Terrorist Plot Foiled by NYPD

A little over a week after the death of al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden, a terrorist plot purportedly targeting a synagogue in Manhattan was uncovered, though the specific location is unconfirmed.
Terrorist Plot Foiled by NYPD
Would-be terror suspects Ahmed Ferhani (L), 26, and Mohamed Mamdouh, 20, stand before a judge during their arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court May 12, 2011 in New York City. (Lucas Jackson-Pool/Getty Images)
Zachary Stieber
5/12/2011
Updated:
5/12/2011

<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/114132160_medium.jpg"><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/114132160_medium.jpg" alt="Would-be terror suspects Ahmed Ferhani (L), 26, and Mohamed Mamdouh, 20, stand before a judge during their arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court May 12, 2011 in New York City. (Lucas Jackson-Pool/Getty Images)" title="Would-be terror suspects Ahmed Ferhani (L), 26, and Mohamed Mamdouh, 20, stand before a judge during their arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court May 12, 2011 in New York City. (Lucas Jackson-Pool/Getty Images)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-125600"/></a>
Would-be terror suspects Ahmed Ferhani (L), 26, and Mohamed Mamdouh, 20, stand before a judge during their arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court May 12, 2011 in New York City. (Lucas Jackson-Pool/Getty Images)

NEW YORK— A little over a week after the death of al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden, a terrorist plot purportedly targeting a synagogue in Manhattan was uncovered, though the specific location is unconfirmed. The two suspects are immigrants to the United States, of Middle Eastern descent, and were residing in East Elmhurst, Queens.

Mohamed Mandouh and Ahmed Ferhani were arrested Wednesday around 6 p.m. One was in a car negotiating to obtain weapons with an undercover officer, the other was on foot on West 57th St. and Ninth Ave. Twelve detectives from the Police Department’s Intelligence Division converged on the car, which was at 58th St. and Twelfth Ave., after Ferhani attempted to purchase guns, ammunition, and a hand grenade.

“They were very shocked, very surprised,” said Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly at a press conference on Thursday afternoon.

Mohamed Mandouh, 20, a native of Morocco, accompanied his parents to the United States in 1999. His parents became naturalized, thus making Mandouh an American citizen.

<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/terroristplot_medium.jpg"><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/terroristplot_medium.jpg" alt="DANGER AVERTED: Mayor Michael Bloomberg at City Hall on Thursday looks down at ammunition and weapons obtained from two Queens men allegedly plotting a terrorist act. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)" title="DANGER AVERTED: Mayor Michael Bloomberg at City Hall on Thursday looks down at ammunition and weapons obtained from two Queens men allegedly plotting a terrorist act. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-125601"/></a>
DANGER AVERTED: Mayor Michael Bloomberg at City Hall on Thursday looks down at ammunition and weapons obtained from two Queens men allegedly plotting a terrorist act. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Ahmed Ferhani, 26, was a native of Algeria who immigrated to the United States in 1995 with two siblings and his parents. He was granted permanent residency with his family. His case was under review for possible deportation for failing to appear before an immigration judge to discuss a previous arrest.

Ferhani reportedly said he was “fed up with the way Muslims are being treated around the world.”

He allegedly went on to say: “We will blow up a synagogue in Manhattan, and take out the entire building.”

The men apparently had ambitions to, at a later time, bomb the Empire State Building. Recorded conversations between Ferhani and Mandouh revealed violent antisemiticism. They also discussed Ferhani growing a beard and payots, which are long, uncut sideburns, so he would look like a Hasidic Jew. Then, he could enter the synagogue unnoticed, pretending to pray while actually leaving a bomb.

The NYPD were tracking the two men for quite a while in an undercover operation, and felt it was the right point in time to intervene and make arrests “because of Ferhani’s interest in obtaining weapons and his express desire to construct increasingly powerful bombs,” stated Kelly. “Also, no matter how good the surveillance, there’s always a chance the suspect may elude authorities.”

There was an emphasis that the two men were “lone wolves” and not affiliated in any way with retaliation for bin Laden’s recent death, or al-Qaeda. They are being charged with criminal possession of firearms, and terrorism and hate crimes. They were arraigned on Thursday evening.

At the press conference, Mayor Bloomberg talked about the importance of counter-terrorism efforts:

“We always make sure the police department has enough resources to protect this city, and if necessary, we'll figure out how to pay for it later. Commissioner Kelly has done a masterful job of doing more with less, including assigning more than a 1,000 police officers daily to counter-terrorism duties. Yesterday’s developments, and 12 other plots thwarted since 9/11, are ample evidence of just how good a job they’ve done.”