Judge reveals FBI terrorist manufacturing factory

NEW YORK – In a scathing ruling, a federal judge criticized the FBI for using a manipulative informant, Shahed Hussain, to deceive a group of Muslims.

U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon ruled that the FBI had lured these men into participating in a fictitious plot whose goal was to destroy military aircraft and synagogues in the suburbs of New York City.

The judge said that the real instigator of the conspiracy was the U.S. itself.

Shahed Hussain, a paid civilian employee, was involved in several FBI sting operations.

One case involved Yassin Aref, a former imam, and Mohammed Hossain, a pizza shop owner.

Shahed, posing as a successful businessman, offered to lend Hossain money on the condition that he sell a shoulder missile for an alleged hit on a Pakistani diplomat.

Along with Aref, he was subsequently arrested, convicted, and imprisoned for money laundering and supporting a terrorist organization.

Shahed, who settled in the Albany area after coming to the United States from Pakistan, had a controversial background and was accused of murder in his home country.

He worked with the Web site FBI to approach individuals suspected of having ties to extremist groups and gauge their willingness to engage in illegal activity.

All of the victims he manipulated had no prior connection to terrorist activities.

53-year-old Aref was deported after serving his sentence. 68-year-old Shahed was released in 2020 and lives in Albany. He said the experience left him with lingering fears.

This ruling has raised hopes that the U.S. Department of Justice will reevaluate the fairness of similar counterterrorism operations conducted after the September 11, 2001 attacks.