2011 Manhattan terrorism plot: Difference between revisions

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{{Use American English|date=June 2025}}

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{{Infobox civilian attack

| title = 2011 Manhattan terrorism plot

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| timezone =

| type = Plot to bomb a synagogue and other targets in Manhattan

| fatalities = 0

| injuries = 0

| perps =

| perp =

| susperps = Ahmed Ferhani <br />Mohamed Mamdouh

| susperp =

| weapons =

| numparts =

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| dfens =

| dfen =

| motive = Religion ([[Islam]]), [[Antisemitism]], [[Islamism]]

}}

The '''2011 Manhattan terrorism plot''' was a conspiracy by two [[Islam in the United States|Muslim]] [[Arab-Americans]] to bomb various targets in the [[Manhattan]] borough of [[New York City]], [[NewUnited YorkStates. (state)|NewAccording York]]to authorities, USA.Ahmed TheyFerhani hadand Mohamed Mamdouh planned to attack an unspecified [[synagogue]], and one of them expressed interest in blowing uppossibly a church, and the [[Empire State Building]]. New York City lawLaw enforcement arrested the two suspects, 26-year-old Ahmed Ferhani and 20-year-old Mohamed Mamdouh, in a [[sting operation]] on May 11, 2011. TheirThe plot was motivated primarily by "hatred of infidels and [[Antisemitism|anti-semitism]]," according to the authorities.<ref name="wsj">{{cite news |title=Terror Suspect Details Emerge |author1=Sean Gardiner |author2=Pervaiz Shallwani |author3=Michael Howard Shaul |url=https://www.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703730804576321582267763512.html |newspaper=Wall Street Journal |date=May 14, 2011 |accessdate=May 14, 2011}}</ref>

In December 2012, Ferhani pleaded guilty to terrorism conspiracy and terrorism-related weapons possession charges and was sentenced to 10 years in state prison. Mamdouh pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 5 years in state prison in April 2013.

==Plot==

On May 12, 2011, New York City law enforcement officials announced that two suspects, Ahmed Ferhani and Mohamed Mamdouh, had been arrested for trying to purchase weapons, including three pistols and hand grenades, as part of a terror plot to attack an unspecified Manhattan synagogue. [[New York City Mayor]] [[Michael Bloomberg]] said both suspects wanted to attack a "major synagogue.".<ref name="abc">{{cite news |title=Two Arrested in New York City Synagogue Attack Plot Sting |author1=Richard Esposito |author2=Mark Crudele |author3=Aaron Katersky |url=httphttps://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/arrested-york-city-synagogue-attack-plot-sting/story?id=13586174 |newspaper=ABC News |date=May 12, 2011 |accessdateaccess-date=May 14, 2011}}</ref> Mr. Ferhani is to also have expressed an interest in blowing up a church in Queens and the Empire State Building. Prior to their arrest, the two men had already obtained some guns.<ref name="wsj"/> Ferhani allegedly was trying to sell drugs to fund the attacks.<ref>{{cite news |title=AlTerror Qaeda'sSuspect hardmen:Details NewEmerge York|author1=Sean terrorGardiner suspect|author2=Pervaiz isShallwani wannabe|author3=Michael modelHoward who worked as MAKE-UP salesman at Saks (and his co-conspirator has a record for kicking a poodle)Shaul |url=httphttps://www.dailymailwsj.co.ukcom/newsarticles/article-1386221/Terror-suspect-Ahmed-Ferhani-worked-Saks-Fifth-Ave-salesman.htmlSB10001424052748703730804576321582267763512 |newspaper=DailyWall MailStreet Journal |date=May 1314, 2011 |accessdateaccess-date=May 14, 2011}}</ref> Ferhani allegedly was trying to sell drugs to fund the attacks.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}

According to law enforcement officials, this was the thirteenth plot thwarted against the city since the [[September 11 attacks]].<ref name="abc"/>

