“Rios planned to fund his trip by committing violent robberies in North Carolina, leaving no witnesses alive.”
via Neighbor describes eerie feeling about terrorism-related suspect – WJHL-TV
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – A 19-year-old from Fayetteville pled guilty to charges related to his plans for terrorist activities, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Erwin Antonio Rios, 19, of Fayetteville, pled guilty Tuesday to a charge of possession of a stolen firearm. He was arrested in February.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) said that Rios wanted to take the gun overseas to carry out what he called “jihad” on non-believers in Islam, U.S. forces included. The DOJ said Rios explained jihad as various forms of violence against those he determined to be non-believers. The DOJ characterized the intentions as terrorist activities.
In a press release, the DOJ wrote that Rios planned to fund his trip by committing violent robberies in North Carolina, leaving no witnesses alive.
“Erwin Rios intended to commit violent acts against innocent people in furtherance of his extremist doctrine of hate,” said John Strong, Special Agent in Charge of the Charlotte Division of the FBI.
According to a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) affidavit, Rios was arrested on February 7. Agents believe Rios was living or had spent some time at his father’s house on Oak Knolls Drive prior to his arrest.
People who live on the street said Wednesday they remember agents raiding the Rios home a few months ago – the day of, or the day after the arrest. One neighbor who did not give his name said he saw agents take computers from the home. The neighbor also said he had only seen Rios for a few weeks prior to the raid, and he said Rios was wearing a thobe or Islamic man’s robe.
The FBI affidavit said a confidential informant first met Rios at an Islamic house of worship in Hoke County in June 2012. According to the affidavit Rios talked to the informant over several more months. The affidavit said Rios talked about a desire to be soldier for Allah, and that Muslims would rule the world, and that anyone who killed in defense of his religion would be forgiven and guaranteed a place in heaven.
His father says it was an Islamic website that led his son to jihad. Why can’t a single reporter identify the website? And why did it take nearly three months for news of his arrest to hit the air?
More via WAPO, NC man pleads guilty in terrorism plot that included talk of attacks on Fort Bragg soldiers
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — A North Carolina man who the FBI says spoke of killing U.S. Army soldiers as part of a personal jihad has pleaded guilty to possessing a stolen firearm.
Erwin Antonio Rios, 19, admitted guilt Tuesday in U.S. District Court as part of a plea agreement with federal prosecutors. The terms of the agreement have not been made public, but the felony charge to which Rios pleaded guilty carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
In an affidavit filed with the court, FBI Special Agent Frank Brostrom said Rios holds extremist Islamic views and told a government informant he would like to kill Fort Bragg soldiers.
“Rios spoke of how Islam will rule the world soon, and that non-believers are guaranteed hell fire,” Brostrom said. “Rios stated that he would have loved to have been a soldier for Allah.”
Authorities said Rios, who is from Fayetteville, also plotted to travel overseas to commit violence against non-Muslims and devised a scheme to commit armed robberies to obtain money to buy weapons. The FBI set up a sting where Rios bought what he was told was a stolen handgun and was then immediately placed under arrest.
According to the affidavit, an FBI informant first met Rios in June 2012 at a mosque in Raeford. The young Muslim told the informant he wanted to fight non-believers oppressing the faithful.
Two month later, the informant and Rios were riding in a car past the gates of Fort Bragg, the sprawling home of the 82 Airborne Division. Rios told the informant they could easily gain access to the base and that he liked to observe the soldiers and watch their movements in case he ever had to make jihad against them, according to the affidavit.
When a military helicopter flew overhead, Rios “stated that he wished he had a ‘Stinger missile’ to take it out,” according to Brostrom.
In another conversation, Rios is reported to have told the FBI informant that the “most efficient way to kill them all would be to wear an explosive vest and blow yourself up for Allah,” according to the affidavit.
In September, Rios told the informant he had been talking to someone who could get him an AK-47 assault rifle and a .357 caliber handgun for about $500. When the informant suggested that the guns might be stolen at that price, Rios responded that he knew that but it was still a good deal, according to the affidavit.
The FBI said Rios feared arrest if he tried to buy guns from a licensed dealer. State court records shows he has prior convictions for breaking and entering and possession of a stolen firearm. In 2011, Rios had applied for a passport but was denied because he was on criminal probation, according to the affidavit.
After Rios expressed his desire to buy a gun, the informant offered to introduce him to a neighbor who broke into homes to steal weapons.
On February 7, Rios traveled with the informant to Lillington to meet with a second informant posing as an illegal gun salesman. According to the affidavit, the FBI informant offered Rios a 9mm handgun that had been stolen. Rios then paid a $100 for the gun, which had secretly had the firing pin removed, according to the FBI.
Rios then drove off with the first informant, but they were pulled over by FBI agents after traveling about a mile. Rios was taken into custody as he reached for a knife concealed in his pocket, according to the affidavit.
His guilty plea on Tuesday comes days after three Raleigh Muslims were sentenced in a plot to behead federal informants who helped the FBI foil another homegrown terror plot that involved plans to attack the U.S. Marine base at Quantico, Va., and targets overseas.
Anyone checking into the mosque, its imam, other members? The jihad-loving, article-scrubbing Fayetteville Observer is already defending the house of jihad mosque. Imams have been preaching jihad in North Carolina since at least the 90′s.
Including the Muslim behind first accredited Islamic college in U.S. says OK for Muslims to attack Ft Bragg
A Council on American-Islamic Relations adviser and regular speaker at its events has suggested Islamic law permits Muslims to attack C-130 military transport planes carrying the 82nd Airborne out of Fort Bragg, N.C., according to a stunning new book exposing Washington-based CAIR’s inner workings.
Radical Islamic cleric Zaid Shakir, a frequent guest speaker at CAIR events, tells his Muslim audiences: “Jihad is physically fighting the enemies of Islam to protect and advance the religion of Islam. This is jihad.”
“Islam doesn’t permit us to hijack airplanes filled with civilian people,” Shakir once told a Muslim audience. However, “If you hijack an airplane filled with the 82nd Airborne, that’s something else.”
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