Targets included JFK airport, a military armory in Harlem and federal building in Lower Manhattan, which houses a day-care center in addition to 7,000 federal employees and 30 agencies. But wait – look at the @NYTimes sympathetic headline. Were those of us working in defense of freedom, putting our lives on the line, ever given such respect and deference?
Click here to read the sentencing memo.
Ali Kourani, 34, of the Bronx, New York, was convicted of providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization,
“While living in the United States, Kourani served as an operative of Hizballah in order to help the foreign terrorist organization prepare for potential future attacks against the United States,” said Assistant Attorney General Demers. “The evidence at trial showed that Kourani searched for suppliers who could provide weapons for such attacks, identified people who could be recruited or targeted for violence, and gathered information about and conducted surveillance of potential targets within our country. Such covert activities conducted on U.S. soil are a clear threat to our national security and I applaud the agents, analysts, and prosecutors who are responsible for this investigation and prosecution.”
“Ali Kourani was recruited, trained and deployed by Hizballah’s Islamic Jihad Organization to plan and execute acts of terrorism in the United States,” said U.S. Attorney Berman. “Kourani’s chilling mission was to help procure weapons and gather intelligence about potential targets in the U.S. for future Hizballah terrorist attacks. Some of the targets Kourani surveilled included JFK Airport and law enforcement facilities in New York City, including the federal building at 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan. Today, Kourani has fittingly been convicted for his crimes in a courthouse that stands in the shadow of one of his potential targets.”
Hezbollah member gets 40 years for scouting possible sites for terrorist attacks in New York
Kourani was already under investigation when he sought out the FBI in 2017 and offered to work as an informant in support of the bureau’s counterterrorism efforts, but prosecutors said he misled investigators.
A jury convicted Kourani on several terrorism counts in May after an eight-day trial. The court was told he was part of the IJO’s efforts to scout possible vulnerabilities at various sites, including John F. Kennedy International Airport, a military armory in Harlem and the federal building in Lower Manhattan, which houses a day-care center in addition to 7,000 federal employees and 30 agencies.
Kourani also tried to procure weapons and went to China to find chemicals that could be used to make explosives, prosecutors said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Emil Bove argued for what amounts to a life sentence — saying the first sentencing of a Hezbollah member in U.S. courts should make a statement.
“Your voice will be heard today in Lebanon by the leaders of Hezbollah,” he told Judge Alvin Hellerstein. “Your voice will be heard in Iran, [which] is directing IJO operatives.”
At Kourani’s nearly three-hour sentencing, Hellerstein rejected a defense argument that Kourani had committed no acts of violence and no information he gathered was used in a terrorist attack.
“It’s hard to think of a more serious offense than to engage in terrorism against the United States,” Hellerstein said.
The IJO has been linked to international acts of terrorism, including the 2012 suicide bombing attack on a bus carrying Israeli tourists in Bulgaria that killed six and injured 32.
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“Your voice will be heard today in Lebanon by the leaders of Hezbollah,” he told Judge Alvin Hellerstein. “Your voice will be heard in Iran, [which] is directing IJO operatives.”
The leaders of Hezbollah, the butchers of Iran will consider him merely an incidental lost footsoldier in their ongoing 1500 year old battle against the Kafir.
Exactly. There is no sense to trying to cajole or convince Islamic leaders to behave as if they are civilized. Any apparent moves they make toward accepting peace is ALWAYS fake.
40 years is much more sensible than the ridiculous 8 yr sentence for the recent Islamic terrorist Khan in London given by the ridiculous British courts. Even the the 16 yr sentence originally given for Khan is stunningly stupid as he would then be free in his 30s and just as capable of Islamic terrorist knife attacks or much worse. Why give any opportunity to murderous terrorists?
Agree. If Trump is smart enough , he should pass E.O to ban all terror/crime/illegal/drug linked persons from coming to America and those who advocate for them should lose their assets/citizenship and deported/jailed as terror agents.
Unless this is done there will be never ending cases . And America will become like canada/EU
Like this Left/Liberal Loons Run Country has been turned into ISIS/jihadi base https://tinyurl.com/y74v5327
But corrupt MSM will not talk about it
Scum like that can and should never be released again as they will definitely re-offend. They can never be cured and should therefore always be despatched to their Allah. Why should the taxpayer carry the cost of these bastards who are not worth feeding.
I agree to bad our leaders can`t seem to figure these simple and logical solutions out .
A man from Lebanon believed he would get leniency for providing information to the F.B.I. Instead, he was arrested on terrorism charges.
That’s what I thought! He was set up, he was lured into giving information to the F.B.I.!! The tone and tenor of articles about wanna-B jihadis who are discovered is always phrased such that the person was hoodwinked into providing information.
Is 40 years lenient? I think, yes, it is lenient,.
why are we even defending NY? these people WANT communism and islamic supremacy
Our Constitution does not discriminate against stupid people among our population of citizens.
40 years is Biblical
Packing the booger in salt and setting him out in the desert would be Biblical.
A living martyr – free to resume his trade once he is released for good behavior.
i like it!
Wanted to cooperate? What exactly will it take to convince these moronic lefties that the qu’ran and its’ followers have no intention of cooperating. ONE man was caught. He is not an anomaly, he is part of an army.
“At Kourani’s nearly three-hour sentencing, Hellerstein rejected a defense argument that Kourani had committed no acts of violence and no information he gathered was used in a terrorist attack.” –from the article.
A little perspective is needed here. This muslim get 40 years for just taking notes and observing and collecting dangerous information for some of America’s worst enemies. By my count, he got off easy. It should have been the death penalty.
But, compare his activities to those of imams leading the congregations of muslims in about 3,000 mosques in America, teaching the Islamic ideals of violence, perversions of all kinds, and utter hatred of our nation.
That’s what imams do, if they are true to the koran and sharia law.
There is no sentence that is too long or hard for these people. They belong in their own countries and nowhere else.
They belong nowhere on this planet.Send them to their Paradise and soon, before the goats eat everything.
Wish we just hanged these filthy violent islamic jihad terrorists!
He’s agonna be one of them radicalcallated islamites when he is released. Will need to be kept in solitary to prevent him passing along his hate to hopefuls.
Constitutional Carry
From Wikipedia: “A 2017 study estimated that 3.45 million Muslims were living in the United States, ” . That’s 3,450,000. Oh but only a small number are terrorists (leftist fool says)? 1% is small number. So 1% of 3.45 million is 34,500. That’s a Hell of a lot of terrorists! I would suspect it is much higher! After all their cult-ure is one of conquest, rape, pedophilia , theft and destruction!
Why allow him to live off taxpayers? Shoot the S.O.B.