usf students are not “terrorists”
I’ve held off on writing this for a long time as I’m not sure how to address it and remain within the ethics of both blogging and my teaching profession.
Certainly you’ve heard the story by now of Yousef Megahed and Ahmed Mohamed, USF students picked up in South Carolina on charges of terrorism.
The students claim the “explosive devices” in their trunk were simply fireworks, while Berkeley County Sheriff Wayne DeWitt says they definitely had bombs in the trunk.
Meanwhile, Megahed’s family, on vacation themselves at the time of the arrest, consented to an FBI search of their house — only to find the feds took all their computers away.
I’m actually familiar with Mr. Megahed, having had him as a student and seeing him around campus. He’s a nice kid, an excellent student, and given the bully pulpit of a speech class, never used his time to spout any kind of extremist rhetoric. That hasn’t stopped sites like this from labeling them “Islamic terrorists” or this woman from identifying them as Al Qaeda members.
The problem, of course, is that we’ll probably never know the details about what was in the students’ trunk; what I call fireworks may be dangerous bombs to Sheriff Buford T. Justice. The boys aren’t getting out of jail any time soon; a $300k and $500k bail will tend to keep you from posting. The nearly-graduated students are “flight risks,” after all.
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August 10th, 2007 at 11:42 am
Thomas Dodge’s ten confirmed pipe bombs only get a side note in the news and no mention of “terrorism”. Funny how that works.
August 10th, 2007 at 12:09 pm
Remember the crazy guy in Pinellas who planned to blow up mosques and was busted with an arsenal in his home a couple of years ago…no mention of terrorism there either.
August 10th, 2007 at 12:50 pm
glad you shed some light. I was kinda wondering … usf the hot bed of terrorism.
Maybe a bit of a brown-shirt hot-bed but they don’t use pipe-bombs — fire, pesticides, threats, car damage ….
I’ve heard for years that it IS a hot-bed of brown shirts but a man I love quite a bit works right in the middle of it and while he says they are ‘peegs’ he refuses to acknowledge the worst of it.
I heard the other from a man who actually knew sylvia plath and was deeply involved in the university system — he said usf was actually PLANNED as a brown-shirt hotbed.
Sickening. (like many across the country) Big surprise (NOT) you’d find it in Tampa FL.
Glad a few normal folks slipped across the threshold.
Just tell the truth as you see it.
August 11th, 2007 at 12:18 am
politically, I make Teddy K look like Bill O’Liely(thanks, Al) but these guys are scary. Packing what was basically IEDs a few miles from a military base? Truly innocent, they would’ve been knocking down wings at the Green Parrot, soaking up rays at CLW Beach or passing out a JGLB bash. But no, they’re tooling thru the Carolina countryside, disguised as fireworks salesmen. At some point you have to stop this shit. Book ‘em Dano.
August 11th, 2007 at 12:16 pm
They should have some pics of the whatevers before they blew them up. Let see what other evidence, if any, they can pull together. Remember that simply saying that they aren’t guilty because you kind of knew them is as much a rush to judgment as condemning them as al queda because they are Muslim.
August 11th, 2007 at 1:58 pm
The problem is that I doubt we’ll ever see that evidence because it’s rural South Carolina. Like I said, what we call fireworks they could be calling a bomb, and my experience with both the students involved and rural Southern law enforcement suggests to me that leaning on the side of innocence is the more prudent position.
August 11th, 2007 at 2:49 pm
FYI most terrorists do not operate overtly. Would it be different if they had been arrested in rural Ohio?
August 12th, 2007 at 3:31 pm
[…] A few day’s ago some Islamofascist sympatyzers […]
August 13th, 2007 at 12:38 am
I’m totally adding this to my resume…
I’m an “Islamofascist sympatyzer” !!! No, srsly. I don’t know what a sympatizer is, maybe one of those machines made by Bob Moog in the waning days of the analog synthesizer? I’m guessing if I’m an Islamofascist version I have……
August 13th, 2007 at 1:11 am
Be sure to make “days” possessive for no apparent reason.
