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| U.S. Man Pleads Guilty to Airport Attack Plot | |
| 2015-06-10 | |
| [AnNahar] An aviation technician caught in an FBI sting pleaded guilty Monday to plotting to attack a Kansas airport with a boom-mobile, U.S. officials said. "Terry Loewen utilized his privileged airport access to attempt a terrorist attack in Wichita," Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Carlin said in a statement. "Detecting, disrupting and holding accountable those who wish to harm Americans remains our highest priority." Loewen, 59, was tossed in the calaboose Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up! in December 2013 when he tried to use his access pass to drive a van filled with what he believed to be explosives on to the grounds of the Wichita Mid-Continent Airport. He came to the attention of the FBI in May 2013 when he became a Facebook friend of a person who was posting comments advocating violent jihad. An undercover agent began communicating with him and offered to help when Loewen "expressed his desire to engage in violent jihad," prosecutors said. Loewen told the undercover agent that he wanted to martyr himself and was waiting for "the green light" from Allah to carry out a violent attack on a civilian target. He also said he was inspired by the teachings of the late Osama bin Laden ... who is now among the dear departed, though not among the dearest... and Anwar al-Awlaki ... Born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, zapped in Yemen, al-Awlaki was a dual citizen of the U.S. and Yemen. He was an Islamic holy man who was a trainer for al-Qaeda and its franchises. His sermons were attended by three of the 9/11 hijackers, by Fort Hood murderer Nidal Malik Hussein, and UndieboomerUmar Farouk Abdulmutallab. He was the first U.S. citizen ever placed on a CIA target list....
A second undercover agent began meeting with him in October. He eventually helped Loewen assemble a bomb -- ensuring that it was actually inert -- and drove with him as Loewen tried to use his access badge to access the airport's tarmac. In his plea agreement, Loewen agreed with the prosecutor's recommendation of a sentence of 20 years in prison. A judge will make the final decision at a sentencing hearing. | |
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