Fort Lee, NJ
Police & Fire
Ex-Stockbroker Who Left Wife, Child To Become ISIS Sniper Sentenced To Life Plus 70 Years Ex-Stockbroker Who Left Wife, Child To Become ISIS Sniper Sentenced To Life Plus 70 Years
Ex-Stockbroker Who Left Wife, Child To Become ISIS Sniper Sentenced To Life Plus 70 Years UPDATE: A former stockbroker who abandoned Wall Street and his loved ones to become a sniper and instructor for ISIS was sentenced to life plus 70 years in federal prison on Tuesday, the government announced. Ruslan Maratovich Asainov, 47, reportedly grinned, stroked what is now a thick beard and flashed a thumbs-up sign during the sentencing in U.S. Court for the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn on Oct. 17. There was no surprise there: To the end, Asainov proclaimed his pride in fighting with ISIS and teaching young student militants in Syria to kill for their beliefs. “He chose t…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Englewood, NJ
News
19-Year-Old Israeli Soldier From Tenafly Missing After Attacks: Gov. Murphy 19-Year-Old Israeli Soldier From Tenafly Missing After Attacks: Gov. Murphy
19-Year-Old Israeli Soldier From Tenafly Missing After Attacks: Gov. Murphy A 19-year-old man from Bergen County is among the Americans reported missing in Israel among the Hamas attacks, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said. Edan Alexander, a graduate of Tenafly High School, was serving in the Israeli Defense Forces' Golani Brigade near the Gaza Strip and has not been heard from since the attacks on Saturday, Oct. 7, Murphy said at a vigil in Hoboken on Tuesday, Oct. 10. "To every New Jerseyan with friends or loved ones in Israel and the Mideast region, please know that your neighbors—here, and across the nation—stand with you," Murphy said. "We will do everything we …

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by Sam Barron
Northern Valley, NJ
Politics
'Frightened Faces': Sen. Cory Booker In Israel Describes Horror During Surprise Hamas Attacks 'Frightened Faces': Sen. Cory Booker In Israel Describes Horror During Surprise Hamas Attacks
'Frightened Faces': Sen. Cory Booker In Israel Describes Horror During Surprise Hamas Attacks US Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey is safe, but he'll never be able to shake the horror he saw this weekend. The Harrington Park, New Jersey native posted a YouTube video, his backdrop the Old City in Jerusalem, on Sunday, Oct. 8.  Booker said he was jogging in Jerusalem on Saturday, Oct. 7, when he got an urgent call from his chief of staff, telling him to get back to the hotel immediately: Israel was under attack. Hamas, which controls Gaza, launched a surprise attack on Israel, wounding thousands and killing hundreds in the longtime conflict. “Citizens of Israel," Israeli P…

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by Cecilia Levine
Fort Lee, NJ
Police & Fire
NYC 'Prophet Of Doom' Subway Shooter Sentenced To 10 Life Terms Plus 10 Years NYC 'Prophet Of Doom' Subway Shooter Sentenced To 10 Life Terms Plus 10 Years
NYC 'Prophet Of Doom' Subway Shooter Sentenced To 10 Life Terms Plus 10 Years UPDATE: A man who admitted that he intended to cause mass harm when he opened fire on a packed New York City subway train last year was sentenced to 10 life sentences -- one for each victim -- plus 10 years in prison. No one was killed in the horrific attack by Frank James, 62, which left the victims strewn across a smoky 36th Street platform in the Sunset Park section of Brooklyn while igniting underground terror at the height of the morning rush on April 12, 2022. James took a deal from federal prosecutors rather than risk the consequences of a guilty verdict at a jury trial. The heavyse…

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by Jerry DeMarco
North Hunterdon, NJ
Police & Fire
'Welcome To The Jungle' Blasts From Vehicle Plowed Through NJ Police Station (VIDEO) 'Welcome To The Jungle' Blasts From Vehicle Plowed Through NJ Police Station (VIDEO)
'Welcome To The Jungle' Blasts From Vehicle Plowed Through NJ Police Station (Video) A New Jersey man was arrested and charged with terrorism after authorities say he intentionally crashed a car into a home and the Independence Township Police Department, authorities said. Video released by the Warren County Prosecutor's Office shows John Hargreaves slamming his vehicle through the exterior of the ITPD station. The vehicle comes to a rest inside the squad room, where Hargreaves emerges proudly from his gold Toyota SUV with his hands in the air on Wednesday evening, Sept. 20. Officers can be seen walking Hargreaves across the squad room and placing him in handcuff…

