Yeah right, Islamic fireworks. Death to Islam.
Posted on 08/06/2007 3:57:01 PM PDT by mdittmar
MONCKS CORNER, S.C. (AP) - 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.
A joint state-federal investigation was under way to see whether there was any terrorism connection but no link had been found yet, said FBI spokeswoman Denise Taiste. The Navy base is the site of a brig where enemy combatants have been held.
Ahmed Abda Sherf Mohamed, 24, and Yousef Samir Megahed, 21, both students at the University of South Florida in Tampa, were driving through the area on Saturday to vacation at a North Carolina beach for Mohamed's birthday, their defense attorney said.
"They admitted to having what they said were fireworks. Based on the officer's judgment at hand, based on what he had seen, we judged it to be other than fireworks," Berkeley County Sheriff Wayne DeWitt said.
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.
"The defendants deny the allegations the state and the sheriff have made against them," Rhoad said.
Prosecutor Scarlett Wilson asked for high bond, which was set at $500,000 for Mohamed and $300,000 for Megahed, because she said the men were dangerous and a risk to flee.
Mohamed is a native of Kuwait and Megahed is Egyptian, the sheriff said. Both are in the country legally.
Before details about the pipe bombs were released, the executive director of a civil rights organization for Muslims in Tampa criticized the arrest as racial profiling, an accusation South Carolina police denied.
"Definitely this is not related to terrorism," said Ahmed Bedier of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
"Had these been two good ol' boys from South Carolina driving through and speeding—and even if they did have some fireworks—nobody would have been arrested," Bedier said.
The two men were stopped for speeding Saturday night on U.S. Highway 176 near Goose Creek, which is the site of the Naval Weapons Station and houses the U.S. Naval Consolidated Brig, a military prison where enemy combatants have been held.
They were heading west, away from Goose Creek, when they were pulled over about seven miles from the sprawling Navy facility, police said.
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.
Authorities closed a mile-long stretch of the highway Saturday night and didn't reopen it until about 4 a.m. Sunday.
University spokesman Ken Gullette said Mohamed is a civil engineering graduate student who came to the school in January. He earned his undergraduate degree in Cairo and was in the country on a student visa.
Megahed, who has permanent resident status in the United States, is an undergraduate and has been at the university since 2004, but has not declared a major, Gullette said.
Neither has ever been arrested by campus police or disciplined by the university, Gullette said. Both were enrolled in classes this summer. Gullette said the university is cooperating with authorities.
If convicted of the felony charge, the men would face from two to 15 years in prison.
Goose Creek, with a population of about 30,000, is about 20 miles north of Charleston.
___
Associated Press writers Katrina A. Goggins in Columbia and Mitch Stacy in Tampa contributed to this report.
(This version CORRECTS the charge the men face to possession of an explosive device instead of posession of an incendiary device.)
I would like to know what part of NC they were going to that had them taking this road.
bttt
What a complete loser, I mean democrat.
Excellent point. He wants to be a player no matter who's in office. That's why we need term limits to limit the systemic corruption that only a few seem capable of withstanding e.g. Tom Coburn.
I'll never forget that 5-4 Supreme Court decision that threw out state laws and referenda that limited Congressional terms. Sandra Day O'Connor was the fifth vote that killed it and the term limit movement was destroyed. The great Ronaldus Magnus screwed up with O'Connor.
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My post from yesterday:
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2 men held after suspicious item found in car detonated; Updated info on story posted yesterday
Posted by STARWISE to livius; Cindy; nwctwx; AliVeritas; rodguy911 On News/Activism 08/05/2007 7:39:46 PM CDT · 67 of 119
Don’t forget Tampa ... central FL ... where Sami al-Arian sprouted many cells at the Univ. of S. Fla .. and funded terror; where Adnan al-Shukrijumah (former Floridian -Lauderdale) was spotted on Dale Mabry Ave. about 4-5 yrs ago.