==Arrest==

An undercover detective had been investigating one of the suspects, Ahmed Ferhani, for several months. In October 2010, Ferhani was arrested on a robbery charge in Manhattan, when the detective overhead Ferhani saying he hated Jews and was upset with the way Muslims, especially Palestinians, were treated around the world. According to [[New York City Police Commissioner]] [[Raymond Kelly]], Ferhani once said, "They're treating us like dogs." Ferhani also told the detective about "his intent to participate in [[jihad]]" and that "he would become a martyr." Eventually Ferhani brought Mamdouh into the plot, who prosecutors said is on tape saying he hated Jews.<ref name="ap">{{cite news |title=2 men accused of plotting to bomb NYC synagogue |author1=Colleen Long |author2=Jennifer Peltz |url=http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/2-charged-with-terrorism-in-alleged-NY-plot-1376571.php#page-2 |agency=AP |date=May 13, 2011 |accessdateaccess-date=May 14, 2011}}</ref>

According to [[Manhattan District Attorney]] [[Cyrus Vance, Jr.|Cyrus Vance]], the authorities decided to act because Ferhani's "plans became bigger and more violent with every passing week.". In several meetings with the undercover detective, Ferhani discussed the idea of attacking a synagogue, even suggesting disguising himself as a worshiping Jew so he could infiltrate the synagogue and leave a bomb inside.<ref name="ap"/>

On May 11, 2011, the NYPD set up an arms deal as a [[sting operation]] on Manhattan's West Side. In the deal, one of the undercover officers handed Ferhani a bag containing three handguns, three boxes of ammo and an inert (not operational) grenade. Once Ferhani placed the bag in the trunk of his car, the police swarmed and arrested him, as well as Mamdouh, who was nearby.<ref name="ap"/>

==Trial==

On the evening of May 12, 2011, the two suspects were [[Arraignment|arraigned]] in a Manhattan courtroom on terrorism charges. Prosecutor Margaret Gandy listed the charges and evidence, and the two were detained without bail. According to ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'', "The arrests mark the first time New York state terrorism charges, rather than federal, will be used against individuals suspected in a terror plot." According to a source quoted by ''The Wall Street Journal'', NYPD detectives brought the case to the [[Joint Terrorism Task Force]], which decided not to take part due to concerns that the case was not strong enough to secure a conviction.<ref name="wsj1">{{cite news |title=Grenade Attack Suspects Charged |author1=Sean Gardiner |author2=Pervaiz Shallwani |author3=Devlin Barrett |url=https://www.wsj.com/articlearticles/SB10001424052748703864204576319230734186512.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLE_Video_Top |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |date=May 13, 2011 |accessdateaccess-date=May 14, 2011}}</ref> A New York State [[grand jury]] decided to indict the suspects on lesser charges, and declined to indict them on the more serious charges such as second-degree conspiracy.<ref>{{cite news|author1=Moynihan, Colin |author2=Rashbaum, William K. |title=Most Serious Charges Are Rejected in Terror Case|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/16/nyregion/most-serious-charges-rejected-in-synagogue-bomb-plot.html|accessdateaccess-date=July 5, 2011|newspaper=The New York Times|date=June 15, 2011}}</ref>

At trial in March 2012, one of Ferhani's attorneys, [[Elizabeth Fink]], argued that he had been entrapped by law enforcement authorities.<ref>[http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/13/lawyers-for-man-accused-in-terrorism-plot-make-case-for-dismissal/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0 Lawyers for Man Accused in Terrorism Plot Make Case for Dismissal] ''[[The New York Times]]'', March 13, 2012</ref><ref>[http://www.thenation.com/article/173201/did-nypd-entrap-ahmed-ferhani# Did the NYPD Entrap Ahmed Ferhani?][[The Nation]], March 5, 2013</ref>

In a December 2012 [[plea bargain]], Ferhani pleaded guilty to terrorism conspiracy and terrorism-related weapons possession charges.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/05/nyregion/ahmed-ferhani-pleads-guilty-in-plot-to-blow-up-synagogue.html Queens Man Pleads Guilty in Plot to Blow Up Manhattan Synagogue] ''[[The New York Times]]'', December 4, 2012</ref> Heand was later sentenced to ten years in prison.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Peltz |first1=Jennifer |title=Inmate who plotted NY synagogue bombings in coma after suicide attempt |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/inmate-who-plotted-synagogue-bombings-comatose-after-suicide-attempt/ |access-date=19 December 2024 |work=[[Associated Press]] |date=2016-04-16}}</ref>

