Facts continue to come to light regarding Najibullah Zazi, the Afghan-born terrorist who plotted to blow up New York City subways. Zazi pleaded guilty on Monday in a New York court to three charges including conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction for his attempted bombing of the New York City subways.
He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction (explosive bombs) against persons or property in the United States, conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country, and providing material support to al-Qaeda. Zazi also admitted that as part of a plan to attack the New York subway system, he brought TATP [Triacetone Triperoxide] explosives to New York on Sept. 10, 2009.
Zazi, an airport shuttle bus driver raised in Queens, New York, living in Colorado, reported in his testimony that two of his high school classmates from Flushing High School were involved in the attempt.
“The plan was to conduct a martyrdom operation on the New York subway lines,” said Zazi in the U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, according to the Daily News.
He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison for the first two counts and another 15 years in prison for the third count.
Zazi, who has been cooperating with investigators, has shed new light on the continuing efforts of terrorist groups to initiate acts of mass destruction on U.S. soil.
In his testimony in court, Zazi said he traveled to Pakistan with the intent of joining the Taliban in Afghanistan to fight against the United States.
It was there, in Pakistan, that Zazi was recruited by al-Qaeda and the planning stage began and soon after he returned to the United States.
He was trained by al-Qaeda on constructing the explosives for the planned attacks in the U.S., talked with al-Qaeda leaders about target locations—which included subway trains in New York City—and gave al-Qaeda members in Pakistan money and computers.
He e-mailed himself detailed notes of training he received from al-Qaeda, for access when he returned to the United States.
On Sept. 10, 2009, he began his drive from Denver to New York, bringing with him TATP explosives that he and two others planned to detonate on board the New York subway system.
FBI agents in Colorado arrested Zazi nine days later on a criminal complaint charging him with knowingly and willfully making false statements to the FBI in a terrorism-related matter.
Within four days, a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of New York returned a one-count indictment against Zazi. The indictment alleged that he “knowingly and intentionally conspired with others to use one or more weapons of mass destruction, specifically explosive bombs and other similar explosive devices, against persons or property within the United States.”
In a press conference on Monday, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder stressed the seriousness of the threat.
“This could have been devastating,” said Holder. “This attempted attack on our homeland was real, it was in motion, and it would have been deadly.”
Holder went on to praise the criminal justice system. He supported the idea of U.S. criminal trials for terrorists.
“In this case, as it has in so many other cases, the criminal justice system has proved to be an invaluable weapon for disrupting plots and incapacitating terrorists, one that works in concert with the intelligence community and our military,” said Holder.
“[This] plea is an important development in this complex and ongoing criminal investigation and intelligence operation that in many ways illustrates the evolving nature of the terrorist threat today,” stated FBI Deputy Director John S. Pistole in a press release.
The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York, in cooperation with the U.S. attorney’s office for the District of Colorado and the Counterterrorism Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.
The overall investigation is being conducted by the New York and Denver FBI Joint Terrorism Task Forces. Combined investigators on the case are from over fifty federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.
He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction (explosive bombs) against persons or property in the United States, conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country, and providing material support to al-Qaeda. Zazi also admitted that as part of a plan to attack the New York subway system, he brought TATP [Triacetone Triperoxide] explosives to New York on Sept. 10, 2009.
Zazi, an airport shuttle bus driver raised in Queens, New York, living in Colorado, reported in his testimony that two of his high school classmates from Flushing High School were involved in the attempt.
“The plan was to conduct a martyrdom operation on the New York subway lines,” said Zazi in the U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, according to the Daily News.
He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison for the first two counts and another 15 years in prison for the third count.
Zazi, who has been cooperating with investigators, has shed new light on the continuing efforts of terrorist groups to initiate acts of mass destruction on U.S. soil.
In his testimony in court, Zazi said he traveled to Pakistan with the intent of joining the Taliban in Afghanistan to fight against the United States.
It was there, in Pakistan, that Zazi was recruited by al-Qaeda and the planning stage began and soon after he returned to the United States.
He was trained by al-Qaeda on constructing the explosives for the planned attacks in the U.S., talked with al-Qaeda leaders about target locations—which included subway trains in New York City—and gave al-Qaeda members in Pakistan money and computers.
He e-mailed himself detailed notes of training he received from al-Qaeda, for access when he returned to the United States.
On Sept. 10, 2009, he began his drive from Denver to New York, bringing with him TATP explosives that he and two others planned to detonate on board the New York subway system.
FBI agents in Colorado arrested Zazi nine days later on a criminal complaint charging him with knowingly and willfully making false statements to the FBI in a terrorism-related matter.
Within four days, a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of New York returned a one-count indictment against Zazi. The indictment alleged that he “knowingly and intentionally conspired with others to use one or more weapons of mass destruction, specifically explosive bombs and other similar explosive devices, against persons or property within the United States.”
In a press conference on Monday, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder stressed the seriousness of the threat.
“This could have been devastating,” said Holder. “This attempted attack on our homeland was real, it was in motion, and it would have been deadly.”
Holder went on to praise the criminal justice system. He supported the idea of U.S. criminal trials for terrorists.
“In this case, as it has in so many other cases, the criminal justice system has proved to be an invaluable weapon for disrupting plots and incapacitating terrorists, one that works in concert with the intelligence community and our military,” said Holder.
“[This] plea is an important development in this complex and ongoing criminal investigation and intelligence operation that in many ways illustrates the evolving nature of the terrorist threat today,” stated FBI Deputy Director John S. Pistole in a press release.
The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York, in cooperation with the U.S. attorney’s office for the District of Colorado and the Counterterrorism Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.
The overall investigation is being conducted by the New York and Denver FBI Joint Terrorism Task Forces. Combined investigators on the case are from over fifty federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.
Friends Read Free