AlonzoMourning23
06-24-2006, 12:57 AM
Mix of Christian, Muslim
McNulty said the goal is "prevention through prosecution." Rather than allow a genuine threat to take shape, he said, investigators move in as soon as there is sufficient evidence to prosecute.
"Today's example is a good example of that approach," he said, referring to the Florida case. McNulty said 261 people have been convicted or pleaded guilty in "terrorism or terrorism-related cases" since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
Neighbors said at least some of the men were in a religious group they called the Seas of David that appeared to mix Christian and Muslim beliefs. They wore uniforms bearing a star of David and met for Bible study, prayer and martial arts practice in a one-story warehouse in the heart of the predominately Haitian section of Miami's impoverished Liberty City neighborhood.
Workers in Bar-B's Grocery next door said they were always quiet and polite when they stopped in to buy drinks. But at least five of the men had been arrested previously on assault, drug and weapons charges, according to Dade County records.
In addition to Batiste, 32, who was known as "Brother Naz" or "Prince Manna," authorities identified others born in the United States as Burson Augustin, 21; Rotschild Augustine, 22; Naudimar Herrera, 22; and Stanley Grant Phanor, 31. The two Haitian-born defendants are Patrick Abraham, 27, and Lyglenson Lemorin, 31.
All appeared briefly in court in Miami on Friday except Phanor, who was being held in jail for violating his probation on an earlier charge, and Lemorin, who was arrested in Atlanta. At Phanor's neatly landscaped house on Friday, his relatives cried as they answered a reporter's questions about him.
"This is tearing this family to pieces," said Phanor's mother, Elizene Phanor. She described her son as a skilled construction worker.
"My son would wake up every morning and say he loves Jesus," said Phanor. "Stan is my son, my friend, my life, and if he dies, I die with him."
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/3997622.html
Relatives of some of the men denied that they were Islamic radicals and said that they were non-violent, Christian Bible-worshippers dedicated to preventing crime in the sometimes troubled neighbourhood.
One man in Liberty City, who identified himself only as Brother Corey and said that he was also a member of the Seas of David group, said that it was a peaceful movement that combined the teachings of both Islam and Christianity and helped the local community.
"We negotiate to help the peace; we try to bring as many brothers in to help them out," he protested. "We study and we train through the Bible, not only physically but mentally ... we help put people in the right direction. We are not terrorists."
http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=922882006
The family of Phanor, who according to the indictment calls himself "Brother Sunni," told reporters in Miami he was innocent of all charges and was a practicing Roman Catholic, not a Muslim.
"They all call themselves brothers and they well-mannered," said his older sister, Marlene Phanor. "All they was trying to do was clean up the community. We are Catholic. He's Catholic." She said the family attends St. Mary's Catholic Church in Miami.
Sylvain Plantin, a cousin of Phanor's, said he was involved in a religious group called "Mores," which met to read the Bible. (Watch as one of the group's members says they are not terrorists -- 6:52)
"They don't eat meat, they don't smoke, they don't drink, and they train highly intensively," he said. "The warehouse is the temple where they all go and pray and meditate."
The windowless warehouse in Liberty City, a predominantly black and low-income area of Miami, was one of several places searched by FBI agents Thursday. Authorities said the men had been living there since March.
Neighbors said the men, who wore turbans, caused no problems but seemed odd.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/06/23/miami.reax/index.html
I find this interesting. Many are describing them as muslim, many as a blend of christianity/Islam, and only a very few as christian. Though every article that talks about the group never mentions anything Islamic about the "Seas of David". Bible study, Jesus talk, never any mention of the Quran, Muhammed or anything else in the articles I've read. It seems that they may simply be a very radical elements of a fringe Christian group that felt that the best way to accomplish their goal was to work with the most established and ruthless major terrorist group.
McNulty said the goal is "prevention through prosecution." Rather than allow a genuine threat to take shape, he said, investigators move in as soon as there is sufficient evidence to prosecute.
"Today's example is a good example of that approach," he said, referring to the Florida case. McNulty said 261 people have been convicted or pleaded guilty in "terrorism or terrorism-related cases" since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
Neighbors said at least some of the men were in a religious group they called the Seas of David that appeared to mix Christian and Muslim beliefs. They wore uniforms bearing a star of David and met for Bible study, prayer and martial arts practice in a one-story warehouse in the heart of the predominately Haitian section of Miami's impoverished Liberty City neighborhood.
Workers in Bar-B's Grocery next door said they were always quiet and polite when they stopped in to buy drinks. But at least five of the men had been arrested previously on assault, drug and weapons charges, according to Dade County records.
In addition to Batiste, 32, who was known as "Brother Naz" or "Prince Manna," authorities identified others born in the United States as Burson Augustin, 21; Rotschild Augustine, 22; Naudimar Herrera, 22; and Stanley Grant Phanor, 31. The two Haitian-born defendants are Patrick Abraham, 27, and Lyglenson Lemorin, 31.
All appeared briefly in court in Miami on Friday except Phanor, who was being held in jail for violating his probation on an earlier charge, and Lemorin, who was arrested in Atlanta. At Phanor's neatly landscaped house on Friday, his relatives cried as they answered a reporter's questions about him.
"This is tearing this family to pieces," said Phanor's mother, Elizene Phanor. She described her son as a skilled construction worker.
"My son would wake up every morning and say he loves Jesus," said Phanor. "Stan is my son, my friend, my life, and if he dies, I die with him."
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/3997622.html
Relatives of some of the men denied that they were Islamic radicals and said that they were non-violent, Christian Bible-worshippers dedicated to preventing crime in the sometimes troubled neighbourhood.
One man in Liberty City, who identified himself only as Brother Corey and said that he was also a member of the Seas of David group, said that it was a peaceful movement that combined the teachings of both Islam and Christianity and helped the local community.
"We negotiate to help the peace; we try to bring as many brothers in to help them out," he protested. "We study and we train through the Bible, not only physically but mentally ... we help put people in the right direction. We are not terrorists."
http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=922882006
The family of Phanor, who according to the indictment calls himself "Brother Sunni," told reporters in Miami he was innocent of all charges and was a practicing Roman Catholic, not a Muslim.
"They all call themselves brothers and they well-mannered," said his older sister, Marlene Phanor. "All they was trying to do was clean up the community. We are Catholic. He's Catholic." She said the family attends St. Mary's Catholic Church in Miami.
Sylvain Plantin, a cousin of Phanor's, said he was involved in a religious group called "Mores," which met to read the Bible. (Watch as one of the group's members says they are not terrorists -- 6:52)
"They don't eat meat, they don't smoke, they don't drink, and they train highly intensively," he said. "The warehouse is the temple where they all go and pray and meditate."
The windowless warehouse in Liberty City, a predominantly black and low-income area of Miami, was one of several places searched by FBI agents Thursday. Authorities said the men had been living there since March.
Neighbors said the men, who wore turbans, caused no problems but seemed odd.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/06/23/miami.reax/index.html
I find this interesting. Many are describing them as muslim, many as a blend of christianity/Islam, and only a very few as christian. Though every article that talks about the group never mentions anything Islamic about the "Seas of David". Bible study, Jesus talk, never any mention of the Quran, Muhammed or anything else in the articles I've read. It seems that they may simply be a very radical elements of a fringe Christian group that felt that the best way to accomplish their goal was to work with the most established and ruthless major terrorist group.