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Aug 15, 2007 6:40 pm US/Eastern
Report Details Formation Of Homegrown Terror Cells
NYPD: 'People Who Take This Path Come From All Walks Of Life'
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Are terror threats coming from abroad or at home? An NYPD report draws new conclusions. (File photo)
AP
The New York City Police Department is warning of a homegrown terror threat, releasing a report that says potential terrorists could be living among us and could be both very difficult to track and very dangerous.
The study, "Radicalization In The West: The Homegrown Threat," was released by the NYPD on Wednesday. The 90-page report states at least two dozen homegrown terrorist groups have been identified in the northeast alone, and that now the big threat is not just overseas, but right here on U.S. soil.
"Unremarkable" is the word NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly uses to describe individuals who participate in homegrown terrorism.
"The people who take this path come from all walks of life," Kelly said during a morning news conference. "We can't know who for certain will take the radicalization process to its ultimate end, but we can trace their movement through distinct phases along this path."
The report studies several local terror plots including the Fort Dix plot uncovered earlier this year, the Herald Square terrorism case from 2004, and the recent John F. Kennedy Airport fuel line plot, and describes the process of radicalization by first identifying the people involved.
The police analysis states homegrown terrorists start out as average citizens who quietly come together and adopt radical ways to eventually participate in jihad.
The candidates are often male Muslims, middle class American citizens who are well educated and not necessaruily affiliated with Al Qaeda. They typically find themselves frustrated with trying to adopt to their new surroundings and look to new philosophies for guidance.
Those individuals may find inspiration from terror cells such as Al Qaeda, however.
"It's actually a form of brainwashing that takes a period of time," says terrorism expert R.P. Eddy. "Generally people who are susceptible have internal conflicts about their place in the world and where they are going and are excited to have a sense of meaning and sense of purpose."
The men meet and share ideas in places such as mosques, bookstores and especially the Internet, which acts as a driver, the final phase "jihadization."
CBS 2 HD went to a Muslim community in Brooklyn to see what they thought about the report. They say despite the profiling of homegrown terrorists, citizens shouldn't be afraid of other Muslims.
"We can't get scared of Muslims because Muslims are not the people who are bad. It's the people individually who have those problems," says Waleed Gabr.
Many New Yorkers say they're just as worried about the threat from local terror cells as from Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda.
"You always have to be vigilant. You always have to be on guard, you never know what can happen," says Forest Hills resident Joseph Levy.
The report goes on to say the homegrown terrorist groups are not easy to detect because they simply blend in, so more intelligence is needed to prevent further attacks.
"There is a tendency among many Americans to still think Al Qaeda as being over there," Kelly says. "But the reality is that most of the successful attacks against Western cities were carried about by citizens or residents who became involved in radical Islam."
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