Five convicted of plotting to kill Ft. Dix soldiers - Los Angeles Times

Five convicted of plotting to kill Ft. Dix soldiers - Los Angeles Times
Reporting from Washington -- A federal jury convicted five Muslim men Monday of plotting to kill soldiers at an Army base in New Jersey in a case that showed an aggressive FBI effort to infiltrate suspected homegrown terrorist cells.

The five men, all Muslim immigrants who have lived in the United States for some time, were acquitted of the related charge of attempted murder, but could face life in prison for their conviction on conspiracy to kill American soldiers. Sentencing is scheduled for April.



Serpil TatarCritics of the government's anti-terrorism approach said the case amounted to entrapment of angry young men and that if not for the actions of the FBI's informants, the group of immigrants would have done nothing more than talk about an attack.

However, security experts praised the convictions and the FBI investigation that led to them, arguing that the probe stopped a group of amateur terrorists before they could become experts, execute a plot and possibly spawn other cells.