And, than allegedly spotted by the Univ. of Central FL campus, and coincidentally, all (not) that far from Venice ... where jihadis were sent for flight lessons from the German flight school owner.
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Sami and his terrorist friends have left quite a legacy in Florida, particularly Central Florida.
I haven't forgotten. I was just talking about this a few weeks ago with a Retired Air Force Lt. Colonel.....who has knowledge of this guy.
Thank you very much for the ping. Many terrorist sleeper cells living among us, be vigilant everyone.
They’re all through Florida. I recall reading that JAX has its very own AQ cell.
Recently, in one of the AQ messages there was something that implied an attack on a Naval base, specifically, the one where the JFK was berthed. That’s JAX. But I suppose it could also have meant a Navy base in general, not necessarily JAX, and perhaps that’s why the Feds appear to have been watching these guys. The articles initially mentioned that the information that called attention to these two grinning young lads came from “another investigation,” so I guess we’re not the only ones who suspect that something is going on in Florida.
You wouldn’t take that road to NC, period.
You especially wouldn’t take it to go to the beach.
I haven’t heard any claims of “lost”.
These guys came from Tampa. I’ve made the trip and you take 4 to Jacksonville, then 95. After that you have a few choices, and none of them involve 176. If they went down to Charleston or some such, the logical choice would be to take 17 up the coast, not to drive back west.
No matter how you look at it, they were going the wrong way.
And, no matter where they were going, you don’t need stuff in your trunk to make bombs unless you are up to no good!
They’re also full of crap about Walmart. You can’t buy PVC pipe at Walmart, and I don’t think you can get the nitrate stuff there either.
Yeah right, Islamic fireworks. Death to Islam.
Including the active ingredients?
Yep. If it sold model rocket engines - check out ammonium perchlorate and potassium nitrate. Just add a fuel - and that can range from sugar to metallic powders.
Potassium Nitrate only has one use, to make grass grow.
It is also a great oxidizer.
There are many more of these creatures living in the USA, training in a hate-cult philosophy. Many are stupid and will fail in their attempts to kill Americans. Eventually some will be successful.
Had this been two "gool ol' boys from South Carolina", they'd have had enough sense to not be speeding through another state near a military installation with a payload of pipe bombs in the trunk.
PVC pipe?
Hi-tech!
“Definitely this is not related to terrorism,” said Ahmed Bedier of CAIR - the Council on Advancing-Islamic Rule. “
These guys would do well to have their lawyers issue a statement saying that CAIR does not speak for them, and threatening legal action against CAIR if it continues to make public statements about the accused. I think it’s very likely these two young men are guilty of nothing but testosterone-fueled stupidity, but CAIR is a walking talking mountain of guilt.
What else might they come up with?
*an assignment from a professor who just happens to be a Muslim
*a practical joke
*part of initiation rite into some group (I presume they are not frat boys)
*to signal in case they get lost in the wilderness
*for a home improvement job
“If Muslims with bombs don’t equal a terrorist threat, what does?”
oh that’s an easy one, it would be me, “ol massa whitey the oppressor”.. {/BARF...
South Florida Students Face Indictment for Carrying Explosives Across State Lines [Indicted]
Posted by STARWISE
On News/Activism 08/31/2007 10:31:06 AM PDT · 15 replies · 257+ views
FNC/AP ^ | 8-31-07
Don't expect your government to protect you from terrorists if it can't even see the terrorists right under its nose.
A joint state-federal investigation was under way to see whether there was any terrorism connection but no link had been found yet, said FBI spokeswoman Denise Taiste.
Are they making some sort of weird distinction between the terrorism of a group and the terrorism of an individual or two?
What nation in it's right mind allows immigration from Islamic states when the terrorists who hate our gutts are almost exclusively made up of Islamacists?
Ask Bush & Company. Oh, I forgot: These Muslim immigrants must be the "moderates" who everybody likes to pretend exist.
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