2 of 4 terror suspects were new Islamic converts
(AP) ? Three of the young men swept up in a federal terrorism probe grew up in the Southern California suburbs where they played pick-up basketball, ran for homecoming court and sparred in video games with neighborhood kids ? a far cry from the wannabe terrorists described by the FBI. The rapid evolution from suburban teen to aspiring jihadist alleged in court documents blindsided family members, but experts who study homegrown terrorism said the case highlights the susceptibility of new converts to radicalization, particularly among the young. According to court documents, the four men arrested late last week in what the FBI called a homegrown terror cell weren't in the right hands. The father of a baby girl had moved out of his parents' home two months ago and drifted away as he fell under the sway of Deleon, who was a charismatic and popular worshipper at the mosque the two attended, Gojali's younger sister told The Associated Press. Authorities won't say how the investigation began, but at least two members of the group shared their beliefs on Facebook and held Skype phone calls with Kabir ? all of which was recorded by an FBI informant or captured by agents monitoring their activity. Despite their aspirations, the three probably weren't likely to find themselves on the front lines of a jihad any time soon, said Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, a senior fellow at the Washington, D.C.-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a non-partisan think tank focused on national security and foreign policy.