Joe Epstein / Associated Press
Emerging details of the two New Jersey men arrested at JFK airport on Saturday show two young men were inspired by hatred for America to become terrorists. Though they have no known connection to any terrorist group, Mohamed Mahmood Alessa, 20, and Carlos Eduardo Almonte, 24, both U.S. citizens, have repeatedly been recorded speaking about jihads against America since law enforcement officers began profiling them in 2006. Alessa reportedly told an undercover officer that he wanted to outdo Maj. Nidal Hasan, who is accused of killing 13 people at Ford Hood, Texas last year. "My soul cannot rest until I shed blood," court documents show him saying. "I wanna, like, be the world's known terrorist." They were not planning an attack in the New Jersey area, authorities said, instead planning on leaving America to join an insurgency group abroad. The men apparently saved thousands of dollars, engaged in tactical training, and purchased military gear in preparation to join known terrorist group al-Shabab, though their plan to travel to Somalia apparently amounted to a leap of faith that they would be embraced by jihadists there. The Somali government has welcomed the men's arrest.