Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Philadelphia Inquirer
September 20, 2008
By Troy Graham, Inquirer Staff Writer
Federal prosecutors want to introduce as evidence wiretapped conversations in which one of the men accused of plotting an armed attack on Fort Dix discusses civilian targets, including the White House and Philadelphia International Airport.
In a motion filed yesterday, prosecutors said the men ultimately chose Fort Dix as their target - instead of one of the "softer" civilian targets - because an attack on a military base "would confer greater prestige in the eyes of their fellow jihadists."
"It would also have a more powerful propaganda impact," prosecutors wrote. "After all, if the defendants could carry out a successful attack on a military base, how could people working in less-protected environments feel safe?"
The discussions about civilian targets took place between defendant Mohamad Shnewer and Mahmoud Omar, one of two confidential FBI informants who recorded hundreds of hours of conversations with the five defendants.
Defense attorneys identified Omar previously. Prosecutors have referred to him only as a confidential witness, but he was identified as a speaker in wiretap transcripts included in yesterday's motion.
Prosecutors said Shnewer's August 2006 conversations would show that the defendants "were engaged in more than just daydreaming."
They said Shnewer discussed targets such as the Capitol and FBI and CIA headquarters. Shnewer said they could gain access to the White House for an attack by posing as tourists, prosecutors said.
The trial is scheduled to start with jury selection in federal court in Camden at the end of this month.
Shnewer's attorney, Rocco Cipparone, said he probably would object to the evidence's being introduced at trial. He said the conversations are not relevant to the charges of conspiracy to kill soldiers and could be prejudicial.
"It has the potential to more personalize the issue for jurors," he said.
He said that if the evidence is admitted, it will not change the core of his defense.
"My position all along has been, my client was not seriously advocating [an attack], that it was more talk than anything else," Cipparone said.
Attorneys for the other defendants have made similar arguments and said the informants may have entrapped their clients.
Prosecutors also moved yesterday to introduce evidence that defendant Dritan Duka attempted to buy an AK-47 assault rifle in the fall of 2005 before he came into contact with the informants.
They said that if Duka argued entrapment, his previous efforts to buy an assault weapon would "show his predisposition to commit each of the crimes with which he is charged."
The evidence comes from a recorded conversation between Omar and Duka's brother and co-defendant, Eljvir Duka.
Eljvir Duka told Omar that Dritan Duka had tried to buy the weapon through "some Spanish kid in Camden." That source took Eljvir Duka to someone else, Dritan Duka said.
Eljvir Duka ultimately did not buy a weapon because he feared the source was an FBI agent, Dritan Duka told Omar.
In addition to Eljvir and Dritan Duka, their brother Shain Duka also has been charged in the case. All three are illegal aliens from the former Yugoslavia and grew up in Cherry Hill.
The fifth defendant is Serdar Tatar, a legal U.S. resident from Turkey. His family operated a pizza parlor near Fort Dix.
Shnewer is a U.S. citizen born in Jordan.
The men had planned to use a pizza delivery pass to gain access to Fort Dix and open fire, prosecutors said.
September 20, 2008
By Troy Graham, Inquirer Staff Writer
Federal prosecutors want to introduce as evidence wiretapped conversations in which one of the men accused of plotting an armed attack on Fort Dix discusses civilian targets, including the White House and Philadelphia International Airport.
In a motion filed yesterday, prosecutors said the men ultimately chose Fort Dix as their target - instead of one of the "softer" civilian targets - because an attack on a military base "would confer greater prestige in the eyes of their fellow jihadists."
"It would also have a more powerful propaganda impact," prosecutors wrote. "After all, if the defendants could carry out a successful attack on a military base, how could people working in less-protected environments feel safe?"
The discussions about civilian targets took place between defendant Mohamad Shnewer and Mahmoud Omar, one of two confidential FBI informants who recorded hundreds of hours of conversations with the five defendants.
Defense attorneys identified Omar previously. Prosecutors have referred to him only as a confidential witness, but he was identified as a speaker in wiretap transcripts included in yesterday's motion.
Prosecutors said Shnewer's August 2006 conversations would show that the defendants "were engaged in more than just daydreaming."
They said Shnewer discussed targets such as the Capitol and FBI and CIA headquarters. Shnewer said they could gain access to the White House for an attack by posing as tourists, prosecutors said.
The trial is scheduled to start with jury selection in federal court in Camden at the end of this month.
Shnewer's attorney, Rocco Cipparone, said he probably would object to the evidence's being introduced at trial. He said the conversations are not relevant to the charges of conspiracy to kill soldiers and could be prejudicial.
"It has the potential to more personalize the issue for jurors," he said.
He said that if the evidence is admitted, it will not change the core of his defense.
"My position all along has been, my client was not seriously advocating [an attack], that it was more talk than anything else," Cipparone said.
Attorneys for the other defendants have made similar arguments and said the informants may have entrapped their clients.
Prosecutors also moved yesterday to introduce evidence that defendant Dritan Duka attempted to buy an AK-47 assault rifle in the fall of 2005 before he came into contact with the informants.
They said that if Duka argued entrapment, his previous efforts to buy an assault weapon would "show his predisposition to commit each of the crimes with which he is charged."
The evidence comes from a recorded conversation between Omar and Duka's brother and co-defendant, Eljvir Duka.
Eljvir Duka told Omar that Dritan Duka had tried to buy the weapon through "some Spanish kid in Camden." That source took Eljvir Duka to someone else, Dritan Duka said.
Eljvir Duka ultimately did not buy a weapon because he feared the source was an FBI agent, Dritan Duka told Omar.
In addition to Eljvir and Dritan Duka, their brother Shain Duka also has been charged in the case. All three are illegal aliens from the former Yugoslavia and grew up in Cherry Hill.
The fifth defendant is Serdar Tatar, a legal U.S. resident from Turkey. His family operated a pizza parlor near Fort Dix.
Shnewer is a U.S. citizen born in Jordan.
The men had planned to use a pizza delivery pass to gain access to Fort Dix and open fire, prosecutors said.