SANTA ANA, Calif. — Two men accused of plotting behind prison walls to launch attacks on military sites, synagogues and other targets in 2005 pleaded guilty Friday to conspiring to levy war against the United States.
Kevin James, 31, and Levar Haley Washington, 28, both pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy charges. Washington also pleaded guilty to using a firearm to further that conspiracy.
Authorities say James, Washington and two others were part of a California prison gang cell of radical Muslims planning attacks in the Los Angeles area.
“Homegrown terrorism remains a grave concern to the security of our country, and this cell was closer to going operational at the time than anyone since 9/11,” Los Angeles Deputy Police Chief Michael Downing said after the two men entered their pleas.
Prosecutors say James even had a press release prepared to send out after an attack.
“This incident is the first in a series of incidents to come in a plight to defend and propagate traditional Islam in its purity,” James is accused of writing. “We are not extremists, radicals or terrorists. We are only servants of Allah.”
The plotters were within weeks of being able to carry out an attack when they were uncovered in July 2005 by police investigating a string of gas station robberies, Torrance Police Chief John Neu said. Authorities said the men committed about 10 holdups to finance the attacks.
James preached that JIS members should target for violent attack any enemies of Islam, or “infidels,” including the U.S. government and supporters of Israel, according to court documents.
He also created a document he called the “JIS Protocol,” which advocated the establishment of an Islamic caliphate in the U.S. that followed Shariah law, or Islamic law.
“Sit back, build and attack!” prosecutors say James wrote in his document. “Our obvious targets being the Western forces of the U.S. and their … society.”
James spelled out in a separate document that JIS members must learn Arabic, acquire two pistols with silencers, learn bomb-making and become “legitimate.”
“Acquire identification, drivers license. … Keep regular contact with your parole agent,” prosecutors say James wrote. “Your dress code must not bring attention. … We have work to do.”
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