Terrorism Suspect Arrested in Manhattan

Learned how to make bombs from Anwar al-Awlaki’s magazine
US News • Views: 21,446

We have a terrorism arrest tonight, another case in which the suspect was under surveillance the whole time: Bloomberg announces arrest of terror suspect.

New York (CNN) — Authorities have arrested a man they claim was plotting to detonate pipe bombs, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Sunday night.

The Manhattan man’s intended targets were U.S. military personnel who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as U.S. postal facilities and police stations, a source close to the investigation said before the mayor’s announcement.

The suspect allegedly learned how to make a pipe bomb after reading Inspire, the al Qaeda terrorist network’s English-language online propaganda, recruiting and training magazine, according to the source. He is believed to have been acting alone.

He’d acquired all the material need for the explosive device, going as far as drilling holes into the would-be pipe bomb in an informant’s apartment, the source said. But while he’d allegedly made plans for his attacks, the explosive device was not yet operational.

The alleged would-be attacker, who is believed to be of Hispanic descent, had been monitored by the New York Police Department for about two years, according to the source. The same source added that the suspect had converted to Islam and recently had begun talking about waging a “jihad” consistent with his devotion to the religion.

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53 comments
1 albusteve  Sun, Nov 20, 2011 5:11:15pm

NYPD is the stuff of legends…good going

2 funky chicken  Sun, Nov 20, 2011 5:17:37pm

Another Jose P? Bizarro.

3 erik_t  Sun, Nov 20, 2011 5:17:49pm

Law enforcement is a good way to prevent crime. Who knew?

4 rwdflynavy  Sun, Nov 20, 2011 5:20:18pm

Great work NYPD!!!

5 HappyWarrior  Sun, Nov 20, 2011 5:21:15pm

Glad they caught him before it too late. Ditto the props to NYPD.

6 albusteve  Sun, Nov 20, 2011 5:23:51pm

being a detective in NYC basically means you’d better have a dedicated spouse…an extremely difficult job that would kick most peoples ass

7 Killgore Trout  Sun, Nov 20, 2011 5:24:24pm

re: #3 erik_t

Law enforcement is a good way to prevent crime. Who knew?

Not these folks
Image: x610.jpg

NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 18: Malila Monolo (R) and other Muslims rally in Foley Square to protest ethnic profiling by law enforcement on November 18, 2011 in New York City. The Muslims held a rally and Friday prayers and were joined by protesters affiliated with Occupy Wall Street.

8 Killgore Trout  Sun, Nov 20, 2011 5:26:01pm
10 Killgore Trout  Sun, Nov 20, 2011 5:28:28pm

Since the apologists are downdinging I’ll continue: A Rally for Muslim Rights Echoes Occupy Wall Street and the Arab Spring

Today, many of the protestors at Foley Square made the direct connection between the NYPD infiltration program and the messages of Occupy Wall Street.

“We support Occupy Wall Street. We support the [protest against] illegal surveillance of the Muslim community and really the entire community at large,” says Arasalan Ghelieh. “These issues are completely intertwined and we’re proud to be part of all of them.”

Ghelieh, 28, is a New York lawyer with the National Lawyers Guild, an organization that supports both the Occupy Wall Street and Muslim protests.

“The Muslim community is part of the 99%. The Muslim community has for years dealt with the same issues that the occupiers are now dealing with, including increased police presence and the illegal surveillance,” Ghelieh adds.

11 albusteve  Sun, Nov 20, 2011 5:28:39pm

re: #8 Killgore Trout

Image: 610x.jpg

there’s a huge data bank on Louisville Sluggers…every batter has been traced and verified

12 Killgore Trout  Sun, Nov 20, 2011 5:29:50pm

re: #11 albusteve

there’s a huge data bank on Louisville Sluggers…every batter has been traced and verified

They uplaod GPS data to Obama’s drones.

