Mosque plot leads to second arrest

by LEANORA MINAI;

Abstract: Shannahan, a licensed firearms dealer and former Circuit City employee, has had several contacts with Pinellas County sheriff's deputies. Last month, Shannahan's neighbor visited the Sheriff's Office and told deputies she was concerned Shannahan might be a "terrorist."

Federal agents interviewed Shannahan a day after [Robert Goldstein] was charged. Agents said Shannahan was unable to provide an explanation for why he was named in Goldstein's plans, according to the federal criminal complaint.

On Sept. 18, federal agents searched Shannahan's unit at Scottish Towers, 444 N Paula Drive in Dunedin. During an interview that day, Shannahan told agents that on several occasions, Goldstein displayed numerous destructive devices and gloated about the damage they could cause.

David Irving comments: A CORRESPONDENT inquires "Why isn't this terrorist charged with a hate crime?" -- like Irv Rubin in California. I confess I do not know. Florida Statute § 775.085 on Hate Crime specifically and rightly enhances the penalty for any crimes evidencing "prejudice based on the race, color, ancestry, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, mental or physical disability, or advanced age of the victim." The jail sentence is usually doubled.

SEVERAL years ago, Samuel "Val" Shannahan met a podiatrist at a gun show and struck up a friendship. They swapped guns, shot off rounds and spent a Christmas evening together.

Federal agents now believe Shannahan is the "Val" whom Seminole podiatrist Robert Goldstein referred to in a written plan to damage or destroy 50 Islamic centers and mosques in the Tampa Bay area and Florida.

Agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms arrested Shannahan, 42, at his Dunedin apartment Wednesday night. He is charged with illegally giving Goldstein two machine guns and other firearms accessories.

"My son had no knowledge of (the plot)," Shannahan's father, Samuel Shannahan Jr., said after testifying Thursday during a detention hearing in U.S. District Court in Tampa.

During the hearing, a federal prosecutor argued that Shannahan should be held in jail, saying he is a risk to flee the area and a danger to the community. They said he has not been truthful during interviews.

A judge will decide in the coming days whether Shannahan should be released from the Pinellas County Jail on bond.

Shannahan's St. Petersburg attorney, Bruce Howie, said he has no indication that Shannahan had a part in a plot to attack Islamic centers or mosques.

"I think that this was strictly a firearms transfer," said Howie, who also is the attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Pinellas County.

Federal agents also say Shannahan illegally gave an Uzi 9mm submachine gun to a Port Richey firing range to rent to customers. In exchange, the owner allowed Shannahan to receive packages there.

Shannahan, a licensed firearms dealer and former Circuit City employee, has had several contacts with Pinellas County sheriff's deputies. Last month, Shannahan's neighbor visited the Sheriff's Office and told deputies she was concerned Shannahan might be a "terrorist."

On Aug. 22, two weeks after the woman visited the Sheriff's Office, Pinellas deputies came upon Goldstein and his arsenal. They were called to Goldstein's home because he was despondent over his wife wanting to end their marriage.

Inside Goldstein's townhome, deputies found two light antiarmor rockets, a .50-caliber sniper rifle, hand grenades, assorted guns and assault rifles and 20 homemade bombs, among other lethal weapons.

Five of the items were registered to Shannahan - two machine guns, two silencers and a component that converts a weapon to fully automatic.

Authorities also found a typed list of 50 Islamic worship centers in the Tampa Bay area and Florida. The plans seized by officials made reference to accomplices by the name of "Val" and "Mike." In the paperwork, Val's name is crossed out and replaced with Mike.

Goldstein, 37, was charged with possessing 20 illegal bombs and plotting to damage or destroy Islamic centers and mosques. He is being held in the Orient Road Jail in Hillsborough County. No one else has been arrested in connection with Goldstein's alleged plot.

What the deputies found inside Goldstein's home: a.. two light antiarmor rockets b.. .50-caliber sniper rifle c.. hand grenades d.. assorted guns and assault rifles e.. 20 homemade bombs, among other lethal weapons. f.. two machine guns, two silencers g.. two LAW rocket launchers h.. C-4 plastic explosive\ i.. Claymore antipersonnel mines. Authorities also found a typed list of fifty Islamic worship centers. Goldstein's Arrest Record http://www.hcso.tampa.fl.us/ ( > Jail > Who Is In Jail > "Goldstein")

Federal agents interviewed Shannahan a day after Goldstein was charged. Agents said Shannahan was unable to provide an explanation for why he was named in Goldstein's plans, according to the federal criminal complaint.

Shannahan, who sold guns under "Gulfstream Sports," told agents Goldstein was a customer.

On Sept. 18, federal agents searched Shannahan's unit at Scottish Towers, 444 N Paula Drive in Dunedin. During an interview that day, Shannahan told agents that on several occasions, Goldstein displayed numerous destructive devices and gloated about the damage they could cause.

"Once again, he denied any knowledge regarding the plot to blow up those centers," ATF agent Warren Randall told the judge Thursday.

Neighbors at Scottish Towers said they saw Shannahan coming and going from time to time, but they didn't know him well. The only thing odd they had noticed was that they often spotted him carrying Office Depot boxes.

"He doesn't really socialize," said Cyndy Donahue, 37.

But at least one neighbor, Doris Mitchell, 49, had concerns. On Aug. 9, she went to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office after removing 18 machine gun rounds from Shannahan's 1993 Ford Thunderbird.

Mitchell told deputies she was walking by Shannahan's car and saw the ammunition sitting on the passenger seat. She said the windows were open.

"Doris advised that her neighbor is reclusive, does not speak to anybody and is weird," Deputy David McCuen wrote in an offense report. "She advised that she was concerned that he might be a terrorist."

The case was closed after Shannahan declined to prosecute Mitchell for breaking into his car.

- Times staff writers Lisa Greene and Chuck Murphy contributed to this report, which includes information from Times researcher Cathy Wos.

on this website:

 Robert Goldstein's wife arrested in plan to blow up Muslim buildings