Posted on 12/20/2010 9:27:03 PM PST by Libloather
Jailers hold Mohamed Mohamud, accused in plot to bomb Portland tree lighting, in 'protective custody'
By Bryan Denson, The Oregonian
Updated: Saturday, December 18, 2010, 8:55 AM
The teenager accused of plotting to bomb thousands of Christmas revelers at Portland's holiday tree lighting ceremony three weeks ago is jailed in protective custody to prevent someone from harming him.
Mohamed Mohamud has a cell to himself at the downtown Justice Center jail, where he eats all of his meals alone and doesn't mix with the general inmate population, said Chief Deputy Michael Shults, who heads corrections for the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office.
There are good reasons for the isolation, Shults said Friday. A lot of the jail's inmates had friends and family at the city's annual tree lighting, he said, and jailers want to make sure none of them could harm Mohamud.
"That's a concern of ours," he said. "But there's no known threat ... no known persons ... in our system that (are) actively trying to harm him."
Mohamud, a Westview High School graduate, is allowed to leave his cell for about two to four hours a day, giving him time to stretch his legs, take a shower and phone his lawyers, Shults said.
The government has accused the 19-year-old Corvallis student of plotting to set off a van loaded with a massive bomb next to Pioneer Courthouse Square on Nov. 26. But the bomb -- presented to the teen by undercover FBI operatives posing as terrorists -- was a realistic-looking fake.
Mohamud was arrested after he allegedly used a cell phone to try to detonate what he thought was a real explosive, the climax of an elaborate government sting. He was later indicted for attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, a charge that carries a potential sentence of life in prison.
Within a couple of days of his arrest, Mohamud obtained a copy of the Quran from the jail's chaplain, Shults said. The young man keeps the sacred book of Islam in his cell.
Members of Mohamud's family paid him several visits in the first 16 days of his confinement, according to an inmate visitation log obtained by The Oregonian under the state's open records law.
Mohamud's father, Osman Barre, visited him the day after his arrest and put some cash in his inmate account, records show. Barre visited at least three other times, including twice on the same day as his wife, Mariam H. Barre. The couple is separated but remains in the Portland metropolitan area.
A man listed as Mohamud's uncle, Ahmed Iid, also visited Mohamud at the jail, which has approved two others for visits -- his sister and grandmother.
The teenager's defense team, including the top two lawyers in the Federal Public Defender's office and their investigators, have paid him regular visits, said Shults, who also has looked in on Mohamud to make sure he was getting everything he needed.
"He's cooperative," Shults said. "He wants to be safe, and we want to keep him safe."
Yeah, that would be a real shame.
This Amish gang just keeps on growing!
This is an outrage. Here is a young man trying to get in touch with his ethnic heritage and practice his rich Islamic culture and Bam. The US government entraps him into attempting to commit violence. What right do we have to hold this idealistic, misguided youth? I say, let him go. Give him free college tuition, housing and a monthly stipend for the next twenty years. It is only fair to atone for our national Islamo-phobia!
“Give him free college tuition, housing and a monthly stipend for the next twenty years...”
Only twenty years?? Hater!
Bullsh1t, put this f@@ker in with the rest of the jail population. I don’t want him safe. No reason he should feel safe.
Ahhh, Portland, Oregon the only city in the entire US refusing to cooperate with the FBI in tracking terrorists. And now, one of their own tries to blow up a few hundred of his neighbors at a completely secular “Tree Lighting” ceremony. What did they expect?
They give him the book that made him evil.
They executed Timothy McVeigh for carrying out a truck bombing, so what are they going to do to this “Muslim Timothy McVeigh” for trying to carry out a truck bombing?
That is, are civilian lives worth as much as the lives of federal agents?
Every municipality is looking to cut expenses——
Let the general population take care of this criminal.
Saves lots of $$$$$.
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