U.S. officials say that Osama Bin Laden wanted to assemble a team to attack America on the tenth anniversary of 9/11, and had a hit list that included President Obama, General
David Petraeus and a major U.S. sporting event.
The hit list was discovered in the “treasure trove” of information seized from Osama bin Laden’s Pakistan compound after the Navy SEAL raid that killed him in May. Officials say he was intent on an attack on the upcoming 10th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks, though the plot was only in the “discussion phase.” He also remained obsessed with using aircraft to kill.
Officials tell ABC News that bin Laden wanted to fly a small plane into a sporting event to cause mass casualties.
“We have so many small airports, you could fly below radar,” said Brad Garrett, former FBI special agent and now an ABC News consultant. “That’s possibly doable.’
The primary target on bin Laden’s hit list was President Obama. Officials tell ABC News that bin Laden was trying to hatch a plan to kill President Obama by shooting down Air Force One or Marine One, the president’s plane and helicopter.