August 13th, 2007 at 1:17 am
i love meredith
August 18th, 2007 at 6:34 pm
[…] earlier post about USF students Youssef Megahed and Ahmed Mohamed inspired quite a reaction. Winds of Jihad called me a “Islamofascist sympatyzer” and […]
August 21st, 2007 at 10:52 am
we are so spoiled as to be bored with our lives. if children are educated, they may learn about our civilization
September 1st, 2007 at 5:17 pm
[…] wankers, especially this one here, accused sheik yer’mami of all kinds of evil things, like accusing these poor souls […]
September 2nd, 2007 at 4:43 pm
Ahmed Mohamed was my Teacher’s assistant for hydraulic engineering in my spring ‘07 class at USF. He was a nice guy who was a very generous grader.
I’m not defending their actions, which are still VERY unclear at this point. But I am wondering what caused the search of their trunks? Were they acting so suspiciously? Did they tell the officer they had them? I’ve been stopped for speeding and no officer has ever wanted to search my car.
I didn’t know him on a personal level, but I knew him more than most people who are speculating the matter. I’ll reserve my judgement and give him the benefit of the doubt for now. I’ll admit it sort of gives me a new “face of terrorism” notion, since Ahmed was a nice guy who was liked by his students.
September 15th, 2007 at 2:18 pm
Not sure if this is a reliable source, but it should give food for thought. Innocent until proven guilty, of course…
However, the presumption that no “nice guy” can be a terrorist is wearing a little thin:
http://www.investigativeproject.org/article/470
September 19th, 2007 at 11:36 am
[…] been following the case of the USF students being held on federal terrorism charges, and it’s time for an […]
September 27th, 2007 at 3:42 pm
I’m unclear what portion of the facts you fail to understand, as the one is in a youtube video instructing others on how to build bombs for jihad:
http://www.thestate.com/news/story/184974.html
Posted on Thu, Sep. 27, 2007
Court documents point to terror plot
S.C. link: Men were stopped in Goose Creek
In car: Explosives materials, court documents say
By ADAM BEAM and LEE HIGGINS
abeam@thestate.com lhiggins@thestate.com
In a 12-minute video posted on YouTube, an Egyptian man wearing a white shirt, khaki pants and rubber gloves explains in Arabic how to turn a toy boat into a bomb.
His name is Ahmed Abdellatif Sherif Mohamed, and last month he was arrested in Goose Creek after authorities found four PVC pipes containing a mixture of potassium nitrate, kitty litter and sugar in his car’s trunk.
Mohamed told FBI agents he made the video to teach “those persons in Arabic countries to defend themselves against the infidels invading their countries,” according to federal court documents released late Tuesday.
Specifically, he told the FBI “the technology which he demonstrated in the tape was to be used against those who fought for the United States.”
What started as a traffic stop for speeding in South Carolina has led to a two-count federal indictment on terrorism-related charges and a multistate mystery investigators still are working to unravel.
SLED Chief Robert Stewart, the state’s homeland security director, said his agency was notified “almost immediately” after the traffic stop.
“This one got very public very fast because of the nature of the incident and the fact that streets were blocked off,” Stewart said. “There’s nothing currently in South Carolina that citizens need to be alarmed about.”
Stewart said he could not comment further on the investigation. Efforts to reach the U.S. attorney’s office in Tampa; Mohamed’s attorney, Lionel Lofton; and Adam Allen, the attorney for Mohamed’s co-defendant, Youssef Samir Megahed; were unsuccessful Wednesday.
Mohamed and Megahed, a 21-year-old University of South Florida engineering student, were stopped for speeding Aug. 4on S.C. 176 in Goose Creek.
They told deputies they were traveling to North Carolina for a vacation.Berkeley County sheriff’s deputies saw one of the men disconnect some wires from a laptop computer and became suspicious.
In the back of the patrol car on the way to jail on charges of possession of an explosive device, the two whispered in their native Arabic while a hidden recorder taped their conversation, according to court documents:
“Did you tell them there is something in them?” Mohamed asked, an apparent reference to the PVC pipes.
“Water,” Megahed said.
“Water! Right? The black water is in the Pepsi.”
