NY man convicted of plotting to attack city subways in 2009

Associated Press

NEW YORK

A New York man was convicted Tuesday of plotting an aborted suicide mission against New York City subways in 2009 — a case that featured the first-time testimony from admitted homegrown terrorists about al-Qaida’s fixation with pulling off another attack on American soil.

A jury found Adis Medunjanin guilty of all counts for his role in a terror plot that federal authorities say was one of the closest calls since Sept. 11, 2001.

“This is Terrorism 101,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Berit Berger said in closing arguments in federal court in Brooklyn. “The goal of this conspiracy was to kill as many people as possible.”

Medunjanin could be ordered to spend the rest of his life in prison when he is sentenced Sept. 7.

Outside court, U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch said the conviction demonstrated how U.S. authorities must remain vigilant about homegrown extremism.

Defense attorney Robert Gottlieb said he disagreed with the verdict and would appeal. But he also said the trial showed that the U.S. court system is the best place to prosecute terror crimes.

Medunjanin, who showed no visible reaction to the verdicts, afterward asked Gottlieb to “tell his family to be strong,” the lawyer said.

The defense had admitted that the Bosnian-born Medunjanin wanted to fight for the Taliban, but they insisted he never agreed to spread death and destruction in the city where his family put down roots.