SSI News

Would you have a problem with a police van being parked in your neighborhood? This same armored vehicle has large red letters painted on the side that state, "Warning: You are under video surveillance." The front bumper taunts, "Whatcha gonna do when we come for you?" This is the "The Peacemaker," the Fort Lauderdale Police Department's new surveillance weapon to fight crime.

Tags: SWAT, armored truck, crime, Biometrics, Criminology

Five people, including three from Columbia, are sentenced Wednesday for lying about a Columbia based charity with ties to terrorism.

Tags: Federal Sentence, Sentenced, Columbia Charity Raid, Charity Raid, IARA, Islamic American Relief Agency, Politics, crime, Local

U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz also ordered that Nadeem Akhtar, 46, of Silver Spring, Maryland, be subject to two years of supervised release after his 37-month prison term is completed.

According to a statement from U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod Rosenstein, Akhtar pleaded guilty in September to using his business to obtain and export - or attempt to obtain and export - more than $400,000 in materials such as radiation detection devices, resins for coolant water purification, calibration and switching equipment, cranes and scissor lifts. Akhtar owns a business in Maryland called Computer Communications USA.

"Nadeem Akhtar conspired to violate export regulations by selling controlled items while misrepresenting what they were and to whom they would be sold," Rosenstein said in the statement.

Prosecutors said the owner of a trading company in Karachi, Pakistan, gave Akhtar directions about what to purchase in the United States and how to disguise what the items were and who would be receiving them. The materials were intended for such entities as the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, several nuclear power plants in that country and Pakistan's Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission, the statement said.

The owner of the Karachi business paid Akhtar a commission of between 5-7.5% the cost of each item he got for export to Pakistan, the statement said.

Tags: terrorism, law enforcement, nuclear plants, crime, Pakistan

Craig Baxam of Laurel was arrested Friday and charged with attempting to provide material support to al-Shabaab by joining its ranks in Somalia.

Baxam, 24, wore a long white tunic to his first appearance in court Monday. When asked by a judge if he understood the charge against him, he said yes. Baxam faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted. A hearing was set for Wednesday.

According to a court document, Baxam joined the Army in 2007 and attended eight months of advanced individual training for cryptology and intelligence. He was stationed at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, N.C., and served in Baghdad and Korea.

Though he previously had no religious affiliation, he began reading about Islam on a website less than two weeks before leaving the Army in July 2011, according to the document. The document says Baxam kept his conversion a secret, but his roommate figured it out because he saw Baxam's prayer rug and books.

After leaving the Army, Baxam is said to have spent time reading and praying, and he considered it his duty to go live in a place governed by Islamic law. He left the United States in December, flying out of Baltimore, and was arrested in Kenya, allegedly on his way to neighboring Somalia. Kenyan authorities suspected he was traveling to Somalia to join al-Shabaab. He was allegedly carrying with him between $600 and $700 he intended to give to al-Shabaab. Baxam was interviewed by FBI agents in Kenya and arrested on his return to Maryland.

When FBI agents interviewing him asked what he thought his role would be with al-Shabaab, he said "he would just be another body there." He also allegedly said he was "looking for dying with a gun in my hand."

He told FBI agents that living an Islamic way of life in the United States is oppressive, and that to live as a Muslim in the United States a person has to compromise. He said he finds the constant playing of music and display of pictures in the U.S. disrespectful.

Before leaving the U.S., Baxam allegedly destroyed his computer and threw it in the trash because he did not want to leave a record of his activities.

There is no allegation that anyone else either in the U.S. or abroad was involved in his decision to travel to Somalia.

Reached by telephone on Monday, Baxam's father declined to comment and said he was undergoing dialysis. The court document charging Baxam says he told officials that if he were released he would take care of his dying father and, if his father should die, he would then try to join al-Shabaab again.

Baxam's mother, an attorney, also attended his court hearing Monday but declined comment, as did John Chamble, a lawyer appointed for Baxam by the court.

