2007 John F. Kennedy International Airport attack plot
Encyclopedia
The 2007 John F. Kennedy International Airport attack plot was an alleged Islamist terrorist plot to blow up a system of jet fuel
supply tanks
and pipelines
that feed fuel to John F. Kennedy International Airport
(JFK) in Queens, New York. These pipelines travel throughout the undergrounds of New York City
in densely populated areas. The alleged plot was foiled when an undercover
law enforcement official
was recruited to the homegrown terrorist cell.
citizen and native of Guyana
who was the alleged ringleader and worked for a time at the airport; Abdul Kadir
, a citizen of Guyana and former member of the Guyanaese National Assembly
; Kareem Ibrahim, a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago
; and Abdel Nur, a citizen of Guyana and uncle of former world welterweight boxing champion Andrew "Six Heads" Lewis.
In a recorded conversation, Russell Defreitas allegedly told an informant that "Anytime you hit Kennedy, it is the most hurtful thing to the United States. To hit John F. Kennedy, wow.... They love JFK -- he's like the man. If you hit that, the whole country will be in mourning. It's like you can kill the man twice." Defreitas had allegedly seen arms and missiles being shipped to Israel
which he felt would be used to harm Muslim
s.
The men are alleged to have named the plot "Chicken Farm". Extensive surveillance of the targets including the use of satellite photographs had been done and attempts had been made to reach out to another Islamist terrorist group. No explosives had been bought.
A New York City police source told Newsday
that investigators were probing a possible Iran
connection to the plot because Abdul Kadir planned to visit that country. In Trinidad, police reportedly investigated whether Kareem Ibrahim had ties to Iraq
and Iran
. On August 6 it emerged that U.S. authorities would allege the plotters planned to seek help from Iran
.
. Kadir and Ibrahim were arrested in Trinidad on June 3, 2007. Nur surrendered to police two days later in Trinidad.
On June 25, 2008 Kareem Ibrahim, Abdel Nur and Abdul Kadir were extradited to the United States. They pleaded not guilty to charges of trying to "cause greater destruction than in the Sept. 11 attacks". The men were ordered held without bail pending a hearing scheduled for August 7. Russell Defreitas is being held after an earlier not guilty plea. On June 29 the four men were indicted on charges with conspiring to "cause death, serious bodily injury and extensive destruction" at the airport. On August 6, a judge ordered three of the alleged plotters extradited
to the United States. On 2 August 2010, Kadir and Defreitas were convicted in the JFK airport bomb plot.
The informant in the case was a longtime cocaine dealer who cooperated with investigators after being convicted of possession of about $2 million worth of cocaine in 2003, according to court documents posted on thesmokinggun.com. The 36-year-old man is described in the documents as a onetime member of a violent drug gang first convicted in 1996 of selling cocaine
and crack
and being part of a conspiracy to murder a rival drug kingpin. The rival survived the attempted hit, according to the federal complaint in the drug trafficking and racketeering case. After the web posting according to FBI spokesman James Margolin. "We're concerned about the safety of the Source and are taking measures to safeguard him."
that the plot could have "one of the most chilling plots imaginable," which might have caused "unthinkable" devastation. According to critics such as Bruce Schneier
the plot was never operational and the public had never been at risk. And the notion of blowing up the airport, let alone the borough of Queens, by exploding a fuel tank was in all likelihood a technical impossibility. Also cited are a portrait emerging of alleged mastermind Russell Defreitas as hapless and episodically homeless, and of co-conspirator Abdel Nur as a drug addict. The New York Times put the story of the plot on page 37 the day after the plot was announced. Rich Lowry
, editor of the National Review
writing in the New York Post
, criticized the Times' decision saying "Foiled terror plots often will seem ridiculous and unlikely, especially when they are pre-empted" but should be taken seriously. Rep. Peter King
former chairmen and member of the United States House Committee on Homeland Security
dismissed criticism of law enforcement as "the price of success when you haven't been attacked in six years. We've gone from criticizing them for not doing enough immediately after 9/11 to now criticizing them too much.",
The JFK Plot: Overstating the Case? - TIME,
Jet fuel
Jet fuel is a type of aviation fuel designed for use in aircraft powered by gas-turbine engines. It is clear to straw-colored in appearance. The most commonly used fuels for commercial aviation are Jet A and Jet A-1 which are produced to a standardized international specification...
