[Ppnews] 4 Are Indicted in Alleged Plot to Spread Terror

[Political Prisoner News]

September 1, 2005
latimes.com : California

4 Are Indicted in Alleged Plot to Spread Terror
By Greg Krikorian and Solomon Moore, Times Staff Writer

A federal grand jury on Wednesday indicted four men, including the leader 
of a radical Islamist prison gang, for allegedly plotting a string of 
terrorist attacks on U.S. military facilities and synagogues in southern 
California.

The six-count indictment accuses Kevin Lamar James, 29, Levar Haney 
Washington, 25, and Gregory Vernon Patterson and Hammad Riaz Samana, both 
21, of planning attack on sites including National Guard recruitment 
centers and the Israeli Consulate.

All four men were charged with conspiracy to levy war against the U.S. 
government through terrorism. The plot, the indictment says, was hatched by 
James, an inmate at the California State Prison in Sacramento and founder 
of small gang of radical Muslims.

Government officials say they have no evidence that the men were tied to 
al-Qaida or other foreign terrorist group.

Washington, his face and neck scrawled with Rollin' 60s street gang 
tattoos, converted to Islam inside state prison walls, where he was doing 
time for beating another gang member unconscious at a 1998 rap concert.

Patterson, 21, took classes at El Camino College and California State 
University, Northridge, and still lived at home with his parents, both 
community college employees. A former Catholic school student described by 
his acquaintances as bookish and quiet, Patterson fell in love with the 
teachings of the Prophet Muhammad and converted three years ago.

Samana was raised a Muslim in Pakistan and moved with his family five years 
ago to an apartment in Inglewood. He worked at a Barnes & Noble bookstore, 
attended Santa Monica College, played cricket and ran cross-country.

Despite their different backgrounds, the three young men shared a faith 
took them to the Jamat-e-Masjidul Islam mosque, across the street from 
Samana's apartment, three months ago.

Authorities allege that their meeting at the mosque was a key moment in a 
complex conspiracy that had its roots 400 miles away at a state prison in 
Folsom.

There, James dreamed up the idea of attacking targets in southern 
California and urged Washington, then a fellow prisoner, to implement the 
plan when released in November 2004, the indictment said.

Prison officials years ago marked James as a radical Muslim and a security 
threat, and transferred him from another state prison after he allegedly 
founded a prison gang called Jamiyyat Ul Islam Is Saheeh, or the Assembly 
of Authentic Islam. Authorities say the group espoused such a violent 
interpretation of the Koran that they scattered its followers across the 
state prison system in hopes of squelching the movement.

The alleged actions of Samana and Patterson troubles officials because 
neither man had criminal records. But they said they are equally troubled 
that James and Washington were allegedly able hatch the plot at a state 
prison -- without any apparent ties to international terrorist organizations.

James, who also went by several aliases including Shakyh Shahaab Murshid 
and Abdul-Wahid Ash-Sheena, "emerged from the Nation of Islam," said one 
official, who declined to be identified because of the government's ban on 
speaking publicly about the case. "He decided they were not radical enough."

The Nation of Islam, led by Louis Farrakhan, is one of the largest Muslim 
sects in U.S. prisons, though it differs from orthodox Islam in its 
adherence to the teachings of the late black separatist, Elijah Muhammad. 
Although the group has been criticized in the past for harshly condemning 
the U.S. government and making anti-Semitic remarks, it publicly opposes 
terrorism.

James created Jamiyyat Ul Islam Is Saheeh, or JIS, while in prison at the 
California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi, according to investigators.

James bolstered his Islamist credentials by claiming to have spent time in 
Sudan, sources close to the investigation said. He clandestinely 
distributed a protocol for his organization that justified attacks on 
"enemies of Islam" including the U.S. government, Jews, supporters of 
Israel and other "infidels," the indictment said.

This is how Washington got involved. Before Washington left Folsom, James 
directed him to find recruits without felony records, acquire firearms and 
then appoint one follower to learn about explosives or to recruit a bomb 
maker, the indictment said.

It was about six months after Washington left Folsom that he arrived at the 
Inglewood mosque and met Samana and Patterson.

Samana had long attended the mosque. Patterson started attending in March, 
according to worshipers who saw the pair studying the Koran together in the 
back of the congregation hall. Washington, 25, showed up around May, his 
tattoos partially hidden behind an improvised headdress, his violent past 
obscured by a placid demeanor and a friendly greeting - "Asalam aleikum," 
or "peace be upon you." Worshippers at the mosque recalled Washington's 
booming voice as he offered the traditional "adnan," or call to prayer.

"Once I asked him why he covers his face," said Imam Hashim Ansari, one of 
two clerics who lead the Inglewood mosque. "He told me that he was in a 
gang before he became a Muslim and had tattoos. He said he was ashamed to 
show his tattoos in front of other Muslims."

Other than being a meeting place for the three men, officials say there is 
no evidence that the mosque or its members had any role in the alleged 
conspiracy.

The group had gone as far as drawing up a list of potential targets, 
federal prosecutors claim, and began robbing gas stations to raise money 
for the attacks. The indictment said the defendants were trying to find an 
explosives expert to help them.