13 palomino  Sun, Nov 20, 2011 5:32:04pm

re: #10 Killgore Trout

Sonce the apologists are downdinging I’ll continue: A Rally for Muslim Rights Echoes Occupy Wall Street and the Arab Spring

Well done, you shifted the thread from a terrorist plot to OWS before we reached the 10th comment. You used to say interesting things; now you say the same thing over and over, and have become a broken record playing a bad song. Yawn.

14 albusteve  Sun, Nov 20, 2011 5:32:30pm

re: #12 Killgore Trout

They uplaod GPS data to Obama’s drones.

I won’t touch one myself…I’m wimpy

15 SpaceJesus  Sun, Nov 20, 2011 5:33:47pm

is there something wrong with protesting the influence giant corporations have over our political process or am i missing something

16 albusteve  Sun, Nov 20, 2011 5:33:51pm

re: #13 palomino

Well done, you shifted the thread from a terrorist plot to OWS before we reached the 10th comment. You used to say interesting things; now you say the same thing over and over, and have become a broken record playing a bad song. Yawn.

it’s a weekend…the Sabbath in fact…
you can do that and not sin

17 albusteve  Sun, Nov 20, 2011 5:34:54pm

re: #15 SpaceJesus

is there something wrong with protesting the influence giant corporations have over our political process or am i missing something

my money is in strong boxes…that’s my protest

18 erik_t  Sun, Nov 20, 2011 5:35:38pm

re: #7 Killgore Trout

Thank you for your well-considered and most stunning and worthwhile insight.

19 palomino  Sun, Nov 20, 2011 5:35:51pm

re: #16 albusteve

it’s a weekend…the Sabbath in fact…
you can do that and not sin

I’m not much on religion…sunday is sabbath for me because of sports (although we have one less pro sport operating right now than we should, boo hoo)

and i’ll take a great sports stadium/arena over a megachurch any day

20 Big Steve  Sun, Nov 20, 2011 5:36:10pm

re: #15 SpaceJesus

is there something wrong with protesting the influence giant corporations have over our political process or am i missing something

Nothing wrong with protesting this…..but I would like to hear some coherent alternative, given that the Supreme Court has already ruled that corporations are constitutionally guaranteed this right/

21 SpaceJesus  Sun, Nov 20, 2011 5:36:18pm

re: #17 albusteve

strongbox ain’t gonna help too much in a country where corporations decide what our taxes are going to be and where they go

22 albusteve  Sun, Nov 20, 2011 5:36:40pm

re: #19 palomino

I’m not much on religion…sunday is sabbath for me because of sports (although we have one less pro sport operating right now than we should, boo hoo)

and i’ll take a great sports stadium/arena over a megachurch any day

preach it!

23 SpaceJesus  Sun, Nov 20, 2011 5:37:20pm

re: #20 Big Steve


the court is technically right, so we amend the constitution then

24 jaunte  Sun, Nov 20, 2011 5:37:34pm

re: #13 palomino

you shifted the thread from a terrorist plot to OWS before we reached the 10th comment

Just about how long Michael Bloomberg gets to have people talk about the capture of Pimentel before they go back to talking about OWS.

25 albusteve  Sun, Nov 20, 2011 5:38:47pm

re: #21 SpaceJesus

strongbox ain’t gonna help too much in a country where corporations decide what our taxes are going to be and where they go

I don’t pay an income tax…I don’t own property (sale pending), or business…I’m nicely under the radar

26 palomino  Sun, Nov 20, 2011 5:39:32pm

re: #22 albusteve

preach it!

really! when was the last time a great concert took place in a megachurch?

i know, smaller venues are best…but for huge acts, arenas can still work pretty well…great memories of so much fantastic music at what used to be the Summit in Houston, Hemisfair Arena in San Antonio, even the Forum here in L.A.

27 Decatur Deb  Sun, Nov 20, 2011 5:39:35pm

This guy offers a chance to weigh the “lone wolf” nuts and the organized ideologues who wind them up. It’s no strain to lay this WannaBomber at the feet of the jihadis. The blogs that will drool over that tonight are less eager to see Loughner as the point of someone’s spear.

