Discussed Bombing Trump Tower and Israeli Embassy in New York
the staff of the Ridgewood b log
Basking Ridge NJ, A Somerset County, New Jersey, man was arrested today for attempting to provide material support to Hamas, lying on his application to enlist in the U.S. Army, and making a threat against pro-Israel supporters, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito, Assistant Attorney General John C. Demers of the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Security Division, FBI-Newark Special Agent in Charge Gregory W. Ehrie and FBI Assistant Director for Counterterrorism Michael McGarrity announced.
Point Pleasant NJ, A man from Point Pleasant (Ocean County) who planned to detonate a pressure-cooker bomb in New York City on behalf of ISIS received a 16-year sentence in federal prison on March 1. Gregory Lepsky, 22, whose arrest two years ago came after a family member notified law enforcement that he had a weapon and threatened to kill the family dog, pleaded guilty on March 13, 2018, to attempting to provide material support to ISIS.
TRENTON NJ, A Point Pleasant, New Jersey, man was sentenced today to 16 years in prison for planning to construct and use a pressure cooker bomb in New York on behalf of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito and Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers announced.
Gregory Lepsky, 22, pleaded guilty March 13, 2018, before U.S. District Court Judge Michael Shipp to an information charging him with one count of attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, specifically ISIS. Judge Shipp imposed the sentence today in Trenton federal court.
” It’s actually an interesting legal question. Who, among those born within the United States of America to a non-citizen mother and a non-citizen father, does NOT meet the requirements for U.S. citizenship set forth in the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution? In this instance, the jurisdictional “exception” to which the U.S. government authorities are pointing applies to children born to foreign diplomats. Her rejoinder is said to be that her father’s status as a foreign diplomate ended a month before she was born. Well heck! Who knew you could convert your soon-to-be-born child into an anchor baby simply by arranging for your home country to temporarily “fire” you a few weeks before your child is born, only to reinstate you shortly thereafter? One is left wondering whether this is just another form of birth tourism… “
Hackensack NJ, the Trump administration has denied a New Jersey-born woman’s request to return to the United States after she left to join the Islamic State group.
In a brief statement, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo gave no details as to how the administration made their determination.
“Ms. Hoda Muthana is not a U.S. citizen and will not be admitted into the United States,” he said. “She does not have any legal basis, no valid U.S. passport, no right to a passport nor any visa to travel to the United States.”
Hoda Muthana was born in Hackensack and raised in Alabama. She left the United States in 2014 to join the Islamic State in Syria after becoming radicalized.
Muthana wants to return to the U.S. with her young son, but that request was denied.
Ridgewood NJ, according to the State of New Jersey office of Homeland Security the terror threat from ISIS to New Jersey is moderate due to the group’s ability to inspire homegrown violent extremists (HVEs) to conduct attacks in the State and surrounding region on behalf of the organization. Since 2015, ISIS has inspired nine attacks by HVEs in the region.
Trenton NJ A new plan to create a drivers license for undocumented immigrants living in New Jersey and other people who can’t produce documentation proving who they are.
The legislation sponsored by Assemblywoman Annette Quijano D-Union, and state Sen. Joe Vitale, D-Middlesex, which calls for allowing New Jerseyans to either get a Real ID driver’s license that will permit individuals to board an airliner or enter a federal building, or what is being termed a “standard” license that would not require the standard “six points” of identifying documents.
Drivers license for undocumented immigrants living in New Jersey and other people who can’t produce documentation proving who they are, what could possible go wrong with that ?
Washington DC, Illustrating the national security threats created by the nation’s immigration system, the overwhelming majority of individuals convicted of terrorism are foreigners who entered the United States legally through various federal programs. Three out of every four convicted terrorists between September 11, 2001 and December 31, 2016 are foreign born and came to the United States through our immigration system, according to a new report issued jointly by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ).
