Terror Plot Hatched in California Prison (Authorities Thwart Attack Intended for Next Month)

A terrorist plot to attack military and Jewish sites in the Los Angeles area this coming Sept. 11 was devised inside a cell at the New Folsom State Prison, a maximum-security prison outside Sacramento, Calif.

Law enforcement officials told ABC News that Peter Martinez, a former Oakland street gang member, and his cellmate Kevin James organized the plot and recruited as many as 13 other inmates in a jihad against the United States. The two inmates have since been placed in special confinement, according to officials.

"Al Qaeda recruits in prisons. They really do," said Edward Caden, a retired prison administrator in California. "Prisons are a prime, prime target for terrorist recruiting. It is a ripe population."

The plot, which called for dozens of casualties as part of a holy war against the United States, was foiled after Levar Washington, a former inmate at the Folsom Prison, and his accomplice were arrested for a string of gas station robberies.

Washington had entered prison a convicted thief and left as a militant black Muslim who had sworn allegiance to a violent jihad, according to law enforcement authorities.

The FBI says Washington, after being released late last year, started to plan attacks on synagogues and a military recruiting center in Santa Monica, Calif.

A law enforcement report obtained by ABC News says the attacks were to take place on Sept. 11, and "the intent was to kill everyone at the target."

"He regarded Osama bin Laden very highly," claimed one man who wished to remain anonymous for fear of other cell members still at large. He said Washington tried to recruit him and others in Los Angeles to join the terror group.

"He really believed that the Muslim world is majorly oppressed right now," continued the attempted recruit, "and their only way out is to fight jihad by harming innocent people."

The terror plot was thwarted when Washington and his accomplice were apprehended. Although he had no previous criminal record, Washington's accomplice was in the midst of the 15-day waiting period to buy a high-powered rifle, according to police. The Imam of a Los Angeles mosque that Washington attended said he was surprised by the level of hatred for America that Washington had developed in prison.

"It strikes me as pretty strange that a person would come out full of anger and frustration and channel his direction of frustration at this particular angle," Imam Kharsay said.

"Al Qaeda recruits in prisons. They really do," said Edward Caden, a retired prison administrator in California. "Prisons are a prime, prime target for terrorist recruiting.

It is part and parcel for Muslims to go in to prisons and teach their so called ROP. I knew Azad Abdullah personally. He killed a friend and co-worker of mine. He was a Refugee, and used to spend most of his time at the prison in Boise Idaho teaching Islam. Go here for more:

http://www.idahostatesman.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/99999999/NEWS01/40928019/1002&theme=ABDULLAH&template=theme
OR:
http://www2.state.id.us/crimevictim/news/news.cfm?category=7&chapter=66&article=449

This man when I met him was clean cut and known for his being "cute". You would never have known.

Now for the rest of his story; (known to only a few such as myself and co-workers, program leaders, etc.) He had a wife in the mideast, he got permission to go visit her. She was expecting a child. While he was there that 18 year old wife of his died, of a heart attack (according to Saudi Arabia and the USA State Dept). He came back to the USA with that baby in his arms. I got a fax from the state dept. (after an inquiry we made) that told me nothing was amiss with the death of his wife and he would be returning to the USA.

Not long after he married the person who "resettled" him.....Angie Jewett. The rest is on the links that I've posted.

Prison is one of the primary reqruitment centers.

Army Ball, Recruiting Centers Targetted, Others May Be Involved in Local Terror Plot
By Eric Leonard - August 16, 2005

A formal reception for Army officers in Long Beach may have been the first target of two men recently arrested for a series of robberies and who are now suspected of plotting gun attacks around Los Angeles, law enforcement sources have told KFI NEWS.

Torrance police arrested Gregory Vernon Patterson, 21, and Levar Haney Washington, 25, July 5 following a gas station robbery in Fullerton, according to Torrance police Lt. Rod Irvine. The men have since pleaded not guilty to ten counts each of robbery, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorneys Office.

The investigation was handed over to the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force after Torrance detectives searched Washington’s apartment and discovered target lists, maps, “Jihahdi” literature, and military equipment, authorities say.

Winston McKesson, an attorney representing Patterson, said Monday, “once the investigation is complete, the evidence will show my client had no involvement in any violent actions against this country.”

One specific target identified by the sources was a ball put on in June by the Association of the U.S. Army to celebrate the U.S. Army’s birthday. An incorrect date for the event was noted in evidence found during searches, the sources said, but the location at a hotel in Long Beach was accurately described.

A coordinator for that event told KFI she had not been advised of a threat.

At least one other man may have planned to participate in some of the attacks, the sources say. That man may have conducted extensive internet research to evaluate targets.

That third man is likely a Pakistani national named Hamad Riaz Samana, 21, arrested last week in connection with the case, sources confirmed Tuesday. Court documents related to the arrest have been sealed.

Virginia Kice, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said Samana was not in that department’s custody and referred questions to the FBI.

The sources said Washington has told investigators he is the leader of a larger group assembled to carry out attacks against the U.S.

An initial series of simultaneous attacks on military facilities and recruiting stations were described in some of the recovered evidence, the sources said, but those plans were apparently scrapped because of high levels of security at the locations.

Possible targets listed in the evidence include: Army National Guard facilities, an Army installation, and a military base in the South Bay, according to news reports.

Recruiting centers identified included offices in West L.A., the South Bay, and Glendale, the sources said.

California National Guard spokesman Maj. Jon Siepmann referred KFI’s questions about the target list to the FBI Tuesday, though Siepmann was quoted by the Associated Press last month saying three National Guard facilities had been targeted. He said the threat was, “very serious.”

Lt. Commander Eric Grimm, also of the California National Guard, told KNBC-TV last month the three facilities were placed on a heightened state of security as a result of the Torrance investigation.

KFI reported Monday law enforcement sources said Washington and Patterson were being investigated for possibly planning a September 11, 2005 gun attack on a military recruiting office in Santa Monica.

Washington’s attorney had said last month he was unaware of a terrorism investigation, other than FBI agents had requested to speak with his client.

The FBI says the case is being investigated by the Joint Terrorism Task Force but would not comment specifically on KFI’s report.

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