Man charged in plot to attack U.S. shopping mall

Man charged in plot to attack U.S. shopping mall

www.reuters.com

U.S. federal prosecutors have charged a Massachusetts man with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, alleging he and co-conspirators traveled to the Middle East seeking training, discussed attacking a shopping center, and watched and distributed "jihadi" videos

Tarek Mehanna, 27, from Sudbury, Massachusetts, had been previously indicted in January 2009 for making false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other officials in connection with a terrorism investigation, the U.S. Justice Department said in a news release on Wednesday.

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i've just seen this on the news, announced as if it were some big new battle won against terrorism but it seems to have been going on for quite some time.

Mehanna, 26, who was living in a sprawling house in Sudbury with his parents, is charged with lying to the FBI in December 2006 when questioned about the whereabouts and activities of Daniel J. Maldonado, a former Methuen resident who was suspected of training at an Al Qaeda terrorist camp to overthrow the Somali government.

regurgitation like this always sets off my radar. interesting.

www.reuters.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Some more from a local source:

Investigators say Mehanna conspired with others over a seven-year period between 2001 and 2008 plotting to "kill, kidnap, maim or injure" people in foreign countries and to kill prominent U.S. politicians.

He and two others allegedly travelled to the Middle East in 2004 to look for military-type training for attacks on U.S. interests.

Prosecutors say Mehanna had "multiple conversations about obtaining automatic weapons and randomly shooting people at a shopping mall."

"The conversations went so far as to discuss the logistics of a mall attack including coordination, weapons needed and the possibility of attacking emergency responders," investigators said in a statement.

The plan was scrapped because the men could not get the weapons.WBZTV

Totally blown away that these guys couldnt get weapons. Mass is rife with 14 year old gang bangers shooting each other left and right but these "trained" terrorists couldnt arm themselves?

this story might be a can o worms, i searched for the guy and found this, dated 17/11/2008

Mehanna was arrested on Saturday 8th November 2008, at Logan International Airport, as he was about to board a flight to start a new job in a hospital in Saudi Arabia.

Mehanna had been the subject of harassment from the FBI for some time, pressuring him to become an informant for the government or else charges would be laid against him.

cagepriosoners.com

obviously a slanted source but the threat looks disturbing in light of the charges being laid against him.

[edit on 21/10/09 by pieman]

Good to see the police doing their job for once instead of tasering innocent bystanders.

Glad this is getting so much attention on ATS.

I'm seeing this as a spoiled little middle class wanna-be jihadi. Had he and his pals been a rung or two higher on the street-smarts ladder instead of the book-smart one, they might have wrought a lot of pain and suffering on Americans.

I don't know about Allah's decree, but I'm wishing that you soon have a lifelong chance to taste Bubba's sweetness. Insh'allah that, bitch.

the real terrorists already won