NATION : U.S. Arabs Raided in Detroit
Federal agents raided several homes in Detroit today, acting on suspicions that a group of young Arab-Americans was manufacturing explosives with the intent to use them locally, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms said.
One man, believed to be in his early 20s, was arrested on firearms charges, but no explosive devices were found, said special agent Bernard LeForrest.
LeForrest said the ATF suspected that the group, Americans of Iraqi-Christian Chaldean descent, had planned to plant the devices in and around Detroit to incite the local Arab community. The Detroit area is home to one of the largest Arab populations in the United States.
The youths “wanted to make it look like the Chaldean community was under attack from outside agitators,” LeForrest said. It was his understanding the bombs were not designed to kill but merely to frighten people.
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