Local 10 Goes Inside Terror Suspects' Warehouse

Reporter Says Inside Look May Change Opinions
Local10
Jun. 28, 2006

Video: Take A Look Inside Terror Suspects' Warehouse

MIAMI -- For the first time, Local 10 takes an inside look at the Liberty City warehouse where federal agents said seven men plotted to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago and the South Florida FBI building

Local 10's Glenna Milberg checked out the warehouse that was infiltrated by an FBI informant who said that the men who used the building were part of a terrorist conspiracy.

Milberg said the warehouse where agents say a holy war was being planned seemed to be filled with the trappings of a man living the simple lifestyle of a missionary of sorts in the Liberty City neighborhood.

Some of the boxes that were seen being carried away by the FBI were filled with bubble gum he apparently wanted to give to the children in the neighborhood.

Family members of Narseal Batiste, the man accused of being the ringleader of the group, said some of what the FBI carried off was actually donations from a Christian church that had made contributions.

Batiste's wife and cousin insist he is a devout husband, father and religious mentor to the six men who prayed with him and trained in martial arts at the warehouse.

An FBI informant who joined the prayer group late last year helped obtain a videotape that the government said is evidence of a terrorist conspiracy. Agents said on March 16, the men pledged their allegiance to al-Quaida.

Batiste's wife, who did not want her identity made known, said, "He grew up in a Christian family. Most of his relatives are evangelists."

The Batistes decorated the walls of the warehouse with dozens of awards and honors their children earned in a Miami-Dade elementary school. The family told Milberg that the children prayed, played videogames and watched "Shrek" in the warehouse at some point.

The back room of the warehouse is filled with construction equipment and building supplies. His family said that Batiste taught his followers trades and gave them jobs with his Azteca Stucco and Masonry business.

The files for the construction business were kept in a little filing cabinet. The family said all the records were confiscated -- even the children's birth certificates that were among the papers.

The family said that the agents made the mess in their raid and succeeded in stopping only charity work.

Batiste's wife said, "He's a loving peaceful person. He'd give the shirt off his back for anybody."