This is scary when you think about it. If we start having massacres in supermarkets the pressure to "go Roman" on the middle east will be intense...<br /><br />*****************<br /><br />Calif. town by shaken by terrorism arrests<br />By Associated Press<br />Thursday, June 9, 2005 - Updated: 08:41 AM EST<br /><br />LODI, Calif. - For nearly a century, Pakistanis have been a part of this farming town. <br /> <br /> Today, they account for about 2,500 of Lodi's more than 62,000 residents. Pakistan's Independence Day - Aug. 14 - is celebrated just like the Fourth of July. <br /> <br /> And when the nation came together to heal after Sept. 11, Islamic leaders in Lodi joined rabbis and priests and pastors in signing a declaration of peace.'' <br /> <br /> So it's no wonder that a terrorism investigation leading to the arrests of a father and son has shaken Lodi to its core. Keith Slotter, head of the FBI's central California office, alleges several people committed to al-Qaida have been operating in and around the tranquil wine-growing region just south of Sacramento. <br /> <br /> We don't want the new slogan to be, 'Come to Lodi and taste our wines and meet our terrorists,''' said Mayor John Beckman, describing Pakistani-Americans as a very vibrant, healthy part of the community.'' <br /> <br /> Authorities say Hamid Hayat, 22, returned last year after training in an al-Qaida terrorist camp and planned to attack hospitals and supermarkets in the United States. His father, Umer Hayat, is alleged to have paid for his son's training at a clandestine Pakistani camp. Both are charged with lying to investigators. <br /> <br /> Three local Muslims, including two imams, also have been detained on immigration violations. <br /> <br /> Umer Hayat, 47, sold treats to children from his battered ice cream van and his son found work packing cherries grown in surrounding orchards. Neighbors said the father was always friendly, laughing and talking with the children who bought his treats. Both men are U.S. citizens. <br /> <br /> They are good people,'' said Karina Murillo, whose family rented part of the elder Hayat's house, which had been divided into two residences. We never had any problems with them.'' <br /> <br /> Les Kolb, 67, who lives across the street in the working-class neighborhood, said he talked with Hayat a few days ago about the violence in Afghanistan and Iraq. <br /> <br /> Your people over there are killing each other off,'' Kolb recalled saying. He said, 'I know, it's crazy.''' <br /> <br /> Umer Hayat's nephew, 19-year-old Usama Ismail, blames feuds brought over from Pakistani villages for stirring investigators' interest, but denies his cousin was involved in any terror training. <br /> <br /> It's been a really nice neighborhood, even after Sept. 11,'' Ismail said. Now they're going to be saying, 'Terrorists are in Lodi.''' <br /> <br /> The allegations may have triggered distrust in the community. Beckman said he saw four white men harassing a Pakistani boy the day the federal investigation was announced. He's meeting with religious leaders to try to discourage any hate crimes. <br /> <br /> A local Islamic leader defended the community Wednesday as reporters descended on the town. <br /> <br /> We are a peace-loving people,'' said Taj Kahn, of the Islamic Cultural Center. We have never done anything to violate the laws of the United States, and we don't intend to.''<br /><br />************<br /><br />Feds charge father, son with al-Qaida link<br />By Associated Press<br />Thursday, June 9, 2005 - Updated: 08:58 AM EST<br /><br />LODI, Calif. - A terrorism investigation in this quiet farming town has led to the arrests of a father and son who said he trained at an al-Qaida camp in Pakistan and planned to attack U.S. hospitals and supermarkets, authorities said. <br /> <br /> Federal investigators believe a number of people committed to al-Qaida have been operating in and around Lodi, a wine-growing region about 30 miles south of Sacramento, FBI Agent Keith Slotter said Wednesday. He would not elaborate. <br /> <br /> Slotter added that investigators did not have information about any specific plans for an attack, and the father and son were charged only with lying to federal agents about the son's training at the al-Qaida camp. Two local Muslim leaders also have been detained on immigration violations. <br /> <br /> The son, Hamid Hayat, was interviewed by the FBI last Friday and at first denied any link to terror camps. But the next day he was given a polygraph test and admitted he attended the camp in 2003 and 2004, according to an affidavit by FBI Agent Pedro Aguilar. <br /> <br /> Hayat, 22, said photos of President Bush and other American political figures were pasted onto targets during weapons training, the affidavit said. At the end of training, participants were given the opportunity to choose the nation where their attacks would be carried out. <br /> <br /> "Hamid advised that he specifically requested to come to the United States to carry out his jihadi mission," according to an affidavit released through the Justice Department in Washington. "Potential targets for attack included hospitals and large food stores." <br /> <br /> The father, 47-year-old Umer Hayat, lied about his son's involvement and money he sent for the son's training, the affidavit said. <br /> <br /> A cousin of the younger Hayat, Usama Ismail, said he was in Pakistan with his relative and that Hayat never had terrorist training. He said his cousin went to Pakistan to marry and "never got into politics. All he talked about was cricket." <br /> <br /> "We were always together," said Ismail, who lives down the street from the Hayats in a modest, blue-collar neighborhood. "He never went anywhere. He was always in the village." <br /> <br /> The father's attorney, Johnny Griffin III, stressed that his client "is charged with nothing more than lying to an agent." Neighbors described the elder Hayat as a nice man who sold ice cream during summer months from a van. <br /> <br /> The younger Hayat's attorney was not in court; a message left with the lawyer was not immediately returned. <br /> <br /> In Washington, President Bush said he had been briefed on the matter. <br /> <br /> "I was very impressed by the use of intelligence and the follow-up," Bush said. "And that's what the American people need to know, that when we find any hint about any possible wrongdoing or a possible cell, that we'll follow up - by the way, honoring the civil liberties of those to whom we follow up."<br /><br /><br />**************
