Four men, who had formed an Islamic terror group while in prison, were indicted on federal charges of planning terror attacks on US government, Jewish and Israeli targets. The terrorists, Levar Haley Washington, 25, Gregory Vernon Patterson, 21, Hammad Riaz Samana, 21, and Kevin James, 29, planned to carry out the attacks on synagogues on Jewish holidays using guns and explosives.
James founded the terror group, called Jamiyyat Ul-Islam Is-Saheeh, while in prison, and was the mastermind behind the attacks, which Washington, Patterson and Samana intended to carry out. Known in prison as Sheikh Shahaab Murshid, James preached to fellow prisoners that the duty of the group's members was to attack enemies of Islam.
Washington converted to Islam while in prison serving time for robbery. Samana, a student originally from Pakistan, together with Patterson, attended the same Inglewood neighborhood mosque as Washington. According to the indictment, Washington pledged loyalty to James "until death by martyrdom" and sought to establish a terror cell outside prison, acquiring guns with silencers, and recruiting members with explosives knowledge.
The three conducted surveillance of the Israeli Consulate and of several Los Angeles synagogues, researching the dates of Jewish holidays as well, with the intention of causing maximal casualties at the synagogues.
The case is not the first time American Jews have been the target of terror groups. During court hearings it was revealed that the first World Trade Center bombers originally planned on attacking Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn, but eventually decided that a large enough number of Jews worked in the WTC, rendering it an acceptable target.