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Circuit City clerk in Ft. Dix case ducks limelight

The store clerk who tipped authorities to the accused Jersey jihadists was lying low today after The Inquirer reported that he works at a Circuit City store in Mount Laurel.

The store clerk who tipped authorities to the accused Jersey jihadists was lying low today after The Inquirer reported that he works at a Circuit City store in Mount Laurel.

The store was swarmed today by more than a dozen reporters, all seeking the unidentified employee's story. The store manager, aided by police, kept the newspeople at bay and declined to comment.

The latest chapter in the FBI's war on terrorism began at the Circuit City store 16 months ago.

A clerk called local police and said someone had brought a videotape to the store to be duplicated. The clerk watched it and found it "disturbing."

It showed 10 young men in their early 20s "shooting assault weapons . . . and calling for jihad."

The Mount Laurel police called the FBI. And that, authorities said yesterday, is how the FBI began to investigate a plot to kill soldiers at Fort Dix.

Authorities declined to publicly identify the clerk or his company yesterday, but called him an unsung hero.

"This person did what we want all citizens to do," said U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie. Others familiar with the matter confirmed the store where the case began.

Workers at the store declined to comment. A Circuit City spokesman, Jim Babb, said he couldn't confirm his company's involvement, but added: "I can tell you that our company policy is to cooperate with authorities."

Today, after The Inquirer reported that the clerk works at Circuit City, company spokeswoman Jackie Foreman confirmed that the person still works for the company.

She referred all other questions to law enforcement authorities.