A group of conspirators apparently inspired by Islamist ideology targeted the Sears Tower and the studios of talk show host Oprah Winfrey, both located in Chicago, in a 2009 bomb plot, Judicial Watch reported, based on "law enforcement and other sources."

The site's report is based on anonymous sources who would not give their names "for fear of reprisal by (the alleged conspirators') associates (and) retaliation from embarrassed federal law enforcement agents who, apparently mismanaged the subsequent counter-terrorism case," it noted

Opposition to U.S. military action in Afghanistan and Iraq reportedly fueled the group's Islamist views. They targeted Winfrey because "they resented her popularity," and the building, now known as the Willis Tower, because of its "obvious landmark status," according to Judicial Watch.

Two of the alleged members of the terrorist cell, Emad Karakrah and Hector Pedroza Huerta, have been arrested and charged with unrelated crimes in Chicago and El Paso, Texas. Additional plotters include Jaber A. Elbaneh and Adnan Gulshair el Shukrijumah, both of whom appear on the FBI's list of "most wanted" terrorists, and a taxi cab driver only identified as "Omar."

Police said Karakrah threatened to bomb officers after he led them on a car chase through Chicago's Southwest Side, according to NBC Chicago. Attached to Karakrah's vehicle was a flag of the terrorist group ISIS, which now calls itself "Islamic State" and is known for its brutal reign in parts of Iraq and Syria that has included the televised beheading of several Western hostages.

At the time the plot was allegedly being developed, Winfrey still hosted "The Oprah Winfrey Show," her nationally syndicated talk show, Fox News noted. Before the U.S.-led 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, the host aired a show titled "Islam 101," in which she called Islam a religion of peace and "the most misunderstood of the three major religions." Winfrey later refused an invitation by then-President George W. Bush to join his advisers Karen Hughes and Condoleezza Rice on a mission to Afghanistan to celebrate the return of Afghan girls to school.

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