boyd, knowingly sold a Beretta 9 mm handgun and ammunition to a convicted felon. In addition, the indictment alleges that in June 2009, Daniel Boyd and his son, Zakariya Boyd, used firearms in furtherance of a crime of violence, specifically conspiracy to murder.

Finally, the indictment alleges that Daniel Boyd and several of the defendants practiced military tactics and the use of weapons on private property in Caswell County, N.C., in June and July 2009.

Each of the defendants faces potential life imprisonment if convicted of conspiracy to murder, kidnap, maim, and injure persons abroad. In addition, conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists carries a maximum 15-year sentence. The charges of receiving a firearm through interstate commerce and selling a firearm to a convicted felon each carry a maximum 10-year sentence. Making false statements in a terrorism investigation carries a maximum eight-year sentence, while possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence carries a consecutive five-year sentence.

This investigation is being conducted by the Raleigh Joint Terrorism Task Force of the Charlotte Division of the FBI and NCISAAC, the North Carolina Information Sharing and Analysis Center.

The prosecution is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Barbara D. Kocher and Jason Cowley of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina, and Trial Attorney Jason Kellhofer, of the Counterterrorism Section in the Justice Department’s National Security Division.

The public is reminded that an indictment contains mere allegations. Defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

http://charlotte.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/2009/ce072709.htm



Feds searching for eighth terror suspect

Posted: Today at 11:28 a.m.
Updated: 46 minutes ago

Raleigh, N.C. — Federal prosecutors said Tuesday that one member of a North Carolina group that sought to wage "violent jihad" is still at large.

Meanwhile, a clearer picture began to form of the seven men arrested Monday in the alleged terror plot.

U.S. Attorney George Holding told The Associated Press that authorities hope to soon apprehend an eighth person described in an indictment unsealed a day earlier. The person's name is redacted from court papers and appears only as a blank space in the text of the indictment.

A WRAL News source identified the suspect as Jude Kenan Mohammad, a 20-year-old from Wake County. Federal authorities are searching for him in Pakistan, the source said.

The indictment says the eighth defendant is a U.S. citizen who went to Pakistan in October 2008 to "engage in violent jihad." It doesn't say whether the person returned to the United States, and Holding declined to discuss the person's whereabouts.

Mohammad reportedly dropped out of Fuquay-Varina High School in 2006 and left the U.S. last year to travel to his father's homeland. He made national news in October when he was arrested in Pakistan for traveling illegally into a tribal region along the Afghanistan border.

Mohammad was reportedly carrying a laptop,maps and CDs at the time, but his mother told reporters last fall that the incident was a misunderstanding.

 

Authorities haven't disclosed how they learned of the alleged conspiracy, but according to indictments, Daniel Patrick Boyd, also known as "Saifullah," which means "Sword of God," and seven other men worked to provide resources to terrorists over the last three years.

Boyd, a 39-year-old drywall installer who authorities said led the operation, lives in Willow Spring with his family. His two sons, Dylan Boyd, 22, and Zakariya "Zak" Boyd, 20, both graduates of West Johnston High School, are also charged in the case.

Sabrina Boyd said in a statement Tuesday that the charges against her husband and sons are unsubstantiated at this point, and she asked that the public refrain from a "rush to judgment" so that all of the facts can come out about the case.

"We're an ordinary family. We have the right to justice, and we believe that justice will prevail," she said in the statement. "We are decent people who care about other human beings. Just because something is said in the media does not make it so. I have raised my sons to be good people, and we are a good family."

Authorities searched Boyds’ Willow Spring home, at 134 Lakeside Circle, Monday afternoon. A list of items seized from the home wasn't immediately available.

The indictments allege Daniel Boyd obtained a variety of weapons to support his efforts, including a Bushmaster M4A3 rifle, an ETA M16 V System C-MAG and a Ruger mini 14 long gun.

Neighbors described the Boyds as a regular suburban family who happened to be Muslim. They said the family held regular prayer services and played Middle Eastern-sounding music.

"They were great neighbors. We never had any trouble with them. Their kids played with our kids,” neighbor Heather Roegner said. "It is crazy. I don't know what to think."

Along with the Boyds, Hysen Sherifi, 24, Anes Subasic, 33, Mohammad Omar Aly Hassan, 22, and Ziyad Yaghi, 21, have been charged with conspiring to provide material support to terrorists and conspiring to murder, kidnap and injure persons abroad.

All of the men, except for Subasic, are expected to appear in federal court on Thursday. Subasic has requested a Yugoslavian interpreter, and his initial appearance will be delayed until the government can arrange for one to be in court, officials said.
Accused ringleader spent time in Afghanistan, Israel

Daniel Boyd trained in terrorist camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan and fought in Afghanistan from 1989 to 1992, according to the indictment.

