The possibility that the alleged
Authorities said they believed all four men charged in the attack were
Muslim and that some may have converted in prison. It isn't clear whether these
conversions were linked to the radical views officials say they espoused while
plotting to bomb two
The men were arrested Wednesday in a months-long undercover operation that
ended with them allegedly placing what they thought were real explosives in
front of the synagogues. The plot was monitored by federal authorities who
provided the suspects with fake explosives. The men remain in custody and face
federal conspiracy charges.
According to
Concern about jail-house recruitment intensified after the terrorist
attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Authorities in the
Mitchell Silber, director of intelligence
analysis for the New York City Police Department, said there wasn't a
"fire hose" of people coming out of the prison system who have turned
to radical Islam. Most inmates tend to follow what Mr. Silber's
colleagues call "Prislam" -- religion
practiced behind bars but dropped upon release. Nonetheless, he estimated about
10 inmates a year in
The federal Bureau of Prisons sits on the National Joint Terrorism Task
Force, which includes about 40 government agencies. With the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, it has developed a nationwide initiative to detect and disrupt
attempts to radicalize and recruit members in
"While we do not believe there is widespread terrorist-inspired
radicalization or recruiting occurring in federal prisons, we do recognize that
the potential for inmates to be radicalized is present," said Traci
Billingsley, spokeswoman for the federal Bureau of Prisons. Ms. Billingsley
said between 5% and 6% of the federal inmate population identify as Muslims, a
figure unchanged in recent years.
Authorities heightened their efforts in 2005 after a former
"There was a real interest by the federal agencies about what else do
we have going on inside those prisons and how vulnerable are those groups
because they are disenfranchised," said Brian Parry, former assistant
director at California Department of Corrections and a consultant for the FBI.
Mr. Parry is helping to build a database to allow prisons to share intelligence
with other agencies.
Yehudit Barsky, director of the
division on
The criminal complaint against the
Salahuddin Muhammad, imam at the mosque, has worked for more than
20 years as a chaplain at Fishkill Correctional Facility, a medium-security
prison in Beacon, N.Y., according to the Department of Corrections. He said his
message at his mosque and in prison visits is much the same: tolerance, and the
need for people to take responsibility for their lives.
He said he converted very few people in prison, attributing the small
numbers to "bad press" that Islam receives.
Mr. Muhammad said he recognized Mr. Cromitie --
who he said wasn't a mosque member -- but didn't know him or the three other
accused plotters. Mr. Muhammad, who has spent time in state prison for robbery,
has been an imam since 1986 and in
Erik Kriss, spokesman for the New York Department
of Correctional Services, said the arrests hadn't raised concerns that inmates
are being recruited by radical groups. In two incidents in which radical imams
were running Muslim services in state facilities, one was fired and the other
disciplined, he said.
"We're aware of the potential of the problem for this," Mr. Kriss said. "That's why we're vigilant that it doesn't
become a problem." The prison system videotapes and audiotapes some
religious services, while having corrections officers present at others.