Assassination of Meir Kahane
Meir Kahane, an Israeli American rabbi, ultra-nationalist politician and militant, was assassinated by El Sayyid Nosair on 5 November 1990, shortly after 9:00 p.m. at the New York Marriott East Side, a hotel in Manhattan, New York City. At the time, it was believed that Nosair's assassination of Kahane was an antisemitic hate crime. In subsequent years, however, Nosair's actions have been re-evaluated as one of the earliest examples of Islamic terrorism in the United States. Assassination. On the evening of 5 November 1990, Kahane gave a speech in the second-floor  lecture hall of the New York Marriott East Side hotel, in Manhattan, at 525 Lexington Avenue, to an audience, most of whom were Orthodox Jews. After his speech, a crowd of well-wishers gathered around Kahane as he answered questions. Shortly after 9:00 p.m., a man disguised as an Orthodox Jew approached Kahane and shot him from close range with a .357-caliber pistol. Kahane was hit in the neck by the gunfire and died of his wounds shortly thereafter. After shooting Kahane, the assassin fled from the hotel and reached Lexington Avenue, where, in front of a post office , he attempted to take over a taxi at gunpoint. Carlos Acosta, an on-duty postal police officer, drew his pistol and ordered the assassin to freeze. Instead, the assassin turned toward the officer and shot and hit him in the chest. The officer returned fire, hitting the assassin in the chin. Afterwards, the officer arrested the man. Born in Egypt, he was American citizen El Sayyid Nosair, who had been living in Jersey City, New Jersey. Prosecution of Nosair. Nosair was charged with the murder of Kahane. During the legal proceedings, Nosair denied all charges against him. Although there were  witnesses who identified Nosair as the assassin, Nosair was not convicted of Kahane's assassination, in part because Kahane's family had opposed the performing of an autopsy after the assassination and the extracting of the bullets. However, Nosair was convicted of assault, possession of an illegal firearm, and of shooting a United States Postal Inspection Service agent. Nosair was sentenced to 22 years of imprisonment, the maximum allowed. Conspiracy to free Nosair from prison. Nosair was to serve his sentence at Attica Correctional Facility, in New York. In 1993, the "Blind Sheikh," Omar Abdel-Rahman, was arrested in New  York. An investigation later revealed that a terrorist cell, led by Abdel-Rahman, conducted detailed surveillance of Attica facilities and that it had discussed plans to use a truck bomb attack, combined with an armed assault, to rescue Nosair from prison. Nosair's history and conviction of activity in a terrorist cell. Nosair helped operate the Al Kifah Refugee Center, a charity front for Maktab al-Khidamat in New York City, along with Mahmud Abouhalima, who would later be convicted for his role in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Abdel-Rahman used the Al Kifah Refugee Center as the  de facto headquarters for his terrorist cell. Between 1987 and 1989, double agent Ali Mohamed visited the Al Kifah Refugee Center and taught its occupants survival techniques and other related skills. While in town, Mohamed frequently stayed at Nosair's home. Nosair also participated in some of Mohamed's classes. For instance, in June 1989, Mohamed showed United States military training videos to Nosair and others at the Al Kifah Refugee Center and, in July 1989, the FBI monitored Mohamed giving Nosair and some of the future participants of the 1993 World Trade Center weapons training. In addition, bin Laden 's personal secretary, Wadih el-Hage, visited Nosair in prison, and some of Nosair's defense fund in the Kahane trial was paid for by bin Laden himself. Informant Emad Salem, who helped the FBI prevent the New York City landmark bomb plot, spoke to Nosair in prison while its planning was underway, during which time Nosair revealed details of the plot. During this time, the FBI was monitoring Nosair's calls. Investigators also linked Nosair and the Al Kifah Refugee Center to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing after going through Nosair's belongings. The investigation of Abdel-Rahman  showed that Nosair belonged to his terrorist cell. Nosair was convicted for this, and was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, plus 15 years. It was decided that, because Kahane's death was part of a "seditious conspiracy," Nosair could be convicted of killing Kahane. He was serving his sentence at the United States Penitentiary, Marion in Marion, Illinois, but is now serving at the United States Penitentiary, Allenwood in Allenwood, Pennsylvania. Nosair's confession of Kahane's assassination. Several years after the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, Nosair made a confession to federal agents of assassinating  Kahane. Possible accomplices. In August 2010, the Israeli newspaper "The Jerusalem Post", which, in turn, quoted from the mid-August issue of "Playboy", claimed that Nosair had two partners and that his original target was Israeli military figure and future Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. "He added that on the night he shot Kahane dead, he was accompanied by two co-conspirators to the Marriot Hotel in Manhattan where Kahane was speaking – one of whom was also carrying a gun. The men, Bilal al-Kaisi of Jordan and Mohammed A. Salameh, a Palestinian illegal alien later involved in the 1993  World Trade Center bombing, have never been charged for their part in the slaying."