Sabrina Boyd said her husband was fighting against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan – an effort that was supported by the U.S. government – and she didn't want his time there linked with terrorist activity.

"At that time, the United States fully supported the mujahideen of Afghanistan," said Khalilah Sabra, state executive director for the Muslim American Society. "I think he thought it was part of his patriotic duty as a Muslim and as an American to go there and to fight."

During July 2007, the indictment states, Daniel Boyd traveled to Israel with several of the other defendants, hoping to engage in "violent jihad" that included “supporting and participating in terrorist activities abroad and committing acts of murder, kidnapping or maiming persons." They failed in their efforts, and the men returned home, the indictment states.

Sabra said she didn't have specific information about Boyd's trip to Israel, but noted many Muslims make pilgrimages to Jerusalem.

"It's a religious place to us that's almost equal to Medina and Mecca," she said.

She also noted that Daniel Boyd held strong opinions about the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the plight of Palestinians in Israel, but she said they weren't out of the ordinary for many Muslims.

"These situations have caused a lot of pain in our community," she said. "If someone has a particular ideology, and they choose to practice that ideology in extreme ways, we as the Muslim community and organizations have nothing to do with that.

"There is no obligation to make jihad in this country."
Other terror suspects also lived in Triangle

Yaghi dropped out of Athens Drive High School during his sophomore year in 2005, according to school officials. A source told WRAL News he occasionally worked at the Islamic Center of Raleigh and was there as recently as last Friday.

He was convicted last year of felonious restraint after being charged with kidnapping and robbery. He spent four months in jail and was released on probation.

Defense attorney Bert Nunley, who represented Yaghi last year, said he met with him Tuesday at the Wake County Detention Center to dicuss the terrorism charges.

"Obviously, he's a little disappointed," Nunley said. "He's disappointed that people are putting labels on him. There's been no evidence that I've seen to date ... that would support these charges."

The FBI had been tracking Yahghi for some time, Nunley said, and Hassan's neighbors said he also had been targeted by federal agents for a while. FBI agents had been to his Raleigh apartment several times over the last year, they said.

There was no answer at Hassan's Raleigh apartment Tuesday. He was a sociology major at North Carolina State University as recently as the spring semester, but he hadn't graduated, according to school officials.

Sherifi's neighbors described him as a nice, young man from Kosovo who always said hello. There was no answer at his Raleigh home Tuesday.

Subasic lives in Holly Springs with his father, who declined to comment Tuesday.

From June 10 to July 7, the indictment states, the seven suspects spent time training for holy war on private property in Caswell County.

An FBI spokeswoman said Tuesday that there is no "terrorist training camp" in the rural county, but she declined to say if authorities believe the suspects rented out wooded farmland for their activities or spent time at a hunting reserve or shooting range.

    * Reporters: Cullen Browder, Kelcey Carlson, Erin Coleman, Erin Hartness
    * Photographers: David McCorkle, Terry Cantrell
    * Web Editors: Matthew Burns, Kelly Gardner

Copyright 2009 by WRAL.com and the Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/5672181/

[tombogan03884]

 This is what I was earlier trying to convey to TWYacht

[PegLeg45]

This is what I was earlier trying to convey to TWYacht

You want to know something funny?
My friend posted the link to the story on his Facebook page, also giving a big pat on the back to all the other LEO agencies involved, and Facebook removed it calling it "an abusive" (??) post.
Abusive?
Anyway, after he posted about the 'removal' enough people posted comments that it got put back on.


Good job to all the local, state, and Federal LEO's involved.

[Kid Shelleen]

You want to know something funny?
My friend posted the link to the story on his Facebook page, also giving a big pat on the back to all the other LEO agencies involved, and Facebook removed it calling it "an abusive" (??) post.
Abusive?
Anyway, after he posted about the 'removal' enough people posted comments that it got put back on.


Good job to all the local, state, and Federal LEO's involved.

Amen to that.

Now try 'em, convict 'em and hang 'em up by their terrorist toenails.

[tombogan03884]

How do you think BO's Thugs would get rid of some one like me who says he and his cronies are Traitors and should be hung ?
The same way Clintons DOJ murdered the Branch Davidians and Randy Weavers son and wife. Demonize in the media and then either through them in prison or kill them.
I don't know one way or another but this guy looks a lot better groomed than your usual jihadi, and a beard is REQUIRED for the radical Islamist. Keeping in mind BO's conduct with Honduras and N Korea and Iran, I don't trust the news reports.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090729/ap_on_re_us/us_nc_terror_arrests
Conflicting portrait of NC terror suspect emerges
RALEIGH, N.C. – Daniel Boyd may have spent the past three years traveling to the Middle East, secretly buying guns and training for jihad with a group of aspiring terrorists as federal authorities claim, but people on his cul-de-sac said Tuesday he also made plenty of time to be a good neighbor.

