FIRST-LINE PRACTITIONERS

Description

After their indoctrination, the six (with one more friend who did not return to the US) left for jihad training in Afghanistan in April-August 2001.
They returned home early to Lackawanna by August of 2001.
In late summer of 2002, one of the members, XX1, was arrested in Bahrain.
The other five were arrested in Lackawanna, New York in September 2002.

Type of Crime

The group was arrested for their ties to the training camp, not on any suspicion of conspiracy to commit a terrorist attack. However, in the post-9/11 world, all six have been charged with conspiring to provide material support to al-Qaeda between spring 2001 and September 13, 2002, and then actually providing that material support from spring 2001 to Aug. 2, 2001.

Type of attack
The men had materially supported terrorism by ‘receiving training and by providing themselves as personnel’.

Modus Operandi

The FBI did not get involved in this case until after the group returned from Afghanistan in August 2001.
FBI Director Mueller said that they were monitoring the situation, and they were “99% sure the group couldn’t carry out an attack";
The FBI was aware of the six’s movements, and the FBI director himself stated the Bureau can stop any plan they had with a 99% chance.
- Which tools have been used for passing information; technological tool, networking of people, family etc.
They told friends they were going to Pakistan for religious instruction. An anonymous letter tipped them off.

People involved

Six friends from childhood in Yemen, all six are naturalized American citizens (XX1 is one of the members);
XX2, an al-Qaeda operative.

Criminal History

At the time they met their main recruiter, following high school graduation, their lives took a turn toward petty crime, low-level jobs, and drift. This lack of direction made them perfect targets for radical Islamist recruiting.

Influential and/or vulnerable Groups

At the time they met their main recruiter, following high school graduation, their lives took a turn toward petty crime, low-level jobs, and drift.
This lack of direction made them perfect targets for radical Islamist recruiting.
The charismatic XX3 held great influence on the young men, isolating them from their immediate environment.

United states

Identification of the Source