(JTA) — An alleged member of the Ku Klux Klan tried to sell a mobile device to New York Jewish groups that “could be used by Israel to defeat its enemies.”
Glendon Scott Crawford, 49, was arrested Tuesday following an FBI sting operation of more than one year. He is accused of developing a remote-controlled, truck-mounted device that would deliver lethal doses of radiation.
The charges were made public in federal court in Albany, N.Y., on Wednesday.
Crawford and a second suspect, Eric Feight, 54, were charged with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, including use of a weapon of mass destruction. The men could be sentenced to 15 years in prison if found guilty.
The FBI opened an investigation in April 2012 when Crawford, an industrial mechanic for General Electric Co., allegedly visited a synagogue in Albany and “asked to speak with a person who might be willing to help him with a type of technology that could be used by Israel to defeat its enemies, specifically by killing Israel’s enemies while they slept,” according to the complaint.
He made the same offer in calls to other Jewish organizations in Albany, according to the complaint. A synagogue secretary contacted the police, who contacted the FBI, which began to monitor Crawford.
Crawford identified himself as “a member of the Ku Klux Klan, specifically the United Northern & Southern Knights of the Ku Klux Klan,” in a telephone call recorded by the FBI, according to the Albany Times Union. He also is listed as a member of Americans Demanding Liberty and Freedom, a Tea Party group.
Crawford and Feight never obtained a radiation source and the device was not completely built at the time of their arrests, officials told the Times Union.
