LIBERTY CITY, Fla. -- The suspects accused of plotting to bomb the Sears Tower were hoping to wage a war that would surpass the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in effectiveness, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Friday.

The seven men were arrested Thursday when authorities swarmed a warehouse in Miami's Liberty City area.

• Slideshow: Florida Terror Suspects

Gonzales said there were also plans to attack an FBI building in North Miami Beach and four other government buildings in South Florida.

Gonzales said a person working with the South Florida Joint Terrorism Task Force posed as someone linked to al-Qaida to help infiltrate the group.

Deputy FBI Director John Pistole said that although one suspect had some familiarity with Chicago's Sears Tower, their plans were "more aspirational than operational."

Gonzales described the group as "homegrown terrorists." He said that like those who attacked in Madrid and London, the suspects are people who "came to view their home country as the enemy."

They have been charged with conspiring to work with al-Qaida under the terrorist group's control.

The seven individuals -- ranging in age from 22 to 32 -- were indicted by a federal grand jury in Miami.

The seven men seized in a Miami warehouse were described by law enforcement officials as "radical Muslims" and are charged in a federal indictment with conspiring with al-Qaida to commit acts of violence in the United States. The men are said to be in their 20s and 30s.

The alleged terrorists -- five U.S. citizens, a legal immigrant from Haiti and a Haitian national who was in this country illegally -- were expected to appear in federal court in Miami later Friday.

They had taken an oath to al-Qaida and sought help from someone they believed was a member of the terrorist organization, the indictment alleged.

The indictment also alleges plans to blow up a federal building in Miami in conjunction with the al-Qaida terrorist network.

A federal law enforcement official told The Associated Press on Thursday that the alleged plotters were mainly Americans with no apparent ties to al-Qaida or other foreign terrorist organizations.

FBI agents investigating terrorism-related activities conducted a number of raids Thursday, federal officials said.

Though the FBI said the suspects were part of a terror plot, a man who said he's with the group told CNN that they are "peaceful" and study the Bible.

The man who called himself Brother Corey said the "Seas of David" do have "soldiers" in Chicago, but he also said that it's not a terrorist organization.

FBI Director Robert Mueller, in an interview on CNN's "Larry King Live," refused to give many details about the investigation because "it's an ongoing operation." Mueller did say that he expects the "arrests and searches" to be wrapped up by Friday. More details about the probe are expected to be released then.

An FBI spokesman in Washington said there is no threat to the public in connection with the arrests.

Sears Tower Attack Would Be Difficult To Pull Off, Officials Say

Meanwhile, a reporter from affiliate station WMAQ in Chicago said that sources told him privately that city authorities knew about the Sears Tower plot on Wednesday. He also reported that sources said they have been informed that at least one of the suspects is from Chicago's southeast side.

The group had been infiltrated by the FBI, and thus it's not considered likely at all that an attack could have been carried out. However, the takedown of the group had to be moved up because of internal dissension -- even possible violence -- between members, WMAQ reported.

The Sears Tower may seem like a vulnerable target, but WMAQ reported that the building consists of nine column-free tubes, bound together to form a veritable fortress.

Any attack would almost certainly have to be carried out from very close by, and following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the building was equipped with sophisticated detectors, capable of sniffing out chemicals such as the ammonium nitrate that was supposedly going to be used in the attack.

Suspect's Father Says Son Not 'Violent Boy'

The father of one of the suspects in the alleged terror plot said his son is "not a violent boy."

Joseph Phanor said his son Stanley "didn't want to kill people."

The indictment alleges that the alleged leader of the militant cell wanted to build an "Islamic Army."

However, Phanor said he raised his son as a Christian. He said his son studied the Bible together with his friends in Miami.

Nearby Residents Say Alleged Terrorists Seemed 'Brainwashed'

Some residents who live near a Miami warehouse raided by the FBI said the people arrested in an alleged terror plot acted odd.

The warehouse is the impoverished Liberty City area. Those who live nearby said FBI agents spent several hours in the neighborhood showing photos of the suspects and seeking information.

One woman added that a member told her that "they had given their lives to Allah." Tashawn Rose said the men "seemed brainwashed" and she said they seemed to be running a "military camp boot camp."

Residents living near the warehouse said the men taken into custody described themselves as Muslims and had tried to recruit young people to join their group. They said the men had lived in the area for about a year.

Another man said the men sometimes had children with them, and a member of a nearby church said the men were very private and would come to the church often to ask for water.