TSA Implementing New Enhanced Threat Detection Capability at Checkpoints Nationwide

/PRNewswire/ -- The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced today it is further bolstering existing explosives detection capabilities by deploying additional tools to screen powdered substances at checkpoints.

"Every day, TSA officers work at over 450 airports nationwide screening approximately 2 million passengers to keep the traveling public safe," said TSA Acting Administrator Gale Rossides. "These enhancements are part of TSA's efforts to stay ahead of emerging threats while continually strengthening our layered approach to security."

Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) are experienced in identifying items that may pose a threat to transportation security utilizing explosives detection tools. TSA knows certain powders could be used in improvised explosive devices. While there is no specific threat at this time, TSA is deploying powder explosives detection kits to airports around the country to enhance our existing explosives detection capabilities and further strengthen our layers of security. TSA piloted these kits in late 2008.

Passengers should know that while common powders are not prohibited, a small percentage may require additional screening. Typical security checkpoint procedures will remain the same. The vast majority of commonly carried powders, like most medication, infant formula and makeup, are unlikely to need further screening.

Officers will use X-ray technology to determine which substances may require additional screening with a powder test kit. If the substance does require additional screening, officers will use a powder test kit to collect a small sample and apply a solution to it to test for traces of potential explosives. If a particular powder is determined to be a potential threat, it will not be permitted into the secure area or checked baggage.

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Federal Grand Jury Returns 65-Count Indictment Against Man for Sending Threatening White-Powder-Laced Hoax Letters to Banks

/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A federal grand jury in Amarillo, Texas, today returned an indictment charging Richard Goyette, a/k/a Michael Jurek, 47, with one count of threats and false information and 64 counts of threats and hoaxes, announced acting U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas.

Goyette has been in federal custody since his arrest on Feb. 2, 2009, on a charge outlined in a federal criminal complaint related to his mailing 65 threatening letters to financial institutions from Amarillo in October 2008.

The indictment alleges that on Oct. 18, 2008, Goyette mailed a letter to the attention of Jamie Dimon at JP Morgan Chase & Company, at 270 Park Avenue in New York, which contained threats of bombing and killing people at the JP Morgan Chase & Company's corporate headquarters within six months. The criminal complaint filed in the case stated that the language in this letter included the threat of the "McVeighing of your corporate headquarters within six months." The letter also threatened to "utilize any strategy and tactic to inflict financial damage to your company."

The indictment further alleges that Goyette mailed 64 letters to 52 locations of Chase Bank; Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) offices in Arlington, Va., Washington, D.C., and Dallas; and Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) offices in Chicago, Daly City, Calif., Jersey City, N.J., Washington, D.C., and Irving, Texas. Each of these letters contained an unknown white powder and the threat that the person breathing the powder would die within 10 days.

An indictment is an accusation by a federal grand jury and a defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless and until proven guilty.

The threats and false information count carries a potential maximum statutory sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, and each of the 64 threats and hoaxes counts carry a potential maximum statutory sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

If convicted on all counts, Goyette faces a potential maximum statutory sentence of 330 years in prison and a $16.25 million fine.

Acting U.S. Attorney Jacks praised the excellent, cooperative investigative efforts of the FBI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christy Drake of the Amarillo, Texas, U.S. Attorney's Office is prosecuting.

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Georgia Man Arrested for Threats to FBI Buildings

Special Agent in Charge (SAC) Gregory Jones, FBI Atlanta, announces the arrest of 23-year old MICHAEL ROBERT DEJONG of Buford, Georgia. DeJong was arrested at 7:00 a.m. on Wednesday, February 11, 2009, by Agents of the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) for allegedly making false threats to destroy, via explosives, FBI buildings across the country. He has been charged via Criminal Complaint in the Northern District of Georgia with violating Title 18, United States Code, Section 844(e).

On February 4, 2009, the FBI received a bomb threat through its website, FBI.gov. The threat was anonymous, but was eventually traced by Agents to a publicly available internet computer in the Auburn, Georgia public library. A search warrant was obtained to examine the contents of the computer, and further investigation led Agents to identify DeJong as the suspect. It was during that investigation the Agents discovered DeJong had been arrested by the United States Secret Service and convicted of making threats against President Bush in 2007.

DeJong was arrested without incident at the Auburn home of a friend. He had an initial appearance before a United States Magistrate the same day of his arrest, and remains in custody pending a probable cause and bond hearing scheduled for Tuesday, February 17, 2009.

The public is reminded that all persons are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

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Wisconsin Man Arrested for Threatening to Assassinate President-Elect Obama

/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Steven Joseph Christopher was arrested by agents of the United States Secret Service today for making threats against President-Elect Barack Obama, U.S. Attorney Dunn Lampton announced. Christopher, who is from Wisconsin, was arrested in Brookhaven, Miss. Christopher made threats against President-Elect Barack Obama on an internet chat forum on Jan. 11, 15 and 16, 2009.

