Stolen Canadian Plane Lands In Missouri

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Police captured the pilot of a stolen Canadian plane late Monday night, ending a bizarre pursuit that began in Thunder Bay, Ont., and ended in a small Missouri town.

The pilot took a single-engine Cessna 172 from a Thunder Bay aviation school and soon crossed into U.S. airspace. Authorities scrambled two F-16 fighter jets to track the aircraft as it made its way over Wisconsin and Illinois.

Nearly eight hours later, at about 10 p.m. ET, the pilot landed on a dirt road in the southern Missouri town of Ellsinore and fled on foot.

Officials with the Federal Bureau of Investigation then arrested 31-year-old suspect Yavuz Burke, a native of Turkey who became a Canadian citizen last year. He was formerly known as Adam Leon.

Earlier, the North American Aerospace Defense Command had scrambled two F-16 fighter jets to track the plane.

Lt.-Cmdr. Gary Ross, a spokesperson for NORAD, said the pilot did not respond to radio calls from the jets or the FAA.

He also said the pilot refused to acknowledge the nonverbal communications from the F-16 jets to follow them. It appears the plane only landed as it came close to running out of fuel.

The plane was reported stolen at about 2:30 p.m. ET and was spotted flying erratically.

At about 5 p.m., the state capital building in Madison, Wis., was evacuated before the plane passed near the region. Police cars cordoned off the streets around the building and officers told people to move away from the area.

The small plane belongs to Confederation College’s aviation program and was taken off from the Thunder Bay International Airport.

According to local radio, someone jumped the fence and took off on an unauthorized flight.

City police are at the scene at the college’s hangar. Police spokesperson Chris Adams says officers have little to go on at the time.

According to Cessna’s website, the Cessna 172 Skyhawk is world’s most flown airplane. It has a maximum cruise speed of 233 kilometres an hour and a range of 1,130 km.
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White House to Keep Agencies Focus on Terrorism

The Obama administration is moving to solidify one of the most significant shifts of resources put into place under President George W. Bush: the transformation of the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation into agencies where the top priority is counterterrorism rather than conventional law enforcement.

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. and other Justice Department officials have emphasized that they will not cut resources allocated to national security in the foreseeable future, and the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Robert S. Mueller III, told lawmakers on Wednesday that “we have no intention of retreating from preventing a terrorist attack on American soil as our No. 1 priority.”

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Suspect In Alleged NY Terror Plot Released In Lebanon

A Lebanese man arrested three years ago on terrorism charges for allegedly plotting to blow up New York City commuter tunnels has been released on bail, Lebanese officials said Tuesday.

The case was said to have been an al-Qaida plot involving Assem Hammoud and seven other people.

Hammoud was arrested in April 2006 in Lebanon. The FBI said the plotters planned to bomb and flood Hudson River train tunnels that carry tens of thousands of commuters between New York and New Jersey.

U.S. federal officials said the eight suspects — including Hammoud and two others in custody elsewhere — had hoped to pull off the attack in October or November 2006.

After Hammoud’s arrest, Lebanese authorities said they found maps and bombing plans on his personal computer, that he confessed to the plot and swore allegiance to al-Qaida.

Following a trial before the military court last year Hammoud was released on a bail of 1 million Lebanese pounds ($667) pending a verdict, the judiciary officials said.

via Source

Fusion Centers Combat Threats from Terrorist and Criminal Networks

In Arizona, after determining the subjects of an international terrorism case were involved in local criminal activity, the case was referred to local law enforcement. In New Mexico, several individuals linked to FBI investigations-including an MS-13 gang member-were identified. In Tennessee, we developed-with our partners-a formal process for collecting, sharing, and analyzing suspicious activity reports, looking for trends and patterns. Read more

FBI Concerned Young Men Being Recruited For Terrorism

Sources told KING 5 News that Seattle FBI agents are now working on a nationwide terrorism investigation.

The FBI has confirmed some cases of young men traveling to the East African nation of Somalia to join al Qaeda-sponsored groups there.

