Guilty Pleas in Kevin James Case

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

On December 13, I noted that allegations that members of the Fort Dix terror plot were attempting to radicalize other inmates placed a small spotlight on the problem of prisoner radicalization. There was another development in this regard on Friday, as Kevin James and Levar Washington -- who were accused of hatching a plot to attack military sites, synagogues and other targets from a California prison cell -- pleaded guilty to conspiring to levy war against the United States:

Kevin James, 31, and Levar Haley Washington, 28, both pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy charges. Washington also pleaded guilty to using a firearm to further that conspiracy. Authorities say James, Washington and two others were part of a California prison gang cell of radical Muslims planning attacks in the Los Angeles area. "Homegrown terrorism remains a grave concern to the security of our country, and this cell was closer to going operational at the time than anyone since 9/11," Los Angeles Deputy Police Chief Michael Downing told reporters at a news conference after the two men entered their pleas.

According to prosecutors, James -- who organized the plot through a prison-based organization he led, Jamiyyat Ul-Islam Is-Saheeh (JIS) -- had even prepared a press release to accompany the planned attacks: "This incident is the first in a series of incidents to come in a plight to defend and propagate traditional Islam in its purity. We are not extremists, radicals or terrorists. We are only servants of Allah."

I will again emphasize the need to fight smarter in the global war on terror. Prison personnel should be better trained to screen extremist literature entering the facilities, and to recognize signs of radicalization among inmates. The JIS plot was unraveled only after authorities caught a lucky break: the plot was to be financed by gas station robberies, and the perpetrator of one of the robberies happened to drop his cell phone. The plot was not uncovered through specific investigation of JIS, even though authorities were previously aware of the group. In September 2006 testimony before the Senate's Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Donald Van Duyn, the deputy assistant director of the FBI's counterterrorism division, stated that JIS "was being treated mainly as a prison gang prior to the arrest for the robberies. It was on the discoveries emanating from the arrest after the robberies that then led people to the plot. That was the first knowledge of the plot per se."

It is also worth noting that this plot was entirely "homegrown" -- that is, there was no known connection to international terrorist networks. Though the L.A. Times claims that experts said that the JIS plot "represented one of the most realistic terrorism threats on U.S. soil since Sept. 11," my sources suggest that competence was an issue for this cell. This is not to say that individual cells of homegrown terrorists are not dangerous -- they are -- but central terror networks can magnify the lethality of cells by pairing skill sets, financing, and operatives, and providing training. It is international networks that can transform these cells into cohesive adversaries capable of threatening Western societies. As my colleague Doug Farah recently observed, al-Qaeda 1.0 still matters.

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