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

Is this the Chemicals they keep talking about?

In the vehicle, investigators say they found potassium chlorate and sugar, which when combined with a catalyst create what has been dubbed "instant fire" releasing heat, flames and smoke in a spectacular fashion. As a result, they are used in making fireworks and as a fuel for model rockets.

In addition a can of gasoline, PVC pipe, four hobby store brand rocket launchers and hobby store brand fuses were found, investigators said. The four PVC pipes contained an unknown substance. Also taken into evidence was a laptop computer, a GPS unit and Trac cellular telephones. The laptop computer was sent to the FBI lab at Quantico for analysis.

ABC Blotter

This doesn't clear anything up, since this is used for everything from demonstrations in Chemistry class, to fireworks, model rockets, pipe bombs, to the homemade Qassam-class short-range missiles that Hamas uses at the Gaza strip and the West Bank.

I hope it leans to the fireworks/model rockets.

[edit on 8/6/07 by makeitso]

Originally posted by Boondock78
both university of south florida students
no ties to terrorist cells

As anyone who's lived in Tampa can attest, USF (my alma mater) has been in the news since the mid 1990s for professors having relations with what the government terms "terrorist organizations."

CNN 2003 Article

Federal authorities arrested Kuwaiti-born University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian, 45, described as the North American leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and three others.

Cavalier Article Referencing Back to 1996

Al-Arian has been in the middle of controversy before. According to another Chronicle report, a 1994 PBS documentary titled "Jihad in America" claimed that Al-Arian ran a charity group as a front for a fund-raising organization for terrorists ("Faculty ties to Islamic Jihad questioned at U. of S. Florida," May 24, 1996). The group, called the Islamic Committee for Palestine, was accused of supporting the Islamic Jihad, a terrorist group that has claimed responsibility for suicide bombings in Israel. Al-Arian denied links to the Islamic Jihad. But the damage was done, and according to the 1996 Chronicle article, critics began to call the university "Jihad Univesity."

While Al-Arian has always denied links to terrorism, the same cannot be said of one of his former University of South Florida colleagues, Ramadan Abdullah. Abdullah previously had been an economics professor at the school and in 1996 appeared in Damascus, Syria as the new head of Islamic Jihad. Coincidently, Abdullah had been a top official of Al-Arian's World and Islamic Studies Enterprise.

Originally posted by makeitso
This is a weird article.

Authorities: 2 men had pipe bombs near Navy base in S.C.

By BRUCE SMITH
Associated Press Writer
"Definitely this is not related to terrorism," said Bedier, of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. (CAIR)

Is your link referring to this this CAIR?

Originally posted by Valhall
Timothy McVeigh was a terrorist...period.

McVeigh was a patsy.

Research.

Originally posted by makeitso
Thats a pretty big bond for fireworks!

According to USF, Megahed is a 21-year-old civil engineering grad student who studied as an undergraduate in Cairo. Mohamed -- who turned 26 on Sunday -- is a permanent U.S. resident who has been at the school since 2004 but has not declared a major.

Bond for the pair was set at $500,000 Monday. Their next hearing was set for October 5.

$500,000 bail?
Geez, I am not ever buying fireworks again.


[edit on 6-8-2007 by weatherguru]

could it be possible that with this charge and whatever immigation issue is coming into play, this is one of those instances where bail can range from yay much to 500k? and for fear of flight, just denied?

i am still having trouble with the charges....how do you charge someone with having explosives and have a bail hearing when the i'm gonna say 'alleged' explosives have been blown up, AND, they don't know what it was....

i mean, am i the only one that has a problem with this? i am not a model 'person' but there are model boats, planes, cars, etc.....they are gas powered...there are rockets....
i don't know what all kind of crap goes into something like that.

at this stage, how can they know if they had an explosive that is more a hobby shop type thing vs say, c4..

the whole destruction of evidence that you don't even have narrowed down yet puzzles me...

oh, it's explosives, lets detonate it...!!!

okay, i think that hey, if this is explosives, let check it out..MAYBE we can narrow this crap down to this type or that type and you know, form an investigation.

all these people saying "what if there was another attack...be alert"

well, what if these guys did work for a cell and had a ton of this explosive stuff that is a bit different than any other?

we'll never know now will we.

just seems strange.

if they did something, give it to em but i am not gonna assume people are guilty from the get go....

i think humans basically suck and are inherantly bad, BUT, you can't pop people if they have not done anything....

just talking out loud, late night, smoke induced ramblings.

They could always declare them enemy combatants and hold them indefinitely. Fact is that there is something to this and I am sure the laptop is key.

Originally posted by Boondock78
could it be possible that with this charge and whatever immigation issue is coming into play,

Immigration has nothing to do with it. They are in the United States legally.