The 39-year-old drywall contractor and his wife were family oriented, always quick to help with gardens and treehouses and raised well-mannered kids, neighbors said a day after the FBI arrested Boyd and six others, accusing the men of planning to kidnap, kill and maim people abroad.

"If he's a terrorist, he's the nicest terrorist I ever met in my life. I don't think he is," said Charles Casale, 46, a neighbor in Willow Spring who recently got pointers on planting vegetables from the Boyds.

Federal investigators said Boyd was the ringleader of a small North Carolina-based terrorist group, involved in three years of nefarious international travel, gun buys and military-style training trips. Authorities claim the group, including an eighth suspect believed to be in Pakistan, were gearing up for a "violent jihad," though prosecutors haven't detailed any specific targets or timeframe.

Prosecutors said Boyd received terrorist training in Pakistan and brought the teachings back to North Carolina, where over the past three years he recruited followers willing to die as martyrs waging jihad — the Arabic word for holy war.

Frustrated by Raleigh-area mosques that were too moderate, Boyd started breaking away this year to hold prayers in his home, prosecutors said. In the last two months, he took two group members to private property in north-central North Carolina to practice military tactics and use weapons.

"It's clear from the indictment that the overt acts in the conspiracy were escalating," U.S. Attorney George E.B. Holding said.

At his home, though, Boyd's neighbors and family defended him.

Boyd's wife, Sabrina, vowed that he was part of an "ordinary family" and urged the public not to rush to judgment. Boyd's sons Zakariya, 20, and Dylan, 22, were also named in the indictment.

"We have the right to justice, and we believe that justice will prevail," she said in a statement. "We are decent people who care about other human beings."

A friend and neighbor, 20-year-old Jeremy Kuhn, said the family seemed closer and more loving than any of the other nearby households.

"If it turns out they were terrorists, I will be the most shocked person in the world," he said. "I think they have seven innocent people sitting in jail waiting to have their lives ruined."

The other four men arrested range in age from 21 to 33. Only one is not a U.S. citizen, but he is a legal resident.

An attorney who met with one of the defendants, Ziyad Yaghi, 21, said Yaghi was disappointed.

"Our concern is that people are rushing to a judgment and there's no evidence that anyone's been shown," attorney Robert Nunley said.

Public defenders assigned to Boyd did not return messages seeking comment, and there were no attorneys for the other men listed in court records. If convicted of providing material support to terrorism and "conspiracy to murder, kidnap, maim and injure persons abroad," the men could face life in prison. They are expected to appear in court Thursday for a detention hearing.

Authorities believe the eighth suspect is currently in Pakistan, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity. A second law enforcement official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said the suspect was Jude Kenan Mohammad, 20. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk about the investigation.

Holding said he hoped an arrest was near, but didn't elaborate.

Authorities believe Boyd's roots in terrorism run deep. When he was in Pakistan and Afghanistan from 1989 through 1992, he had military-style training in terrorist camps and fought the Soviets, who were ending their occupation of Afghanistan, according to the indictment.

In 1991, Boyd and his brother were convicted of bank robbery in Pakistan. They were also accused of carrying identification showing they belonged to the radical Afghan guerrilla group, Hezb-e-Islami, or Party of Islam. Each was sentenced to have a foot and a hand cut off for the robbery, but the decision was later overturned.

A former CIA official who was stationed in Pakistan at the time said the agency intervened and quickly persuaded the Pakistani intelligence service to help free the Boyd brothers. The former official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly about the incident.

The official didn't believe the Hezb-e-Islami identification cards they had been carrying proved they were jihadists.

The Boyd brothers' wives told The Associated Press in an interview in 1991 that the couples had U.S. roots but Americans were "kafirs" — Arabic for heathens.

It is unclear when Boyd and his family returned to the United States, but in March 2006, Boyd traveled to Gaza and attempted to introduce his son to individuals who also believed that violent jihad was a personal religious obligation, the indictment said. The document did not say which son Boyd took to Gaza.

The indictment said some of the defendants took trips to Jordan, Israel and Pakistan to engage in jihad, but only discussed the results of one of those trips. After traveling to Israel, Boyd and his two sons returned to the United States in July 2007 "having failed in their attempt," according to the documents.

___

[Sponsor]

[twyacht]

This is what I was earlier trying to convey to TWYacht

I just did it the old fashioned way,... the NC traditional method against the "man", we made homemade Peach Brandy,.... and damn that was good....

Our Dept. of Homeland Security were two old dogs...that barked...

I tried to tell the stupid rednecks up there to quit,... but they wouldn't listen.....

[Overload]

I read these articles and I'm trying to figure out what he did that was illegal.  I'm also confused who he was allegedly trying to kill, or get killed, in the middle east.
Something sounds fishy to me.