2 accused of building mobile X-ray gun
Source: Agencies |
June 21, 2013, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
US authorities accused two men of assembling a portable X-ray weapon that they intended to use to secretly sicken opponents of Israel.
The indictment charged 49-year-old Glendon Scott Crawford and 54-year-old Eric Feight with conspiracy to provide support to terrorists with the weapon.
Investigators said Crawford approached Jewish organizations last year looking for funding and people to help him with technology that could be used to surreptitiously deliver damaging and even lethal doses of radiation against those he considered enemies of Israel. He and Feight assembled the mobile device, which was to be controlled remotely, but it was inoperable and nobody was hurt, authorities said.
"Crawford has specifically identified Muslims and several other individuals/groups as targets," investigator Geoffrey Kent said in a court affidavit. According to the indictment, Crawford also traveled to North Carolina in October to solicit money for the weapon from a ranking member of the Ku Klux Klan, who informed the FBI. Crawford claimed to be a member.
The men appeared separately on Wednesday in federal court and were ordered detained until detention hearings yesterday.
They could face up to 15 years in prison. Messages left at their homes weren't returned Wednesday.
"This case demonstrates how we must remain vigilant to detect and stop potential terrorists, who so often harbor hatred toward people they deem undesirable," US Attorney Richard Hartunian said. FBI Special Agent Andrew Vale said efforts to thwart violent plots require public help.
The damaging effects of the radiation would have appeared only days later, authorities said. The investigation by the FBI in Albany and police agencies began in April 2012 after authorities received information that Crawford had approached the Jewish organizations.
Crawford, an industrial mechanic for General Electric, knew Feight, an outside GE contractor with mechanical and engineering skills, through work, authorities said.
Feight designed, built and tested the remote control, which they planned to use to operate an industrial X-ray system mounted on a truck.
The indictment charged 49-year-old Glendon Scott Crawford and 54-year-old Eric Feight with conspiracy to provide support to terrorists with the weapon.
Investigators said Crawford approached Jewish organizations last year looking for funding and people to help him with technology that could be used to surreptitiously deliver damaging and even lethal doses of radiation against those he considered enemies of Israel. He and Feight assembled the mobile device, which was to be controlled remotely, but it was inoperable and nobody was hurt, authorities said.
"Crawford has specifically identified Muslims and several other individuals/groups as targets," investigator Geoffrey Kent said in a court affidavit. According to the indictment, Crawford also traveled to North Carolina in October to solicit money for the weapon from a ranking member of the Ku Klux Klan, who informed the FBI. Crawford claimed to be a member.
The men appeared separately on Wednesday in federal court and were ordered detained until detention hearings yesterday.
They could face up to 15 years in prison. Messages left at their homes weren't returned Wednesday.
"This case demonstrates how we must remain vigilant to detect and stop potential terrorists, who so often harbor hatred toward people they deem undesirable," US Attorney Richard Hartunian said. FBI Special Agent Andrew Vale said efforts to thwart violent plots require public help.
The damaging effects of the radiation would have appeared only days later, authorities said. The investigation by the FBI in Albany and police agencies began in April 2012 after authorities received information that Crawford had approached the Jewish organizations.
Crawford, an industrial mechanic for General Electric, knew Feight, an outside GE contractor with mechanical and engineering skills, through work, authorities said.
Feight designed, built and tested the remote control, which they planned to use to operate an industrial X-ray system mounted on a truck.
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