Florida: Muslim plotted to plant explosives in Tampa’s party district as payback for Osama’s death

Sami Osmakac

Nightclubs: haram. Bombing nightclubs and murdering people: halal. Especially when avenging Osama bin Laden. Is anyone in Tampa asking how Sami Osmakac came to misunderstand so spectacularly the religion they are committed as a matter of dogma to regarding as peaceful? He castigated even the local Muslims, according to this piece.

But did he have any allies among them? Or was he “radicalized” on the Internet, as is the common theme these days? If so, is anyone doing anything to try to head off the similar “radicalization” of young Muslims? Or are such efforts strictly limited to “outreach” to Muslim communities, and the like?

“Osmakac considered several terrorism options, court documents say,” by Keith Morelli for the Tampa Tribune, March 13 (thanks to Halal Pork Shop):

TAMPA — Sami Osmakac toyed with the idea of blowing up the bridges crossing Tampa Bay or detonating bombs at the sheriff’s office and police departments before settling on a plan to plant explosives in Tampa’s Hyde Park party district and then spraying first responders with automatic gunfire, according to recently released court documents.

The planned January 2012 attack, Osmakac said in a “martyrdom video,” would be “payback for Sheikh Osama Bin Laden, may he rest in peace. ”

The plots are detailed in a 37-page report by a terrorism expert hired by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Tampa to help in its case against Osmakac, a self-described jihadist who said he was too radical even for Hamas and other fringe Muslim groups….

The report paints a chilling portrait of Osmakac as a radical Muslim who ridiculed the Muslim community in the Tampa area as being “enamored with material wealth” and said he worried more about being turned in by local Muslims than “infidels.”…

The defense is arguing Osmakac was entrapped and that because of mental illness, he was susceptible to being influenced….

The report said Osmakac made trips overseas, though the reasons weren’t clear. He was in Turkey and Turkmenistan and was turned away from the Syrian border. That’s when he decided to plan a terrorism attack in the United States, according to a transcript of a conversation between him and an undercover agent.

In one recording Osmakac says:

“My dream was always here. It’s better for, to get it, for them to get it here … ‘cause that’s why America loves to go to war with people, ‘cause they think nobody can attack them in their country. That’s why they’re so shocked about the Muslims. Because they brought it here … ”

Osmakac discussed a plan to use fishing boats to plant bombs on the bridges that span Tampa Bay and even one bridge in Sarasota. All he needed, he said was five people, maybe fewer, to carry out the plot.

“They’ll really be terrified,” he told the confidential informant. “Just take down the bridges, they can’t do nothing for a month. Nobody’s going to work, that’s gonna stop like three million people. They gonna be stopped. This area has millions, with Pinellas and Tampa … has like two, three million people. They all, nobody’s going to work.”…

Florida: Kosovo immigrant wanted to blow up bridges in Tampa Bay, Sarasota