4 charged with planning attack on Muslims in New York

By Umar Farooq</p> <p>WASHINGTON (AA) – Three men and one teenager were charged with plotting to attack a Muslim enclave in upstate New York with explosive devices, police said Tuesday.</p> <p>Police began an investigation into the plot in Greece, New York, after a student showed a picture to another student and said the person in the photo &quot;looks like a school shooter.&quot; </p> <p>After conducting the investigation, police discovered a plot to attack the Muslim community of Islamberg, New York.</p> <p>&quot;There was a plan to attack this community with weapons,&quot; said Greece Police Chief Patrick Phelan at a news conference.</p> <p>The Greece Police Department arrested Brian Colaneri, 20, Vincent Vetromile, 19, and Andrew Crysel, 18, on Saturday. All three were charged with three counts of first-degree criminal possession of a dangerous weapon and one count of fourth-degree conspiracy.</p> <p>Police also arrested and charged a 16-year-old boy in connection to the plot and under a new law are trying him as an adolescent.</p> <p>Police found a stockpile of 23 weapons as well as three improvised explosive devices (IED), which were found in the home of the 16-year-old.</p> <p>The IEDs are currently being processed at the FBI laboratory in Virginia.</p> <p>The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) demanded federal charges.</p> <p>&quot;Anyone accused of plotting an act of violence targeting a religious minority should face state and federal hate crime and civil rights charges commensurate with the seriousness of their alleged actions,&quot; CAIR-NY Executive Director Afaf Nasher said in a news release. </p> <p>Islamberg was founded in the 1980s by Mubarak Ali Gilani, a cleric originally from Pakistan, as a rural enclave for Muslims who were escaping crime and poverty that existed in urban areas. The community is comprised largely of black Muslims.</p> <p>Right winged groups claim the town is a haven for extremists and terrorists, however, no evidence has shown to support the allegations. </p> <p>A 2008 counter-terrorism analysis from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point concluded there is no evidence that Islamberg is a part of a network of &quot;paramilitary training grounds.&quot;