The five individuals arrested by federal, state, and local authorities in New Jersey May 7 for conspiring to kill US military personnel allegedly had Dover AFB, Del., on their radar as well as Ft. Dix and Ft. Monmouth, N.J. A Department of Justice release noted that “some members of the group allegedly conducted surveillance” at those three facilities and the US Coast Guard in Philadelphia. A sixth individual arrested was charged with “aiding and abetting the illegal possession of firearms.” The group of five comprises three brothers—Dritan, Eljvir, and Shain Duka—all born in the former Yugoslavia and residing here illegally; Mohamad Shnewer, born in Jordan and now a US citizen; and Serdar Tatar, born in Turkey and legally residing in the US. The sixth is Agron Abdullah, born in Yugoslavia and legally residing here. The 17-month-long investigation into the men’s activities began in January 2006 when a New Jersey retail clerk reported that one of the men wanted what the clerk described as a “disturbing” videotape duplicated into DVD format. The videotape showed the six young men arrested and four others shooting assault rifles and calling for jihad, according to the criminal complaint.
A provision in the fiscal 2025 defense policy bill will require the Defense Department to include the military occupational specialty of service members who die by suicide in its annual report on suicide deaths, though it remains to be seen how much data the department will actually disclose.