Patterico's Pontifications

8/30/2007

An Explosive Case in Tampa

Filed under: Crime,Terrorism — DRJ @ 12:13 am



[Guest post by DRJ]

Remember last month’s South Carolina incident in which 2 University of South Florida students were stopped for speeding 7 miles from the Goose Creek Naval Weapons Station (where enemy combatants have been held) and then jailed on explosives charges?

The Tampa Tribune reports that a federal grand jury in Tampa, Florida, has asked for “DNA and hair samples” from Youssef Megahed, one of the 2 students, and heard testimony from 3 other witnesses:

“…the FBI searched a home at 12402 Pampas Place in Tampa that is owned by Noor and Ana Salhab. Authorities said the search was related to the case involving the students. Noor Salhab later told reporters that his son, Ghassan, has been living in the home and that he has been renting to college students while waiting to sell it. Noor Salhab said a friend of Mohamed’s rented a room there, and Mohamed planned to move in on Aug. 7. Noor and Ghassan Salhab, with attorney Brooke Elvington, spent about an hour in the grand jury area Wednesday. Neither would talk to a reporter.

***

Also appearing before the grand jury Wednesday was Ahmed Bedier, who has been a spokesman for the Megahed family. Bedier is executive director of the Tampa chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations and a frequent media spokesman for Muslims and Islamic causes. He was accompanied by attorney Lyann Goudie and appeared to be in the grand jury area for about an hour. Bedier declined to answer questions about his testimony, saying he wanted to check with the national headquarters of CAIR about what he was allowed to say. Bedier has called for fairness in the investigation of the students. He has stopped short of vouching for them.”

Apparently the investigation is ongoing.

8 Responses to “An Explosive Case in Tampa”

  1. Lets see,

    Inflatable raft
    oars
    umbrella
    food for a week
    fishing line and tackle
    Water
    a compass
    a Koran

    12 miles out send them on their way.

    They are free and we won’t have to try them. EVER!

    Betcha the message sent will git around eh?

    TC (1cf350)

  2. “Mohamed, 24, said he made pipe bombs from items he bought at Wal-Mart, according to an affidavit with his arrest warrant.”

    “Defense attorney Dennis Rhoad, said the men have a reason for having the devices and it would become clear in later court hearings.”

    I love the intelligence of this attorney….he contradicts his own client’s words when speaking to the press, and thinks that we will be more understanding.

    Send the attorney with them on the raft….

    reff (bff229)

  3. Intent is everything in a case like this. And intent is best inferred from the lethality of the so-called “pipe bombs”. There’s a lot of information we don’t have yet.

    As a kid, I would steal my father’s black powder and fuses to make homemade firecrackers. One time, my brother and I got hold of some of his blasting powder and tried to set it off. Good thing for us, it needed a detonator and not just a match.

    nk (a6ecc6)

  4. Megahead?

    Is that like UltraBrain?

    mojo (8096f2)

  5. 12 miles is not far enough, and you forgot to mention the hole in the boat. The compass should only show East too.

    Hazy (c36902)

  6. They’ve got the two dead to rights, but not for what you think. Fishing gear and explosives tells me one thing, and that’s in violation of state and Federal fish and game laws. 🙂

    Alan Kellogg (526c0b)

  7. The students have been indicted:

    “Two Egyptian students at the University of South Florida were indicted Friday for carrying explosive materials across states lines and one of them was charged with teaching the other how to use them for violent reasons.

    Ahmed Abdellatif Sherif Mohamed, 24, an engineering graduate student and teaching assistant at the Tampa-based university, faces terrorism charges for teaching and demonstrating how to use the explosives.”

    DRJ (bfe07e)

  8. Question for this knowledgable crowd: why would the indictment include a civil forfeiture action? Do you think that’s just standard procedure–even for terrorism cases? Or does that say something about the suspected nature of the alleged crime–e.g. were they getting paid to drive this stuff into South Carolina?

    See Dubya (f1d7f6)


Powered by WordPress.

Page loaded in: 0.0790 secs.