One of the cases they’re looking at includes a man killed in fighting in Somalia last year – an American citizen from Seattle. Read more

FBI Watching Somali Muslims In Minneapolis

On election night last November, the outcome was wildly celebrated by Somalis living in Minneapolis, 70,000-strong, mostly refugees from their war-torn country. It is the largest Somali community in the United States.

But the evening was noteworthy for something else, too. That night, the latest in a line of young Somalis who grew up here, departed unannounced for Somalia itself, joining a civil war in a country few had ever seen and causing concern in the United States.

Hussein Samatar’s 17-year old nephew left without a word to his family.

“He was an A student,” says Samatar. “He has everything to hope for to attend any Ivy League school that he wanted to. Why he would do it is a mystery to us.”

Some 20 vanished last year – all American citizens – an exodus the FBI has noticed for a troubling reason.

“A man from Minneapolis became what we believe to be the first U.S. citizen to carry out a terrorist suicide bombing,” said agency director Robert Mueller.

The October attack by 27-year-old Shirwa Ahmed killed 30 near Mogadishu, and there is alarm that the skills acquired abroad could be brought back to America.

“He could have done it here,” says Omar Jamal, a Somali advocate in Minnesota. “We don’t see anything that would have prevented him from doing this right here in the heart of Minneapolis.”

This much seems clear:

“It appears that this individual was radicalized in his hometown in Minnesota,” Mueller said.

The missing men all came from one local mosque, according to the FBI. But officials at the mosque deny that they play any role in turning young people into radicals, Reynolds reports.

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Orange County Muslims say FBI Surveillance Upsetting

The Islamic Center of Irvine is a beige stucco building that blends into the rows of office buildings surrounding it. But last week, it became the most publicized mosque in California with disclosures that the FBI sent an informant there to spy and collect evidence of jihadist rhetoric and other allegedly extremist acts by a Tustin man who attended prayers there.

The revelations dismayed mosque members like Omar Turbi, 50, and his 27-year-old son who shares his name. After Friday prayer service last week, while hundreds of others scurried back to work, the pair stood with their backs to a wall and mulled over the news.

“It gives you a little bit of apprehension about who you trust,” the elder Turbi said. “Makes you think twice about what you say; what if people misunderstand you?”

Turbi’s fears were echoed by other Muslims throughout Southern California last week. Some say a climate of suspicion toward them, fueled by 9/11 and underscored by the latest disclosures of FBI surveillance, is inhibiting their freedoms of speech and faith.

According to Muslim leaders, some people are avoiding mosques, preferring to pray at home. Others are reducing donations to avoid attracting government attention or paying in cash to avoid leaving records. And some mosques have asked speakers to refrain from political messages in their sermons, such as criticism of U.S. foreign policy, said Hussam Ayloush, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Anaheim.

“Some average Muslims interested only in praying are avoiding mosques for fear of somehow being monitored or profiled,” Ayloush said. “Everybody is afraid, and it is leading to an infringement of the free practice of our religion.”

The latest anxiety wave was triggered by an FBI agent’s testimony last week that an informant was sent into several Orange County mosques and helped collect evidence against Ahmadullah Sais Niazi. The Afghanistan-born Niazi, 34, is scheduled for arraignment this month on charges of perjury, naturalization fraud and other acts related to lying about ties to Al Qaeda.

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Man Arrested for Allegedly Targeting President, Others With HIV-Infected Blood

A man from President Obama’s hometown of Chicago has been arrested for allegedly sending Obama and his staff envelopes containing HIV-infected blood, in the hopes of killing or harming them.

It’s only the second time ever that HIV-infected blood has been sent with malicious intent through the U.S. mail system, a spokesman for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service said.

In the weeks leading up to Obama’s inauguration, Saad Hussein, an Ethiopian refugee in his late 20’s, sent an envelope addressed to “Barack Obama” to offices of the Illinois government in Springfield, Ill., according to court documents. The envelope contained a series of unusual items, including a letter with reddish stains and an admission ticket for Obama’s election-night celebration in Chicago’s Grant Park. Court documents said Hussein, who takes drugs to treat a mental illness, later told FBI agents he is “very sick with HIV” and cut his fingers with a razor so he could bleed on the letter.

