FBI arrests two in Nevada in connection with N.Y.C. subway attack plot

Thursday, Feb. 19, 1998 | 9:59 a.m.

The source, who spoke in New York on condition of anonymity, provided no other details.

The FBI in Nevada said only that two men were taken into custody in a luxury car outside a doctor's office in Henderson, Nev.

Nevada FBI spokesman Aurelio Flores said the car, a white Mercedes, was taken to Nellis Air Force Base for evaluation.

Flores said the FBI has secured the area where the car was found and had "made everything safe."

He said the agency was not looking for explosives.

He did not discuss the case further.

The New York source said the suspects allegedly planned to release a "dangerous bacterial substance" in the subways.

The Aryan Nation is a white supremacist group that began as a prison gang.

New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani was briefed on the case by FBI Director Louis Freeh. He was told "there is no reason for alarm," said spokeswoman Cristyne Lategano. She would not elaborate on the case.

Giuliani, speaking generally about the threat of terrorism, said: "Every part of America, every part of the world, is vulnerable to terrorism. ... There is no way to make an open society, a democracy, invulnerable to terrorism or to criminal acts. Short of closing down America and closing down the city of New York, it would be impossible to do that."

The mayor added, "It is impossible to have a police officer every place. That would be unrealistic, and it would change the nature of a free society. Short of that, I think New York City is doing everything it can do to try to reduce the risk."

Terrorism hit New York in 1993 when Islamic militants bombed the World Trade Center, killing six people and injuring 1,000. Militants also were convicted of planning further bombings at key river crossings and other high-profile targets.

Two Americans were convicted in the bombing in 1995 that killed 168 occupants of a federal office building in Oklahoma City.

In Tokyo in 1995, 12 people were killed when a doomsday cult loosed nerve gas in the subway system.