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Miami raid nets 7 terror suspects

FBI agents arrested the suspects, who reportedly were plotting an attack on the Sears Tower in Chicago.

By Staff, wire reports
Published June 23, 2006

MIAMI - Seven people were arrested Thursday in connection with the early stages of a plot to attack Chicago's Sears Tower, the FBI office in Miami and other buildings in the United States, the Associated Press reported Thursday, citing an unnamed federal law enforcement official.

FBI agents swarmed over a warehouse in Miami's Liberty City area, using a blowtorch to take off a metal door. Neighbors said the suspects were Muslim and had tried to recruit young people to join their group.

The suspects were mainly Americans with no known ties to al-Qaida or other foreign terrorist organizations, the Associated Press reported.

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 today.

"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 to comment further.

Gov. Jeb Bush was briefed on the situation Thursday, according to his spokeswoman, Alia Faraj.

"We have great confidence in the federal, state and local law enforcement agencies who are committed to keeping our country safe," Faraj said.

She said there has been greater communication between state and federal agencies since the 2001 terrorism attacks

Residents near the warehouse in Miami said FBI agents spent several hours in the neighborhood showing photos of the suspects and seeking information. They said the men, who appeared to be in their teens or 20s, had lived in the area about a year.

Tashawn Rose, 29, said they slept in the warehouse. "They would come out late at night and exercise. It seemed like a military boot camp that they were working on there. They would come out and stand guard."

She talked to one of them about a month ago.

"They seemed brainwashed. They said they had given their lives to Allah," Rose said.

She said they tried to recruit her younger brother and nephew for a karate class but it never happened.

"It was weird," Rose said.

Benjamin Williams, 17, said the group had young children with them sometimes.

"We were under the assumption that they were opening up a garage business," he said.

He said they wore normal clothes "but sometimes they would cover their faces. Sometimes they would wear things on their heads, like turbans."

Xavier Smith, who attends the nearby United Christian Outreach, said the men would often come by the church and ask for water.

"They were very private," said Smith, 33. "The spoke with like an accent, sort of a Jamaican accent."

The Liberty City area is predominantly poor and working class, dotted with public housing complexes and corner convenience stores. The streets are pockmarked with potholes and often the city is not quick to fix broken streetlights.

The area is infamous in Miami for racial tension. In 1980, African-American residents rioted in the neighborhood after an all-white jury acquitted four white police officers, who were charged with killing a black man. Over several days, rioters killed 18 people and caused millions in damage. The neighborhood hasn't fully recovered, and many buildings stand vacant and empty lots are filled with weeds and are home to drug deals.

The neighborhood has often been synonymous with violence - despite officials' and residents' attempts to clean it up - and its streets were displayed prominently in a version of the violent video game Grand Theft Auto.

The 110-floor Sears Tower is the nation's tallest building. Its skydeck was closed for about a month and a half after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

Miami's FBI office is in its own building bordering a residential neighborhood just east of Interstate 95, several miles north of downtown.

The raids will have no effect on today's parade honoring the NBA champion Miami Heat, city officials said. A massive crowd - at least 250,000 people, by some estimates - is expected downtown. Security measures consistent with such an event were in place, officials 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 3½ years without charge by the Bush administration shortly after his May 2002 arrest at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.

Times staff writer Tamara Lush contributed to this report, which includes information from the Associated Press.

[Last modified June 23, 2006, 07:13:10]