Two "Middle Eastern" Men Pulled Over in SC with Explosives (Updated)

reply to post by makeitso


God this is a strange story, doesn't get much media play anymore though. Did only one of the two actually get bail?

Megahed was granted $200,000 bail. The Gov prosecutor appealed, so he was not released. The gov presented its appeal on Oct. 3rd.

Part of the apppeal was the cc video of his brother trying to pass hand signals. Thats how it got to the news. The judge will give his decision to deny or approve bail this coming week.


Mohammad did not request bail on the advice of his attorney.

A newly released court filing provides a new detail of this case.
The laptop that Megahed tried to hide when they were pulled over, is the computer that was used to upload a video to YouTube, showing how to make a remote controled bomb. The laptop also contained an email to YouTube from July asking why the uploaded video was unavailable.

Previously there was no clear indication how the video got to YouTube, and no definitive proof had been publically shown that Mohammad actually made the video. So, although its a seemingly minor detail, its clearly incriminating and IMO greatly strengthens the federal case.

That upload in July may also be an indication of what the "ongoing investigation" was that allowed the S.C. trooper to follow and pull over these "Naive boys", as CAIR calls them.

Mohamed said in his video that instead of carrying out "martyrdom operations," people can use the remote-controlled explosives and save themselves for the real battles, according to prosecutors.

The laptop was used to upload the video onto YouTube, the court filing said, and it contained a record of an e-mail sent to YouTube in July asking why the submitted video hadn't been posted on the Web site.

ap.google.com...

Previously reported:

Mohamed said he made the video "to assist those persons in Arabic countries to defend themselves against the infidels invading their countries," the FBI said. He said "he considered American troops, and those military forces fighting with the American military, to be invaders of Arab countries."

www.washingtonpost.com...

The trial is set to begin Dec. 3rd.

Good god no, we can't have them learning to fight the way we do... with remote weapons!

That just, wouldn't be radical enough!

The trial date has been set back till March per a request by Mohamed's attorney.

Judge OKs delaying students' trial to March

Third USF student arrested on illegal gun charges related to this case.

USF Explosives Case Leads To 3rd Student's Arrest

Seems that Megahed, Mohammad and this guy were good friends and liked to go to the shooting range. The charges, while technically correct, seem pretty petty.

I suspect the Feds are just trying to keep him in country at least until the trial in March. That'll give them time to investigate further.


[edit on 12/15/07 by makeitso]

The trial is postponed until April 28th.

The judge says the traffic stop legal.

Video of traffic stop has now been released here and here . From here, and here.

Related?
Former USF professor Sami al-Arian subpoenaed again in Va.








[edit on 3/4/08 by makeitso]

Hmm very strange. Would be interesting if these two are related - issues like these are rare to come from the exact same school.

Dang them Bulls.

Trials for the 2 men are now seperated.

New trial dates of May 5 and 7th.

New indictment changed from 2 charges to 7 charges including charges of terrorism.


www2.tbo.com...

Mohamed enters guilty plea.



student admits to supporting terrorists

In the court document, he admits to providing material to support terrorists. He also acknowledges that a YouTube video he produced was to be used in "preparation for or in carrying out the killing of employees of the United States," including uniformed personnel.

Official Plea Agreement (PDF)

His statements constitute admissions that his intention in producing and distributing the recording was to support attempts by terrorists to murder employees of the United States, including members of the uniformed services, while such persons were engaged in or on account of the performance of their official duties.

[...]

He stated that his purpose in producing the audio/video recording was to teach "martyrdoms" and "suiciders" how to save themselves so they could continue to fight the invaders. He said that he considered the United States military, and thouse fighting with the United states military in Arab countries to be invaders. He said that he intended the technology demonstrated in his audio/video recording to be used against those who fight for the United States.

reply to post by makeitso



Thanks for sticking with this story for so long, makeitso. Great job.

Now I wonder what all the "It's all nothing" crowd has to say.


Any of you still willing to talk about the topic?

We live in Tampa several miles from USF.

The thing that worries me the most about this is how many more are there in Tampa that the police don't know about?

I hope they have fully investigated all of their friends and relatives.

Originally posted by elderban

The item made a loud bang, similar to a firecracker, when it was demolished, authorities said. Federal officials later said there was "no immediate threat."

A little overreacting on everyones part...

Hmm, I would say a little underreacting on Some (cough cough) people's part.

Mohamed sentenced to 15 years.

TAMPA — Former University of South Florida student Ahmed Mohamed received a maximum 15-year federal prison sentence

[edit on 12/19/08 by makeitso]