4 arrested for alleged plot to attack Muslim community in New York

(Image credit: AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

published 23 January 2019

On Friday, three men and a juvenile were arrested in connection with an alleged plot to attack a predominately Muslim community in upstate New York, police in Greece, New York, announced Tuesday.

Islamberg is home to about 200 people, and was settled by followers of Pakistani cleric Sheikh Mubarik Gilani. During a press conference, Greece Police Chief Patrick D. Phelan said a 16-year-old at Greece Odyssey Academy showed a classmate a photo during lunch, and said the person looked "like the next school shooter." Police were tipped off, and during an interview with the teen, learned he was allegedly planning on attacking the Islamberg community, along with three men. At that point, "our investigation took us to this plot that we had no idea about," Phelan said.

Police arrested Brian Colaneri, 20, Vincent Vetromile, 19, Andrew Crysel, 18, and the 16-year-old on Friday. They discovered three improvised explosive devices at the juvenile's home, and through search warrants, found 23 legally owned shotguns and rifles. Phelan said the suspects began planning the attack about a month ago, and on Saturday, the adults were each charged with three counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the first degree and one count of conspiracy in the fourth degree. Due to the teenager's age, police did not release any information on his charges.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Subscribe to The Week

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox