Oprah Winfrey Target - According to a Monday report, terrorists targeted Oprah Winfrey, her Chicago television studio and the iconic "Sears Tower" (renamed Willis Tower), in a 2009 truck-bomb plot. Despite talk-show superstar Oprah Winfrey target in the plotby a small group of terrorists, they were quickly intercepted.
They were about to bring a U-Haul van packed with explosives to the Windy City as they began their plot with Oprah Winfrey target, according to Judicial Watch.
Oprah Winfrey was reportedly targeted for her "popularity and power," according to law enforcement and other sources.
The iconic Sears Tower at the time was the nation's tallest building, therefore it was selected due to its "obvious landmark status," according to the report by conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch.
The alleged conspirators of the Oprah Winfrey targeted plot were reportedly also angry about U.S. military intervention in the Middle East, said anonymous law enforcement sources.
Fortunately, Federal officials and state police were able to stop the conspirators before they even arrive in Chicago, reports the International Business Times.
At first it was unbeknownst to federal authorities that two of the conspirators of the plot with Oprah Winfrey target had been arrested for unrelated state crimes in different parts of the country.
The bomb plot itself, with Oprah Winfrey target, had been inspired by militant Islamist hatred of the involvement of America in Afghanistan and Iraq, said law enforcement and other sources interviewed by Judicial Watch.
Sources who revealed the information of the terrorist attack with Oprah Winfrey target, have reportedly requested their anonymity fearing retaliation by terrorist bomb-plotter associates. They are also concerned for retaliation from embarrassed federal law enforcement agents who seemed to have mismanaged the subsequent counterterrorism case.
According to Judicial Watch, two of the alleged bombers are friends from El Paso. One of them is an illegal immigrant being held in an El Paso jail. The other bomber is currently behind bars in Cook County jail on charges of making a false car bomb threat. The man reportedly held police on a high-speed chase through Chicago on Aug. 28, 2014, waving an ISIS flag from his car throughout.
There were at least three other co-conspirators in the bomb plot with Oprah Winfrey target.
The plots, with Oprah Winfrey amongst the target, were never made public, reported Judicial Watch.
A spokeswoman for Winfrey and Harpo Studios was not available for comment, meaning she is yet to address the issue.
Winfrey filmed "The Oprah Winfrey Show" at the studio from 1990 to 2011. She ended the talk show to begin her own network, the "Oprah Winfrey Network" via cable, according to news.com.au.
Last March, Winfrey later sold Harpo Studios to developer Sterling Bay for $32 million.
On Wednesday, November 5, 2014, Sami Osmakac, a 27-year-old man from Florida, was sentenced to 40 years in federal prison. He was convicted of taking part in a foiled bomb plot that targeted a popular Tampa bar and a hotel-casino.
Consequently, there are another two foiled bomb plots in Chicago. However, these have reportedly been dome by undercover FBI agents posing as terrorist co-conspirators: The 2010 Wrigley Field backpack bombing attempted by Sami Samir Hassoun; and a 2012 Jeep-bomb attempt by Adel Daoud.
The FBI has already elected to publicize and take credit for the two. However, the Bureau has not yet released information on the 2009 bomb plot with Oprah Winfrey target.
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