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by Sam Barron
Newark, NJ
Police & Fire
Saudi National Who Drove Stolen NJ School Bus To PA Indicted By Federal Grand Jury Saudi National Who Drove Stolen NJ School Bus To PA Indicted By Federal Grand Jury
Saudi National Who Drove Stolen NJ School Bus To PA Indicted By Federal Grand Jury A college student from Saudi Arabia who stole a school bus in Livingston, NJ, and drove it nearly 60 miles to Stroudsburg, PA, has been indicted by a federal grand jury, authorities said. Bader Alzahrani, a 22-year-old divorced sophomore who attends an undisclosed college, broke into a vacant home across the street from a Livingston Board of Education parking lot on Hill Side Avenue where the bus was parked on Jan. 15, the indictment returned in U.S. District Court in Newark says. The district reported the bus stolen two days later. Police found a backpack with a Saudi Arabian passport bea…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Edison, NJ
Police & Fire
'I Am The Attacker': Former High School Student Admits Threat That Shook Synagogues Across NJ 'I Am The Attacker': Former High School Student Admits Threat That Shook Synagogues Across NJ
'I Am The Attacker': Former High School Student Admits Threat That Shook Synagogues Across NJ A 19-year-old New Jersey man faces up to five years in federal prison after admitting that he posted threats to a synagogue and Jewish people. Omar Alkattoul of Sayreville posted a manifesto last Nov. 1 in a forum frequented by extremists that included a claim of an attack that he said had already occurred. This triggered instant alarms because active shooters in certain instances have done the same just before carrying out fatal missions across the U.S. Alkattoul frightened Jews statewide, sparked a surge of law enforcement tactical protection at their houses of worship and prompted the F…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Parsippany-Troy Hills, NJ
Police & Fire
NJ Man Who Scouted Landmarks As Terror Targets Gets 12 Years In Federal Prison NJ Man Who Scouted Landmarks As Terror Targets Gets 12 Years In Federal Prison
NJ Man Who Scouted Landmarks As Terror Targets Gets 12 Years In Federal Prison UPDATE: A convicted New Jersey “sleeper agent” for Hezbollah who scoped out potential terrorism targets in New York, Boston, Washington, D.C. and elsewhere was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison. Alexei Saab, a 45-year-old software developer who lived in Morristown, must serve just about all of the sentence delivered in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday, May 23, because there’s no parole in the federal prison system. Saab kept up appearances as an ordinary American citizen while working for Hezbollah’s Islamic Jihad Organization (IJO) from 2000 to 2005, federal prosecutors said. Dur…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Hartford, CT
Schools
School Bomb Threats: 26-Year-Old Suspect Nabbed After Separate Incidents In CT School Bomb Threats: 26-Year-Old Suspect Nabbed After Separate Incidents In CT
School Bomb Threats: 26-Year-Old Suspect Nabbed After Separate Incidents In CT A 26-year-old Connecticut man has been charged with allegedly calling in two bomb threats at local elementary schools. Hartford County resident Dahari Martin, of Windsor Locks, was arrested on Tuesday, March 14 for the incidents which took place on Friday, Feb. 17. South Windsor police said Martin turned himself in to police on two arrest warrants, following the threats that had been called into North Street Elementary School and South Street Elementary School. Dahari was quickly identified as a suspect following a disturbance he had caused earlier that same morning at North Street Element…

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by Kathy Reakes
Newark, NJ
News
Saudi National Who Drove Stolen NJ School Bus To PA Kept Anti-Semitic Journals: Feds Saudi National Who Drove Stolen NJ School Bus To PA Kept Anti-Semitic Journals: Feds
Saudi National Who Drove Stolen NJ School Bus To PA Kept Anti-Semitic Journals: Feds A college student from Saudi Arabia who stole a school bus in Livingston, NJ, and drove it nearly 60 miles to Stroudsburg, PA, kept anti-Semitic journals, federal authorities said. Bader Alzahrani, a 22-year-old divorced sophomore who attends an undisclosed college, is accused of first breaking into a vacant home across the street from a Livingston Board of Education parking lot on Hill Side Avenue where the bus was parked. The district reported the bus stolen on Jan. 17, two days after the residential break-in, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. Police found a backpack…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Highland Lakes-Vernon, NJ
Police & Fire
NJ Army Vet Who Supported Syrian Terrorist Lover Gets 3 Plea-Bargained Years In Federal Prison NJ Army Vet Who Supported Syrian Terrorist Lover Gets 3 Plea-Bargained Years In Federal Prison
NJ Army Vet Who Supported Syrian Terrorist Lover Gets 3 Plea-Bargained Years In Federal Prison A U.S. Army veteran from Sussex County must spend more than three years in federal prison for deliberately concealing money and guidance she gave to a Syrian terrorist she'd fallen in love with. Because there's no parole in the federal prison system, Maria Bell, 55, must serve out just about all of the plea-bargained 36-month sentence approved by a federal judge in Newark on Tuesday, Jan. 24, Bell, of Hopatcong, offered not only money and military intelligence but the benefit of her experience in specialized weapons training to Syria-based factions fighting the Assad regime, a complaint on…

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by Jerry DeMarco
New Haven, CT
News
'I Gotta Fight Bro': Hamden Man Tried To Join ISIS, Fly To Syria, He Admits 'I Gotta Fight Bro': Hamden Man Tried To Join ISIS, Fly To Syria, He Admits
'I Gotta Fight Bro': Hamden Man Tried To Join ISIS, Fly To Syria, He Admits A Connecticut man is facing prison time after admitting to trying to fly to Syria in order to fight for ISIS.  New Haven County resident Kevin McCormick, age 29, of Hamden, admitted to trying to join the terrorist organization in Bridgeport Federal Court on Thursday, Jan. 12, according to the US Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut.  Between August and October 2019, McCormick repeatedly told others of his desire to travel to Syria to lend support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS).  In one of these conversations, he said, "I gotta fight br…

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by Ben Crnic