Authorities learned of the potential plot when Torrance police 
investigating the robberies and found lists of targets and other 
information at Washington's apartment in south Los Angeles.

The indictment alleges that James continued to control the plot from inside 
prison, receiving a June communication from Patterson, allegedly updating 
him on what the indictment called "the progress of the planned war against 
the United States Government through terrorism."

Patterson and Samana appear to be unlikely terrorist recruits.

Patterson is the son of two educators -- his father a college professor, 
his mother an administrator at Harbor College.

Patterson's attorney, Winston Kevin McKesson, described his clients' 
parents, Rodney and Abbie Patterson, as patriotic Americans who raised 
their son as a Christian.

"His family wants people to know that they believe in this country," 
McKesson said Wednesday. "They are against religious extremism, and they 
support the troops wherever they are fighting for freedom in this country."

The Pattersons live in a gated community in Gardena. Little is known about 
his conversion to Islam; his mother said that he became attracted to the 
religion three years ago.

"I think it just came through his natural inquisitive nature, by reading 
different books and that sort of thing," McKesson said.

As a teenager, Patterson first attended Junipero Serra High School, a 
low-slung Catholic school in Gardena whose alumni included such storied 
athletes as baseball's Barry Bonds and football's Tom Brady.

Audet Shoukry, vice principal at Serra High, recalled Patterson as "an 
overachieving nerd" who left the school during his freshman year to take 
advantage of the medical magnet program at the King Drew campus. His mother 
was active in the Parent Teacher Organization, she said.

McKesson said Patterson attended classes at El Camino College in Torrance 
and California State University Northridge. Patterson also worked for six 
months at a duty-free shop at Los Angeles International Airport. The 
indictment said he researched El Al, Israel's national airline, on the 
Internet.

Imam Ansari said once Patterson started attending the Inglewood mosque, he 
soon became friends with Samana.

"Since Patterson was a new Muslim, he kept asking Hammad questions and 
Hammad would tell him," said Ansari.

Samana had been conducting basic, one-on-one Arabic classes with Patterson 
for several months, Ansari said. They met regularly at the mosque, Ansari 
said, usually within earshot of other worshippers.

Samana's friends recalled him as a studious and mild-mannered person, 
devoted to his family, proficient in sports and orthodox in his Muslim beliefs.

Samana played in a community cricket league, ran cross-country at Santa 
Monica College and used his salary as a clerk at Barnes & Noble to help 
support his family, according to friends.

Samana's apartment is located in a neighborhood of 1960s-style tenements, 
duplexes and single-story homes. African Americans and Latinos predominate 
the area, as well as many South Asian immigrants who walk to mosque wearing 
traditional dishdasha robes, sandals and the occasional Muslim veil.

Ansari said Samana started coming to Jamat-e-Masjidul Islam regularly two 
years ago and last year became his volunteer assistant - a role that had 
him cleaning the ablution sinks, sweeping the shaded courtyard and 
vacuuming the narrow congregation hall. Ansari also was teaching Samana, 
whose first language is Urdu, to memorize the Koran in Arabic so that he 
would be able to recite it verbatim during Ramadan. Samana had memorized 30 
chapters, or about one-fourth of Islam's holiest book.

Ansari said that he never discussed politics or even many religious matters 
with Samana. Their sole focus, Ansari said, was on memorization techniques, 
proper pronunciation, cadence and rhythm. They didn't even delve into the 
meaning of the words they recited, Ansari said.

"Sometimes I would see him playing basketball or cricket and I would tell 
him, go memorize the Koran!" Ansari said.

Mohammed A. Faheem, a friend and neighbor, said Samana often led prayers 
for their cricket team. But this year, Samana had stopped playing sports so 
that he could concentrate on his collegiate and religious studies.

During a brief interview last month, Samana's father, Riaz, denied that his 
son had done anything wrong.

"I think this is all a mistake," he said while walking to the store for a 
pack of cigarettes. "He's a good boy. Yes, devout."

Mohammed Ali, 21, another former teammate from Costa Mesa, recalled him 
chiding teammates when they swore aloud during cricket matches.

"If we used bad words, he would basically say, 'Don't do that,"' said Ali.

Samana's former classmates at Santa Monica College said that he wore 
traditional robes and prayer cap on Fridays, a day when many Muslims attend 
congregational prayer services. They also recalled Samana's complaints 
about American materialism.

"He said, 'People, nowadays, money has changed them. Money has changed 
everybody. Everybody is greedy,' " recalled Candelario Rodriguez, Samana's 
teammate on the Santa Monica College cross country team in 2002.

Once, Samana told Rodriguez that he disagreed with how some in the United 
States viewed the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"He said they were blaming religion and religion didn't have anything to do 
with it," Rodriguez said. "They were just people who were (trying to send a 
message)."

Times staff writers Jenifer Warren in Sacramento and Stuart Pfeifer and 
Megan Garvey in Los Angeles and correspondent Robert Hollis in San 
Francisco contributed to this report.








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