Jose Pimentel Pleads Guilty In NYC Pipe Bomb Terrorism Plot
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) – A man accused of building homemade bombs to wage holy war in New York City pleaded guilty Wednesday to a terrorism charge less than a week before his scheduled trial in a rare state-level terrorism case.
Jose Pimentel, wearing a knitted skull cap, softly answered a judge’s yes-or-no question as he entered his plea to attempted criminal possession of a weapon as a crime of terrorism. Authorities have called the case a dramatic example of the threat of homegrown, one-person terrorism plots but that his lawyers had portrayed as an example of overzealous policing in the years since Sept. 11.
“Manhattan continues to be the symbol of much that terrorists hate about the United States, so we remain a principal world target for terrorist attacks, both at home and from abroad,” stated Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. “The threat against us from home-grown terrorists is very real. We must and will remain vigilant and do everything we can to prevent future terror attacks, within the strictures of our system of laws. Along with our partners at the NYPD and in the federal government, we have been entrusted by New Yorkers to do just this, it is what we did in the Pimentel case, and this is what we have and will continue to do.”
“This case highlights the well-established efforts of law enforcement and prosecutors in bringing about the arrest of a dangerous individual,” stated Police Commissioner William Bratton. “This was a lone wolf who formulated a significant part of his terror plot through the use of the Internet. Fortunately this threat was thwarted through the coordinated intelligence and investigation.”
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2014/02/19/jose-pimentel-pleads-guilty-in-nyc-pipe-bomb-terrorism-plot/