Two New Jersey men arrested on terrorism charges

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WASHINGTON -- Two U.S. citizens were arrested Saturday night at JFK International Airport as they planned to leave the country to join an Islamic terrorist group in Somalia and plot attacks against the United States, authorities said Sunday.

The men -- Mohamed Mahmood Alessa, 20, of North Bergen, N.J., and Carlos Eduardo Almonte, 24, of Elmwood Park, N.J. – were charged with conspiring to kill, maim, and kidnap persons outside the United States, according to a complaint by the U.S. attorney’s office in New Jersey.

“The radicalization of our youth, like gang recruitment, is real and continues to pose concerns,” New Jersey State Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness Director Charles B. McKenna said in a statement. “We must be vigilant in stopping our young men and women from being co-opted and trained to do us harm.”

FBI and other law enforcement agencies, including the New York Police Department, began tracking Alessa and Almonte after receiving a tip in 2006.

As the investigation proceeded, an undercover New York police officer met with the young men and recorded numerous conversations in which they discussed planned attacks, authorities said in a release.
Alessa and Almonte allegedly trained with paint ball guns and physically conditioned themselves, acquired military gear and saved thousands of dollars in preparation for an attack.

They also watched numerous videos promoting violent jihad.

Authorities quoted from several recordings of the men discussing their plans, including one in which Alessa told Almonte and the undercover officer that he wanted to behead his victims.

“We’ll start doing killing here, if I can’t do it over there,” Alessa allegedly said.

More recently, they purchased separate plane tickets to Egypt with plans to continue on to Somalia, where authorities said they planned to meet with the terrorist group Al Shabaab.

The authorities said that on April 25, Almonte said that there would soon be American troops in Somalia, which he said was good because it would not be as gratifying to kill Africans alone.

The defendants are expected to appear in federal court in Newark on Monday.

-- Noam N. Levey