supply tanks
Fuel tank
A fuel tank is safe container for flammable fluids. Though any storage tank for fuel may be so called, the term is typically applied to part of an engine system in which the fuel is stored and propelled or released into an engine...
and pipelines
Pipeline transport
Pipeline transport is the transportation of goods through a pipe. Most commonly, liquids and gases are sent, but pneumatic tubes that transport solid capsules using compressed air are also used....
that feed fuel to John F. Kennedy International Airport
John F. Kennedy International Airport
John F. Kennedy International Airport is an international airport located in the borough of Queens in New York City, about southeast of Lower Manhattan. It is the busiest international air passenger gateway to the United States, handling more international traffic than any other airport in North...
(JFK) in Queens, New York. These pipelines travel throughout the undergrounds of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in densely populated areas. The alleged plot was foiled when an undercover
Undercover
Being undercover is disguising one's own identity or using an assumed identity for the purposes of gaining the trust of an individual or organization to learn secret information or to gain the trust of targeted individuals in order to gain information or evidence...
law enforcement official
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
was recruited to the homegrown terrorist cell.
The plot
The suspects were Russell Defreitas, a United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
citizen and native of Guyana
Guyana
Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
who was the alleged ringleader and worked for a time at the airport; Abdul Kadir
Abdul Kadir (politician)
Abdul Kadir is a former member of Guyana's parliament, the National Assembly, and was the mayor of Guyana's second-largest city, Linden, from 1994 to 1996...
, a citizen of Guyana and former member of the Guyanaese National Assembly
National Assembly of Guyana
The National Assembly is the parliament of Guyana. It has 65 members, 53 members elected for a five-year term by proportional representation and 12 members delegated by local government councils...
; Kareem Ibrahim, a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...
; and Abdel Nur, a citizen of Guyana and uncle of former world welterweight boxing champion Andrew "Six Heads" Lewis.
In a recorded conversation, Russell Defreitas allegedly told an informant that "Anytime you hit Kennedy, it is the most hurtful thing to the United States. To hit John F. Kennedy, wow.... They love JFK -- he's like the man. If you hit that, the whole country will be in mourning. It's like you can kill the man twice." Defreitas had allegedly seen arms and missiles being shipped to Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
which he felt would be used to harm Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
s.
The men are alleged to have named the plot "Chicken Farm". Extensive surveillance of the targets including the use of satellite photographs had been done and attempts had been made to reach out to another Islamist terrorist group. No explosives had been bought.
A New York City police source told Newsday
Newsday
Newsday is a daily American newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, although it is sold throughout the New York metropolitan area...
that investigators were probing a possible Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
connection to the plot because Abdul Kadir planned to visit that country. In Trinidad, police reportedly investigated whether Kareem Ibrahim had ties to Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
and Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
. On August 6 it emerged that U.S. authorities would allege the plotters planned to seek help from Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
.
Arrests and trial
Defreitas was arrested in Brooklyn, New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. Kadir and Ibrahim were arrested in Trinidad on June 3, 2007. Nur surrendered to police two days later in Trinidad.
On June 25, 2008 Kareem Ibrahim, Abdel Nur and Abdul Kadir were extradited to the United States. They pleaded not guilty to charges of trying to "cause greater destruction than in the Sept. 11 attacks". The men were ordered held without bail pending a hearing scheduled for August 7. Russell Defreitas is being held after an earlier not guilty plea. On June 29 the four men were indicted on charges with conspiring to "cause death, serious bodily injury and extensive destruction" at the airport. On August 6, a judge ordered three of the alleged plotters extradited
Extradition
Extradition is the official process whereby one nation or state surrenders a suspected or convicted criminal to another nation or state. Between nation states, extradition is regulated by treaties...
to the United States. On 2 August 2010, Kadir and Defreitas were convicted in the JFK airport bomb plot.
