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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
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Bomb Plotters Came at NYPD With Knives, Feds Say

BROOKLYN, N.Y. (CN) - A man plotting to detonate a bomb in New York City repeatedly stabbed a police officer days after his co-conspirator was arrested also wielding a knife, a federal indictment unsealed Tuesday charges.

The six-page indictment is light on specifics about what led authorities to the suspects, Munther Omar Saleh, 20, of Queens, and Fareed Mumuni, 21, of Staten Island.

It says Saleh and Mumuni "exchanged electronic communications" on June 2 in which the pair "discussed attacking members of law enforcement."

Saleh allegedly brought those plans to life on June 13 when he "and another individual were arrested in Queens after they approached a federal agent while armed with knives."

The FBI then executed a search warrant on Mumuni's Staten Island residence on June 17.

"Mumuni was arrested after repeatedly stabbing an FBI agent in the torso with a large kitchen knife," the Justice Department said in a press release announcing the charges. "Fortunately, the knife did not penetrate the agent's body armor. During a search of the vehicle used by Mumuni, investigators recovered a second large knife."

Prosecutors say the men "expressed fervent support for the terrorist group ISIL, short for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

"Saleh and Mumuni conspired to conduct an attack in the United States, including plotting to use a pressure cooker bomb in the New York metropolitan area on behalf of ISIL," the Justice Department said in a press release.

Prosecutors announced the charges a day after a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of New York returned the indictment.

Saleh is charged with conspiring and attempting to provide material support to ISIL and assault and conspiracy to assault federal officers.

Mumuni is charged with conspiring and attempting to provide material support to ISIL, assault and conspiracy to assault federal officers, and attempted murder of federal officers.

U.S. Magistrate Judge James Orenstein will preside over the defendants' arraignments on Aug. 20, 2015, at 11:00 a.m.

The charges could put Mumuni away for an 85-year maximum sentence. Saleh faces a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.

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