28 Killgore Trout  Sun, Nov 20, 2011 6:13:36pm

re: #13 palomino

Well done, you shifted the thread from a terrorist plot to OWS before we reached the 10th comment. You used to say interesting things; now you say the same thing over and over, and have become a broken record playing a bad song. Yawn.

You’re welcome.

29 Obdicut  Sun, Nov 20, 2011 6:15:06pm

re: #7 Killgore Trout

Being against profiling is now being against law enforcement in general?

Interesting.

I’m against profiling, because we have a fine, diverse array of terrorists here in the US-of-A. There’s nothing at all wrong with surveilling and tracking radical Muslims, but pretending all Muslims are radical is silly.

30 Stan the Demanded Plan  Sun, Nov 20, 2011 6:22:37pm

Killgore=giving everything up to be right.

You really are a shallow fuck.

31 Killgore Trout  Sun, Nov 20, 2011 6:26:58pm

re: #29 Obdicut

Being against profiling is now being against law enforcement in general?

Interesting.

I’m against profiling, because we have a fine, diverse array of terrorists here in the US-of-A. There’s nothing at all wrong with surveilling and tracking radical Muslims, but pretending all Muslims are radical is silly.

I looked into this a few days ago but never posted about it because of the obvious outrageous outrage that would have resulted. It’s actually a sort of interesting grey area. The protests centered around the “morocco Initiative…
AP IMPACT: NYPD eyed US citizens in intel effort
Long story short: the NYPD wanted to know who hangs out where. If they have a tip about a Moroccan bomber or a Somalian terrorist, they wanted to have a database of where these people might be hanging out. Probably not much different than previous efforts with the mafia by making notes of who hangs out where. In today’s PC environment I can see how some people might object.
However, I turned away from the radical left because they are pretty stupid when it comes to terrorism. The OWS idiots holding a rally against NYPD surveillance programs just days before a terrorist plot was foiled by NYPD surveillance makes me think I made the right choice.

32 Killgore Trout  Sun, Nov 20, 2011 6:27:43pm

re: #30 Stanley Sea

You really are a shallow fuck.

That’s profound.

33 Stan the Demanded Plan  Sun, Nov 20, 2011 6:29:32pm

re: #31 Killgore Trout

you’ve lost it dude. Bagua territory.

34 Obdicut  Sun, Nov 20, 2011 6:34:35pm

re: #31 Killgore Trout

You should get your story straight about why it is you turned away from the ‘radical left’. This makes about the third or so reason.

The OWS idiots holding a rally against NYPD surveillance programs just days before a terrorist plot was foiled by NYPD surveillance makes me think I made the right choice.

Do you think that tips from the Muslim community are important in preventing terrorism? Do you think that surveillance of Muslims who have done nothing wrong and aren’t even considered to be suspects in any wrong doing adversely affects that trust?

35 Obdicut  Sun, Nov 20, 2011 6:43:05pm

re: #31 Killgore Trout

Also, can you connect how a massive surveillance program of Moroccans contributed to catching a Hispanic convert to Islam? That’d be interesting.

36 Killgore Trout  Sun, Nov 20, 2011 6:49:20pm

re: #35 Obdicut

Also, can you connect how a massive surveillance program of Moroccans contributed to catching a Hispanic convert to Islam? That’d be interesting.

Probably not, we don’t know how he was caught. However, holding a rally against NYPD surveillance of Muslim terrorism suspects just days before a Muslim terrorist was busted by NYPD surveillance is unfortunate timing.

37 Obdicut  Sun, Nov 20, 2011 6:51:10pm

re: #36 Killgore Trout

Probably not, we don’t know how he was caught. However, holding a rally against NYPD surveillance of Muslim terrorism suspects just days before a Muslim terrorist was busted by NYPD surveillance is unfortunate timing.

