live from the "hotbed of terrorism"

first danah and akon, and now this. mtv says we're a party spot for pervs and then msnbc says we're a breeding ground for terrorism. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19025847/

the toronto star is slightly more generous. rather than hyping us up into a real threat, they portray us (or mr. trini terrorist) as a sad case.

JFK terror plot suspect `a pretty sad character'

Yet authorities say it's `frightening' how far attack plans progressed

Jun 04, 2007 04:30 AM
Greg Miller
Los Angeles times

WASHINGTON–He had little money, a limited education, few friends and frayed relations with his family. By all appearances, Russell Defreitas was "a pretty sad character" at age 63, in the words of one law enforcement official.

And yet Defreitas managed to make significant headway in his effort to launch a terrorist attack on John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, law enforcement officials said.

Defreitas, who used to work at the airport, made surveillance tapes of the facilities he is accused of plotting to strike. He made several trips to Guyana and Trinidad, some of them paid for by an alleged accomplice. And he managed in a relatively short amount of time to tap into Muslim extremists in his native Guyana and Trinidad who appeared eager to help him carry out the alleged scheme.

U.S. law enforcement officials acknowledge that Defreitas was nowhere near being capable of mounting an attack. He did not have explosives, money or an executable plan. But authorities said one of the most alarming aspects of the case is that a man of such meagre means managed to make as much progress as he did.

"It is a bit worrisome when someone like this, who is a bit washed up, is able to go out and solicit funding and the blessing of others who are more organized and experienced," said a justice department official familiar with the case who spoke on condition of anonymity. "It is a bit frightening."

Defreitas was one of four men charged in the case, which was announced by federal law enforcement officials Saturday. Two are in custody in Trinidad and are expected to be extradited to the United States, and a third is said to be at large in Trinidad.

Authorities said it was possible others could be charged. The criminal complaint unsealed Saturday lists at least six unnamed individuals, most in Guyana or Trinidad, as being connected to the alleged plot. But Defreitas is accused of being the plot's main architect.