Four homegrown Muslim terrorists on a mission from hell were arrested last night as they planted what they thought were high-powered plastic explosives at two Bronx synagogues, authorities said.
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PHOTOS: Terror Plot Busted in Bronx
The men were also allegedly plotting to use a Stinger missile to shoot a military plane out of the sky in upstate New York immediately after the bombings.
“They stated they wanted to commit jihad,” NYPD Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said in a press conference this morning. “These men meant to do some serious damage. … They were certainly intent on doing damage, on killing people.”
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Mayor Michael Bloomberg said, “This is a reminder that the peace is fragile, that democracy is fragile and we have to be vigilant all the time. The good news is that the NYPD and the FBI did exactly what they’re trained to do and they prevented what would have been a terrible event in our city.”
The four suspects are due to appear in court later in the day in White Plains, New York. Kelly said all four had criminal records and did not appear to be part of al Qaeda.
A rabbi at the targeted synagogue lauded the agencies involved in the bust.
“This is America’s finest hour. The best resources of the Police Department, Homeland Security and the FBI kept us safe,” said Jonathan Rosenblatt, a rabbi at the targeted Riverdale Jewish Center.
He noted that some of the members had survived the Holocaust. “To see a synagogue burning would have been painful,” he said.
The jihadist wannabes — all from Newburgh, NY — began their unholy mission last night at around 9 p.m. at the Riverdale Temple on Independence Avenue, authorities said.
They planted what they thought were explosives in a parked car outside the house of worship.
One acted as a lookout, while the other three allegedly drove up the block to the Riverdale Jewish Center and planted two more bags of “explosives” in cars.
Unbeknownst to them, their explosives were duds — supplied by authorities who had been monitoring their plan for more than a year.
Cops swooped in and arrested them right after they allegedly planted the last of the phony bombs.
One of the suspects, James Cromitie, aka Abdul Rahman, bragged that blowing up the synagogues would be a “piece of cake,” the feds said.
“I hate those motherf – – -ers, those f – – -ing Jewish bastards . . . I would like to get a synagogue,” Cromitie told an informant, according to a criminal complaint.
The alleged terrorists’ hatred also included the US military.
After bombing the temples, the men planned to split up and head to the New York Air National Guard Base at Stewart Airport in their hometown and shoot down a plane with a weapon they believed was a Stinger surface-to-air guided missile, sources said.
“They [the United States military] are killing Muslim brothers and sisters in Muslim countries, so if we kill them here [in the United States] with IEDs [improvised explosive devices] and Stingers, it is equal,” one of the busted men, Onta Williams, allegedly told the informant.
Also arrested was David “Daoud” Williams and Laguerre Payen, aka Amin or Almondo.
The arrests culminated a yearlong investigation by the FBI and NYPD joint terrorist task force, which monitored the four men with wiretaps, surveillance and the help of the undercover.
The informant — who had been cooperating with the feds on another, undisclosed case — met Cromitie at Mashjid al-Ikhlas, a mosque in Newburgh.
In their initial meeting in June 2008, Cromitie told the informant about his desire to do “something to America,” the feds charged.
“Cromitie explained to the CW [cooperating witness] that his parents lived in Afghanistan prior to his birth and that, because of his connection to Afghanistan, he was upset about the war there,” according to the legal papers filed in White Plains federal court.
The other three suspects converted to Islam after recent stints in jail, police sources said. Cromitie also has a criminal record.
“[Cromitie] was unhappy that many Muslim people were being killed in Afghanistan and Pakistan by the United States military forces,” the legal papers said. “Cromitie expressed interest in returning to Afghanistan and spoke to the CW about how if he, Cromitie, were to die a martyr, he would go to ‘paradise.’ ”
The informant told Cromitie — who, like his alleged accomplices, is a US citizen — that he was part of Jaish-e-Mohammed, a Pakistan-based terror group.
“Cromitie [said he] would be interested in joining Jaish-e-Mohammed to ‘do jihad,’ ” the complaint said.
The suspects allegedly began going on reconnaissance missions, looking for targets for their anti-Semitic and anti-American rage.
“During this surveillance, Cromitie pointed to people walking on the street in the vicinity of a Jewish community center and said that if he had a gun, he would shoot each one in the head,” according to the court papers.
At one point, Cromitie allegedly lamented that “the best target [the World Trade Center] was hit already.”
Last night, the FBI, State Police, NYPD and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement swarmed the Newburgh homes of some of the men and brought in seven people for questioning.
The four suspects busted in The Bronx were charged with conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction within the United States and conspiracy to acquire and use anti-aircraft missiles.
New York Sen. Charles Schumer said if there can be any good news out of this case, it’s that “the group was relatively unsophisticated, penetrated early, and not connected to any outside group.”
Mayor Bloomberg said, “This latest attempt to attack our freedoms shows that the homeland security threats against New York City are sadly all too real.”
Additional reporting by PerryChiaramonte, Tom Liddy, Brigitte Williams-James and Ed Robinson