Hazmat teams were called in after the envelope was opened, and offices of the Illinois Department on Aging and the Department of Revenue were locked down for nearly two hours, locking 300 staffers in their offices, court documents said.

Hussein, with his brother acting as an interpreter, told FBI agents he was actually “an admirer” of Obama and was “seeking help from the government,” according to court documents. He also told them he was hoping to obtain tickets to the inaugural ceremonies in Washington, the documents said.

Days after sending the letter to Obama, Hussein allegedly placed two more letters in the mail, one addressed to “Emanuel,” an apparent reference to Obama’s current chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel. The two letters contained what appeared to be dried blood, the court documents said.

via Chicago Man Arrested for Allegedly Targeting Obama With HIV-Infected Blood – First 100 Days of Presidency – Politics FOXNews.com.

Alleged FBI Informant Claims Man Threatened To Blow Up S. California Shopping Centers

Craig Montielh, a 46-year-old father of three, said Thursday that he worked as an FBI informant uncovering suspected terrorist plots.

The Irvine man came forward saying he fears for his life because people may think he is a terrorist. He says his four-year investigation led to one arrest and seven others are pending, under sealed indictments.

“If they wanted to kill me, it’s not hard to do,” Monteilh said.

Last week, Ahmed Niazi was arrested on charges of passport and immigration fraud.

“Ahmad Niazi is a gentleman, a scholar, a devoted father. But make no mistake, he is also a terrorist,” Montielh said.

Montielh also claims Niazi threatened to blow up shopping centers like South Coast Plaza and Fashion Island, to “fight the infidel,” meaning the United States.

“If malls are attacked and bombs are exploding, people won’t go spend their money,” Monteilh said. “People will remain in fear and stay home.”

Monteilh said he alerted the FBI to Niazi, 34, after meeting him at the Islamic Center of Irvine in November 2006 and spending eight months with him, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations is outraged about the case against Niazi, saying the FBI is profiling mosques by placing undercover agents in their midst.

The FBI says it will not comment about the case involving Montiehl.

Niazi is scheduled to be arraigned March 2 on a five-count federal indictment that accuses him of lying on his naturalization application, procuring naturalization unlawfully, using a passport procured by fraud and making a false statement.

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FBI Raids University of Floridas Nuclear Power Institute

The nuclear space power institute at the University of Florida has been raided by the FBI.

Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Rhew in Tallahassee said search warrants were served at the university’s Innovative Nuclear Space Power and Propulsion Institute.

Rhew would not comment on the target of the investigation, but University of Florida spokesman Steve Orlando said the FBI was in the office of professor Samim Anghaie, the Iranian-born director of the institute.

Rhew would not comment on the investigation but did say no arrest warrants have been issued.

Court documents filed by the United States Attorney in Tallahassee describe a criminal and civil investigation into “fraudulent” invoices that resulted in funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars to Professor Samim Anghaie, 59, his wife, Sousan, 54, and their two adult sons.

Federal officials would not talk about the details of their investigation, which UF reacted to by placing Anghaie on leave with pay. He could not be reached for comment.

via Source

Note:  There is no indication that this story has any ties to terrorism or terror activities.  We  post it as a story of interest to our readers.

FBI Director Warns of Terror Attacks on U.S. Cities

FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III today warned that extremists “with large agendas and little money can use rudimentary weapons” to sow terror, raising the specter that recent attacks in Mumbai that killed 170 people last year could embolden terrorists seeking to attack U.S. cities.

At a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, Mueller said that the bureau is expanding its focus beyond al-Qaeda and into splinter groups, radicals who try to enter the country through the visa waiver program and “home-grown terrorists.”

“The universe of crime and terrorism stretches out infinitely before us, and we too are working to find what we believe to be out there but cannot always see,” Mueller said.

One particular concern, the FBI director said, springs from the country’s background as a “nation of immigrants.” Federal officials worry about pockets of possible radicals among melting-pot communities in the United States such as Seattle, San Diego, Miami or New York.

A Joint Terrorism Task Force led by the FBI, for instance, continues to investigate a group in Minneapolis after one young man last fall flew to Somalia and became what authorities believe to be the first U.S. citizen to carry out a suicide bombing. As many as a half-dozen other youths from that community in Minnesota have vanished, alarming their parents and raising concerns among law enforcement officials that a dangerous recruiting network has operated under the radar.

