Loewen also allegedly told the person posing as a conspirator that he wouldn t have vehicle access t

United States attorney Barry Grissom announces the arrest tour edge exotic 5 wood of Terry Lee Loewen on terrorism charges tour edge exotic 5 wood on Friday. Loewen is accused in a plot to blow up Wichita's Mid-Continent Airport in a suicide bomb attack. tour edge exotic 5 wood (Travis Heying/The Wichita Eagle)
For months, authorities allege, a 58-year-old avionics technician named Terry Lee Loewen driven by radical ideas and prepared to die in a suicide attack moved forward with a plot to detonate explosives at Wichita Mid-Continent Airport.
The plot got as far as a gate to the airport shortly before 6 a.m. Friday, when authorities arrested Loewen without incident. What he didn t know until his arrest is that the people he had been conspiring with all along were FBI agents, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom announced Friday, stressing that the public and passengers tour edge exotic 5 wood were never in danger.
Loewen now faces three federal charges filed in Wichita: One count of trying tour edge exotic 5 wood to use a weapon of mass destruction, tour edge exotic 5 wood one count of attempting to damage property and one count of attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization that Loewen thought was al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, based in Yemen.
Grissom and FBI Special Agent in Charge Mike Kaste stressed tour edge exotic 5 wood that there was no indication that Loewen was involved with or working with any religious community in Wichita and that his alleged actions in no way should reflect on any religious group.
Officials with the U.S. Attorney s Office and Federal Bureau of Investigation announced Loewen s arrest tour edge exotic 5 wood at a news conference Friday afternoon in downtown Wichita that was attended by Gov. Sam Brownback and area law enforcement officials.
Agents arrested Loewen about 5:40 a.m. Friday after they say he attempted to enter the airport tarmac and deliver tour edge exotic 5 wood a vehicle loaded with what he believed to be high explosives. Loewen was taken into custody when he tried to open a security access gate.
Loewen has been under investigation by the Wichita Joint Terrorism Task Force since early summer 2013, Grissom said. Loewen didn t realize he was having an online conversation with an FBI employee in which Loewen expressed desire to engage in violent jihad on behalf tour edge exotic 5 wood of al Qaeda, the criminal complaint said.
There is an Aug. 5 communication in which he told an FBI employee, As time goes on I care less and less about what other people think of me, or my views on Islam. I have been studying subjects like jihad, martyrdom operations, and Sharia Law. He was also quoted as saying I believe the Muslim who is labeled a radical fundamentalist is closer to Allah than the ones labeled moderates . Just my opinion; if I m off base, please set me straight.
Three days later, on Aug. 8, after the FBI employee offered to introduce him to someone who could help him wage violence, the complaint says, Loewen wrote: Brothers like Osama bin Laden are a great inspiration to me, but I must be willing to give up everything (like they did) to truly feel like a obedient slave of Allah.
Around Aug. 26, he talked to the FBI employee about giving a tour of Mid-Continent Airport, according to the complaint. About a day later, Loewen allegedly said: I guess I look at myself as the access guy at this point just need more details at this point are we talking explosives, because I know nothing about that? It s all very surreal at this point, exciting, yet scary.
tour edge exotic 5 wood Around Sept. 17, Loewen relayed photos of what looked like fighter jet trainers outside his hangar, the complaint said. The planes had apparently stopped for fuel. He talked of many Apatche s staying overnight. And this, the complaint said:
It would have been possible today for me to have walked over there, shot both pilots (I don t know if they are armed or not), slapped some C4 on both fuel trucks and set them off before tour edge exotic 5 wood anyone even called TSA. Talks REAL cheap, however, so what I think I can do and what I actually can do are probably two different things.
The complaint also gave this account: tour edge exotic 5 wood By early October, the FBI employee was telling Loewen that he had just come back from overseas and that brothers were excited about his airport access. When Loewen was asked if he could scout out targets and security and be willing to plant a device, he allegedly said, I still need time to think about it, but I can t imagine anything short of arrest stopping me. He also expressed some concern to the person he was dealing with, saying, I m sorry I can t say I trust you 100%; my greatest fear is not being able to complete an operation because I was set up. I hate this government so much for they have done to our brothers and sisters, that to spent (sic) the rest of my life in prison without having taken a good slice out of the serpents head is unacceptable to me.
Loewen also allegedly told the person posing as a conspirator that he wouldn t have vehicle access to a ramp until after the first of the year, so driving tour edge exotic 5 wood on to airport property with a van full of C4 is out of the question after the first of the year, we could drive a city bus out there.