At least 549 individuals were convicted of terrorism-related charges in American federal courts since 2001 and 402 of them—approximately 73%–were foreign-born, the report says. Here’s the breakdown by citizenship at the time of their convictions; 254 were not U.S. citizens, 148 were naturalized and received American citizenship and 147 were U.S. born. Additionally, 1,716 foreigners with national security concerns were removed from the United States. The Trump administration stresses that figures include only those aliens who were convicted or removed and therefore do not represent the total measure of foreign terrorist infiltration of the United States. Statistics on individuals facing terrorism charges who have not yet been convicted will be provided in follow-up reports that will be made available to the public.
This DHS/DOJ report, issued this month, is disturbing enough and reveals that a significant number of terrorists entered the country through immigration programs that use family ties and extended-family chain migration as a basis for entry. Among them is Mufid Elfgeeh, a national of Yemen who benefitted from chain migration in 1997 and was sentenced to more than 22 years in prison for attempting to recruit fighters for ISIS. Sudanese Mahmoud Amin Mohamed Elhassan came to the U.S. in 2012 as a relative of a lawful permanent resident and eventually pleaded guilty to attempting to provide material support to ISIS. Pakistani Uzair Paracha was admitted to the U.S. in 1980 as a family member of a lawful permanent resident and in 2006 was sentenced to more than three decades in prison for providing material support to Al Qaeda. Khaleel Ahmed, a national of India, was admitted to the United States in 1998 as a family member of a naturalized United States citizen. Ahmed eventually became an American citizen and in 2010 was sentenced to more than eight years in prison for conspiring to provide material support to terrorists.
Other convicted terrorists came to the U.S. through the controversial visa lottery program, the multi-agency probe found. Among them is Abdurasaul Hasanovich Juraboev, a national of Uzbekistan who was admitted into the country as a diversity visa lottery recipient in 2011. In 2015, he pleaded guilty to conspiring to support ISIS and in 2017 Juraboev was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Sudanese Ali Shukri Amin was admitted to the U.S. in 1999 as the child of a diversity visa lottery recipient and subsequently obtained American citizenship through naturalization. In 2015, he was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison for conspiring to provide material support and resources to ISIS. Amin admitted to using social media to provide advice and encouragement to ISIS and its supporters and facilitated ISIS supporters seeking to travel to Syria to join the terrorist group. Amin also helped a Virginia teen named Reza Niknejad get to Syria to join ISIS in 2015.
“The United States faces a serious and persistent terror threat, and individuals with ties to terror can and will use any pathway to enter our country,” the new DHS/DOJ report states. “Accordingly, DHS has taken significant steps to improve the security of all potential routes used by known or suspected terrorists (KST) to travel to the United States to ensure that individuals who would do harm to Americans are identified and detected, and their plots are disrupted. These figures reflect the challenges faced by the United States and demonstrate the necessity to remain vigilant and proactive in our counterterrorism posture.”
Washington DC, On January 16, 2018, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) released a report revealing that three out of every four, or 402, individuals convicted of international terrorism-related charges in U.S. federal courts between September 11, 2001, and December 31, 2016 were foreign-born. Over the same period, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement removed approximately 1,716 aliens with national security concerns. Further, in 2017 alone DHS had 2,554 encounters with individuals on the terrorist watch list (also known as the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Database) traveling to the United States.
This report was prescribed by Executive Order 13780, Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States, which declared that “it is the policy of the United States to protect its citizens from terrorist attacks, including those committed by foreign nationals,” and directed a series of actions to enhance the security of the American people.
The actions directed by Executive Order 13780 have—among other things—raised the baseline for the vetting and screening of foreign nationals, improved our ability to prevent the entry of malicious actors, and enhanced the security of the American people.
“My top priority as Secretary of Homeland Security is to ensure the safety and security of the American people,” said Secretary Nielsen. “This report is a clear reminder of why we cannot continue to rely on immigration policy based on pre-9/11 thinking that leaves us woefully vulnerable to foreign-born terrorists, and why we must examine our visa laws and continue to intensify screening and vetting of individuals traveling to the United States to prevent terrorists, criminals, and other dangerous individuals from reaching our country. Without legislative change DHS will continue to see thousands of terrorists a year attempt to enter the United States, and while we must be right every time, the terrorists only need to be lucky once. Therefore, DHS has personnel deployed around the world and along our borders working with our global and domestic law enforcement partners to stop terrorists before they enter the homeland.”
