CAMDEN, N.J., Oct. 20, 2008
Fort Dix Plot Trial Opens
Five Men Are Accused Of Plotting To Sneak Onto N.J. Military Base And Kill Soldiers
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A truck drives through a gate at the Fort Dix Army Base near Wrightstown, N.J. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)
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Mohamad Ibrahim Shnewer, bottom center, is seen in an artist's drawing during a court appearance last year. He is one of five men on trial for allegedly plotting to enter a military base and kill soldiers. (AP)
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Interactive Target: Fort Dix Authorities say they foiled plot by six men to attack troops on U.S. Army post.
The government has presented the case as one of the most frightening examples of homegrown terrorism since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
Authorities say that in 2006 and 2007, the men turned paintball games into terrorist training sessions and met at places like Dunkin' Donuts to discuss killing soldiers on the Army installation.
No attack was carried out.
"Their motive was to defend Islam. Their inspiration was al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. Their intent was to kill members of the United States armed services," Deputy U.S. Attorney William Fitzpatrick told the jury.
Fitzpatrick said the jury would see jihadist videos that the defendants watched and would learn many details of the alleged plot, including assertions by the government that one the men went on reconnaissance missions at Fort Dix and other military installations.
The men are charged with attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder and weapons offenses.
Their lawyers are expected to question the role, motives and character of two paid government informants who made hundreds of hours of secret recordings that form the bulk of the evidence in the trial.
Defense lawyers contend that their clients had no plot except what the government's informants prodded them into discussing.
Fitzpatrick tried to hedge against such criticism on Monday.
He said the FBI had to find people who would have credibility with aspiring terrorists; one of the informants was interested in citizenship and the other was interested in money, he said.
More than 200 people are on the list of potential witnesses in the trial, which is expected to stretch into December.
It took most of three weeks just to seat 12 jurors and six alternates from a pool of 1,500 potential jurors. The seated jury includes four men and eight women, one of whom is the mother of a veteran who was wounded in Iraq.
The federal government argues that the May 2007 capture of Serdar Tatar, Mohamad Ibrahim Shnewer and the brothers Dritan, Eljvir and Shain Duka saved innocent lives.
The case will be watched closely because it represents a type of pre-emptive prosecution that has grown more common in U.S. terrorism cases since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, which troubles some experts.
The five defendants - all foreign-born Muslim men in their 20s who have spent much of their lives in the southern New Jersey suburbs of Philadelphia - face charges of attempted murder, conspiracy and weapons offenses and could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted on all counts.
Authorities said the five prepared for an attack by scouting out military bases, buying weapons and by training in paintball games and a shooting range in the Pocono mountains of Pennsylvania.
The case is complicated because no attack was carried out. Prosecutors are trying to prove not only that they arrested the right men, but that the suspects were planning a crime.
Government prosecutors are expected to portray the men as hateful to America and sympathetic to terrorists.
The defense is likely to argue that while their clients may have spoken ill of America and even rooted for terrorists, that does not mean they intended to kill soldiers.
Defense lawyers had been trying to get evidence that the men had anti-Semitic views barred from trial. They also tried to prevent government prosecutors from showing videos that the men allegedly watched that included scenes of Americans being beheaded in Iraq.
U.S. District Judge Robert Kugler said prosecutors could present that evidence. But he said the videos must be stopped before any actual beheadings are shown.
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- Just here for a simple observation and comment:
I am a typical liberal, one who served this country of ours in war. The nonsense with comments of killing, of satanic, plotting, and of "evil", the most repeated word with the Republicans against the fellow Americans on the other party. I pray (yes, liberals do pray!!) for a fair trial and for the answers to the event here which is horrible, I agree. I would just like all of the labels used against one another to quiet down a bit is all. We can certainly debate without attacks on each other. Thanks of course to CBS for the opportunity and freedom to express our personal views. I love to read the comments from all the authors taking the time to send them in. Have a great week!! - Reply to this comment
- Posted by GOP_WILL_WIN at 11:32 AM : Oct 20, 2008
Get help, man... you''re losing it, big time. - Reply to this comment
- entrapment pure and simple.
- Reply to this comment
- Typical liberals. If they arent killing people overseas in Satanic rituals, they are plotting to kill the people who defend us from evil our soldiers. Liberals, when will you tire of doing Satans bidding?
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