New York Police Department detectives arrested two men Wednesday who were aspiring to destroy a major synagogue in Manhattan, NY.
“Fortunately, long before their aspirations could take hold, New York City police officers were watching them and were in a position to take them into custody before they could maim and murder innocent New Yorkers,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a Thursday afternoon news conference.
The would-be terrorists were identified as Ahmed Ferhani, 26, and Mohamed Mamdouh, 20, by the New York County District Attorney’s Office.
Bloomberg said the men were arrested after purchasing several weapons and a hand grenade from an undercover NYPD officer.
The would-be terrorists did not have a particular synagogue in mind, and their terror aims seemed to be “aspirational,” according to MSA Security.
“The defendants plotted and took concrete steps to bomb synagogues and kill Jewish New Yorkers as an act of terrorism,” said District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance.
“During the course of the investigation, Ferhani was recorded discussing his goal of providing financial support for the Palestinian cause in Gaza, and possibly traveling to Gaza to join the fight against Israel and to kill Israeli soldiers,” the district attorney’s office said in a press release.
Bloomberg said New York City has been on a heightened state of alert since 9/11 terror mastermind Osama bin Laden was killed.
“We are concerned about lone wolves acting against New York City in the wake of the killing of bin Laden, and that’s why the case before us today is so important,” Bloomberg said.
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Great things happen when the NYPD is not busy giving us tickets for petty things.
Oh, BTW< how nice would it be if Jews could carry guns to shul, legally in NYC like they do in another 35 states...?
they uncovered it. at least are city is doing something