By Douglas V. Gibbs
All of the work over the last couple years that went into the undercover sting operation by the FBI came to fruition when federal authorities arrested 29 year old, Moroccan born, Amine El Khalifi for planning and taking action to carry out a suicide bombing on the U.S. Capitol. Over a year of work resulted in an arrest, and no danger to the public.
During the last year-plus Khalifi, who is a resident of Alexandria, Virginia, considered a number of targets, from a synagogue, to military offices and a Washington restaurant frequented by military officials. He finally decided on the Capitol, and was arrested a few blocks from the Capitol carrying what he believed to be a loaded automatic weapon and a suicide vest ready for detonation.
The potential terrorist believed that the gun and vest were provided by al Qaeda, but instead undercover FBI agents had provided him with the inoperable tools of destruction.
If convicted in a court of law, he faces life in prison. He devised the plot, the targets and the methods on his own, though he believed he was working with al Qaeda.
To guard against the accusation of entrapment, or provoking the suspect, the FBI filmed everything.
Besides, officials say that Khalifi conducted surveillance on the Capitol and engaged in methodical planning. He was no unwitting victim.
Khalifi has been in the United States from Morocco since the age of 16, mostly as an illegal immigrant (yet another reason we need to secure the border and enforce American immigration laws). He basically overstayed his visitor’s visa for years, and according to his landlord, "Was getting mysterious packages labeled ‘books,’ but I didn’t think there were books in them.”
Thought to be “suspicious and hostile,” the Arlington police were notified. Two officers visited the apartment building soon after the report but told the landlord there was no reason to pursue the matter.
It is unknown how Khalifi came to the attention of federal authorities.
It is known based on filed complaints that Khalifi thought he maintained associations with other potentially radical Muslims, and it has been documented in one of those complaints that during a visit by some of his acquaintances, one of the other individuals expressed the sentiment that “the ‘war on terrorism’ was a ‘war on Muslims’ and said that the group needed to be ready for war.” Khalifi reportedly agreed.
Khalifi “sought to be associated with an armed extremist group” and was introduced on Dec. 1, 2011, to a man called Yusuf, who was an undercover law enforcement officer.
During meetings with the undercover officer, Khalifi indicated his desire to conduct an operation in which he could carry out a shooting rampage in a restaurant.
On Jan. 15, Khalifi told undercover agents that he had modified his plans for the attack and wanted to conduct a suicide bombing at the Capitol.
At a quarry in West Virginia, Khalifi carried out a test bombing using a cellphone as a detonation device; the test bomb exploded, and Khalifi expressed a desire for a larger explosion in his attack.
Before Khalifi's intended "martyrdom" mission, Khalifi prayed at Dar Al-Hijrah, a Northern Virginia mosque.
In the past year, federal agents have arrested at least 20 people in the United States on terrorism-related charges.
Despite accusations from the Muslims community that Khalifi would not have followed the same path without FBI involvement, Dean Boyd, a spokesman for the Justice Department, said the affidavit in the Khalifi case makes clear that “at each step, it was the defendant who proposed the alleged plot and sought help in obtaining the weapons to carry it out.”
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
Federal agents arrest Amine El Khalifi; he allegedly planned to bomb Capitol - Washington Post
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