Posted on 03/10/2011 5:58:06 PM PST by csvset
NORFOLK
Thirteen Somalis and one Yemeni captured after four Americans were killed aboard a yacht last month are scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Norfolk this afternoon on piracy, kidnapping and gun charges.
The men were brought into the federal courthouse in downtown Norfolk this morning.
The group was turned over to the Justice Department on Wednesday after being held aboard the carrier Enterprise since the Feb. 22 shooting deaths of the Americans. A Navy spokesman said the Somalis were removed from the ship by Department of Justice officials.
A federal grand jury indicted 14 suspected pirates, the U.S. Justice Department said Thursday.
U.S. Attorney Neil McBride plans to hold a news conference today at 1 p.m. in Norfolk to discuss indictment of the men. The special agents in charge of the FBIs New York and Norfolk field offices are expected to attend along with the special agent in charge of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
The 58-foot sloop Quest was pirated off the Oman coast in the Arabian Sea on Feb. 18.
Four Navy ships responded and on Feb. 21, one of the men was transferred from the yacht aboard the San Diego-based Navy destroyer Sterett to represent the group in negotiations, according to the indictment.
On Feb. 22, someone from the yacht fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the Sterett, the indictment says. At some point that day, all four Americans were shot and killed without provocation by three of the men, the indictment says.
Navy SEALs stormed the yacht and captured the men. They recovered a rocket-propelled grenade launcher along with three live rounds, several AK-47 and FAL assault rifles, the indictment says. Additional weapons are believed to have been dumped into the sea.
The Quest's owners, Scott and Jean Adam of Los Angeles, and their friends Bob Riggle and Phyllis Macay of Seattle, were killed in the attack.
Virginian-Pilot writer Cindy Clayton contributed to this report.
Tim McGlone, (757) 446-2343, tim.mcglone@pilotonline.com [1]
They should just gut them like a fish and throw them in with some starving hogs.
Maybe so but hasn’t nobama ordered the assassination of a US citizen who is the “American alqaida” without trial? I guess we are already there.
Excellent.
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