ICE Missing In Action On Moroccan Illegal in Bomb Plot
02/19/2012
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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was hard at work at total fail again. ICE, which wants to replace the FBI, again failed to perform its most basic duty, arrest illegal aliens. In this case the failure of ICE to execute its responsibilities led to an incipient terrorist attack on the United States Capital.Fortunately the FBI was executing their responsibilities in a professional and aggressive manner. If only ICE did the same. (h/t Creeping Sharia)

HuffPo February 17, 2012 by Nedra Pickler and Eric Tucker

Amine El Khalifi Arrested: Capitol Suicide Bombing Attempt Halted

WASHINGTON — A 29-year-old Moroccan man who believed he was working with al-Qaida was arrested Friday near the U.S. Capitol as he was planning to detonate what he thought was a suicide vest that undercover operatives gave him, officials said.

Amine El Khalifi of Alexandria, Va., was taken into custody with a gun that didn't work and inert explosives, according to a counterterrorism official. He arrived near the Capitol in a van with the two undercover operatives, and walked toward the building, according to court papers. He was arrested before he left the parking garage.
El Khalifi made a brief appearance on Friday afternoon in federal court in Alexandria, where a judge set a bail hearing for Wednesday. After his arrest, FBI agents raided a red brick rambler home in Arlington, Va. A police car blocked the entrance.
A criminal complaint charges him with knowingly and unlawfully attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction against property that is owned and used by the United States. The charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.
El Khalifi, who was under constant surveillance, expressed interest in killing at least 30 people and considered targeting a building in Alexandria and a restaurant, synagogue and a place where military personnel gather in Washington before he settled on the Capitol after canvassing that area a couple of times, the counterterrorism official said. During the investigation, El Khalifi went with undercover operatives in January to a quarry in West Virginia to practice detonating explosives, according to court documents.

He believed he was working with an al-Qaida operative on the plot, according to an affidavit.

El Khalifi came to the U.S. when he was 16 years old and is unemployed and not believed to be associated with al-Qaida. He had been under investigation for about a year and had overstayed his visitor visa, which expired in 1999, making him in the country illegally, according to court documents.
Interestingly, he was reported to Arlington County Police in 2010, but nothing was done. Note that Arlington is a sanctuary city.
A former landlord in Arlington said he believed El Khalifi was suspicious and called police a year and a half ago.
Frank Dynda said when he told El Khalifi to leave, the suspect said he had a right to stay and threatened to beat up Dynda. The former landlord said he thought El Khalifi was making bombs, but police told him to leave the man alone. Dynda had El Khalifi evicted in 2010.
El Khalifi had at least one man staying with him and claimed he was running a luggage business from the apartment, Dynda said, doubting that was true because he never saw any bags.
"I reported to police I think he's making bombs," Dynda said. "I was ready to get my shotgun and run him out of the building, but that would have been a lot of trouble."
Not to mention a beneficiary of the Bush and Obama Administrative Amnesties.
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