“This report reveals an indisputable sobering reality—our immigration system has undermined our national security and public safety,” said Attorney General Sessions. “And the information in this report is only the tip of the iceberg: we currently have terrorism-related investigations against thousands of people in the United States, including hundreds of people who came here as refugees. Our law enforcement professionals do amazing work, but it is simply not reasonable to keep asking them to risk their lives to enforce the law while we admit thousands every year without sufficient knowledge about their backgrounds. The pillars of President Trump’s immigration policy—securing our porous borders, moving to a merit-based immigration system that ends the use of diversity visas and chain migration, and enforcing our nation’s laws—will make their jobs easier and make the United States a safer place.”
The report reveals that at least 549 individuals were convicted of international terrorism-related charges in U.S. federal courts between September 11, 2001, and December 31, 2016. An analysis conducted by DHS determined that approximately 73 percent (402 of these 549 individuals) were foreign-born. Breaking down the 549 individuals by citizenship status at the time of their respective convictions reveals that:
254 were not U.S. citizens;
148 were foreign-born, naturalized and received U.S. citizenship; and,
147 were U.S. citizens by birth.
According to information available to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), since September 11, 2001, there were approximately 1,716 removals of aliens with national security concerns.
As mentioned above, in FY 2017, DHS encountered 2,554 individuals on the terrorist watchlist (also known as the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Database) traveling to the United States. Of those individuals, 335 were attempting to enter by land, 2,170 were attempting to enter by air, and 49 were attempting to enter by sea. Where consistent with the law, such individuals are denied entry into the United States, while in some cases law enforcement authorities are notified and can take appropriate action.
From October 1, 2011, to September 30, 2017, a total of 355,345 non-U.S. citizen offenders, were administratively arrested after previously being convicted of an aggravated felony, as defined in 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43), or two or more crimes each punishable by more than one year (felony offenses). During that same period, a total of 372,098 non-U.S. citizen offenders were removed from the United States after conviction of an aggravated felony or two or more felonies.
Data from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate shows that between 2007 and 2017, USCIS referred 45,858 foreign nationals who applied for immigration benefits to ICE for criminal or civil enforcement action, based on information indicating that such foreign nationals had committed egregious public safety-related offenses within the United States.
Between FY 2010 and FY 2016, CBP identified and prevented the boarding of 73,261 foreign travelers on flights destined for the United States, who may have presented an immigration or security risk.
In October, the Trump Administration sent to Congress a list of legislative priorities that would enhance our national security—such as eliminating the diversity visa lottery and extended family chain migration, funding the wall, closing loopholes in our asylum system, combatting visa overstays, and closing other loopholes in existing law that potentially benefit aliens who pose threats to our national security.
Ridgewood NJ, traveling , hate the lines at the TSA security check points ? ABC news is reporting that ,in recent undercover tests of multiple airport security checkpoints by the Department of Homeland Security, inspectors said screeners, their equipment or their procedures failed more than half the time. Sources told When ABC News the failure rate was in the 80 percent range.
In a public hearing after a private classified briefing to the House Committee on Homeland Security, members of Congress called the failures by the Transportation Security Administration disturbing, you think ? I guess strip searching 3 year olds and 70 year old women and taking away nail files didn’t really get the job done.
Paramus NJ, Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir S. Grewal and Bergen County Sheriff Michael Saudino jointly announced today the launch of a new law enforcement initiative designed to promote both public and law enforcement safety across Bergen County. Beginning Wednesday, November 1, 2017, the Bergen County Regional SWAT Team (“RST”), which is overseen by both the Prosecutor and Sheriff, will deploy two patrol units County-wide, which will allow highly trained and specially equipped RST officers to respond more quickly to critical incidents.
The new patrol units will be staffed by officers from the RST, which is comprised of approximately 55 law enforcement officers from the Prosecutor’s Office, the Sheriff’s Department, and 24 Bergen County municipal police departments. The units will be on scheduled patrol across Bergen County for 12 hours a day, Monday through Saturday. They will primarily provide back-up and support services to municipal officers responding to dangerous calls for service, such as domestic violence calls, shots-fired calls, crimes in progress, or high-risk motor vehicle stops. In addition, the new units will support traditional RST calls for service, including active shooter, barricaded subject, or hostage situations. Because they will already be on the road, they will be able to respond more quickly to such calls and in some cases, avoid a full RST deployment when the quick-response unit alone is sufficient.
