They hate you...even in Peoria.

Peoria part of terrorist 'circuit' Peoria County sheriff says Champaign also among 7 stopovers

December 28, 2003
Phil Luciano
pluciano@pjstar.com

Former West Peorian Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri has been locked up as an enemy combatant, but his terrorist comrades continue to work in central Illinois.

Peoria and Champaign are part of a seven-city "circuit" that moves and disperses terrorists to specific sites across the nation, says Peoria County Sheriff Mike McCoy.

McCoy got that information at a recent FBI conference in Springfield. He shares that snippet of intelligence not to panic central Illinois, but to stress what the FBI told police at the conference: America, including much of its law-enforcement community, has not taken seriously enough the threat of al-Qaida in this country.

"Police and Americans don't understand," McCoy says. "...

They hate you. ... They are so focused on what they're doing, time is no object. They're patient."

>>>>>>

The terrorists enter the United States in San Francisco and Los Angeles, then move to Phoenix, then Denver . From there, some head to Peoria and Champaign. Some terrorists remain in those communities, while others head on to New York City.

>>>>>>

McCoy says Peoria and Champaign serve as ideal hosts for terrorists. Each city is home to a university with numerous Middle Easterners among the student body, thus enabling al-Qaida operatives to blend into each community.

McCoy says al-Qaida ops in central Illinois have been performing work similar to al-Marri: raising money and working computers. That information dovetails with a June report in Newsweek magazine, which cited FBI sources in pegging the Midwest (specifically Peoria) as the brains of terrorist activity in America.

Like most any good bust - the local police will get a tip from someone who knows what's going on.

At least we'll hope they get the tip.

Then I guess we have to hope they will (or are 'allowed to') work it.