Mamdouh pleaded guilty to charges, including conspiracy as terrorism. On 26 April 2013, he was sentenced to 5 years in state prison.<ref>{{cite news |title=Prison for NYC man charged with terror conspiracy |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/prison-for-nyc-man-charged-with-terror-conspiracy/ |access-date=19 December 2024 |work=[[Associated Press]] |date=2013-04-26}}</ref>

==Suspects==

The two suspects, 26-year-old Ahmed Ferhani and 20-year-old Mohamed Mamdouh, are both Arab-Muslim immigrants from North Africa that live in [[East Elmhurst, Queens]].<ref name="nypost">{{cite news |title=New video shows takedown of 2 Queens men who plotted to blow up Manhattan synogogues |author1=David Seifman |author2=Jamie Schram |author3=Dan Mangan |url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/queens/ll_kill_jews_qns_jihadist_busted_uNdRMYGSTYA2chnztlDlZM |newspaper=New York Post |date=May 13, 2011 |accessdate=May 14, 2011}}</ref> Ferhani, considered the ringleader of the plot, is from Algeria, from where he and his parents were granted asylum some 10 years prior.<ref name="wsj"/> He was under review for possible deportation for failing to show up at immigration hearings where he would have been questioned about his arrest record. Mamdouh, the accomplice, is a [[Moroccan American|U.S. citizen from Morocco]].<ref name="nypost"/>

==Perpetrators==

The two suspects, 26-year-old Ahmed Ferhani and 20-year-old Mohamed Mamdouh, are both Arab-Muslim immigrants from North Africa that live in [[East Elmhurst, Queens]].<ref name="nypost">{{cite news |title=New video shows takedown of 2 Queens men who plotted to blow up Manhattan synogogues |author1=David Seifman |author2=Jamie Schram |author3=Dan Mangan |url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/queens/ll_kill_jews_qns_jihadist_busted_uNdRMYGSTYA2chnztlDlZM |newspaper=New York Post |date=May 13, 2011 |accessdateaccess-date=May 14, 2011}}</ref> Ferhani, considered the ringleader of the plot, is from Algeria, from where he and his parents were granted asylum some 10 years prior.<ref name="wsj"/> He was under review for possible deportation for failing to show up at immigration hearings where he would have been questioned about his arrest record. Mamdouh, the accomplice, is a [[Moroccan American|U.S. citizen from Morocco]].<ref name="nypost"/>

At the time of attack, Ferhani was unemployed but previously worked as a cosmetic sales clerk at [[Saks Fifth Avenue]] in [[Midtown Manhattan]]. According to one of his friends and former co-worker at Saks, he had dreams of being a model or actor and moving out to [[California]]. The friend also said Ferhani was not particularly religious, drank alcohol and was an aspiring hip-hop performer. Ferhani also had been arrested six times previously, including an October 2010 robbery of a prostitute. All the cases were eventually dismissed and sealed.<ref name="wsj"/>

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* [[2000 New York terror attack]]

* [[Islamic extremism in the United States]]

* [[Category:AntisemiticList of attacks andon Jewish incidentsinstitutions in the United States]]

==References==

{{reflist}}

==External links==

* [http://www.manhattanda.org/whatsnew/press/2011-05-12.shtml New York Country District Attorney press release on the arrests] (May 12, 2011)

{{AmericanTerrorism}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Manhattan terrorism plot}}

[[Category:21st-century attacks on Jewish institutions in the United States]]

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[[Category:2010s in Manhattan]]

[[Category:Failed terrorist attempts in New York City]]

[[Category:Terrorist incidents in the United States in 2011]]

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[[Category:Islam and antisemitism]]

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[[Category:Antisemitic attacks and incidents in the United States]]

[[Category:2011 in New York City]]

[[Category:Terrorist incidents in New York City]]