Paintball leads to terror charges?

[Jeff White]

Do any Virginia members know anything about this? I'd be interested to know what the crime of violence was and how paintball figured into this.

Jeff



St. Louisan accused of terror training gets plea bargain
By KAREN BRANCH-BRIOSO
Post-Dispatch
01/16/2004

WASHINGTON - Two men - St. Louis native Ismail Royer and the son of former Yemeni diplomat in Washington - pleaded guilty Friday to weapons and explosives charges in the investigation of an alleged jihad network in Virginia.

The pleas came 17 days before the men faced trial on far more serious charges, including allegations that they were part of a conspiracy that trained with the intent to battle U.S. forces abroad. The government dropped those charges against the two in exchange for cooperating in the prosecution of other men associated with the group.

"Our success in the war on terrorism depends on our ability to gain the cooperation of those who have information about the global terrorist network," Attorney General John Ashcroft said Friday. "Today's pleas accomplish that goal and provide tough sentences for those who would join with and support our terrorist enemies."

Royer, 30, pleaded guilty of discharging a firearm in relation to a crime of violence and carrying an explosive while committing a felony. He faces at least 20 years in prison. The other man, Ibrahim al-Hamdi, 26, pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm during a crime of violence and carrying an explosive during the commission of a felony. Al-Hamdi, whose father once was the second-in-command at the Yemeni Embassy in Washington, faces at least 15 years in prison.

Royer was born in St. Louis as Randall Todd Royer. He converted to Islam as a teenager in Manchester. Royer acknowledged that he helped five of 10 men indicted with him in June to get into a training camp run by Lashkar-e-Taiba, an Islamic militant group in Pakistan that has been warring Indian forces over the disputed region of Kashmir.

The government dropped the charges against him that alleged the mens' ultimate goal in training with Lashkar-e-Taiba was to eventually fight with al-Qaida in Afghanistan against U.S. forces. Royer always maintained that he never planned to fight Americans.

Royer's father, Ramon Royer of Ballwin, said his son weighed a guilty plea to lesser charges against the severity of the charges he faced at trial.

"It's a trade-off between that less than 20 years or, if he went to trial, he had a chance to go to jail for the rest of his life. What he had to put in balance is four kids and a wife - and whether he'd ever see them again," the elder Royer said.

With Royer and Al-Hamdi's pleas, six of the 11 men indicted in the case have pleaded guilty. The rest still face trial. The group played paintball in the Virginia countryside. Prosecutors accused them of practicing military techniques.

 

[JitsuGuy]

Paintball is bad, it can equip you with the skills to defend yourself from tyranny.

J

 

[WonderNine]

Jeff, perhaps this is practice for when they start going after the rest of us?

 

[JohnBT]

Here's a little chronology, FWIW. Keep in mind that Mr. Pipes has his own agenda.

www.danielpipes.org/blog/32

Note the part about driving around D.C. in September 2001 with an AK47 and 219 rounds of ammo. They caught him with it in Alexandria.

Also: "Royer's admission in his testimony before a federal grand jury in St. Louis last year that he fought with jihadists in Bosnia under one Abu Zubar, who had been "sent by Osama bin Laden to Bosnia." "

Also: "In a breakthrough in the "paintball case," three of Royer's associates plead guilty, reports the Washington Post, admitting to such charges as conspiracy, discharging a firearm in relation to a crime of violence, attending a Lashkar camp in Pakistan, illegally transportating a firearm in interstate commerce, and transfering a firearm for use in a crime of violence. Presumably, this development enhances the prosecution's case against the hold-outs, including Royer."

Also: "September 23, 2003 update: A fourth member of the alleged conspiracy pleaded guilty yesterday, reports The Washington Post. In addition to closing in on the remaining seven alleged members, the confession by Muhammed Aatique contains two points of interest. First, he answered in the affirmative to the judge's question "Did you understand that one of the countries against whom you might ultimately have to pick up arms could be the United States?" Second, he acknowledged that the paintball games the group had played were "conducted as sort of a military training," an admission that takes on added interest when one recalls Royer's sarcasm on this very point: "Ooooh, gosh, they have weapons," he told The Washington Post back in June. "I really resent the idea that a Muslim with a gun — he's a threat. A Jew with a gun — he's not a threat." Royer, a former spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, sure has a way with words."


Who knows what the entire story really is?

John

 

[Sergeant Bob]

U.S.'s war on terror comes to Norristown


By:KEITH PHUCAS , Times Herald Staff 12/25/2003


NORRISTOWN - A Pakistani man arrested in June for conspiring to join a guerrilla group waging war in Kashmir was sentenced to 10 1/2 years earlier this month on a firearms charge and conspiracy.

Mohammed Aatique, a former resident of Korman Suites' Marshall Wood apartments, 450 Forrest Ave., was one of 11 men indicted in U.S. District Court for Virginia's Eastern District for training to join Lashkar-e-Taiba, an Islamic extremist group seeking to drive India out of Kashmir.

<EDIT>
A native of Karachi, Pakistan, Aatique earned a master's degree in electrical engineering at Virginia Polytechnic Institute, in Blacksburg, Va.
The engineer had a temporary work visa and was employed at a mobile phone company in the area.
According to the federal indictment, Aatique first expressed a desire to serve with Lashkar-e-Taiba in July 2001 and was told that Randall Todd Royer could help him join the organization.