Um, did you bother to read the article? The surveillance wasn’t of terrorism suspects. It was of the Moroccan Muslim community in general. If it had just been of terrorism suspects, there’d be nobody much upset about it.

38 Obdicut  Sun, Nov 20, 2011 6:55:15pm

Killgore, maybe you should just start appending “Not intended to be a factual statement” to your posts.

39 CuriousLurker  Sun, Nov 20, 2011 7:33:07pm

re: #37 Obdicut

Um, did you bother to read the article?

I’m going to assume he didn’t bother to read it, because the alternative is unpleasant.

The surveillance wasn’t of terrorism suspects. It was of the Moroccan Muslim community in general. If it had just been of terrorism suspects, there’d be nobody much upset about it.

QFT.

40 Killgore Trout  Sun, Nov 20, 2011 7:43:36pm

re: #39 CuriousLurker

I’m going to assume he didn’t bother to read it, because the alternative is unpleasant.

It’s disappointing to see that assumption. Of course I read the article, understand the expansion of the program and the nuance involved. Also why some people might object and the possible reasons why such a program might be useful. I thought it was interesting.

41 CuriousLurker  Sun, Nov 20, 2011 8:08:28pm

re: #40 Killgore Trout

It’s disappointing to see that assumption. Of course I read the article, understand the expansion of the program and the nuance involved. Also why some people might object and the possible reasons why such a program might be useful. I thought it was interesting.

Then why did you say that people were protesting “NYPD surveillance of Muslim terrorism suspects” when that wasn’t the case? And why the photos of women in hijab protesting in #7, #8, and #9? Something being “useful” isn’t the same as it being ethical or even legal.

I’d also like to point out that most of the Arab communities in NYC are in Queens & Brooklyn, not Washington Heights where today’s suspect was apprehended. Because the suspect is Dominican, presumably lives in Washington Heights where he was apprehended, and, according to the NYPD, was a lone-wolf who was getting his hate on via the internet, I find it unlikely that he’d have any ties to the Moroccan community mentioned. IOW, I fail to see the tie-in between the arrest of Pimentel and the Muslims protesting with OWS about the NYPD’s surveillance of the Moroccan community. Am I missing something?

42 FemNaziBitch  Sun, Nov 20, 2011 8:13:31pm

Another lone gunman for the conspiracy theorists.

43 Killgore Trout  Sun, Nov 20, 2011 8:14:28pm

re: #41 CuriousLurker

Am I missing something?

Yes, an interesting and honest debate. Bummer, it could have been enlightening. Maybe we’ll try again some other time.

44 CuriousLurker  Sun, Nov 20, 2011 8:15:48pm

re: #43 Killgore Trout

Yes, an interesting and honest debate. Bummer, it could have been enlightening. Maybe we’ll try again some other time.

Suit yourself.

45 Talking Point Detective  Sun, Nov 20, 2011 10:06:38pm

There are certainly right-wing extremists out there.

This guy is just a lunatic.

46 Talking Point Detective  Sun, Nov 20, 2011 10:14:34pm

Killgore makes a good point. Muslim women in hijabs should be criticized for protesting what they see as discrimination.

After all, “they attacked us.”

47 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Mon, Nov 21, 2011 12:03:56am

re: #7 Killgore Trout

They protest what they think is overbroad surveillance. Spying on a community? Well, if there were evidence that it produces more than an average number of troublemakers, maybe there would be a reason. As such, one must survey radicals, radical mosques etc. Same as with churches, synagogues…

48 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Mon, Nov 21, 2011 12:07:48am

re: #7 Killgore Trout

They protest what they think is overbroad surveillance. Spying on a community? Well, if there were evidence that it produces more than an average number of troublemakers, maybe there would be a reason. As such, one must survey radicals, radical mosques etc. Same as with churches, synagogues…

49 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Mon, Nov 21, 2011 12:10:23am

re: #7 Killgore Trout

They protest what they think is overbroad surveillance. Spying on a particular community? Well, if there were evidence that it produces more than an average number of troublemakers, maybe there would be a reason. As such, one must survey radicals, radical mosques etc. Same as with churches, synagogues…

50 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Mon, Nov 21, 2011 12:40:23am

There was some server hiccup.