"Threats against the President-Elect will be taken very seriously," said U.S. Attorney Lampton. "Use of internet chat rooms to express those threats is as much a crime as uttering the words. Threats of this nature will be pursued swiftly and vigorously."

According to an Affidavit filed by Special Agent Kelly Adcox with the United States Secret Service, Christopher posted the following on the Web site www.alien-earth.org on Jan. 11, 2009:

ok we have 6 days until my Presidential Assasination.

Yes, I have decided I will assasinate Barack Obama. It's really nothing personal about the man. He speaks well, has a loving although controlling wife and two cute daughters. But I know it's for the country's own good that I do this. And I'm not racist either, my family is a little, but isn't all Italian and european families? I mean how many times have you heard the word (racial slur) in the comforts of your home? I have a lot, and it really bothered me and I would confront them about it. No, it's not because I'm racist that I will kill Barack, it's because I can no longer allow the Jewish parasites to bully their way into making the American people submit to their evil ways. How many of you Obama supporters are now disappointed after some of his arm-twisted Jewish appointee decisions??? Make's you think he's not really in charge (which he isn't). No it's the same old, same old filthy (expletive) (racial slur) who are poisoning America, who have murdered thousands of innocent lives on 9-11-01, and are thinking that they are going to get away with it again.

Barack, I view more as a sacrificial lamb, but the sacrifice MUST take place. He had good intentions, but like the Steve Taylor song goes, "a politician next door, swore, he'd set the Washington arena on fire, thinks he'll gladiate them, but they're gonna make him a liar."

So, I'm stuck here in Mississippi, and I'll need bus fare or some way of getting to Washington. I don't own a gun, so maybe someone can give me one. And I'll need a leak in the secret service to get a close up shot, somewhere close to the podium, since I've never fired a gun, so I need to get an easy shot off. Wattdysay fellas? Any help?

You all know we can't live with the jewscum any longer, dont cha? You got a better solution? I'm all ears.

Stevie

Also, according to the Affidavit, on Jan. 15, 2009, Christopher posted the following:

RE: ok we have 6 days until my Presidential Assasination.

Why is your heart so wicked?


I can get away with actually murdering Barack Obama OR just threatening to do it.

hth

The Affidavit also sets forth the following post which was entered today, Jan. 16, 2009:

To those who still think I'm a nobody, who antagonize me, who seek for my capture and arrest.....

I wll have you found, arrested and executed, if you push me too far.

Christopher was arrested without incident by agents of the U.S. Secret Service and members of the Lincoln County, Miss., Sheriff's Department and agents of the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation pursuant to a criminal complaint charging him with a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 871 which makes it a crime for anyone to threaten to kill the President-Elect of the United States. The maximum penalty for this offense is 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Lampton praised the efforts of local law enforcement for their assistance in this matter, particularly the Sheriff of Lincoln County, Steve Rushing, and his deputies, along with the agents from the Mississippi Bureau of Investigations.

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Terrorists Chatter about U.S. Jewish Centers

This story was released yesterday. Americans should take heed.

Warning to U.S. Jewish Centers

6 January 2009: Despite official U.S. intelligence reports denying specific threat information as a result of Israeli action in Gaza, the Northeast Intelligence Network has confirmed increased terrorist “chatter” that specifically suggests pre-operational planning by Muslim terrorist operatives against Jewish assets and people throughout North America. “Chatter,” in the lexicon of intelligence agencies, encompasses various forms of communications, from communication intercepts to postings on Arabic language message boards.....

Click to read the full story.

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Five Radical Islamists Convicted of Conspiring to Kill Soldiers at Fort Dix

A jury today convicted five men on charges they plotted to kill members of the U.S. military, Acting United States Attorney Ralph J. Marra, Jr. announced.

After 5½ days of deliberations, which began Dec. 17, the jury convicted Mohamad Ibrahim Shnewer, brothers Dritan Duka, Shain Duka and Eljvir Duka and Serdar Tatar on Count One of the seven-count Superseding Indictment that charged them with conspiracy to murder members of the U.S. military. The jury acquitted each of defendants of Count Two, which charged attempt to murder members of the U.S. military.

For the conspiracy conviction only, each of the defendants faces a sentence of any number of years up to life in prison.

The case was tried by Deputy Assistant U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick and Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael A. Hammer, Jr., Chief of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Terrorism Unit. U.S. District Judge Robert B. Kugler, who presided over the 12-week trial, scheduled sentencing of the three Duka brothers for April 22. Judge Kugler scheduled sentencing of Shnewer and Tartar on April 23.

The remaining counts of the Superseding Indictment, which was returned in January, charged the three Duka brothers, who are illegal immigrants, and Shnewer with firearm offenses; including possession of machine guns. See below for conviction details on each of the defendants.

