"Don't equate actions with religion," he said."...
1/14/11, "Gov. Christie nominates 9-11 attorney Sohail Mohammed for Superior Court judgeship," NewJerseyNewsroom.com
"Gov. Chris Christie's office Thursday announced the governor has filed nominations for judgeships and other state and county positions the he originally nominated in 2010 but were not confirmed by the Senate during the year-long session.
The governor also filed notices of intent to nominate two Superior Court judges, which would be
- subject to the consent of the state Senate.
Noteworthy is the nomination of Sohail Mohammed of Clifton to a Superior Court judgeship in Passaic County. Mohammed was counsel to many detainees picked up by federal authorities in the aftermath of 9/11 terrorist attacks. Mohammed gained the respect of authorities for trying to improve communications between them and the Muslim community after Sept. 11, 2001."...
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5/8/07, "6 held on terror conspiracy charges in NJ," MSNBC.com
"In addition to plotting the attack on Fort Dix, the defendants spoke of attacking a Navy installation in Philadelphia
- during the annual Army-Navy football game,
and conducted surveillance at other military installations in the region, prosecutors said....
Several of the men said they were ready to kill and die
- "in the name of Allah," according to court records....
One defendant, Eljvir Duka, was recorded as saying: "In the end, when it comes to defending your religion, when someone is trying attacks your religion, your way of life, then
- you go jihad."
The six were arrested Monday night trying to buy AK-47 assault weapons, M-16s and other weapons from an FBI informant, authorities said.
They appeared in federal court Tuesday in Camden and were ordered held without bail for a hearing Friday. Five were charged with conspiracy to kill U.S. military personnel; the sixth was charged with
- aiding and abetting illegal immigrants in obtaining weapons.
Four of the men were born in the former Yugoslavia, one was born in Jordan and one came from Turkey, authorities said. All had lived in the United States for years. Three were in the United States illegally; two had green cards allowing them to stay in this country permanently; and the sixth is a U.S. citizen.
One defendant, Mohamad Ibrahim Shnewer, spoke of using rocket-propelled grenades and other weapons to kill at least 100 soldiers, according to court documents.
- "My intent is to hit a heavy concentration of soldiers," he was quoted as saying. "You hit four, five or six Humvees and light the whole place (up) and retreat completely without any losses."
"It doesn't matter to me whether I get locked up, arrested or get taken away," another defendant, Serdar Tatar, was alleged to have said. "Or I die, it doesn't matter.
- I'm doing it in the name of Allah."
- They often watched terrorism training videos,
clips featuring Osama bin Laden, a tape containing the last will and testament of some of the Sept. 11 hijackers, and tapes of armed attacks on U.S. military personnel,
- erupting in laughter
when one plotter noted that a Marine's arm was blown off in an ambush, authorities said.
In court documents, prosecutors said the suspects came to the attention of authorities in January 2006 when a Mount Laurel, N.J., shopkeeper alerted the FBI about a "disturbing" video he had been asked to copy onto a DVD.
The video showed 10 young men in their early 20s "shooting assault weapons at a firing range ... while calling for jihad and
- shouting in Arabic 'Allah Akbar' (God is great)," the complaint said. The 10 included six of those arrested, authorities said.
By March 2006, the group had been infiltrated by an informant who developed a relationship with Shnewer, and the informant secretly recorded meetings last August, according to court documents.
One of the suspects, Tatar, worked at his father's pizzeria and
- made deliveries to the base, using that opportunity to scout out Fort Dix for an attack, authorities said.
"Clearly, one of the guys had an intimate knowledge of the base from having been there delivering pizzas," (prosecuting US Attorney Chris) Christie said.
The men also allegedly conducted surveillance at other area military installations, including Fort Monmouth in New Jersey, Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, and a Philadelphia Coast Guard station.
- Besides Shnewer, Tatar and Duka, the other three men were identified in court papers as Dritan Duka, Shain Duka and Agron Abdullahu.
Fort Dix is used to train soldiers, particularly reservists. It also housed refugees from Kosovo in 1999....
- Fort Dix typically has 15,000 people, including 3,000 soldiers; McGuire, which is adjacent to Fort Dix, has about 11,500 people....
The description of the suspects as "Islamic militants" was causing renewed worry among New Jersey's Muslim community....
"If these people did something, then they deserve to be punished to the fullest extent of the law," said Sohail Mohammed, a lawyer who represented scores of detainees after the 2001 attacks. "But when the government says
- 'Islamic militants,' it sends a message to the public
- that Islam and militancy are synonymous.
"Don't equate actions with religion," he said."
(Despite multiple examples of the perpetrators saying they were doing it for Allah and/or jihad. ed.)
============================
The Fort Dix 6 were not being investigated until a retail clerk at a Circuit City store in New Jersey noticed a video one of the group brought in for conversion to DVD. The clerk passed the video on to authorities.
- "During the investigation, authorities recorded hundreds of conversations with the defendants with help from two informants.
On one of the tapes, Eljvir Duka, who is married to Shnewer's sister, said he wanted to "train sniper" and
- wondered how close he would have to stand from the White House
- to shoot President Bush....
- slipping across the border through Mexico in 1984."...
via mention on Steve Malzberg show
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