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| Fort Dix tipster seeks a law enforcement career |
| 2008-12-24 |
| It was a tip from a quick-thinking clerk at a Circuit City store that led authorities to accuse a group of men with planning to kill soldiers on the Army's Fort Dix. A day after the men were convicted of conspiracy to kill military personnel, Brian Morgenstern is still working at a Circuit City store. But he said Tuesday he's also working toward a new career - influenced by his experience in the case - in law enforcement. He hopes some day to be "fighting crime and terror and all that stuff" by investigating the kind of tips he provided authorities with nearly three years ago. In January 2006, Morgenstern, now 25, was working at a Circuit City store in Mount Laurel when he was asked to transfer a video to DVD. Some of what he saw on the video alarmed him: A group of men in snow-covered mountains shooting weapons and shouting "Allah akbar!" - Arabic for "God is great." The next day, Morgenstern, who lives in Cherry Hill, called local police who in turn notified the FBI. Morgenstern didn't know it then, but the tip led to a massive investigation involving intense surveillance, paid informants, weapon buys and wiretaps. More than a year after his tip, in May 2007, Morgenstern woke up to the news that a group of foreign-born Muslim men, most of whom also lived in Cherry Hill, had been accused of plotting to massacre soldiers on Fort Dix, an Army installation about 25 miles east of Philadelphia. Morgenstern said he followed the trial, though not daily, but hasn't decided if he thinks the men are guilty. That's up to the experts, he said. "I didn't report this tip hoping these people would get arrested," he said Tuesday in his first interview since he went public a few weeks after the men were arrested in May 2007. "I've been waiting for this to end, just so I could move on with my life," he said. "I guess I just feel more relaxed now that it's all over with." Throughout the case, Morgenstern said he stayed in touch with investigators and that's what inspired him to study criminal justice and computer science when he enrolled in college in January. Before his tip, his interest in criminal justice went little further than watching the television show "Cops," he said. He still works full-time for the electronics retailer - though at a different store now - on top of a full college courseload. He asked that the name of his college and the store he works at now not be named. After the arrests, the FBI publicly acknowledged and thanked him. Circuit City brass recognized him. Editorial boards praised him. Military personnel, veterans and others even wrote him grateful and congratulatory letters. Morgenstern said he's tried not to let all the praise inflate his ego. "I still maintain that I'm not a hero in this," he said Tuesday. "I want the world to know that all I did was act upon an instinct. I saw something that wasn't right." |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #3 I use his name and photo in my Terrorism Awareness courses as the poster-boy illustrating that not only can a patrol officers interrupt the terrorism cycle, but citizens, as well. Yes, we wish him much success. |
| Posted by: hammerhead 2008-12-24 18:12 |
| #2 It will only be a matter of time before today's FBI trains the judgment and willingness to act right out of him and we start to hear Agent Morgenstern assuring us all that their actions are not "terror-related." |
| Posted by: regular joe 2008-12-24 10:07 |
| #1 LEOs need good instincts, so maybe he's got a leg up. I wish him well in his new career. |
| Posted by: Jonathan 2008-12-24 08:38 |