Knight Ridder Newspapers

MIAMI – When federal agents swooped in to arrest the alleged ringleader in a purported terror plot, Narseal Batiste was applying stucco to an apartment building in Miami’s historic Buena Vista East neighborhood.

The job was left unfinished when Batiste and two of his crew were cuffed and taken away by FBI agents, said the startled landlord, John Tronolone. “They seemed like nice enough guys,” he said.

Batiste – a small contractor who provided work, martial-arts training and religious instruction to his tiny knot of followers – was among the seven South Florida men charged with conspiring to blow up buildings and wage war against the American government.

They are all young, ranging in age from their early 20s to the early 30s. Five were born in the United States, four of Haitian descent and another of Dominican parents. Two others were Haitian immigrants.

It’s unknown what particular grudge, if any, they held against the United States. The government’s indictment contends they were inspired by Islamic belief to wage jihad against America, but it’s unclear what religious belief they embraced. One relative said they studied a faith that blends Christianity, Judaism and Islam with an emphasis on self-discipline.

All they know, insist relatives and friends, is that the group’s activities were innocent.

“They prayed. They exercised. They were trying to get their minds right,” said Marlene Phanor, sister of Stanley Grant Phanor, 31, one of the men charged. “These claims are completely false.”

Said Minerva Batiste, 34, the alleged ringleader’s wife: “He’s a very honest man, a hard worker. He taught all these young men a trade so they could live and make money instead of choosing what they did before they met us. He is a Christian. He grew up in the faith. He taught those children the Bible.”

One thing neither family members nor friends deny: Some of the men were under the sway of Batiste, described as a martial arts expert.

“He gathered them up,” said Linda Polydor, 32, who has two children with one of the alleged conspirators, Lyglenson Lemorin. “He was helping them by getting them jobs.”

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Running with Batiste meant not only construction, but also “temple” – the Liberty City warehouse agents raided Thursday.

“They were intrigued. They saw the martial arts. They wanted to learn. They only knew street fighting,” said Sylvain Plantin, 30, a distant cousin of Phanor’s who attended several study sessions at the warehouse where Batiste preached before quitting. But he was emphatic in saying that though Batiste studied the Koran, the rest of the group studied the Bible – and there was no talk of bombs.

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Batiste, 32, born in Chicago, owns a small construction company, Azteca Stucco and Masonry, which provided work for at least some of his followers, including Phanor and Lemorin, 31, who immigrated legally from Haiti in 1993.

“Everything with Mr. Batiste seemed geared toward growing his company, building capacity to get jobs and employ people in the community,” said Charles Wright, a consultant at Contractor’s Resource Center on Biscayne Boulevard, which helps small firms, including Azteca.

Phanor got up before dawn every day to work construction with Batiste, his family said. Polydor said Lemorin did the same until he moved three months ago to work construction in Atlanta – where he was arrested.

“These guys are broke, they don’t have any money,” said Polydor, alluding to government claims the men had asked for $50,000 in supplies from an informant they believed was al al-Qaida operative.

For a clandestine group, the seven young men did plenty to attract notice: Gathering at odd hours at the warehouse federal authorities said say they called The Embassy. Engaging in vigorous workouts in plain view of curious neighbors. Strolling around in camouflage and dark fatigues.

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Neighborhood oddballs for sure, according to myriad descriptions from local residents.

“They were doing karate and jumping jacks in there, and talking in foreign languages,” said Shaneah Walker, 16, who would peer into the warehouse when the loading dock doors were occasionally left open. “We had no idea what they were doing.”

But dangerous oddballs?

The federal government says, emphatically, yes. According to the indictment unsealed Friday, the seven had every intention of blowing up buildings and killing Americans.

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Some of the men had minor criminal records or brushes with the law:

Batiste and another accused follower, Patrick Abraham, 26, were arrested in March for allegedly beating up a man over a parking space in North Miami. The misdemeanor case is pending.

Abraham may have been in the country illegally after overstaying a tourist visa.

Naudimar Herrera, 32, plead to a misdemeanor marijuana possession in 2003. Little other information was available about him. He went by the name Naudy. A woman who answered the door at his address said that his parents had left the country for their native Dominican Republic, and he hadn’t lived there long.

Phanor was convicted of misdemeanor pot possesion in 1997. He was arrested in 1999 in North Miami for carrying a concealed weapon and received one-year probation. In 2002, he was arrested for driving with a suspended license and carrying a firearm. He was again put on probation, and was arrested again for driving without a license on Tuesday. He remained in state custody Friday.

No records or information were immediately available on the last two accused men, Burson Augustin, 21, and Rotschild Augustine, 22.

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On Friday, Phanor’s mother, Elizene Phanor, had her only son’s clothes laid out on the driveway Friday: Carpenter pants and T-shirts, and a pair of army fatigues and combat-like boots.

Inside, the neat home at on Northwest 45th Street was adorned with pictures of grandchildren, flowers, large mirrors, pictures of Jesus and Biblical passages.

“He’s not Muslim. He just loves to read the Bible. He did nothing wrong,” Elizene Phanor said.

She opened his briefcase, displaying notes and a small calculator. On one page, under a list of phone numbers was something Stanley Phanor had apparently written: “Allah is the source. Everything emits from Allah.”

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(Miami Herald Staff Writers Charles Rabin, David Ovalle, Nicholas Spangler, Alfonso Chardy, Susannah Nesmith, Amy Driscoll, Kathleen McGrory, Andrea Robinson and Elinor Brecher contributed to this report.)

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(c) 2006, The Miami Herald.

Visit The Miami Herald Web edition on the World Wide Web at http://www.herald.com/

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.

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PHOTOS (from KRT Photo Service, 202-383-6099): TERROR ARRESTS

GRAPHIC (from KRT Graphics, 202-383-6064): SEARS TOWER

AP-NY-06-23-06 2001EDT

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