In addition to acting as a back-up response asset to Bergen County’s many municipal police agencies, the quick-response units will be conducting routine critical infrastructure patrols. On a daily basis, the RST officers will be checking schools, hotels, office and government buildings, as well as other buildings and areas of critical infrastructure as identified by municipal police agencies and the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office’s Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism Units.
According to a 2016 study released by the United States Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing, 34% of police officers killed between 2010 and 2014 were alone without back-up when they were killed.1 According to the same study, during more than one in five (or 22%) of these instances, the slain police officers were responding to a routine call regarding domestic violence. Additionally, in all but one case, the responding officers were shot to death. The report concluded that the “necessity of having three or more officers at a domestic situation to adequately separate parties, monitor family members and, if necessary, physically restrain and arrest a suspect, is apparent.
“The goal here is to have these new units serve as a force multiplier for our local departments to ensure officer safety when responding to dangerous calls for service,” said Prosecutor Grewal. “Such a response will be of particular benefit to our smaller, as well as our busier departments, both of which sometimes have fewer officers to respond to potentially dangerous calls for service,” added Prosecutor Grewal.
Additionally, some calls for service in Bergen County, like active shooter or hostage situations, require a tactical RST response and time is of the essence during such calls. “Experience shows that a direct and immediate response by multiple, tactically trained and equipped officers greatly increases the safety of civilians, including suspects, and officers,” stated Sheriff Saudino. “These mobile units will provide for a quicker response by RST officers and are another example of how we are proactive here in Bergen County,” he added.
Both of the new RST units were purchased and equipped jointly by the Prosecutor and Sheriff using criminal forfeiture funds and at no expense to taxpayers, and will be staffed on a rotating schedule by RST members.
New Milford NJ, we are sorry to report that Darren Drake, a New Milford native and former school board president, was among those killed in Tuesday’s terror attack in Lower Manhattan. Drake, 33, was a project manager at Moody’s Investors Service at Seven World Trade Center.
Assemblymen Bob Auth District 39 issued the following statement , “I am deeply saddened by the attack of our fellow neighbors in New York City yesterday afternoon. My prayers, and the prayers of my family, go out to the victims and their families. I am especially saddened to hear that New Milford council candidate, Darren Drake, was among those who succumbed to his injuries. He had been elected to the New Milford school board and eventually became president of body. He will be missed by many. ”
Assemblywomen Holly Schepisi District 39 said , “I just heard that one of those killed in yesterday’s terrorist attack was a Bergen County resident. I am someone who is a realist on immigration issues. I believe in a pathway to citizenship for people who have built their lives in the US while working, paying taxes and providing for their children. However, if we turn NJ into a Sanctuary State, game over. We are literally advertising to every single person who comes into the US illegally, to every person who has a nefari…ous purpose for being here, that we as a State will not only welcome them but we will provide them with driver’s licenses and benefits, we will refuse to cooperate with Homeland Security and ICE and we will HARBOR TERRORISTS. As a legislator representing Bergen and Passaic counties, counties that the terrorist directly impacted and lived in, I say NO. If you care about the future of this State you must vote against us being a Sanctuary State and you must vote for representatives who pledge to fight against it. Make you voices heard on November 7th.”
Lower Manhattan , NYC Details about the suspect’s background were just unfolding as his name emerged, but it appears that he is a somewhat recent immigrant to the United States. Saipov “is an Uzbek national and came to the U.S. in 2010,” NBC News reported. According to online records from his traffic history, he has worked as a commercial truck driver.
Details are as follows :
The New York Police Department has identified the suspect in Tuesday’s Manhattan attack as 29-year-old Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov, an Uzbek national who has been in the United States on a green card since 2010.
The attack on Tuesday just north of the World Trade Center site left eight people dead and at least a dozen injured.
