LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Three men charged in a terror investigation were planning shooting rampages at Los Angeles-area military sites to retaliate for what they called the oppression of Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to court documents.
The men were indicted last month on federal charges of conspiring to wage war against the U.S. government through terrorism. All three -- Levar H. Washington, 25, Gregory V. Patterson, 21, and Hammad R. Samana, 21 -- have pleaded not guilty.
Appearing in Los Angeles Thursday, FBI Director Robert Mueller praised local police agencies that uncovered the alleged plot in July while investigating a string of gas station robberies.
"Terrorist threats against the city and county of Los Angeles ... were prevented," Mueller said.
According to an FBI affidavit unsealed recently, Washington told authorities he was the leader of a "council" of Muslims who planned to carry out operations in Southern California as part of a jihad, or holy war, against the United States.
The suspects allegedly targeted military recruitment centers in Southern California, estimating that 10 attacks could kill as many as 40 people, the affidavit said.
Patterson's lawyer, Winston McKesson, said his client had asked him not to comment on the case. Lawyers for Washington and Samana, a student originally from Pakistan, did not return calls seeking comment.
Samana told investigators the three men planned to storm a facility with firearms in September or October, then flee in a vehicle, the affidavit said.
The FBI said Patterson bought a .223-caliber rifle and Samana practiced shooting at a local park, possibly with a shotgun.
All accepted the possibility of dying in an attack, with Patterson believing "the ultimate goal is to die for Allah in jihad," according to the affidavit.
Prosecutors contend the men were working at the behest of Kevin James, a California State Prison, Sacramento, inmate who founded the radical group Jamiyyat Ul-Islam Is-Saheeh, or JIS. Washington converted to Islam while imprisoned there for a previous robbery conviction.
James, 29, is scheduled to be arraigned next week. All four face counts of conspiring to wage war against the U.S. government, kill armed service members or murder foreign officials, among other charges.
Washington, Patterson and Samana -- who attended the same Inglewood mosque -- allegedly conducted surveillance of military sites, synagogues, the Israeli Consulate and El Al airline facilities in the Los Angeles area as well as Internet research on Jewish holidays, prosecutors said.
The affidavit mentions only military facilities. But the indictment, returned after the affidavit was filed, refers to both military and Jewish targets.
Prosecutors suspect that Washington, Patterson and Samana robbed gas stations in Los Angeles and Orange counties to finance their plans.
Washington and Patterson previously pleaded not guilty to robbery charges in a related state case. Samana has not been charged in that case.