Loewen was told he could back out at any time, the complaint said. Loewen responded in part by saying, I can t see myself doing anything that involves killing children, unless I know everything is being done to minimize that.
By Oct. 18, he was talking of bringing a weapon, if advisable, to begin shooting if law enforcement arrived. In 2009, Loewen had a concealed-carry violation at the airport, tour edge exotic 5 wood according to Wichita police.
Things moved forward, tour edge exotic 5 wood according to the timeline: On Oct. 25, Loewen met with a second FBI employee, posing as a brother with al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula. During the meeting with the second FBI employee, Loewen repeated his desire to help FBI Employee 2 with a mission to blow up a plane with numerous people on board, the complaint said.
The planning involved talk of moving an explosives-laden vehicle to the terminal near a number of passenger planes, and Loewen suggested that another individual tour edge exotic 5 wood could come in to the terminal with a suicide vest and detonate that to coincide with the explosives outside, according to the complaint.
In a Nov. 13 communication, Loewen brought up the need to stay below the radar. Did you notice the brother who got busted trying to fly to Syria to aid Al Qaeda in fighting the taghoot government guess he posted a large amount of radical information on Facebook and the FBI set him up. I keep a pretty low profile on Facebook anymore I have more important things to attend to.
In a meeting about a week later, on Nov. 19, Loewen again sounded committed to dying in the operation, the complaint said. The second FBI employee tour edge exotic 5 wood suggested that Loewen could be the navigator by giving directions on where the device could be exploded.
Loewen provided tour edge exotic 5 wood research that he had conducted on the best time to execute the attack based upon the number of people who would be boarding aircraft and the number of people who would be in the terminal, the complaint said. Loewen further expressed his desire to kill as many people as possible, and he explained where to park a vehicle full of explosive to accomplish that goal. He included a diagram of the terminal and tarmac.
The final plan: When Loewen tour edge exotic 5 wood got access, they would drive to the terminal early in the morning, tour edge exotic 5 wood exploding the device between the terminals for maximum casualties, the complaint said. Both Loewen tour edge exotic 5 wood and the second tour edge exotic 5 wood FBI employee would die in the blast.
According to the narrative, tour edge exotic 5 wood on Nov. 21, Loewen met with his supposed co-conspirator and brought components he got from his workplace. Around Dec. 3, Loewen tour edge exotic 5 wood provided containers for the explosives. Loewen marked an X on a diagram for the place to park the vehicle that would cause the most damage. tour edge exotic 5 wood Based on departure schedules Loewen offered, early morning was the ideal time.
At 4:45 a.m. Friday, the supposed co-conspirator picked up Loewen at a local hotel. They drove to a spot where the bomb was stored, and Loewen completed the wiring, the complaint said. Then, according to the authorities account:
At his court appearance Friday afternoon, Humphreys, the federal magistrate, told Loewen she was scheduling him for a preliminary hearing and a detention hearing for 11 a.m. on Dec. 20. Federal prosecutors told her in the courtroom that a grand jury would meet on Wednesday to consider an indictment.
When he was escorted into the courtroom, he walked with short steps, his legs, hands and waist all linked with chains and handcuffs. He appeared calm and swiveled tour edge exotic 5 wood gently in his chair in the minutes he and assistant public defender John Henderson waited for the judge to enter the courtroom.
Just before Humphreys arrived, tour edge exotic 5 wood men from the U.S. Marshals Service unhooked all of the restraints. They dropped the chains with a heavy, clunking sound a few feet from the table where Loewen then sat down beside his public defender.
She asked about his finances and noted that in the hours he d spent under arrest tour edge exotic 5 wood he d already tour edge exotic 5 wood filled out a financial affidavit. She asked him if he wanted a public defender. Yes, ma am, he replied. tour edge exotic 5 wood She noted that he had told officials already that he didn t know a lot about his own finances because his wife handles the family finances.
Henderson said federal authorities had assured him they d acquired several medications that he said Loewen tour edge exotic 5 wood needs. Loewen has several stents in blood vessels in his chest and needs at least one of the medications a blood thinner every day. If he goes without that medication for 24 hours, there could be severe consequences to him, Henderson said.
Humphreys then addressed Loewen s wife. I know all of this must be upsetting, the judge said. She asked whether she d helped federal marshals make sure they understood all his medication needs. Deborah Loewen rose from her seat. Yes, she said. I wrote it out on my car for them this morning.
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