Prosecutor: Mackinac Bridge was target (plan for cell phones)

The Saginaw News ^ | JUSTIN ENGEL08/12/06

[SE Mom]

Tuscola County prosecutors filed terrorism-related charges Saturday against three men who they say bought dozens of cell phones Friday in Caro in a globally coordinated plot involving the Mackinac Bridge.

They charged brothers Adham Abdelhamid Othman, 21, and Louai Abdelhamied Othman, 23, along with their cousin, Maruan Awad Muhareb, 18, with identical counts of collecting material to support terrorist acts and surveillance of a vulnerable target with intent to committ terrorism.

[Post-Neolithic]

"HOWEVER! They can also be used to make IED's...cover communication trails....has this poster been made aware of the bridge involvement?" I had one of my facts wrong, he has been a member since 2004. And It's very unlikely this poster would agree they were terrorists no matter what proof you sent his or her way.

For example here is his first post

Three Middle Eastern Men Found With 1000 Cell Phones

To: george76

So they buy em for $20 sell them for $38 out of the back of thier van perhaps with the implication that they are hot and don't disclose that they are only good for 40 minutes of airtime.

They sound like dishonest business men but not terrorists.

4 posted on 08/11/2006 11:11:11 AM PDT by The Lumster (USA - where the innocent have nothing to fear!)

And it just goes downhill from there.

[epow]

Perhaps next time we have a Waco-type scenario, we should call Walmart...?

Well, that would be a lot better than calling BATF. At least WalMart clerks wouldn't burn a bunch of innocent little kids to death.

[tommix2]

it would be a lot easier to plant several IEDs along the parade route and set them off simultaneously. Yes I think your are right. These knuckleheads aren't that stupid to think they could take the bridgew down. They probably had something like you say in mind.

[EDINVA]

wouldn't it be a hit on both the US and Canada ? why terrorize only one country when two would be preferable ?

Glad your kids made it across ok, and will return ok ... send them to Wal-Mart for a thank you shopping spree ;)

[Beagle8U]

"Oh yeah it is; it's about 9 hours from Dearborn to Macinac Bridge"

By bicycle? You could drive it from the Ohio line in 6 hrs.

[UB355]

mark

[Domestic Church]

09-04-06?

Add it up...19 is a "special number" for the terrorists.

[dakine]

Names? For us less astute...

[top 2 toe red]

Yeah...remember that converted muslim guy that blew himself up right outside a packed football stadium in OK last year?

He had tried, unsuccessfully, to get into the stadium twice...but, but, he was no terrorist...we know that because his father, the FBI and the President of the college told us he wasn't.

[Miss Marple]

Well, it's great that pre paid can be tracked. How about the first time they are used it is as detonators to kill a bunch of people crossing that bridge on Labor Day? So what if we could track them all...the people are already DEAD!

[MarkL]

...keep changing their cell phones with different phone numbers every call or two.

If 'talking' was the purpose, why discard the batteries?

Who knows? First off, by getting rid of the packaging, the phones would be smaller, and easier to conceal or ship. And it could be that they want to charge the batteries en-mass, outside of the phone, then distribute the phones with the batteries disconnected, to ensure that the GPS devices are disabled. I don't know if the chargers are the sort that recharge through the phone, or if they're stand-alone, and the article doesn't say.

Mark

[dakine]

Counter Radio Controlled IED Electronic Warfare (CREW)

[CindyDawg]

Oh and I wanted to tell you that that bridge now has warning lights to keep people from driving off a missing section again.

[b4its2late]

Adham Abdelhamid Othman, 21, and Louai Abdelhamied Othman, 23, along with their cousin, Maruan Awad Muhareb, 18, with identical counts of collecting material to support terrorist acts and surveillance of a vulnerable target with intent to committ terrorism.

By the names, I see those Christian terrorists are at it again? Sheesh.

[SE Mom]

Ok thanks:)

[oceanview]

prepaid wireless does not get tracked. I can walk into best buy and walk out with an activated phone. no one knows I purchased it, they can listen to my conversation - but they can't trace the number to me.

FNC covering this again now.

[rikkir]

"Again, at the very least... 500 bombs killing 10 people would have a greater death toll than 911. And if this scenario is taking place in every state... God help us all."

I was thinking the same thing as I came to your post. Literally there have been thousands of these things purchased by different people. We may have only caught a few. What better way to bring the country to a stand still than by setting thousands of small bombs around the country, no where of importance, and just enough explosives to destroy 1 car, or one building. All seemingly completely random, and all triggered by a disposable cell phone. I said thousands what about hundreds of thousands? The people triggering them could hit them all at once, or do multiple waves, and they would not even have to be in this country. We would be thrown into anarchy, and chaos in seconds, and might never recover. Take a city like where I am, Charlotte. On 9/4 at 10am 10,000 explosions like I described above took place. First responders go out, and can't cover near all of them, and this happened in every city in America. Bad, bad deal. I hope someone alot smarter than me is going over inventory sheets for every cell phone manufacturer, and retailer in this country.

[Ready4Freddy]

Thx for the link, interesting posts. Thinks it's an anti-Dollar General site, tho - DGSUCKS?

[Diddle E. Squat]

I doubt the alibi of buying these phones to resell them. With all that cash, they'd have no problem buying these phones cheaper wholesale. Perhaps they didn't go wholesale so as to avoid scrutiny because they want tax free income, but that is still illegal, and I wonder if all the time and effort is cheaper than the taxes. Can't think of any reasons for the actions that don't involve illegality at some point in the chain.

I also question that these are all intended to be used as detonators (though perhaps some are.) Probably most will be used for communication. The New York Times' gifts just keep giving and giving and giving...

[CindyDawg]

It should only take one phone though right? What are the others for?