- LOS ANGELES, California
(CNN) - Two leaders of the Jewish Defense League were arrested by
federal authorities Wednesday in an aborted plot to blow up an unidentified
Los Angeles institution, according to a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's
office in Los Angeles.
Irv Rubin and Earl Krugel were taking into federal custody Wednesday following
early morning raids by members of an anti-terrorism task force, said spokesman
Thom Mrozek.
"We are working on a complaint charging Rubin and Krugel to blow some
type of target based on an inside informant," said Mrozek. "The
plot was not carried out."
-
-
- Rubin is identified as the group's chairman on the Web
site.
The Jewish Defense League is a militant Los Angeles-based group that advocates
use of "all necessary means -- even strength, force and violence"
to defend the interests of Jews, as well as the return of all Jews to Israel,
according to its Web site. Its logo contains a silhouette of a clenched
fist over the Star of David.
The organization was originally formed by Meir Kahane to mount armed response
to anti-Semitic acts in New York City. It gained notoriety when its members
were linked to bombings, most of them aimed at Soviet targets in retaliation
for the way that country treated its Jewish population.
Kahane left the JDL and moved to Israel. A power struggle ensued, with
Rubin among the contenders for its leadership.
Kahane was assassinated in New York in 1990. El Sayyid Nosair, 36, an Egyptian-born
Muslim, was convicted in connection with the shooting.
-
-
|
