Testimony wraps up in Miami terrorism case
Associated PressPublished November 28, 2007
MIAMI - A former ally of a man accused of leading a conspiracy to destroy Chicago's Sears Tower and bomb FBI buildings expressed concerns that plans were being hatched to acquire weapons for a "physical war" in the United States, according to an FBI tape played in court Tuesday.
The May 2006 conversation between the suspected plot leader, Narseal Batiste, and a man he has called his spiritual adviser, Master G.J.G. Atheea, marked the end of testimony in the trial of the so-called "Liberty City Seven." Closing arguments are scheduled for Thursday.
Atheea, a self-described spiritual missionary who was born George James Gray, agreed to secretly record his conversation with Batiste in Miami's depressed Liberty City neighborhood.
On the tape, Batiste said he had not acquired any weaponry but acknowledged he had access. Batiste, 33, had been outlining plans for the suspected Sears Tower attack with a man he knew as "Brother Mohammed" from al-Qaida - a man actually working as an FBI informant.
Later, Atheea asked whether Batiste was "thinking about doing subversive work against this nation ... in a diabolical way."
"I don't consider this, this place here to be a legitimate nation," Batiste answered.
Prosecutors say Batiste dreamed of bringing down the Sears Tower and bombing FBI offices in Miami and elsewhere as the first salvo in a broad insurrection against the government, and eagerly welcomed help from al-Qaida to accomplish his goal.
Batiste and his six co-defendants face as many as 70 years in prison if convicted of four terrorism-related conspiracy charges. U.S. authorities have said that the purported plot never got beyond the discussion stage.
Batiste has insisted that his dark talk of terrorism was only a ruse aimed at extorting $50,000 from Mohammed. Batiste testified that he never truly intended to stage attacks and that his six associates were not informed about the plot.
FBI Agent Anthony Velazquez testified Tuesday that he never overheard Batiste talking about his ruse on any of the hundreds of telephone intercepts or conversations captured on listening devices during an eight-month investigation.