Four Indicted For Alleged Terror Plot Against U.S.

Four men were indicted in Los Angeles federal court on Wednesday of allegedly plotting terrorist attacks against the United States.

The leader of the group was described as the head of a radical Islamic prison gang. The indictment claims that the four men planned to attack U.S. military facilities, the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles and other targets in the greater Los Angeles area. It also charged that the four men plotted to kill armed service members and murder foreign officials.

The four men were identified as Levar Haley Washington, 25, Gregory Vernon Patterson, 21, Hammad Riaz Samana, 21, and Kevin James, 29.

James is the head of the radical Muslim prison group known as Jamiyyat Ul-Islam Is-Saheeh and is presently an inmate at California State Prison-Sacramento. The indictment claims the other three men were acting on James' behalf in orchestrating the attacks.

The indictment claims that Washington pledged his loyalty to James 'until death by martyrdom' and sought to establish a JIS cell outside prison with members with bomb expertise.

Washington, Patterson and Samana all attended the same Inglewood, California mosque. The indictment alleges that they conducted surveillance of military facilities, the Israeli Consulate and synagogues in the Los Angeles area as well as conducted Internet research on Jewish holidays.

Earlier comments from law enforcement officials indicated that the military facilities the group planned to attack included National Guard sites, though the indictment does not specifically name sites.

'Make no mistake about it — we dodged a bullet here, perhaps many bullets,' Los Angeles police Chief William Bratton announced at a Wednesday press conference.

'We have a tendency to think of terrorism as (foreign born),' added U.S. Attorney Debra Yang. 'And this is a very stark reminder that it can be ... local and homegrown.'

Authorities say the four were prepared to carry out attacks using firearms and other weapons at synagogues. They planned to wait until the Jewish High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur when synagogue attendance is highest. Authorities allege that Patterson bought a .223-caliber rifle in July for this purpose.

To finance their plans, Washington, Patterson and Samana robbed a string of gas stations in Los Angeles and Orange counties. Washington and Patterson were arrested on July 5 in connection with a string of local gas station robberies.

FBI Director Robert Mueller said authorities have yet to find any links between al-Qaeda or other foreign terror groups and this alleged plot.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales connected this alleged attempt at terrorist attacks with the July bombings on the London Underground.

Gonzales told reporters, 'Some in this country mistakenly believed it could not happen here. Today we have chilling evidence that it is possible.'