Bizarre cult of Sears Tower ‘plotter’

[sabra]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-2242141,00.html

Bizarre cult of Sears Tower ‘plotter’

THE ringleader of the seven men accused of plotting to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago was a “Moses-like figure” who carried a crooked cane and wore a cape as he sought to recruit followers to a religious cult called the Seas of David.
Narseal Batiste, 32, a martial arts enthusiast, led his oddball group of what he called “soldiers” seeking to wage a “full ground war” against America, according to charges brought last week.

...

Alberto Gonzales, the US attorney-general, claimed the arrested men, five from the US and two from Haiti, were inspired by a “violent jihadist message”. Dick Cheney, the vice-president, called the group a “very real threat”.

...

A close friend said his teachings came from the Moorish Science Temple of America, an early 20th century religion founded by the Noble Drew Ali, a wandering African-American circus magician who claimed to have been raised by Cherokee Indians and to have learnt “high magic” in Egypt. Ali went on to style himself an “angel” and prophet of Allah.

...

Batiste was known to hate President George W Bush and the war in Iraq. Neighbours would see his followers practising martial arts but paid little attention to them. “It seemed like a military boot camp,” said one.

Batiste’s wife Minerva said yesterday: “I believe my husband is innocent of all charges.”

[grytpype]

1. Wow, they sure are scary.

I'm appropriately scared of the terrorists.

[Terran1212]

2. These guys being exaggerated for Bush poll numbers

[grytpype]

3. "Batiste was known to hate President George W Bush and the war in Iraq. "

Well, nobody's perfect.

[Bobbieo]

5. Religious fanatics are scary

and Batiste is a religious fanatic. So this story is very plausible!!!

[GoddessOfGuinness]

8. We can't hope to defuse religious fanatics like this

until we've gotten the religious fanatics out of public office.

[ixion]

14. exactly

that's the place to start.

hi goddess! :hi:

[The Brethren]

17. oh so true.

[IndianaGreen]

20. The only religious fanatic in here is George Bush

Bush is a tyrant who thinks that his GAWD wanted him to invade Iraq. People like Bush should be committed to a mental institution.

[Vidar]

4. Gonzales will go after Star Trek conventions next.

[DRoseDARs]

7. The word "jihad" is somewhere in the Klingon language, I'm sure of it. nt

;)

[IndianaGreen]

21. Trekkies believe in a classless society

and they respect the environment and adhere to the Prime Directive of non-interference. Dangerous terrorists those trekkies.

[daleo]

6. Here's the important bit, the money

"Batiste and his followers swore an oath of allegiance to Al-Qaeda and requested help from an undercover agent to buy weapons, explosives and uniforms, according to the indictment. He sought $50,000 to fund his mission and boasted that his attacks would be “as good or greater than 9/11”."

I think Batiste was just scamming the undercover agent to get some dough. He didn't know he was being scammed right back.

On edit: This bit is important too:
"The Seas of David borrows tenets from Judaism and Christianity as well as Islam and emphasises self-discipline through martial arts."

They were equal opportunity crackpots.

[Poll_Blind]

9. I couldn't help but think this too...I don't think there's much more...

...than they wanted the cash.

It's Florida, for Ghod's sake. If you could survive the Event Horizon of a Black Hole, you'd find yourself in Tallahassee.

PB

[Bobbieo]

10. They may have wanted the cash

but they are also looking for indentity. This is what makes people like them so scary. Blow up a place, then call in and identify your group as the perp.

[teknomanzer]

22. God I love that line...

Took me a while to really absorb it. Tallahassee really is a black hole (I've been there) but these guys were nabbed in Miami. Comparing Tally and Miami is like night and day. Not only were they in Miami they were in Liberty City of all places. One of the poorest places other than Overtown in South Florida. No doubt about it, one crazy bastard (Batiste) thought he would scam another crazy bastard (FBI agent posing as Al-Quaeda rep) out of some cash.

In contrast the 'real' terrorists were hanging in the mediocre suburbia of north Broward county such as Coral Springs (not too far from Fort Lauderdale) where rent for a two bedroom apartment equals someones mortgage payment in other states ($950 range)

So yeah, great job FBI for monitoring and entrapping poverty stricken mentally unstable people. This country if full of them. Maybe we can increase our prison population by 100% then we could not only have the largest prison population in the industrial world we might also have the greatest pool of free labor since before 1860.

[rucky]

12. Moses was a black-belt, ya know.

He kicked Pharoah butt

[mike_c]

11. hey, I hate Bush and the war in Iraq....

Who would have thought it? I don't even know anyone in Liberty City.

[sweetheart]

13. Just watch out for your martial arts school

Apparently "black" is a 90's colour ... it was really a fashion police raid.

[DoYouEverWonder]

15. If you want to talk about bizarre cults

maybe we should start with the Bushbot fundie kids who are joining groups like ARMY OF GOD by the 1000's.

[Judi Lynn]

16. I'm still trying to recover from reading about the Repub. Congressional

Christian Fellowship:

By LARA JAKES JORDAN
Associated Press


WASHINGTON — Six members of Congress live in a million-dollar Capitol Hill townhouse that is subsidized by a secretive religious organization, tax records show.

The lawmakers, all of whom are Christian, pay low rent to live in the stately red brick, three-story house on C Street, two blocks from the Capitol. It is maintained by a group, alternately known as the ''Fellowship'' and the ''Foundation,'' that brings together world leaders and elected officials through religion.

The Fellowship is host of receptions, luncheons and prayer meetings on the first two floors of the house, which is registered with the IRS as a church. The six lawmakers — U.S. Reps. Zach Wamp, R-Chattanooga; Bart Stupak, D-Mich.; Jim DeMint, R-S.C.; and Mike Doyle, D-Pa.; and U.S. Sens. John Ensign, R-Nev.; and Sam Brownback, R-Kan. — live in private rooms upstairs.

Rent is $600 a month, DeMint said.
(snip)

Few in the Fellowship are willing to talk about its mission. It organizes the annual National Prayer Breakfast attended by the president, members of Congress and dignitaries from around the world. But the group leaves its name off the program, even though it spent $924,373 to be host of the event in 2001, bringing in $606,292 in proceeds, according to the most recent available IRS records. It pays travel expenses for foreign officials to attend.
(snip/...)

http://www.tennessean.com/government/archives/03/04/31786118.shtml

[Flirtus]

23. make this into a thread of its own

please.

[underpants]

18. I guessed that they were "Black Hebrews"

I would have guessed that they were an offshoot of religion founded by a traveling magic man...if I had known about it :eyes:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1494032

[IndianaGreen]

19. Batiste was known to hate President George W Bush and the war in Iraq.

Well, I count myself among those that "hate President George W Bush and the war in Iraq."

I guess we are all guilty of Thought Crime!

[Javaman]

24. they forgot to include in the article the...

model of the Sears tower this guy built in his basement entirely of used q-tips.