Tags: Islam, crime, Craig Baxam, United States, terrorism

Radical Islamists from Kosovo who blame America for the deaths of thousands of Muslims worldwide now are plotting terrorist attacks on US soil.

A 25-year-old naturalized US citizen from Kosovo is in police custody after federal agents thwarted a terrorism plot in Florida that the would-be culprit wanted to be “terrifying.” Sami Osmakac from Pinellas Park, FL was arrested Saturday night after authorities intercepted his attempt at a massive attack on US soil. According to a taped statement from Osmakac, the planned events would serve as “payback” for wrongdoings to Muslims carried out at the hands of America.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s sting on Osmakac comes less than a year after 21-year-old Arid Uka from Kosovo opened fire at the Frankfurt Airport in Germany, killing two US soldiers and wounding two others. Investigators in that case allege that Uka came clean on the charges and insisted that the attack was retaliation for crimes committed against Muslims by American forces.

Radical Kosovo Islamists have become an increasing threat to America less than 15 years after a US-led intervention and bombing campaign of Serbia eventually yielded control over disputed land to the Albanians. As a result of it, the Albanian-majority declared Kosovo an independent state and 88 countries recognized Kosovo’s independence, US included.

At the time of involvement in the Kosovo conflict though, opponents of America’s intervention then warned that the creation of a separate state of Kosovo would lead to the development of a radical Islam nation in the heart of Europe. Even some of the most influential American intellectuals cautioned the campaign and warned of consequential circumstances that would come from the creation of the Kosovo state.

“Even if Kosovo declared itself an independent state, it would be a dysfunctional one and a ward of the international community for the indefinite future,” former Secretary of State Lawrence Eaglburger wrote in the Washington Times in 2008. “Law enforcement, integrity of the courts, protection of persons and property, and other prerequisites for statehood are practically nonexistent,” added Eaglburger, who continued that “While these failures are often blamed on Kosovo’s uncertain status, a unilateral declaration of independence recognized by some countries and rejected by many others would hardly remedy that fact.”

Former US ambassador to UN John Bolton added to RT at the time, “I think that we've got to get to the point where attempting the carve out about new countries really threatens to exacerbate the risk of instability.”

Now down the road, predictions like those from Bolton, Eaglburger and others have largely come true, and this latest attempt by way of Sami Osmakac shows that the backlash, while not immediate, could be intensely violent.

In the case of Osmakac, the Florida resident has continuously been in contact with an FBI informant working under the guise as an intermediary capable of supplying weapons to the terrorist. In December, the undercover agent agreed to equip the man with an AK-47 assault rifle, Uzi submachine guns and enough explosives to arm three car bombs.

"I want to do something terrifying, like one day, one night, something's going to happen, then six hours later something else," Osmakac allegedly told the informant.

During a January 7 meeting between the two, Osmakac asked the agent to record a martyrdom video, which he did. According to court documents obtained by ABC News, "In the video, Osmakac stated his belief that Muslims' 'blood' was more valuable than that of people who do not believe in Islam. He also stated that he wanted 'pay back' for wrongs he felt were done to Muslims.”

The “payback,” said Osmakac, would be something that America would be unable to recover from.

"They['re] like $200 trillion in debt, and after all this money they're spending for homeland security and all this, this is going to be crushing them. This is going to terrify them," he said on tape to the agent.

Tags: europe, crime, FBI, Florida, Muslim, terrorism, Kosovo

New Course stresses an all-hazards approach to building safety, which will be attended by thousands from coast to coast.

Tags: security solutions international, SSI, building safety, CPTED, safety, threats, operational methods, risks, security, training, terrorism, crime, Nairobi Embassy, bombing, ohio, west coast, explosion, suicide bombers, fire arms, attacks, security guards, protection

Terror suspects will be allowed to return to London before new surveillance teams have been fully trained to track them, Scotland Yard chiefs warned today.

Tags: attack, terrorism, crime