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MIAMI — A judge ordered jurors to keep deliberating Tuesday after they announced a second time they were deadlocked in the retrial of six men accused of scheming to blow up Chicago's Sears Tower and bomb FBI offices. U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard refused a defense request for mistrial, instead urging them to reach verdicts if at all possible. "If you fail to reach a verdict, this case will be left open and may have to be retried again," Lenard told jurors in a set of instructions known as an Allen charge. The ethnically diverse panel of seven men and...

Jury finishes first day of deliberations in terror trialAssociated Press - March 28, 2008 5:33 PM ET MIAMI (AP) - A Florida jury has wrapped up its first day of deliberations in the trial of 6 men accused of plotting terrorist attacks against Chicago's Sears Tower and FBI offices. Before the deliberations started, prosecutors appealed to the jury not to buy defense claims that the plot was really just a con aimed at getting some money. The alleged ringleader testified that he faked interest in terrorism in an effort to scam $50,000 out of a man he thought had been...

Given that hard evidence is often scarce in trials of unsuccessful terrorists, prosecutors in Miami no doubt felt fortunate to be trying defendants who participated in a ceremony pledging allegiance to al Qaeda — and it was captured on video. Add to that ironclad proof that the leader of the cell requested — from a man he believed to be a terrorist financier — boots, uniforms, vehicles, machine guns and $50,000. Several of the defendants took surveillance photos of government buildings. Just in case the reason for the request was unclear, Narseal Batiste stated — on tape — that it...

MIAMI — In a stinging defeat for the Bush administration, one of seven Miami men accused of plotting to join forces with Al Qaeda to blow up Chicago's Sears Tower was acquitted Thursday, and the case against the rest ended in a hung jury. Federal prosecutor Richard Gregorie said the government planned to retry the six next year, and the judge said a new jury would be picked starting Jan. 7.

MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- One of seven men accused of conspiring to blow up Chicago's Sears Tower was acquitted Thursday, and a federal jury in Miami failed to reach a verdict on six others arrested in the alleged terror plot. The U.S. Attorney's Office announced that the six whose cases ended in mistrials would be retried starting on January 7. Lyglenson Lemorin, who also goes by the name Brother Levi, was acquitted in the "Liberty City 7" trial, U.S. District Judge Joan Leonard's office told CNN. The men were arrested in June 2006 and charged with a homegrown terror plot...

One of seven Miami men accused of plotting to join forces with al-Qaida to blow up Chicago's Sears Tower was acquitted Thursday, and a mistrial was declared for the six others after the federal jury deadlocked. Federal prosecutor Richard Gregorie said the government plans to retry the six next year. The Bush administration had seized on the case to illustrate the dangers of homegrown terrorism and trumpet the government's post-Sept. 11 success in infiltrating and smashing terrorism plots in their earliest stages.

Calculating the Risks in Pakistan A small group of U.S. military experts and intelligence officials convened in Washington for a classified war game last year, exploring strategies for securing Pakistan's nuclear arsenal if the country's political institutions and military safeguards began to fall apart. The secret exercise — conducted without official sponsorship from any government agency, apparently due to the sensitivity of its subject — was one of several such games the U.S. government has conducted in recent years examining various options and scenarios for Pakistan's nuclear weapons: How many troops might be required for a military intervention in...

MIAMI - The suspected ringleader of a group of men accused of plotting terrorist attacks testified in a federal trial Tuesday that his financial struggles to build a community outreach center, not a desire to attack the U.S., landed him in trouble. Prosecutors had used FBI recordings to portray Narseal Batiste, 33, and six other men as a homegrown terrorist cell aspiring to topple Chicago's Sears Tower as the opening salvo of a broader guerrilla war intended to install a U.S. government based on Islam. The suspected conspiracy never got beyond the initial stages, but Batiste and his six co-defendants...

MIAMI - A group of men accused of plotting to destroy Chicago's Sears Tower were in the final stages of forming a homegrown terrorist cell dedicated to waging an Islamic holy war before they were arrested, a prosecution terrorism expert testified Tuesday. Raymond Tanter, a Georgetown University professor and terrorism scholar said suspected ringleader Narseal Batiste and the other six had nearly completed the "radicalization process" and moved toward acts of terrorism before their arrests in June 2006. Hallmarks of this process include religious conversion, operation within a military-style hierarchy and adoption of goals shared by al-Qaida and other terrorist...

