May 22, 2009 8:00 am US/Eastern
Technology Fueled NYC Terror Takedown
Law Enforcement Watched And Listened As Suspects Spoke Of Killing Jews And Seeing Their Handiwork On TV
Dep. NYPD Commish: They'll Tell Story In "Their Own Words"
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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The FBI arrested four men Wednesday evening who are accused of planning a terror plot, with targets including a NYC temple and an upstate New York Military airport.
CBS
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James Cromitie, one of four men arrested in alleged plot to bomb Riverdale Jewish Center in the Bronx section of New York and a US Air National Guard Base on May 20, 2009.
AP
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David Williams, one of four men arrested in alleged plot to bomb Riverdale Jewish Center in the Bronx section of New York and a US Air National Guard Base on May 20, 2009.
AP
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Onta Williams, one of four men arrested in alleged plot to bomb Riverdale Jewish Center in the Bronx section of New York and a US Air National Guard Base on May 20, 2009.
AP
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NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg briefs the media on a thwarted terror plot targeting a Jewish temple in New York City on May 21, 2009.
CBS
Technology played a major role in the New York City terror plot arrest and may play and even bigger role in the court case.
When this case goes to trial prosecutors will be able to say "let's go to the video tape" because investigators used high-tech surveillance equipment to capture much of the plotting, the anti-Semitic remarks, and defendant's statements about wanting to see their handiwork on television.
It was all live and in color.
"The evidence that will be presented by the U.S. Attorneys in court is compelling," said Richard Falkenrath, the NYPD's Deputy Commissioner for Counterterrorism. "It will be their own words and there won't be any dispute about what they're saying."
The investigation actually began last June in a Newburgh mosque when one of the defendants, James Cromitie, told an FBI informant that he was upset that Muslims were begin killed by U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He was willing to die a martyr's death to get revenge.
"They made the statement that if Jews were killed in this attack -- that would be all right," NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly said.
It took a while for Cromitie to recruit three others. In October they started having regular meetings in a Newburgh house with the informant, who said he was a member of a violent Pakistani terror group, Jaish-e-Mohammad – the army of Mohammad. The house was wired for surveillance and caught everything on tape.
"They wanted to kill people. They wanted to cause significant damage," Kelly said.
Caught on tape were the discussions last month of what synagogues to target and plans to attack the Air National Guard base in Newburgh with a stinger missile. The informant, with his reported terror network connections, was asked to supply the weapons of mass destruction. He did, but they were really duds.
"The improvised explosive devices were fabricated by FBI technicians at the FBI laboratory. There was never any risk that they would go off but for anyone looking at them they looked like viable bombs," Falkenrath said.
The arrest was carefully choreographed by the NYPD, the FBI and the joint terrorism task force. From start to finish the operation took about 20 minutes and not a single shot was fired.
Law enforcement officers watched the whole take down on a live feed.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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