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TWO women who declared themselves “citizens of the Islamic
State” and wanted to become “real bad bitches” have been busted in a
plot to blow up Americans — possibly at a police officer’s funeral — on
behalf of the IS terror group, officials say.
One of the women, Asia Siddiqui, 31, stockpiled tanks of propane gas outside her basement apartment and “is currently in possession of instructions as to how to transform propane gas tanks into bombs,” court papers allege.
Siddiqui is also a former friend of the late Samir Khan, the one-time New York resident who published an online magazine for al Qaeda before getting killed by a US drone strike in Yemen in 2011, and once sent a letter of support to Mohammad Mohamud, who’s imprisoned for trying to blow up a Christmas tree-lighting ceremony in Portland, Oregon, court papers say.
Co-defendant Noelle Velentzas, meanwhile, has repeatedly said that Osama bin Laden is among her heroes and kept a photo of the September 11 mastermind holding an AK-47 as the background image on her mobile phone, according to a complaint filed in Brooklyn federal court.
Last year, Velentzas, 28, allegedly “pulled a knife from her
bra and demonstrated how to stab someone” during a meeting among her,
Siddiqui and an undercover officer.
“Velentzas added, ‘Why can’t we be some real bad bitches?’ and stated that people needed to refer to them as ‘citizens of the Islamic State,’” the complaint says.
According to the feds, Siddiqui and Velentzas are former roommates who have been scheming to attack America since at least May 2013.
During a series of conversations with the undercover officer, they discussed previous plots, including the Oklahoma City bombing and the failed car bombing of Times Square.
In one recorded conversation in February, she said: “I might get old here and be able to put a lot of people onto wisdom and reason, or I’m going to be in solitary confinement, and get raped or tortured, or I’m going to be killed in the street — that is your future in America.”
Last year, Velentzas and the undercover officer also rehashed
the December 20 murders of NYPD cops Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, with
Velentzas allegedly saying that their shootings “showed that it was easy
to kill a police officer.”
“She added that killing a police officer is easier than buying food, because sometimes one has to wait in line to buy food,” the complaint says.
About a week later, she also described Ramos’ funeral — which drew more than 25,000 cops from across the country — as an “attractive potential target,” repeatedly asking the undercover “if there were any ‘regular’ people at the funeral and how far away they were from the police,” the complaint says.
“Based on these statements, I believe that Velentzas was trying to evaluate whether a police funeral was an appropriate terrorism target,” FBI Agent Nicholas Hanak wrote.
Siddiqui and Velentzas were both charged with conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction inside the US, which carries up to life in the slammer.
They were expected in court overnight.
One of the women, Asia Siddiqui, 31, stockpiled tanks of propane gas outside her basement apartment and “is currently in possession of instructions as to how to transform propane gas tanks into bombs,” court papers allege.
Siddiqui is also a former friend of the late Samir Khan, the one-time New York resident who published an online magazine for al Qaeda before getting killed by a US drone strike in Yemen in 2011, and once sent a letter of support to Mohammad Mohamud, who’s imprisoned for trying to blow up a Christmas tree-lighting ceremony in Portland, Oregon, court papers say.
Co-defendant Noelle Velentzas, meanwhile, has repeatedly said that Osama bin Laden is among her heroes and kept a photo of the September 11 mastermind holding an AK-47 as the background image on her mobile phone, according to a complaint filed in Brooklyn federal court.
The suspects allegedly discussed
previous plots, including the 2010 failed car bombing of Times Square
(pictured), with undercover officers.
“Velentzas added, ‘Why can’t we be some real bad bitches?’ and stated that people needed to refer to them as ‘citizens of the Islamic State,’” the complaint says.
According to the feds, Siddiqui and Velentzas are former roommates who have been scheming to attack America since at least May 2013.
During a series of conversations with the undercover officer, they discussed previous plots, including the Oklahoma City bombing and the failed car bombing of Times Square.
In one recorded conversation in February, she said: “I might get old here and be able to put a lot of people onto wisdom and reason, or I’m going to be in solitary confinement, and get raped or tortured, or I’m going to be killed in the street — that is your future in America.”
Velentzas and the undercover officer
also rehashed the murders of NYPD cops Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu,
with Velentzas allegedly saying that their shootings “showed that it was
easy to kill a police officer.”
“She added that killing a police officer is easier than buying food, because sometimes one has to wait in line to buy food,” the complaint says.
About a week later, she also described Ramos’ funeral — which drew more than 25,000 cops from across the country — as an “attractive potential target,” repeatedly asking the undercover “if there were any ‘regular’ people at the funeral and how far away they were from the police,” the complaint says.
“Based on these statements, I believe that Velentzas was trying to evaluate whether a police funeral was an appropriate terrorism target,” FBI Agent Nicholas Hanak wrote.
Siddiqui and Velentzas were both charged with conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction inside the US, which carries up to life in the slammer.
They were expected in court overnight.
A US Marshal takes pictures of
members of the media outside US Federal Court in Brooklyn during the
arraignment on terrorism charges of Noelle Velentzas and Asia Siddiqui.
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