Police arrest two for planning attack on Seattle military center

Two men who planned to attack a military processing center in Seattle using machine guns and grenades were arrested by the US federal law enforcement officers on Wednesday.

Abu Khalid Abdul-Latif, also known by the name Joseph A Davis, 33, of Seattle, and Walli Mujahidh, also known as Frederick Domingue Jr., 32, of Los Angeles, were arrested on charges of conspiracy to murder federal officers and employees, conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction and several firearms-related charges, the New York Times reported.

The attack on Military Entrance Processing Station, which is in an industrial area south of downtown, were planned by the two men. The government said it also houses a federally run day care center.

A 38-page criminal complaint filed against the two said they were frustrated with the American war policies and that they had discussed to carry out an attack on the military center that would garner the required media attention.

Seattle police, who had been approached by a source involved in initial discussions about the attack had informed the federal authorities about the plan earlier this month.

We're not only trying to kill people, we're trying to send a message. We're trying to get something that's gonna be on CNN and all over the world. said Abdul-Latif in a recorded conversation:

“We controlled the situation from the beginning,” said Ayn Sandalo Dietrich, a spokeswoman for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Last November, law enforcement agencies arrested a Somali-American teenager in Portland, and accused him of trying to explode a bomb at a Christmas tree lighting celebration.

“The two men in the Seattle case clearly had planned a deadly attack against a military facility,” said Jenny A Durkan, the United States attorney for the Western District of Washington.

“The crimes alleged in the complaint were completed last night,” Durkan said.

The complaint against the two men said the defendants initially considered attacking Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

Abdul-Latif has criminal record, including two criminal acts, one of which was for first-degree robbery in 2003, said the report.