A man found guilty of plotting bomb attacks against NYC landmarks was sentenced to 30 years in prison yesterday, in yet another case that seems to bear the markings of a very slick entrapment operation. In the words of AP's Tom Hays,Shahawar Matin Siraj was either a naive stooge lured into a phony bomb plot or a homegrown terrorist determined to inflict misery on New Yorkers as revenge for wartime abuses of Iraqis, according to court papers filed in the Brooklyn court in advance of his sentencing.The "confused and misguided youngster" who finds a mentor who first instructs him in the ways of self-incrimination and then turns out to be working for law enforcement is a familiar pattern on these pages lately.
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Siraj, a 21-year-old high school dropout at the time of his arrest, "is not a dangerous psychopath, but more of a confused and misguided youngster," the defense team argued in its papers.
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Siraj said he never had a violent thought before he fell under the spell of the [NYPD informant]. He said the older man became a mentor and instructed him that there was a fatwa, or religious edict, permitting the killing of U.S. soldiers and law enforcement agents.
Another familiar pattern: media accounts ignoring (some would say suppressing) any indication of police involvement in operations that are openly called "stings" by the "crimefighters" themselves.
Details
The article by Tom Hays quoted above appeared in Newsday as follows:
Would-be NYC subway bomber faces sentencing today
A man convicted on conspiracy charges in a scheme to blow up one of the city's busiest subway stations in a dense shopping district could get more than 30 years in prison during sentencing Monday in federal court.And similar reports appeared elsewhere, but not everywhere.
Shahawar Matin Siraj was either a naive stooge lured into a phony bomb plot or a homegrown terrorist determined to inflict misery on New Yorkers as revenge for wartime abuses of Iraqis, according to court papers filed in the Brooklyn court in advance of his sentencing.
Defense attorneys have sought to convince a judge that their client's sentence should not exceed 10 years since the attack never came close to being carried out.
Siraj, a 21-year-old high school dropout at the time of his arrest, "is not a dangerous psychopath, but more of a confused and misguided youngster," the defense team argued in its papers.
Prosecutors countered that the Pakistani immigrant deserves at least 30 years -- and possibly life -- behind bars as the "driving force" behind a "workable terrorist plot" to set off explosives at the subway station of Herald Square, in a shopping area that includes Macy's flagship department store.
"The offense was the brainchild and handiwork of the defendant," the government's papers said.
Siraj and another man suspected in the plot, James Elshafay, were arrested on the eve of the 2004 Republican National Convention carrying crude diagrams of Herald square. Elshafay immediately agreed to cooperate with the government.
Authorities said Siraj had no affiliation with known terrorist organizations. Instead, he was a relative loner whose anti-American rants caught the attention of a police informant, Osama Eldawoody, and an undercover officer.
Eldawoody, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Egypt, had been assigned by the NYPD to identify and track Islamic extremists in Muslim neighborhoods after Sept. 11. He and the undercover officer emerged last year at Siraj's trial as the government's star witnesses.
While wearing a wire and assuming the role of an accomplice, Eldawoody assured Siraj that any plan he concocted would have the backing of a fictitious faction called The Brotherhood. On tape, Siraj was recorded musing about possibly destroying the Verrazano-Narrows and three other bridges serving Staten Island or killing Microsoft founder Bill Gates before settling on Herald Square as a target.
Testifying in his own defense, Siraj said he never had a violent thought before he fell under the spell of the 50-year-old Eldawoody. He said the older man became a mentor and instructed him that there was a fatwa, or religious edict, permitting the killing of U.S. soldiers and law enforcement agents.
Eldawoody had himself talked about "blowing up the buildings and blowing up the Wall Street places," the defendant said. He admitted taking steps to attack the subway station, but only after the informant inflamed him by showing him photos of prisoners being abused at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
According to the recent defense filings, he has since expressed his regret.
"I feel really, really bad and apologize to everybody," he told a psychologist. "I was just foolish, just angry."
For example, FOX28 in South Bend, Indiana, put it this way:
Man Faces Sentencing in Plot to Bomb Subway
A man convicted on conspiracy charges in a scheme to blow up a busy subway station in New York City will be sentenced in federal court.And in the Jerusalem Post it looked like this:
Shahawar Matin Siraj, who was arrested on the eve of the 2004 Republican National Convention, could get more than 30 years behind bars.
