USA: Four not guilty pleas from the suspected Synagogue bomb plot perpetrators

Record ID: 356989

  • Title: USA: Four not guilty pleas from the suspected Synagogue bomb plot perpetrators
  • Date: 4th June 2009
  • Summary: WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (JUNE 03, 2009) (REUTERS) EXT. OF FEDERAL COURTHOUSE FAMILY FRIEND OF DAVID WILLIAMS LEAVING COURTHOUSE GROUNDS SHIELDING FACE FROM PHOTOGRAPHERS VARIOUS OF UNITED STATES PROSECUTOR ERIC SNYDER LEAVING COURTHOUSE
  • Embargoed: 19th June 2009 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVA6F17MGQVDSUZBGATXDWXBT4PN
  • Story Text: The four Muslim men suspected of plotting to blow up two New York City Synagogues and shoot down military planes plead not guilty in Federal Court.
    Four men accused of trying to blow up a pair of New York City synagogues and shoot down military planes pleaded not guilty on Wednesday (June 3, 2009) to the charges in a United States court.
    Their appearance in White Plains, north of New York City, came a day after a federal grand jury indictment was unsealed, formally accusing them of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction and conspiracy to acquire and use anti-aircraft missiles.
    James Cromitie, David Williams and Onta Williams, who are U.S. citizens, and Laguerre Payen, a Haitian national, were also indicted for conspiring and attempting to kill officers and employees of the United States.
    If convicted, they could be sentenced to life in prison.
    The men, who are Muslims, were arrested on May 20 in an FBI sting operation upon planting what they believed to be live explosives in two cars parked outside synagogues in the New York City borough of the Bronx, police said.
    They also intended to shoot down military planes with a guided surface-to-air missile, police said.
    The explosives and the Stinger missile were deactivated, having been sold to them by an FBI informant, authorities said.
    Investigators have described the defendants as home-grown terrorists who were inspired by an extremist Islamist desire for holy war. They had been under investigation for nearly a year prior to their arrests.
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