Rights groups wary of case (Miami Seven)

WASHINGTON - The Justice Department unveiled Thursday's terror arrests with orchestrated press conferences in two cities, but the severity of the charges compared with the seemingly amateurish nature of the seven defendants raised concerns among civil libertarians.

''We're as puzzled as everyone else,'' said Howard Simon, the director of the Florida chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. ``There's no weapons, no explosives, but this major announcement.''

The seven men are charged with conspiring to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago and FBI buildings in five cities.

But after sweeps of various locations in Miami, government agents found no explosives or weapons. Investigators also did not document any direct links to al Qaeda.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14891108.htm

Priceless Cheney line from the article:

''There are still people out there who are trying to do everything they can to kill Americans,'' Cheney said.

"Don't shoot me again, Dick," Signed, Harry Whittington.

Also from the article:

Simon of the ACLU said his organization is reserving judgment until it gets more information.

''We count on our law enforcement officers to make a distinction between people who are trash-talking or making serious threats,'' he said. ``But this one requires more information for the general public to be able to make a judgment as to which category they fall into.''
(snip)

What a typical _Bush debacle.

<snip>

"When federal agents swooped in to arrest the alleged ringleader in a purported terror plot, Narseal Batiste was applying stucco to an apartment building in Miami's historic Buena Vista East neighborhood.

The job was left unfinished when Batiste and two of his crew were cuffed and taken away by FBI agents, said the startled landlord, John Tronolone. ''They seemed like nice enough guys,'' he said.

Batiste -- a small contractor who provided work, martial-arts training and religious instruction to his tiny knot of followers -- was among the seven South Florida men charged with conspiring to blow up buildings and wage war against the U.S. government.

They are all young, ranging in age from their early 20s to the early 30s. Five were born in the United States, four of Haitian descent and another of Dominican parents. Two others were Haitian immigrants.

It's unknown what particular grudge, if any, they held against the United States. The government's indictment contends they were inspired by Islamic belief to wage Jihad against America, but it's unclear what religious belief they actually embraced. One relative said they studied a faith that blends Christianity, Judaism and Islam.

All they know, say relatives and friends, is that the group's activities were innocent."

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14891105.htm



Group denies violent doctrine

An associate of one of the South Florida terrorism suspects said the group practiced a religion that blends Christianity, Judaism and Islam.

<snip>

"The seven South Florida men accused of plotting terrorism claim to follow teachings of the Moorish Science Temple of America, a religion that blends aspects of Christianity, Judaism and Islam and stresses self-discipline through martial arts, a close friend of one of the arrested men said Friday.

Sylvain Plantin, 30, a distant cousin and friend of indicted group member Stanley Grant Phanor, said the group's leader, Narseal Batiste, followed the religious teachings of the Prophet Noble Drew Ali, who founded the Moorish Science Temple.

''I never joined the group, but I went to a couple of Bible studies'' at the warehouse on Northwest 15th Avenue that was raided by federal agents, Plantin said.

``I never heard him talk about explosives or guns. He only talked about defending themselves. If I'd have heard that, believe me, I'd have been the first to call 911.''

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14891106.htm

It looks like these 'terrorists' had a lot of help:

"... 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.

Gonzales said “the individual they thought was a member of Al Qaeda was present at their meetings and in actuality he was working with the South Florida Joint Terrorism Task Force.’’

(snip)

The person they believed to be an Al Qaeda representative gave Batiste a digital video camera, which Batiste said he would use to record pictures of the North Miami Beach FBI building, the indictment said. At a March 26 meeting, it went on, Batiste and Burson Augustin provided the “Al Qaeda representative” with photographs of the FBI building, as well as video footage of other Miami government buildings, and discussed the plot to bomb the FBI building.

But on May 24, the indictment said, Batiste told the “Al Qaeda representative” that he was experiencing delays “because of various problems within his organization.” Batiste said he wanted to continue his mission and his relationship with Al Qaeda nonetheless, the document said. "

TorStar

Even the ringleader didn't have confidence in his 'terror crew' battle readiness, inspite of the informer dong everything he could to help it along...incredible.

First Amendment, Fourth Amendment . . .