<EDIT>
The largest Pakistan-based Kashmiri militant organization, Lashkar-e-Taiba, sent hundreds to fight the Soviet Union in Afghanistan in the 1980s, according Bergen.
On Dec. 23, 2000, the terrorist group claimed responsibility for a deadly attack on the historic Red Fort, in New Delhi, India. The Indian government blamed the guerrillas for the Dec. 13, 2001, attack on the Indian parliament building that left 13 dead.
The organization threatens continued violence until India's forces pull out of Kashmir.
According to the indictment, on separate occasions in 2000, Royer and co-conspirator Ibhahim Ahmed Al-Hamdi , fired at Indian positions in Kashmir.
Because both Pakistan and India possess nuclear weapons, Bergen believes the longstanding dispute over Kashmir makes the region the most dangerous place in the world.


The Whole Story

 

[Harry Tuttle]

Terror Suspects Played Paintball

Seven Indicted on Terror Charges in U.S.
Thu Sep 25, 7:26 PM ET

By CURT ANDERSON, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - The ultimate goal of seven men training to join a terrorist jihad in Kashmir (news - web sites) was to aid al-Qaida and the Taliban by battling U.S. troops in Afghanistan (news - web sites), according to a federal indictment returned Thursday.

The 32-count superseding indictment by a grand jury in Alexandria, Va., "reveals the true and underlying purpose of the conspiracy, and demonstrates our continuing commitment and resolve to bring all of the conspirators to justice," said U.S. Attorney Paul McNulty.

The seven men, along with four others, had originally faced numerous charges stemming from an alleged plot to join Laskar-e-Tayyaba, an Islamic extremist group seeking to drive India out of Kashmir. Four of the defendants have already pleaded guilty to weapons and other charges.


The new indictment contends that the men planned to train with Laskar-e-Tayyaba and then join al-Qaida and Taliban fighters against American troops in the Afghanistan war.


The new charges include conspiracy to levy war against the United States, to provide material support to al-Qaida and to contribute services to the former Taliban-run government in Afghanistan.


"Today's new charges demonstrate that we will pursue cases until all the facts are uncovered," said Christopher Wray, chief of the Justice Department (news - web sites)'s criminal division.


The indictment alleges that the defendants met in northern Virginia shortly after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, to discuss how to obtain training from Laskar-e-Tayyaba so they could fight American troops in Afghanistan.


At the meeting, an unidentified co-conspirator officials say was the group's spiritual leader is quoted as saying that U.S. military forces expected to converge on Afghanistan "would be legitimate targets of violent jihad" and that the men had a religious duty to fight them.


The spiritual leader said that Laskar-e-Tayyaba "was on the correct path" and that one defendant, Randall Todd Royer, could help all the men join the terrorist group in Pakistan.


The men trained with AK-47 weapons in Virginia, Pennsylvania and elsewhere and also practiced military tactics by playing paintball games. Three of the men actually received training and fired weapons at a Laskar-e-Tayyaba camp in Pakistan, according to the indictment.


The men's families and lawyers have portrayed them as peaceful and said they are innocent of terrorism charges. All lived in the suburbs around Washington.


Besides Royer, those charged Thursday are: Masoud Ahmad Khan, a U.S. citizen; Ibrahim Ahmed al-Hamdi, a Yemeni national; Seifullah Chapman, a U.S. citizen; Hammad Abdur-Raheem, a U.S. citizen; Caliph Basha Ibn Abdur-Raheem, a U.S. citizen; and Sabri Benkhala, a U.S. citizen.


Already entering guilty pleas were U.S. citizens Donald Thomas Surratt, Yong Ki Kwon and Khwaja Mahmood Hasan and a Pakistani national, Mohammed Aatique. They are to be sentenced later this year.


An arraignment for the seven men on these new charges was set for Monday in federal court in Alexandria.

 

[TarpleyG]

Pretty soon, the IDPA matches that we all shoot will be grounds for terroristic training. The libs haven't gotten wind of how we train to defend ourselves but you can bet your sweet but that if someone the likes of Feinswine learned about it, she'd set her sights on it.

GT

 

[OF]

All terrorists are paintballers, but not all paintballers are terrorists.

The way I read this, there were some criminals who also got together and played paintball. I find it disturbing that the training aspects would be part of the indictment...we all train. It's difficult to prove what you're training for.

Why did they plead guilty if they're innocent?

- Gabe

 

[spartacus2002]

people might plead guilty just to cut their losses, especially if they have a good deal on the table between their attorney and the prosecutors.

 

[Coronach]

I see no problem citing training as a part of a larger case against someone accused of a crime. It is a piece of a puzzle, a small part of a circumstantial case.

That seems to be what happened here. I don't think anyone is going "My God, they play paintball! They must be terrorists." What they are saying is that they are terrorists, for XYZ reasons, and they also played paintball as a training aid.

I fail to see this as a big deal. Actually, its quite good. Given the fact that many paintball rigs completely lack sights, this is encouraging a spray and pray mentality amongst our foes. Game on!

Mike

 

[Jeff White]

I'd like to know the specifics of all the charges. Nothing in the any of the articles mentions a shooting or bombing here in the US. I'm wondering if carrying a firearm and explosives in the commission of a crime of violence are related to the time spent in the training camps? They charged Walker-Linde with weapons charges based on what he did in Afghanistan.

They have already applied new found powers from the Patriot Act to the war on drugs...How far of a stretch would it be to tag anyone as a terroist? Maybe not this administration, but one wanting to pursue a domestic agenda could have a field day with prosecutions like this. Then again, I don't know anymore about this case then what's posted here. Maybe they held up armored cars to raise funds....

Jeff

 

[JohnBT]

I'm not going back and read all that stuff again, but one of the points of the case against the guy was that he either plotted to and/or actually fired shots at Indian troops while in India or Pakistan. Appears that this violated a law against attacking, or plotting to attack, an ally of the U.S.

Paintball has little or nothing to do with this case.

John