The informant in the case was a longtime cocaine dealer who cooperated with investigators after being convicted of possession of about $2 million worth of cocaine in 2003, according to court documents posted on thesmokinggun.com. The 36-year-old man is described in the documents as a onetime member of a violent drug gang first convicted in 1996 of selling cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
and crack
Crack cocaine
Crack cocaine is the freebase form of cocaine that can be smoked. It may also be termed rock, hard, iron, cavvy, base, or just crack; it is the most addictive form of cocaine. Crack rocks offer a short but intense high to smokers...
and being part of a conspiracy to murder a rival drug kingpin. The rival survived the attempted hit, according to the federal complaint in the drug trafficking and racketeering case. After the web posting according to FBI spokesman James Margolin. "We're concerned about the safety of the Source and are taking measures to safeguard him."
Controversy over the seriousness of the plot
A debate has emerged in the wake of plot about the seriousness of a threat this plot posed and how seriously foiled plots should be taken in general. Criticism has emerged to the statement by U.S. Attorney Roslynn MauskopfRoslynn Renee Mauskopf
Roslynn Renee Mauskopf is a United States district judge serving on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. She was nominated by President George W. Bush on January 9, 2007 to a seat vacated by David G...
that the plot could have "one of the most chilling plots imaginable," which might have caused "unthinkable" devastation. According to critics such as Bruce Schneier
Bruce Schneier
Bruce Schneier is an American cryptographer, computer security specialist, and writer. He is the author of several books on general security topics, computer security and cryptography, and is the founder and chief technology officer of BT Managed Security Solutions, formerly Counterpane Internet...
the plot was never operational and the public had never been at risk. And the notion of blowing up the airport, let alone the borough of Queens, by exploding a fuel tank was in all likelihood a technical impossibility. Also cited are a portrait emerging of alleged mastermind Russell Defreitas as hapless and episodically homeless, and of co-conspirator Abdel Nur as a drug addict. The New York Times put the story of the plot on page 37 the day after the plot was announced. Rich Lowry
Rich Lowry
Richard A. Lowry is the editor of National Review, a conservative American news magazine, and a syndicated columnist.-Career:...
, editor of the National Review
National Review
National Review is a biweekly magazine founded by the late author William F. Buckley, Jr., in 1955 and based in New York City. It describes itself as "America's most widely read and influential magazine and web site for conservative news, commentary, and opinion."Although the print version of the...
writing in the New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
, criticized the Times' decision saying "Foiled terror plots often will seem ridiculous and unlikely, especially when they are pre-empted" but should be taken seriously. Rep. Peter King
Peter T. King
Peter T. "Pete" King is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1993. He is a member of the Republican Party. King's central Long Island district includes parts of Nassau and Suffolk counties....
former chairmen and member of the United States House Committee on Homeland Security
United States House Committee on Homeland Security
The U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives, the lower house of Congress. Its responsibilities include U.S...
dismissed criticism of law enforcement as "the price of success when you haven't been attacked in six years. We've gone from criticizing them for not doing enough immediately after 9/11 to now criticizing them too much.",
The JFK Plot: Overstating the Case? - TIME,
External links
- Four charged in plot to blow up JFK airport
- Four Individuals Charged in Plot to Bomb John F. Kennedy International Airport
- 3 arrested in alleged airport plot
- Report: Feds bust JFK airport bomb plot
- Arrests in NY airport 'bomb plot'
- JFK TERROR PLOT: three under arrest Newsday June 3, 2007
- CBS News JFK Terror Suspects Face Extradition
- Jamaat al-Muslimeen: The Growth and Decline of Islamist Militancy in TrinidadJamestown Foundation
- Spotlight on Trinidad and Tobago's Jamaat al-MuslimeenJamestown Foundation
- Jamaat al-Muslimeen on Trial in Trinidad and TobagoJamestown Foundation
- Al-Qaeda's Inroads into the CaribbeanJamestown Foundation