If they weren't they could be held without bond, and I'm sure if they do somehow make bail they will be forced to surrender their passports so they can't leave the country.

[edit on 8/7/2007 by djohnsto77]

one is a citizen, the other on a student visa it would seem. fact is, the FBI is investigating any links now in the tampa area.

publicbroadcasting.net...

Speaking of Florida, some folks are wondering if this is related.

ATS News: Device Similar To Pipe Bomb Explodes Near Downtown Disney

I wonder if it is the other investigation that made the police suspicious to begin with?

Lombardo also said information from an investigation in another jurisdiction raised the suspicions of the deputies.

^^


and that story died quickly when it ws found to be a large firecracker.

Originally posted by Harlequin
and that story died quickly when it ws found to be a large firecracker.

Do you have a source saying it was a firecracker?

I thought it was a pipe bomb and never heard anything later contradicting that.

I have yet to see anything on ABC, CBS or NBC about this story.

Originally posted by makeitso

In the vehicle, investigators say they found potassium chlorate and sugar [,,,]

In addition a can of gasoline, PVC pipe, four hobby store brand rocket launchers and hobby store brand fuses were found, investigators said. The four PVC pipes contained an unknown substance. Also taken into evidence was a laptop computer, a GPS unit and Trac cellular telephones. The laptop computer was sent to the FBI lab at Quantico for analysis.

ABC Blotter

This doesn't clear anything up, since this is used for everything from demonstrations in Chemistry class, to fireworks, model rockets, pipe bombs, to the homemade Qassam-class short-range missiles that Hamas uses at the Gaza strip and the West Bank.

the materials seem ordinarily unremarkable...
if they were home hobby-ists & kept the materials in a safe work area at their residence
then not a eyebrow would be raised

but here they were on a back woods road with all the 'fireworks' components, with GPS stuff, cell phone (also used as triggering devices)
all this on a public road....where the transporting of semi-dangerous
explosives, fuse material, unknown chemicals in PVX pipes....all combine to poise a potential Haz-Mat alert...if or when the vehicle gets into an accident.

there's a blanket being thrown over the incident....at least till the Oct 5th court date.

Which is what the homeland security/intel want to happen, as speculation will stay at a mildly audible level...keeping he population on the edge of their seats...all i expect for the next ~ 2 months is leaked drivel

Originally posted by St Udio

the materials seem ordinarily unremarkable...
if they were home hobby-ists & kept the materials in a safe work area at their residence
then not a eyebrow would be raised

but here they were on a back woods road with all the 'fireworks' components, with GPS stuff, cell phone (also used as triggering devices)
all this on a public road....where the transporting of semi-dangerous
explosives, fuse material, unknown chemicals in PVX pipes....all combine to poise a potential Haz-Mat alert...if or when the vehicle gets into an accident.

killer post man...i agree with all that. i never lived in goose creek but strange enough, my mom and i were living in st pete when she met my stepdad. just discharged from the nevy and he lived in goose creek so we would drive there a lot. lotsa backwoods type roads...
i still wonder how much the local yokels over reacted...

about the immigration....we don't know what is going on in the background. they are here legally, i know...BUT, now that they are involved in this 'whatever we are calling it now' they could be sending them back home.....we don't know....AND i said that maybe the fact their bail is so high is for risk of flight since they don't live here

Since when has this administration thrown a blanket over anything that even vaguely hinted at a thwarted terrorist attack? Even the blatently bogus ones they have crowed like roosters over it.

Originally posted by grover
Since when has this administration thrown a blanket over anything that even vaguely hinted at a thwarted terrorist attack? Even the blatently bogus ones they have crowed like roosters over it.

having only local law enforcement...implying that the FBI &/or DHS
is taking a 'back-seat' in this investigation...
is the basis for the view that there's "A Blanket" over this case...

it may be that the other agencies are tracking the pairs past associations, aquaintences, attachments to organizations, Mosques, etc.
to bring as wide a field of 'suspects' as possible, maybe to enfore that ~seizure-of-property~ executive order which will surely pass into law
by the time the 2 mens court appearance comes around on 5 Oct '07.

call it a 'Blanket' or just 'down-playing' the incident...
my guess is that dozens or scores of other people or organizations will get caught up in the Drag-Net.

Immediate gratification is not the operative mindset here.
isn't it fun watching the drama unfold...especially when one has an un-official outline of the screenplay presentation.?

An update on FoxNews this morning states the two men were found to have pipe bombs and were very close to a naval base that also houses enemy combatants.

FoxNews Update

MONCKS CORNER, S.C. — Two men found with several pipe bombs in their car near a Navy base were charged Monday with possession of an explosive device, authorities said.

