Four arrested in terror plot in N.Y.
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NEW YORK - Four men from upstate New York were arrested last night in what authorities said was a plot to bomb two synagogues in the Bronx and shoot down military planes at Stewart Air National Guard base in Newburgh, N.Y.
The men were arrested around 9 p.m. after planting what they believed to be bombs in cars outside the Riverdale Temple and the nearby Riverdale Jewish Center, officials said. But the men did not know the bombs, provided by an informant with the FBI, were fake.
The arrests capped what officials described as a "painstaking investigation" that began in June 2008 involving an FBI agent who had been told of the men's desire to attack targets in America by a federal informant. The men intended to fire guided, Stinger missiles at military aircraft at Stewart International Airport, officials said.
The charges against the men represent some of the most significant allegations of domestic terrorism in some time.
Law enforcement officials identified the four men as James Cromitie, David Williams, Onta Williams, and LaGuerre Payen, all of Newburgh. Some of the men were of Arabic descent, but all were US citizens, a federal law enforcement official said. They were all Muslim, a law enforcement official said.
Cromitie, who is of Afghani descent, had told the informant that he was upset about the war in Afghanistan and that that he wanted to "do something to America."
The men are expected to appear in White Plains federal court today.
