Business owners say it’s impossible to train for combat using paintball West Milford Mohamed Alessa and Carlos Almonte did not drive to West Milford seeking recreational leisure or the usual fun that accompanies the game of paintball. The two men from North Bergen and Elmwood Park traveled to the suburban community with the intention of training for a war against U.S. soldiers abroad as members of al-Shabaab, an ally of al Qaeda. According to a United States District Court criminal complaint filed on June 4, Alessa, 20, and Almonte, 24, utilized facilities spread throughout Northern New Jersey to train for new lives as terrorists based in Somalia. The complaint reads: “On March 1, 2008, at an outdoor facility in West Milford, New Jersey, the defendants engaged in simulated combat using paintball guns.” No specific name of a paintball company was released in the criminal complaint, but there are three paintball facilities operating in the Township of West Milford. Training to be terrorists Sky Friend is the owner of New Breed Paintball on Macopin Road. His computer hard drive burnt out three weeks ago, he said, erasing information from March 2008. “I don’t have their names on my computer but they sound really familiar,” Friend said. “I think I have had them in my field.” As a paintball facility owner, Friend has been in touch with the FBI and other law enforcement previously. “They ask if we see anything suspicious to give them a call,” Friend said. “I sometimes see things that aren’t normal, so I call them.” However, Friend states that using paintball facilities for training would not be helpful to prepare for real combat. “Paintball for terrorist training is a joke,” Friend said. “Look at the stories; they say they [Alessa and Almonte] have been playing video games to prepare for war. You can’t play video games to get ready for real war. These guys were wannabes; they might as well have gone out there with slingshots.” The mechanics of paintball, according to Friend, would not serve many potential jihadists well in their training. “They think paintball guns shoot like a real gun,” Friend said. “It shoots nothing like a real gun. Paintballs don’t even shoot straight. You have to aim up to make the ball arc.” More like Capture the Flag ABC Paintball, on Greenwood Lake Turnpike, is owned by Cathy Escobedo. “We don’t know which field they went to,” Escobedo said, speaking about Alessa and Almonte. “I don’t have them in my database and I don’t remember them.” Escobedo, like Friend, said that federal authorities are in contact with her facility about possible suspicious behavior. “A lot of people are unfamiliar with paintball and may be misled about how the game is played,” Escobedo said. “If you have played paintball you would know that it’s kind of impossible to train for al Qaeda. It’s more like a game of Capture the Flag.” The arrest of Alessa and Almonte is not the first time suspected terrorists have used paintball as a means of preparing for battle. In 2004, nine men in Virginia were convicted of conspiracy to levy war against the United States after paintball games turned into simulations of a jihad as part of a plot to kill American troops. The men arrested in 2004 possessed a similar plan, as they hoped their training on U.S. soil would assist them once they joined forces with terrorists abroad. Friend sees the current negative press for the paintball industry as a misunderstanding of how the game is played. “For people outside of paintball, yes, they are afraid of it,” Friend said. “But these guys might as well have played manhunt to prepare. With nine million players across the nation every weekend and there’s these two people that use it in a negative way; I’ll take those odds at a casino any day.” Paintball for terrorist training is a joke...These guys were wannabes; they might as well have gone out there with slingshots.” Sky Friend, owner of New Breed Paintball on Macopin Road