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

Officers became suspicious because the men quickly put away a laptop computer and couldn't immediately say what they were doing in the area or where they were going, DeWitt said.

A deputy then found what he thought were explosives in the 2000 Toyota Camry and called the bomb squad. Technicians confirmed the devices were pipe bombs and destroyed them, according to sworn statements in the arrest warrants.

What crap!! Fireworks are legal in SC. A person can adapt them in any way they like legally. I do it all the time for fun to make bigger bangs and such.
As to the rights of the people. there is NO law that says that you have to answer questions about where you are going, etc. There is NO legal right the cops have to demand conversation and your destinations, etc. The driver was probably just intimidated as usual by the cops into allowing a search by consent. It is done all the time.

Most Americans, and virtually all foreigners, have little knowledge of their rights. You do NOT have to give consent to a search, you do NOT have to talk to the cops at all. No way. The cops commonly ask EVERY driver for consent to search and most drivers are afraid of the cop's and intimidated and give in. The fact that a passenger ' put away a laptop quickly ' means NOTHING..NOTHING. Legally it is a non issue. If a cop had to go to a Magistrtate and get a warrant, they would need probable cause..and putting your laptop away when pulled over on a whim by the cops ( speeding my ass, they looked ' foreign ) by virtue of profiling.

The cops did what they always do, intimidate, lie and coerce the driver into allowing a warrantless search. The cops had NOTHING legally incriminating about the car and passengers so they bullied and bluffed their way into a search, where they found fireworks. Big deal.

South Carolina is one of a few states that still allow class A fireworks to be sold and used. I have taken fireworks apart and made bigger ones with them for bigger results and it is perfectly LEGAL to do so. If there is no INTENT to do harm with them then this is all a bunch of crap designed to scare the people into surrenduting even more rights than ever.

Never give the cop's permission to search you or your car without a warrant, NEVER. Do NOT listen to the cop's lies and bluffs and such; the cops will say and do almost anything to get consent as it throws away your rights later in court to object to the search. NEVER answer any questions a cop asks. NEVER. You are under NO legal obligation to say a word to the cop's; if they have evidence, they will not ask anything anyway; if they do not then they are supposed to go away and leave you alone, or write a ticket, etc.

These guys could have avoided all this grief by simply telling the cop to give them the ticket and go away; no searches, no statements, nothing. The cop's have NO BUSINESS asking where you are going or where you have been. This is NOT yet Nazi Germany or a facist state..yet. But it will be if all of the idiots out there throw our rights away by being intimidated by cop's. Tell any cop that pulls you over that you are watching the clock, you will NOT allow any searches, and will not answer ANY questions whatsoever. That way you are prepared to later defend yourself in court.

Never ever trust the cop's to do the right thing; they want to be able to lie and bluster and bluff and deny us our rights, and it will work IF WE ALLOW IT!! I NEVER speak to the cop's, no matter what. If pulled, I give my papers and insist on my rights being observed. Most cops are so shocked by a citizen that actually knows the law and the rights he has that they back off and go away; they KNOW that an informed citizen will likely get them in hot water for any breaking of the laws, and so they look for the weak and easily intimidated people to pick on.

No matter how this turns out, it is always better to never give consent to search and to never start talking to the cop's. Never answer ANY personal questions at all and treat them like the enemy, because they are. Any cop who asks a citizen to throw away their precious Constitutional Rights is a bad person and a bad cop and a traitor to the flag and nation . Cop's HATE to play by the rules but yet demand that we do so, hippocrites all.

When pulled, follow the advice I give and drive away; otherwise, you may find that some innocent activity is seen as some big deal by some redneck backwoods cop. Denying rights is NOT the way to stop crime; it is the way to destroy the few rights we have left.

I will be making a new and huge fireworks conglomeration soon and believe me, if I was stopped by some cop, he would never get a look in my car, never. And if he did break the law and search anyway, all evidence found would be excluded at trial. Simple. Never play their game, play your own, and WIN!!

Oh, and by the way, the PIPE BOMB nonsense was proven false and the AP headlines have been changed. They are ' fireworks' adapted for reasons of fun, and no other. Has'nt anyone here ever made a potato gun ? the cop's would call that some kind of terror device as well to gtet publicity and headlines. There are NO pipe bombs.

just because you stick some fireworks in a tube does NOT mean that you had intent to damage anything. People here in the mountains do all kinds of stuff that might be considered strange or off beat in a city, but none of it is illegal.

Check and see; there will turn out to be NO pipe bombs and NO proof of intent. just another case of bad cops ruining a vacation by getting consent to search from some dumb cluck.