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List:       cypherpunks
Subject:    Mass. Man Charged With Conspiracy to Commit Public Service
From:       "J.A. Terranson" <measl () mfn ! org>
Date:       2009-10-21 19:47:08
Message-ID: Pine.LNX.4.64.0910211443190.5624 () mx1 ! mfn ! org
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http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/homegrown-terrorism-man-charged-plot-attack-malls/story?id=8881844

Homegrown Terror Plot to Attack U.S. Malls?
Mass. Man Charged With Conspiracy to Kill Politicians, Mall Shoppers in 
Terror Plot
By JASON RYAN and DEVIN DWYER

Oct. 21, 2009.

In what appears to be another case of an American resident plotting a 
terrorist attack on the U.S. from within, federal prosecutors today 
charged a 27-year-old college graduate from Boston with conspiring to kill 
politicians and wage violent jihad at shopping malls.

Tarek Mehanna was arrested and charged last year for lying about his 
connections with Daniel Maldonado, a Muslim convert who moved from the 
Houston area in 2005 to join an Al Qaeda training camp in Somalia.

Maldonado is currently serving 10 years in prison after being arrested in 
2007 and pleading guilty to federal terrorism charges. Court papers say 
Maldonado wrote Mehanna to tell him, "I'm here fighting."

The new charges filed today against Mehanna allege he conspired with 
Maldonado and Ahmad Abousamra to provide material support to terrorists. 
Court documents also reveal Mehanna and his coconspirators had 
conversations about obtaining machine guns and devised plots to attack 
shopping malls.

Sources tell ABC News Mehanna and Abousamra are believed to have travelled 
to the Middle East on several occasions to link up with Islamic radicals 
and receive terrorist training at Al Qaeda camps there. Both men were 
apparently rejected by the groups and are now being targeted by federal 
authorities for the attempt.

According to the charges filed today, the men all met in 2002 and became 
influenced by terrorist propaganda on the Internet and in videos. Their 
plans, while mostly aspirational, did reference attacking shopping malls 
and attempts to murder high-ranking U.S. government officials.

"In 2003, Abousamra, Mehanna and [a confidential witness] discussed the 
feasibility of shooting and killing a specific member of the executive 
branch of the United States government," the affidavit reads.

Today's court filing also accuses Mehanna and the co-conspirators with 
planning to obtain automatic weapons and randomly shoot people in a 
shopping mall, and that 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. It is alleged that the plan 
was ultimately abandoned because of their inability to obtain automatic 
weapons. If convicted on the latest charge, Mehanna faces up to 15 years 
in prison, followed by three years of supervised release and a $250,000 
fine.

ABC News' Pierre Thomas contributed to this report.

Copyright ) 2009 ABC News Internet Ventures
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