Feds: Skyscraper Terror Plot Foiled

Seven young men arrested in an alleged plot to bomb the tallest building in the United States were part of a group of "homegrown terrorists" who sought to work with al Qaeda but ended up conspiring with an informant, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Friday.

Outlining an alleged plot against the 110-floor Sears Tower in Chicago and a federal building in Miami, Gonzales told a Justice Department news conference: "They were persons who for whatever reason came to view their home country as the enemy."

The informant was described in a Justice Department release as "an individual cooperating with law enforcement, who posed as a member of al Qaeda."

Five of the suspects arrested Thursday — including the alleged ringleader — made initial court appearances in Miami. They entered the courtroom under heavy security, in single file, chained together at the wrists and wearing ankle chains.

But questions are already being raised about the gravity of the charges against the men. CBS News legal analyst Andrew Cohen calls the indictment of the men "extraordinary for what it does not contain."

"It does not contain allegations that the men ever met with a genuine al Qaeda operative ... it does not contain allegations that the men ever purchased any munitions or went anywhere near Chicago to case the building. It does not contain allegations that the men had any sort of a specific plan or detailed plot to take down the Sears Tower," Cohen said.

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See the 11-page federal indictment.

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The seven individuals indicted by a federal grand jury were taken into custody Thursday when authorities swarmed the warehouse in the Liberty City area, removing a metal door with a blow torch. The indictment also alleges plans to blow a federal building in Miami in conjunction with the al Qaeda terrorist network.

According to the indictment, a young man identified as Narseal Batiste, beginning in November 2005, recruited and trained the others "for a mission to wage war against the United States government," including a plot to destroy the Sears Tower.

To obtain money and support for their mission, the conspirators sought help from al Qaeda, pledged an oath to the terrorist organization and supported an al Qaeda plot to destroy FBI buildings, the four-count indictment charged.

Batiste met several times in December 2005 with a person purporting to be an al Qaeda member and asked for boots, uniforms, machine guns, radios, vehicles and $50,000 in cash to help him build an "'Islamic Army' to wage jihad,'" the indictment said. It said that Batiste said he would use his "soldiers" to destroy the Sears Tower.

In February 2006, it said, Batiste told the "al Qaeda representative" that he and his five soldiers wanted to attend al Qaeda training and planned a "full ground war" against the United States in order to "kill all the devils we can." His mission would "be just as good or greater than 9/11," the indictment accused Batiste of boasting.

What the plotters didn't know is that they were discussing their plans with an informant who had infiltrated the group posing as an al Qaeda operative, reports CBS News correspondent Jim Acosta.

"In actuality [the informant] was working with the South Florida Joint Terrorism Task Force," said Gonzales.

Law enforcement officials say their plans were "pretty much all talk" and that agents "were on top of them." No weapons or explosive devices were found in the warehouse and federal officials say the men posed "no immediate threat."

"I think this is really a success story and people need to point that out," CBS News terrorism analyst Christopher Whitcomb said on CBS News' The Early Show. "The FBI and law enforcement in general found this plot in its very, very early stages."

Narseal Batiste comes from a family of preachers, his brother Buford Batiste told CBS News in an interview. He said the family is absolutely shocked and can't believe the allegations against their brother are true.

Neighbors who lived nearby said young men, who appeared to be in their teens and 20s, slept in the warehouse, running what looked like a militaristic group. They appeared brainwashed, some said.

"All you could do was see their eyes. They had the whole head wrapped up with just their eyes showing and they like were standing guard, one here, one there, like soldiers. You know? Very quiet," said resident Patricia Sands.

"There is no imminent threat to Miami or any other area because of these operations," said Richard Kolko, spokesman for FBI headquarters in Washington. He declined further comment.

"The convergence of globalization and technology has created a new brand of terrorism," Gonzales said. "Today terrorist threats come from smaller more loosely defined cells not affiliated with al Qaeda but who are inspired by a violent jihadist message, and left unchecked these homegrown terrorists may prove to be as dangerous as groups like al Qaeda."

"It's not necessarily al Qaeda-inspired anyway but people inspired by terrorism. They want to inflict harm and gain recognition, destabilize through fear," Whitcomb, a former FBI agent, told Early Show co-anchor Julie Chen. "We as Americans tend to blame everything on al Qaeda because that's what we know."

Residents living near the warehouse said the men taken into custody described themselves as Muslims and had tried to recruit young people to join their group. Tashawn Rose said they tried to recruit her younger brother and nephew for a karate class.

She said she talked to one of the men about a month ago. "They seemed brainwashed," she said. "They said they had given their lives to Allah."

Residents said FBI agents spent several hours in the neighborhood showing photos of the suspects and seeking information. They said the men had lived in the area for about a year.

Benjamin Williams, 17, said the group sometimes had young children with them. At times, he added, the men "would cover their faces. Sometimes they would wear things on their heads, like turbans."

A man who called himself Brother Corey and claimed to be a member of the group told CNN late Thursday that the individuals worship at the building and call themselves the "Seas of David."

He dismissed any suggestion that the men were contemplating violence. "We are peaceful," he said. He added that the group studies the Bible and has "soldiers" in Chicago but is not a terrorist organization.

Xavier Smith, who attends the nearby United Christian Outreach, said the men would often come by the church and ask for water.

"They were very private," said Smith, 33.

FBI Director Robert Mueller, questioned about the case on CNN's "Larry King Live," said he couldn't offer many details because "it's an ongoing operation."

"The problem we have is not what we know, it's what we don't know," said Mueller. "I do fear another attack. I know there are people out there that want to harm us."

Managers of the Sears Tower, the nation's tallest building, said in a statement they speak regularly with the FBI and local law enforcement about terror threats and that Thursday "was no exception."

Security at the 110-floor Sears Tower, a Chicago landmark, was ramped up after the Sept. 11 attacks, and the 103rd-floor skydeck was closed for about a month-and-a-half.

"Law enforcement continues to tell us that they have never found evidence of a credible terrorism threat against Sears Tower that has gone beyond criminal discussions," the statement said.

Several terrorism investigations have had south Florida links. Several of the Sept. 11 hijackers lived and trained in the area, including ringleader Mohamed Atta, and several plots by Cuban-Americans against Fidel Castro's government have been based in Miami.

Jose Padilla, a former resident once accused of plotting to detonate a radioactive bomb in the U.S., is charged in Miami with being part of a support cell for Islamic extremists. Padilla's trial is set for this fall.