According to local media in New Jersey, Saipov has has only two run-ins with police in the tri-state area – a couple of traffic stops in Mount Holly Springs Borough, Pennsylvania, and Palmyra, Pennsylvania, in 2015 and 2012, respectively. Both times, Saipov gave police a Paterson, New Jersey, address. His most recent official address, however, is in Tampa, Florida.
Saipov’s religious affiliation is unconfirmed, though Uzbekistan is around 96 percent Muslim. It is also not clear whether Saipov had any concerning affiliations, or a history of mental illness, common among mass killers. More details are likely to emerge as New York and Federal officials investigate deeper into the incident.
Police say that Saipov drove a rented truck over a curb and onto a bike path near the World Trade Center. After mowing over several pedestrians, Saipov crashed his truck into a school bus, injuring at least two adults and two children inside. He then jumped from the truck, screamed “Allah Akbar!” and ran toward a group of children, brandishing two items that appeared to be firearms.
The truck was rented at a Home depot in Passaic, New Jersey and the Passaic Police and Passaic County Sheriffs Department are on the seen with Federal agents looking over his Van he left parked in the Home Depot Parking lot.
The NYPD says they recovered a BB gun and a paintball gun at the scene.
Saipov confronted an armed NYPD officer who shot him in the stomach but some reports say the thigh. He is alive and receiving treatment at some speculate Bellevue hospital. He is, reportedly, awake and alert enough to undergo an interrogation.
Ridgewood NJ, according to the NJ office of Homeland Security the terrorist attack in London on June 3 highlights the continuing threat from “low-tech,” unsophisticated weapons such as vehicles and knives. Although there are no specific threats to New Jersey, these types of attacks require little preparation and could be conducted with little or no warning. Last week’s attack in London follows vehicle rammings at Westminster Bridge in London in May; in Stockholm, Sweden, in April; at a Christmas market in Berlin in December; on the campus of Ohio State University in November; and at a Bastille Day celebration in Nice, France, last July. ISIS and al-Qa’ida have encouraged their followers to attack where they are, with whatever weapons they can acquire. Last week, a pro-ISIS message encouraged its readers to kill civilians, with a caption reading, “Run them over by vehicles,” and showing an image with a truck, a knife, and a handgun (see photo).
The scenario for the attack on London Bridge and at Borough Market was similar to those of the attacks at Westminster Bridge and Ohio State University. In each case, the attackers drove a vehicle into pedestrians, then got out of the vehicle and began stabbing people. These multi-phase attacks extend the incident, thus increasing the number of casualties and amplifying the terror effect.
Ridgewood NJ, After foreign terrorist calls to attack shopping malls in the West, which has been circulating in propaganda since 2015, the Limbecker Platz mall in the western German city of Essen closed on March 11. Two men were arrested after German police received a tip that ISIS contacted followers in Germany to attack the mall—the second terror plot against malls in the country since December 2016.
In December 2016, German police arrested two Kosovar brothers allegedly plotting to attack CentrO mall in Oberhausen, the largest mall in Europe. The brothers were later released due to a lack of evidence.
In September 2016, Dahir Adan attacked and wounded 20 people with a knife at the Crossroads Center shopping mall in St. Cloud, Minnesota. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack.
While there are no specific or credible threats to New Jersey, NJOHSP encourages mall owners and operators to consider the following risk mitigation measures:
Increase presence of security personnel to deter and prevent an attack. Visible uniformed security personnel at public entrances and on patrol throughout the facility can deter attacks, while non-uniformed security personnel can monitor mall staff and customers for suspicious behavior.
Control non-public access points and restricted areas. Mall owners should regulate access to non-public entrances via secure locking mechanisms, and they should use video surveillance to monitor all entrances and restricted areas for suspicious behavior and unauthorized access.
Train mall employees and security personnel on active shooter response. All full- and part-time employees should receive active shooter training during new-hire orientation. Active shooter response plans should be exercised with staff and security personnel quarterly.
Educate mall staff and customers on how to detect and report suspicious activity. Mall owners should develop an awareness campaign focused on indicators of suspicious behavior and terrorist surveillance. Information should include See Something, Say Something materials for display throughout facilities.
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