The defendants’ arrests occurred on May 7, 2007, in Cherry Hill as Dritan and Shain Duka were meeting a confidential government witness to purchase four automatic M-16 rifles and three semi-automatic AK-47 rifles to be used in a future attack on military personnel. The other defendants were arrested at various locations at about the same time.

“These men planned, trained and ceaselessly talked unambiguously about their intention to ambush and kill U.S. soldiers,” said Marra. “The word should go out to any other would-be terrorists of the homegrown variety that the United States will find you, infiltrate your group, prosecute you and send you to a federal prison for a very long time.”

“Vigilance was the key to disrupting the dangerous terrorists convicted today and we are glad they are off the street,” said Janice K. Fedarcyk, Special Agent in Charge of the Philadelphia Division of the FBI. “We appreciate the tip from an alert citizen who reported this suspicious activity to law enforcement. Without tips from concerned citizens or cooperation from our law enforcement partners, it is much more difficult to safeguard our nation and protect the
United States from terrorist attack.”

“Today's verdicts underscore the need for continued vigilance against homegrown terror threats,” said Patrick Rowan, Assistant Attorney General for National Security. “While these defendants were not members of an international terrorist organization, their involvement in weapons training, their surveillance of domestic targets and their discussions of killing U.S. military personnel posed a serious threat that required the law enforcement disruption and the prosecutions upheld by the jury today.”

In convicting the defendants, the jury found that one member of the group conducted surveillance at Fort Dix and Fort Monmouth in New Jersey, Dover Air Force Base in Delaware and the U.S. Coast Guard in Philadelphia. The co-conspirator obtained a detailed map of Fort Dix, where they hoped to use assault rifles to kill as many soldiers as possible,
according to trial testimony and evidence.

During the trial, the jury viewed secretly recorded videotapes of the defendants preforming small-arms training at a shooting range in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania and watching training videos amongst themselves that included depictions of American soldiers being killed and of known foreign Islamic radicals urging jihad against the United States.

The defendants and the charges on which each was convicted are as follows:

• Mohamad Ibrahim Shnewer, 23, of Cherry Hill: conspiracy to murder members of the members of the U.S. military, and the attempted possession of AK-47 semi-automatic assault weapons to be used in the attack.

• Dritan Duka, 30 of Cherry Hill: conspiracy to murder members of the U.S. military; possession of machine guns; possession and attempted possession of machine guns in furtherance of a crime of violence; and two counts of possession of firearms by an illegal alien.

• Shain Duka, 27, of Cherry Hill: conspiracy to murder members of the U.S. military; possession of machine guns; possession and attempted possession of machine guns in furtherance of a crime of violence; and two counts of possession of firearms by an illegal alien.

• Eljvir Duka, 25, of Cherry Hill: conspiracy to murder members of the U.S. military, and possession of firearms by illegal aliens. The jury acquitted on one count of possession and attempted possession of machine guns in furtherance of a crime of violence.

• Serdar Tatar, 25, of Philadelphia: conspiracy to murder members of the U.S. military.

A sixth co-defendant, Agron Abdullahu, 26, of Buena Vista Township, Atlantic County, pleaded guilty before Judge Kugler on Oct. 31, 2007, to aiding and abetting the Duka brothers’ illegal possession of weapons. Abdullahu was arrested on May 7, 2007, along with the defendants convicted today. On March 31, 2008, Judge Kugler sentenced Abdullahu to 420 months in federal prison.

The charge of conspiracy to murder members of the U.S. military carries a sentence of any number of years up to life in prison. The charge of possession of a machine gun in furtherance of a crime of violence carries a statutory maximum penalty of 30 years imprisonment. The charge of attempted possession of AK-47 semi-automatic assault weapons to be used in the attack carries a statutory maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment. Each count of unlawful possession of machine guns carries a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison. Each count of being an illegal alien in possession of firearms carries a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison.

Marra credited the Special Agents of the FBI's Philadelphia Division and the FBI South Jersey Joint Terrorism Task Force, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Fedarcyk, in Philadelphia, for investigation of the case.

Marra and Fedarcyk also thanked investigators with member agencies of the FBI South Jersey Joint Terrorism Task Force, which comprises ICE’s Philadelphia Division, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge John P. Kelleghan, the Camden County Prosecutor's Office, under the direction of the Prosecutor Warren W. Faulk, NJ State Police, under the direction of Col. Joseph "Rick" Fuentes, Superintendent, and the Delaware River Port Authority Police, under the direction of Chief Dave McClintock, for their tireless efforts on the investigation.

Additionally, Marra and Fedarcyk would like to thank the following agencies for their assistance and support: the U.S. military services at Fort Dix, Fort Monmouth, Dover Air Force Base, and the U.S. Coast Guard in Philadelphia, along with the Cherry Hill Police Department, Mt. Laurel Police Department, Cherry Hill Fire Department, Camden County Sheriff's Department, Philadelphia Police Department, Pennsylvania State Police, the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office, and N.J. Homeland Security.