The Lackawanna six refers to a group of young Yemeni men, five of the six were born and raised in Lackawanna. They attempted a terrorist attack in September 2002 after attending a training camp Al-Farooq, in Afghanistan where the Al-Qaida radicalized them (Bucci, 2020) . The men could hardly pass for terrorist suspects as they had ordinary lives and jobs. However, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents monitored them from the time they arrived from Afghanistan, after receiving an anonymous letter from someone in Lackawanna informing them of their training (Temple-Ratson, 2020) .
The FBI monitored them for a year and later arrested them, charging the suspect with material support of a terrorist organization and endangering the national security (Temple-Ratson, 2020) . The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was also following up on these suspects after encountering decoded email messages from one of the Lackawanna six, Muhktar Al-Bakri. These messages described an upcoming wedding and a big meal afterward, which the CIA thought to be suspicious (SATKALMI, 2005) . Al-Bakri was monitored and later arrested in his hotel room.
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During the trial, these suspects pleaded not guilty, but the law enforcement method of flipping was used against them, and eventually, they pleaded guilty to their charges. They accepted the charges of supporting Al-Qaida materially, and they provided further intelligence information on the group that helped the FBI's counterterrorism activities against Al-Qaida. One of the evidence provided was the Guantanamo testimony. Their cooperation ensured that they were given light sentences, and they were not charged with planning or engaging in terrorist acts (Bucci, 2020) .
The United States Patriot Act contributed to foiling this terror attack because its provisions enabled measures that detected the Lackawanna six suspects. The Act's provision also provided efforts that helped to prosecute these suspects, thus preventing a terror attack on United States soil (Office of the Director of National Intelligence. n.d.).
References
Bucci, S. (2020). 60 Terrorist Plots Since 9/11: Continued Lessons In Domestic Counterterrorism. Retrieved 22 October 2020, from https://www.heritage.org/defense/commentary/60-terrorist-plots-911-continued-lessons-domestic-counterterrorism?ac=1
Office of the Director of National Intelligence. (n.d.). USA Patriot Act. https://www.dni.gov/index.php/who-we-are/organizations/ise/ise-archive/ise-additional-resources/2116-usa-patriot-act
SATKALMI, R. (2005). Material Support: The United States v. the Lackawanna Six. Studies In Conflict & Terrorism , 28 (3), 193-199. doi: 10.1080/10576100590928098
Temple-Ratson, D. (2020). Member of 'Lackawanna Six' Released from Prison. Retrieved 22 October 2020, from https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90235086#:~:text=The%20agency%20watched%20them%20for,support%20of%20a%20terrorist%20organization.