51 Obdicut  Mon, Nov 21, 2011 2:31:04am

re: #43 Killgore Trout

Yes, an interesting and honest debate. Bummer, it could have been enlightening. Maybe we’ll try again some other time.

Oh come on. How are you interested in an honest debate when you try to claim that the NYPD was only spying on terrorism suspects?

52 CuriousLurker  Mon, Nov 21, 2011 4:46:20am

re: #47 Sergey Romanov

They protest what they think is overbroad surveillance. Spying on a community? Well, if there were evidence that it produces more than an average number of troublemakers, maybe there would be a reason. As such, one must survey radicals, radical mosques etc. Same as with churches, synagogues…

Just to be sure we’re all on the same page here, in his #31 Killgore linked to an article about the “the Moroccan Initiative” saying that he’d looked into things a few days ago and that the “OWS idiots” were rallying against that surveillance program.

Then in his #36 he claimed that the people at the OWS rally—presumably Muslims since he posted no less than 3 photos of Muslim women wearing hijab—were protesting “NYPD surveillance of Muslim terrorism suspects”.

I took the time to read both articles he posted. As a matter of fact, I read them multiple times to ensure I wasn’t misunderstanding anything and to give him the benefit of the doubt.

The AP article is quite clear that the NYPD program was NOT launched due to any wrongdoing or suspicious behavior on the part of the Moroccan community, but was instead based purely on ethnicity and was only the beginning of a broader plan. From the article (added emphasis mine):

The documents describe in extraordinary detail a secret program intended to catalog life inside Muslim neighborhoods as people immigrated, got jobs, became citizens and started businesses. The documents undercut the NYPD’s claim that its officers only follow leads when investigating terrorism.

It started with one group, Moroccans, but the documents show police intended to build intelligence files on other ethnicities.

Undercover officers snapped photographs of restaurants frequented by Moroccans, including one that was noted for serving “religious Muslims.” Police documented where Moroccans bought groceries, which hotels they visited and where they prayed. While visiting an apartment used by new Moroccan immigrants, an officer noted in his reports that he saw two Qurans and a calendar from a nearby mosque.

It was called the Moroccan Initiative.

The information was recorded in NYPD computers, officials said, so that if police ever received a specific tip about a Moroccan terrorist, officers looking for him would have details about the entire community at their fingertips. […]

In early meetings, police were told there was no specific threat to New York from Moroccans, officials said, but they were instructed to gather intelligence on the Moroccan community because of concerns Moroccan terrorists might strike here too. […]

Browne, the department’s spokesman, has said the unit only followed leads. There is no indication in the documents, however, that police were only investigating criminal leads. Information about crimes was included in the Moroccan Initiative files, but these do not appear to be the program’s focus. […]

The article goes on and on. In essence, the NYPD was/is acting as an intelligence agency and amassing information in the best J. Edgar Hoover tradition.

I repeat, the above surveillance program is the same one that Killgore described as “NYPD surveillance of Muslim terrorism suspects” and that he ridiculed the OWS protesters, with emphasis on the Muslims among them, for rallying against.

If Killgore wants to have an “honest debate”, then instead of snarking at me for bringing facts to the table, he ought to try bringing some honesty to the table himself. I’m not some fucking hot-headed, hyper-partisan moonbat prone to public knee-jerk responses who’s going to chomp down on every fucking piece of bait he dangles in the water without checking for a hook first.

53 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Mon, Nov 21, 2011 6:34:28am

re: #52 CuriousLurker

Yeah, I got that. If there’s a good probability of a threat based on credible info, then surveillance of a community is not out of question, which is a part of the bait-and-switch here. The “switch” being that the particular actions apparently were unjustified/not based on credible reasons, which caused the protests.

And the photos only made the trolling for outrage more transparent.


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