The Liberty City Seven were seven construction workers and members of a small Miami, Florida-based religious group who called themselves the Universal Divine Saviors.[1] Described as a "bizarre cult," the seven were arrested and charged with terrorism-related offenses in 2006 by a Federal Bureau of Investigation sting investigation although their actual operational capability was extremely low and their intentions were unclear.[2] The members of the group operated out of a small warehouse in the Miami neighborhood of Liberty City.[3]
Indicted in federal court and after all seven had refused to take a plea deal,[3] three trials of the Liberty City Seven defendants took place. One defendant was acquitted in the first trial, but the jury deadlocked on the other six defendants, leading to a mistrial. The second trial also resulted in a deadlocked jury and a mistrial. On the third trial of the remaining six defendants, five were convicted on some of the counts, including the group's leader, Narseal Batiste, the only defendant to be convicted on all four charges. One more defendant was acquitted of all charges in the third trial.
The FBI first became aware of the group in October 2005 as a result of a tip given to Miami FBI Special Agent Anthony Velazquez.
One of my colleagues comes in and says, "Look I have some information from an informant that there's a group of guys in Liberty City that are conducting military training, that are interested in over throwing the U.S. government, um, and that wanna be Al-Qaeda."[3]
A sting operation was conducted. Ultimately, the charges centered on the FBI's belief that the group was seeking money in order to commit a terrorist act. The informant posed as someone from Yemen who was willing to help their mission in Liberty City, provided they supported the al-Qaeda jihad. The FBI agents represented themselves as representatives of al-Qaeda, and persuaded Batiste to provide plans for a stated intention to destroy the Sears Tower (now Willis Tower) in Chicago, the FBI field office in Miami, and other targets. Deputy Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation John S. Pistole described the group's plot as more "aspirational than operational"; the group did not have the means to carry out attacks on such targets. The group had no weapons and did not seek weapons when they were offered. The group had no communication with any actual al-Qaeda or other terrorist operatives. Rather, the plan was to scam the money given to them by the informant (up to $50,000 was offered) and use it to save their fledgling construction business. Never considering that the ruse was on them in order to get the money, the FBI proceeded to bait the group into saying that the money was for a violent terrorist attack thereby leading to their ultimate arrest.[3]