N.J. Men Accused in Terror Plot Appear in Court

Last Updated 3:02 p.m. ET

Two U.S. citizens accused of trying to join a terrorist group in Somalia intended to commit acts of violence even though their plans may appear ill-formed and scattershot, a federal prosecutor said Monday as the men made their first appearance in court.

Mohamed Mahmood Alessa, 20, and Carlos Eduardo Almonte, 24, were arrested Saturday night at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport as they prepared to fly to Egypt and then to Somalia, authorities said.

They are charged with conspiring to kill, maim and kidnap persons outside the United States by joining al-Shabab, a group designated by the U.S. in 2008 as a terrorist organization.

Their preparations apparently were far from sophisticated. They lifted weights, bought military-style pants, tried paintball, played violent video games and watched terrorist videos online, authorities said.

The only weapons they possessed were two folding knives.

"Sophistication is not a measure of danger," U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman said. "Their intentions were described pretty clearly. They were watching certain videos and interested in what certain people were saying and advocating."

DOJ Complaint: Alessa, Almonte

Alessa and Almonte appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Madeline Cox Arleo on Monday with their hands and feet shackled. Both are Muslim and sported dark curly hair and beards. Alessa had several cuts and bruises on his forehead.

Both men spoke only to affirm that they understood the charge against them. Two of Alessa's family members and court-appointed attorneys for both men declined to comment after the hearing.

Alessa and Almonte will be held without bail pending a detention hearing on Thursday. If convicted, they could face life in prison.

Alessa was born in the United States and is of Palestinian descent. Almonte is a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in the Dominican Republic.

Investigators say the men intended to head to Somalia to seek terror training from al-Qaida-affiliated jihadists and to unleash attacks against fellow Americans.

They had no known connections to terrorist groups, and their planned trip to Somalia apparently amounted to a leap of faith that they would be embraced by the jihadists. Fishman would not say Monday whether they had made any actual contacts with al-Shabab.

Younus Mohammad, a 31-year-old from Brooklyn who attended Monday's hearing, said Alessa and Almonte were well known in Paterson, a city west of Manhattan that is home to a sizable Arab-American community.

"These were just young, zealous kids who had zeal because they perceived their religion is under attack in America and they spoke out," he said. "I think they were just wild-eyed, with aims that would have been impossible to carry out."

Law enforcement became aware of the men in 2006, when the FBI received an anonymous tip through its website, and some unidentified family members cooperated with investigators, according to a criminal complaint.

In March 2007, the FBI conducted a consensual search of Almonte's computer, revealing documents advocating jihad against the perceived enemies of Islam, court papers show.

An undercover officer met the men last year and began recording conversations in which the two spoke about jihad against Americans, investigators said in court papers.

Fishman didn't provide details of how the men were arrested except to say that both resisted and that passengers on the planes were not endangered.

The men had traveled to Jordan three years ago and tried to get into Iraq, only to be rejected by jihadists, New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said Sunday.

Officials said the two were not planning an imminent attack in the New York-New Jersey area.

Somalia, an impoverished East African nation of about 10 million people, has not had a functioning government for more than a decade, although the U.S. is backing a transitional government there. The Pentagon's top commander in the region has included Somalia on a list of countries where clandestine American military operations designed to disrupt militant groups would be targeted.

Almonte told the undercover officer in April that there would soon be American troops in Somalia, which he allegedly said was good because it would not be as gratifying to kill only Africans.

Over the past year, a number of Somali youths have traveled from the U.S. back to Somalia to fight with al-Shabab insurgents. Meanwhile, battle-hardened al-Qaida insurgents have moved out of safe havens along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border into Somalia, where vast ungoverned spaces allow them to train and mobilize recruits without interference.

Authorities have been working with Somalis in the U.S. to stem the radicalization of young people who are being recruited to join the terror fight.