August 6, 2007, - 12:31 pm
Guess the Religion, “Fireworks” Edition; FBI Kolko Chorus: “No Ties to Terror”; UPDATE: Police Say “More Than Fireworks”, Men Charged
By
**** SCROLL DOWN FOR UPDATE ****
All weekend long (and today, too) readers have been sending me news of the two Florida-based, non-U.S. citizen, Muslim Arab college students, er . . . “Middle Eastern” men–Yousef Megahed and Ahmed Mohamed –who were detained in South Carolina for having explosives in their car. (I didn’t write about it previously, b/c I try to take the weekend off from blogging, especially lately.)
There has been almost no media coverage of this story except locally in South Carolina and on blogs. Wasn’t in any of the four papers I read this morning (Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Detroit Free Press, Detroit Newsistan).
Ahmed Abda Sherif Mohamed is a native of Kuwait and Yousef Samir Megahed is Egyptian. They were stopped, initially, for speeding on U.S. Highway 176 near Goose Creek, South Carolina. The highway was closed by authorities for seven hours thereafter. They were found in possession of incendiary and explosive devices, which they claimed were for fireworks (Memo to Muslim Terrorists: the Fourth of July was a month ago; get your stories and timing for attacks, straight). Is there a fireworks-and-hotdogs holiday on the Fourth of August I never knew about? What’s more, they are college students at the USF–the University of South Florida a/k/a the University of Sami’s (Terrorist Professor Al-Arian) Friends. Same school as not only Al-Arian, but also , the two Saudi students who boarded a schoolbus of children in Tampa as a dry run, last year.
Cue the usual FBI Richard Kolko refrain:
“There’s no (terrorism link) that we’ve identified at this point,” FBI spokesman Richard Kolko told Reuters. . . . “We don’t think there’s that much to it.”
We’re from the government, and we’re here to help you.
Why has there been virtually no media attention? Is it not a source of concern that authorities believed the explosives and the men dangerous enough that a whole highway was shut down? And why isn’t their religion being discussed or even mentioned? Oh, and why were the two Muslim suspects smiling in their mug shots? That one I can answer, with what they were likely thinking: “F— you, you stupid Americans, whose country we are using, roaming free, and studying at your universities. You idiots.”
So, were the men testing the system or were the explosives such that they could lie and claim they were for fireworks, when they really had a dual, more sinister purpose? It’s hardly “phobic” or bigoted to be suspicious of Muslims with explosives (who aren’t even citizens, not that that makes much of a difference). And I love how Muslims driving late at night, suspiciously, with explosives are the innocent, wrongfully-profiled ones. Hello . . .? Guess who else was stopped for speeding and then cleared to move on? Why, one of the 9/11 hijackers. But no biggie. No cause for concern.
Oh, and by the way, if they’re not terrorists, and the materials were just for the “Fourth of August-ly (lie?)” fireworks, then why are the men still being held in jail?:
No charges were filed in the case, but the men were being held Sunday evening at the Berkeley County detention center, WCIV-TV, the ABC network affiliate in Charleston, reported on its Web site.
**** UPDATE: Surprise, surprise. It wasn’t “just fireworks,” after all. The police now say they had far more than that, and they’ve been charged:
Two men arrested after police found a suspicious item in their car and detonated it were charged Monday with possession of an incendiary device, authorities said.
Ahmed Abda Sherif Mohamed, 24, and Yousef Samir Megahed, 21, were being held at the Berkeley County jail. A bail hearing was scheduled Monday afternoon, Sheriff Wayne DeWitt 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,” DeWitt said.
The sheriff refused to say what items authorities found in the car. He said some items were being analyzed by the FBI, which did not immediately return a telephone message seeking comment. . . .
Goose Creek is home to the Naval Weapons Station, which houses the U.S. Naval Consolidated Brig, a military prison where enemy combatants have been held.
The car was heading west, away from Goose Creek, when it was pulled over about 7 miles from the sprawling Navy facility, police said.
It’s always the local officials who have the guts the FBI doesn’t, when it comes to Muslim terror suspects.
So, which terrorist group do these two work for? What else did they find in the car? Just askin’. Stay tuned. I will.
The University of Sami’s Friends is having a press conference about this, today. More PC jibberjabber, I’m sure.
More from CNN:
The men arrested did not have ready explanations for materials found in the vehicle. That raised questions.
As it should have. “Fireworks,” indeed.
Tags: 4th of July, ABC, Ahmed Abda Sherif Mohamed, Ahmed Mohamed, Al-Arian, America, Berkeley County detention center, Berkeley County jail, CNN, Debbie Schlussel, Detroit Free Press, FBI Kolko Chorus, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Florida, Goose Creek, incendiary and explosive devices, incendiary device, Kuwait, Mana Saleh Almanajam, media attention, media coverage, Naval Weapons Station, Navy facility, officer, Professor, Reuters, Richard Kolko, Shaker Mohsen Alsidran, sheriff, South Carolina, spokesman, Tampa, telephone message seeking comment, terrorist, United States, University of Sami, University of South Florida, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Wayne DeWitt, WCIV-TV, Yousef Megahed, Yousef Samir Megahed
The news story has been under-reported. Thanks for putting the pieces together. News offers a piece here and a piece there. This is first place I was able to find the countries they are from.
RoxieAmerica on August 6, 2007 at 1:49 pm