06/22/2006
Official: Seven arrested in connection with plot against Sears Tower, other buildings in U.S.



MIAMI (AP) -- Seven people were arrested Thursday in connection with the early stages of a plot to attack Chicago's Sears Tower and other buildings in the United States, a federal law enforcement official said.
The official told The Associated Press the alleged plotters were mainly Americans with no apparent ties to al-Qaida or other foreign terrorist organizations. He spoke on condition of anonymity so as not to pre-empt news conferences planned for Friday in Washington and Miami.
Miami U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta said in a statement that the investigation was an ongoing operation and that more details would be released Friday. Local media was reporting that agents were raiding a warehouse in Miami's Liberty City section.
"There is no imminent threat to Miami or any other area because of these operations," said Richard Kolko, spokesman for FBI headquarters in Washington. He declined further comment.
Cedric Thomas, an owner of Thomas Produce Market in Liberty City, told The Miami Herald the area around his store was teeming with federal agents.
"There is a ton of guys in uniforms moving around, blocking the streets. I'm not sure what they are doing," Thomas said.
South Florida has been linked to several terrorism investigations in the past. Several of the Sept. 11 hijackers lived and trained in the area, including ringleader Mohamed Atta and several plots by Cuban-Americans against the government of Fidel Castro have also been based in Miami.
Jose Padilla, a former resident once accused of plotting to detonate a radioactive bomb in the country, is charged in Miami with being part of a North American terror support cell to al-Qaida and other violent Islamic extremist organizations. He has been in federal custody since 2002 and is scheduled for trial in September.
Padilla was originally designated an "enemy combatant" and held for 3 1/2 years without charge by the Bush administration shortly after his May 2002 arrest at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
http://www2.wsvn.com/news/articles/local/MI23241/

Once again, Miami is the for front of the terrorist plot.

Looks like they were a bunch of al-Qaida wannabees...

These guys couldnt of planned the take down of a dairy queen let alone a guarded sky scraper.

I like that they were brought down by an undercover agent posing as a representative of AlQaeda.

I am bothered that this was being planned by "americans" against Americans. WTF is going on back there guys? I am concerned because these guys look (yes I know and I dont care) and sound like common gang-bangers but they are now targetting the establishment and not each other. If this becomes the rule rather than the exception America is going to be quite a different place to live... kinda like Palestine.