Prosecutors say the Pakistani immigrant was the "driving force" behind a "workable terrorist plot" to set off a bomb at the subway station in Herald Square, which includes Macy's flagship store. The prosecutors say he should get at least 30 years, and possibly life, in prison.
But defense attorneys have tried to convince a judge their client's sentence should not exceed ten years since the attack never came close to being carried out.
Another man suspected in the plot cooperated with the government.
Judge to rule on would-be NYC subway bomber
Shahawar Matin Siraj was either a naive stooge lured into a phony bomb plot or a homegrown terrorist determined to inflict misery on New Yorkers as revenge for wartime abuses of Iraqis.It's easy to see what is happening here. It's not very difficult to take a fairly balanced piece, remove all the details supporting one interpretation, and leave an airtight case for the other point of view. Thus is legimacy promulgated. Three cheers for The Phony War!!
Lawyers for Siraj - convicted of conspiring to blow up one of the city's busiest subway stations - and prosecutors painted the conflicting portraits recently in court papers in advance of his sentencing Monday in federal court.
Defense attorneys have sought to convince a judge that Siraj's sentence should not exceed 10 years since the attack never came close to being carried out.
Siraj, a 21-year-old high school dropout at the time of his August 2004 arrest, "is not a dangerous psychopath, but more of a confused and misguided youngster," the defense team argued in its papers.
And yet ... serious questions remain. Tom Hays wrote an update after the sentence was announced, and it appeared at The Guardian in this form:
Would-Be NY Subway Bomber Gets 30 Years
A Pakistani immigrant was sentenced to 30 years in prison Monday for hatching an unsuccessful plot to blow up a busy Manhattan subway station as revenge for wartime abuses of Iraqis.
Shahawar Matin Siraj, 24, was arrested on the eve of the 2004 Republican National Convention. Though there was no proof he ever obtained explosives or was linked to any terror organizations, prosecutors said his intentions were ominous: He wanted to blow up the Herald Square subway station, a bustling transportation hub located beneath Macy's flagship department store.
Siraj showed no reaction as the sentence was read. He faces deportation when his sentence is completed.
Defense attorneys had sought to convince U.S. District Judge Nina Gershon that Siraj's sentence should not exceed 10 years, arguing in recent court filings that their client was "not a dangerous psychopath but more of a confused and misguided youngster."
Prosecutors countered that the defendant deserved at least 30 years behind bars as the "driving force"' behind a "workable terrorist plot."'
Siraj was convicted of conspiracy last year based partly on the testimony of a police informant, Osama Eldawoody, who was recruited to monitor radical Muslims at mosques and elsewhere following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Inside an Islamic bookstore near a Brooklyn mosque, Eldawoody wore a wire and chatted up an employee who lived with his parents in Queens - Siraj. When the topic turned to the war in Iraq, Siraj ranted about rumors among radicals that U.S. soldiers were sexually abusing Iraqi girls.
"That was enough for me," he said in one of series of secretly recorded conversations played for the jury. "I'm ready to do anything. I don't care about my life."
Before Monday's sentencing, Siraj took responsibility for the 34th Street bomb plot and apologized for his comments on the tapes, but insisted Eldawoody manipulated him.
Eldawoody, assuming the role of a co-conspirator, had assured Siraj that any plan he concocted would have the backing of a fictitious faction called The Brotherhood. Before settling on Herald Square as a target, Siraj pondered other options to harm the U.S. economy: destroying the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and three other bridges serving Staten Island or killing Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
Testifying in his own defense, Siraj admitted taking preliminary steps to attack the subway station, including scouting locations to place a bomb. But he said he did so only after Eldawoody inflamed him by showing him photos of prisoners being abused at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
He also claimed he never had a violent thought before he fell under the spell of the 50-year-old Eldawoody.
Siraj said the older man became a mentor and instructed him that there was a fatwa, or religious edict, permitting the killing of U.S. soldiers and law enforcement agents.
Outside court Monday, Siraj's mother, Parveen Shahina, said the informant "tricked my son and got him stuck in this."
"My son is innocent," she said. "He didn't do anything."
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