Federal Judge Denies Request To Ban Video (CBS) -- MIAMI A federal judge has denied a request for a temporary injunction which would have prevented CBS 2 sister station WFOR-TV CBS 4 in Miami and their Web site, CBS4.com, from showing undercover surveillance video of seven men implicated in a terrorism scheme that involved a plot to blow up the Sears Tower. Attorney Ana Jhones had filed the request with Federal Court judge Joan Lenard at the US Courthouse in Miami, asking that CBS, and any other media outlet, be prevented from showing the undercover video showing her client, Narseal...

by Mark Finkelstein July 19, 2006 - 06:41 Remember as a kid trying to build the tallest building you could with Legos, or whatever it was in your day? Derrick Jackson doesn't. Judging by his column - High and Mighty - in today's Boston Globe, young Derrick built one-story affordable units, maybe even buried them underground in his backyard - just to be safe. Jackson's op-ed is a condemnation of proposals to build or rebuild towers in major cities, including his own Boston. Jackson's anti-tower argument is four-fold: Tall buildings taunt terrorists. Towers are a cruel reminder of class differences....

A US judge has denied bail overnight to six Miami men charged with conspiracy to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago because he considered them a threat to the community. "The charges against each and everyone of these defendants are serious charges and involve crimes of violence," said Judge Ted Bandstra. "The government presents a strong case in support of conspiracy charges," he said, citing videotapes submitted to the court that show one of the defendants discussing with an FBI informant plans to blow up the Sears Tower. One of the tapes also shows the whole group pledging loyalty...

A federal judge Wednesday denied bond to six men accused of plotting to blow up the Sears Tower and conspiring to help al-Qaida blow up several federal buildings in Los Angeles and other cities. U.S. Magistrate Judge Ted Bandstra ruled that the men posed too great a risk to the community to be released. "The charges against each of the defendants are serious charges and constitute counts of violence," Bandstra stated, adding that it was "not relevant that the plans appear to be beyond the abilities of the defendants." The six men, who have pleaded not guilty, were arrested June...

On Friday, seven Florida men were indicted in a terror plot which included a plan to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago. Those charged were also accused of planning attacks on numerous FBI offices across the United States. The group, allegedly, planned its operations from a warehouse located in Miami. Six of the men were taken into custody early Friday by the FBI and other local, state and federal law enforcement organizations. One man was already in jail on an unrelated charge. They were accused of pledging allegiance to Al Qaeda, a known terrorist organization, along with numerous allegations...

The US authorities have charged seven men with involvement in a plot to destroy the nation's tallest building, the Sears Tower in Chicago. The men were arrested at a warehouse in Miami, in an undercover operation. The FBI says the suspects, believed to be Muslims, had pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda, but had no contacts with it. The group, which was infiltrated by an agent posing as an al-Qaeda member, includes two foreigners - one of them a Haitian - and five US citizens. "They were persons who for whatever reason came to view their home country as the enemy," US...

Seven people were arrested on terrorism conspiracy charges Thursday in connection with the early stages of a plot to attack Chicago's Sears Tower and other buildings in the United States, a federal law enforcement official said.

CHICAGO -- A federal official said seven people have been arrested in connection with the early stages of a plot to attack Chicago's Sears Tower and other buildings in the U.S. NBC News has learned from federal law-enforcement sources Thursday that the FBI has arrested about half a dozen men in Miami as part of an ongoing terrorism operation. The men, part of a radical black Muslim group, were planning terror acts in Miami and Chicago, the officials said. An FBI informant infiltrated the group, according to the source, neutralizing the threat.

Seven people were arrested Thursday in connection with the early stages of a plot to attack Chicago's Sears Tower and other buildings in the U.S., a federal law enforcement official said. The official told The Associated Press the alleged plotters were mainly Americans with no apparent ties to al-Qaida or other foreign terrorist organizations. He spoke on condition of anonymity so as not to pre-empt news conferences planned for Friday in Washington and Miami. Miami U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta said in a statement that the investigation was an ongoing operation and that more details would be released Friday. Local...

CHICAGO, March 16 (UPI) -- U.S. federal officials have confirmed they are investigating an incident where three men were seen studying and taking pictures of Chicago's Sears Tower. The men were spotted outside the 110-story building by security guards about three weeks ago. The men were questioned and allowed to leave, but the guards notified the Chicago Police Department. They in turn notified the Joint Terrorism Task Force, the Chicago Tribune reported The guards recorded the car's license plate and it was traced to a rental agency, which said the car was returned about an hour after the incident.It was...

Sears Tower officials reported incident ABC7 News has learned the terrorism task force is looking into two suspicious cases in downtown Chicago. They happened within the last three weeks. Investigators describe one of the incidents as frightening. The incidents involve two landmark Chicago buildings, the Sears Tower and Boeing World headquarters. Since 9-11, the Sears Tower building management in particular has increased security efforts several times over. But the law enforcement sources say, nevertheless, they are concerned about these latest incidents. The entire incident was recorded on Sears Tower video security cameras. The tape is now in the hands of...