“The prospect of young men, indoctrinated and radicalized in their own communities . . . is a perversion of the immigrant story,” Mueller said.
via Source washingtonpost.com.

Report: Dirty Bomb Materials Found In Slain Mans Home

James G. Cummings, who police say was shot to death by his wife two months ago, allegedly had a cache of radioactive materials in his home suitable for building a “dirty bomb.”

According to an FBI field intelligence report from the Washington Regional Threat and Analysis Center posted online by WikiLeaks, an organization that posts leaked documents, an investigation into the case revealed that radioactive materials were removed from Cummings’ home after his shooting death on Dec. 9.

The report posted on the WikiLeaks Web site states that “On 9 December 2008, radiological dispersal device components and literature, and radioactive materials, were discovered at the Maine residence of an identified deceased [person] James Cummings.”

The section referring to Cummings can be read here.

It says that four 1-gallon containers of 35 percent hydrogen peroxide, uranium, thorium, lithium metal, thermite, aluminum powder, beryllium, boron, black iron oxide and magnesium ribbon were found in the home.

Also found was literature on how to build “dirty bombs” and information about cesium-137, strontium-90 and cobalt-60, radioactive materials. The FBI report also stated there was evidence linking James Cummings to white supremacist groups. This would seem to confirm observations by local tradesmen who worked at the Cummings home that he was an ardent admirer of Adolf Hitler and had a collection of Nazi memorabilia around the house, including a prominently displayed flag with swastika. Cummings claimed to have pieces of Hitler’s personal silverware and place settings, painter Mike Robbins said a few days after the shooting.

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FBI Releases Pics Of Low-level Suspects in $9m ATM Scam

Hackers orchestrated a highly coordinated, global attack on ATM cards involving the theft of a staggering $9 million from bank customers — and they could strike again, according to an investigation by FOX 5 TV in New York.

Customers’ personal information might also have been compromised in what federal agents are calling one of the most well-coordinated such schemes they’ve seen, MyFOXNY.com reported.

The FBI said it uncovered the plot and is investigating. The alleged hackers are still at large and could orchestrate another attack.

In a matter of hours, thieves struck ATMs from 49 different cities — including New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Moscow and Montreal — just after 8 p.m. EST on Nov. 8, according to the FBI.

Part of the heist was caught on security camera images obtained by the TV station. The photos show people the FBI calls “cashers” — low-level participants in the plot who allegedly used bogus ATM cards with stolen information — at the machines.

The scheme worked as follows: Plotters hacked into a computer system for a company called RBS WorldPay, which allows employers to transfer workers’ pay directly to a payroll card.

The scam artists were then able to infiltrate the system and steal personal data needed to make duplicate ATM cards.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Chicago FBI office at (312) 421-6700.

Full Article and Photos

Colorado Man Charged In Threat on Obama, Mall of America

A 20-year-old southwestern Colorado man has been indicted on charges of threatening to kill President Obama and blow up the Mall of America in Bloomington.

Timothy Ryan Gutierrez, of Cortez, was indicted Tuesday in federal court in Denver. A warrant has been issued for Gutierrez’s arrest, and authorities declined to discuss his whereabouts.

He faces one count each of transmission of threats and falsely threatening to use explosives.

Gutierrez sent an e-mail to the FBI eight days before Obama was inaugurated, the indictment alleges, and wrote: “I’m going to assassinate the new president of the United States of America. PS you have 48 hours to stop it from happening.”

Federal court records also say he e-mailed the FBI with a threat against the mall: “I have rigged 40 pounds of C4 [a moldable plastic explosive] … and my favorite TNT to 7 cars outside the Mall of America.”

Mall officials were “notified immediately” by the FBI and Bloomington police of the threat, said Maureen Bausch, the mall’s executive vice president of business development. The mall was given the all-clear after 16 to 18 hours, Bausch said, once it was determined “the threat wasn’t valid” and a search of the giant retail and entertainment complex turned up nothing suspicious.

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