A few seconds pass in silence. Mohamed speaks again.
“Did you tell them about the benzene (gasoline)?”
“I have nothing to do with it. I do the fireworks and so… so… so… that is it.”
But the pipes weren’t fireworks.
An examination by the FBI’s explosives unit found the materials in the PVC pipes fit the legal definition of an “explosive.”
After examining Mohamed’s laptop computer, which was in the 2000 Toyota Camry that was stopped in Goose Creek, agents found an electronic folder titled “Bomb Shock.” The folder contained several computer files about explosives, including TNT and C-4, a military-grade plastic explosive.
They also found the 12-minute video on the laptop. Someone had uploaded the video onto YouTube, a video-sharing Web site. It could be found on YouTube by entering a complicated 14-word search term, which included the words “martyrdooms” and “suiciders.”
Two days after the traffic stop, FBI agents found a remote-controlled toy boat, still in its box, and a partially dismantled digital watch in Megahed’s Tampa, Fla., home, where he lived with his parents. Authorities said in court documents they believe the two items were the beginnings of a homemade bomb.
On Aug. 29, Mohamed and Megahed were indicted by a federal grand jury in Tampa on charges of transporting explosive materials. Mohamed also was charged with teaching and demonstrating the making and use of an explosive and destructive device. About a week later, the state charges against them in South Carolina were dropped.
The charge against Mohamed, involving teaching others how to make and use an explosive device, has been interpreted as a violation of federal law that prohibits giving support to terrorist organizations.
However, prosecutors have filed no documents in federal court that connect either man with any terrorist group.
Mohamed is in jail. He asked a judge to delay a hearing that could have set a bail amount, a typical tactic by defense attorneys who represent clients in high-publicity cases.
Megahed’s plight is more complex. He tried to hire a private attorney but couldn’t afford one, and is now represented by a federal public defender.
Megahed had his day in court Sept. 14. The government told a judge Megahed was a danger to the community because he was a passenger in a car that contained a small amount of explosives.
Prosecutors also argued that if released, Megahed could flee to his native Egypt. They said he had lived in the United States for 10 years and his application to become a naturalized citizen was denied because he had traveled out of the country too many times.
Megahed has two Egyptian passports, one of which is under a different last name. Prosecutors said it would be difficult to bring Megahed back from Egypt if he were to go there because his family has “substantial assets.”
Megahed’s lawyers told the judge he traveled out of the country with his parents when he was younger than 15. They said his two passports were because one, with the additional last name, had expired.
The name was a family name the family was no longer using, according to court documents filed by Adam Allen, Megahed’s attorney.
“The government was forced to concede that, other than speculation they were unwilling to offer, the government had no evidence that the ‘low grade’ explosive materials were possessed in connection with some other unlawful purpose,” Allen wrote in court documents.
The judge agreed with Megahed. He ordered that Megahed be released on $200,000 bail and that Megahed and his family surrender their passports. Megahed also was to be on house arrest with GPS monitoring. He remains in jail in Tampa while federal prosecutors appeal that ruling.
“The history and circumstances of the defendant,” prosecutors wrote in their appeal, “… clearly demonstrate that the defendant… represents both a danger to others and to the community as well as a significant risk of not appearing before this court as directed.”
U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday has not ruled on the government’s appeal.
September 27th, 2007 at 5:27 pm
I have also heard that Sami Al-Arian was very personable. I have heard the same for Mazen Al-Najjar. Remember him. I don’t think the terrorists that attend school or teach at USF are connected to Al Qaeda. I think they are connected to Hamas. Maybe it would be easier if they all wore t-shirts that identified them.
September 28th, 2007 at 10:01 am
And by the way, Goose Creek is not rural and hillbilly, its coastal and is part of the larger metropolitan Charleston area. It has a rich history and very few people living below the poverty level.
And fireworks of all kinds are legal in South Carolina–one of the few states where they are legal–and sold at roadside stands throughout the state.
February 20th, 2008 at 9:37 pm
Tim did you not hear baout the video on youtube he had showing all the sick lil muslims how to amke and dentonate a car bomb? Hes as guilty as they come and should be fried!