Reba

Is this just a minor event, or could it be something important?

The happened last night a few miles down the road from my neighborhood.

ABC News 4 Charleston - Details on Materials Found in Trunk Unclear

Deafness

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pek1

I noticed the names and I didn't have to wonder anymore.

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Reba

An update:

Felony charges

The news has also spread to the national cable networks.

We live just a short distance from the area mentioned. The road those guys were stopped on goes to the Naval Weapons Station, which is home to the Navy's Nuclear Power School and Consolidated Brig, both very highly restrictive places. We go to the NWS (non-restricted area) almost weekly for bowling with the grandsons. Because Hubby and I are veterans, we use other facilities and services at the NWS. When Hubby was on active duty, one of his duties was escorting some of the brig prisoners. One of our friends at church is a volunteer chaplain to some of the prisoners in the brig.

Just a reminder: the brig is where they also keep enemy combatants, previously including Jose Padilla. Charleston, SC Latest Local News: Brig's role has evolved

If these two guys were headed to North Carolina from Florida, they were on the wrong road. There is no reason to exit the interstate between NC and FL to get on that road. It's not directly connected to the exits where people might pull off for gas or food.

Barbaro

Oh, boy. The news in my city have never mentioned this incident.

I think it is too early to determine whether it is an isolated incident or not. If it is, it is serious. I wonder what he was doing with his laptop. Making pipe bombs for a firework? I'd rather waiting for updates first after FBI is done processing laptop and everything.

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ASLGAL

Reba,
Very apparent what was going on there.

The media in this area states that the FBI says there were no bombs or bomb materials but the Locals say there were.
I'd certainly take the word of the local law enforcement, they know what they found.

Unfortunate but we are sliding toward the blaise attitude that Europe is now regretting.
An isolated incident? - No Way!

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shel90

Scary! I hope it was an isolated incident.

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Reba

Yes, I'm curious to know what is in the laptop.

I'm also curious to know if their luggage included beach wear for their supposed visit to the NC beaches.

Reba

Fireworks are legal in SC. Since many years, a couple weeks before every Fourth of July and New Year's Eve, portable sales booths (metal trailers) set up in every neighborhood selling fireworks. Every kid growing up in the Lowcountry eight years and older is familiar with what legal fireworks look like. Every cul-de-sac or dead end street has its own fireworks show every year. My 11-year-old grandson could probably identify different fireworks.

Every police officer in this area knows what legal fireworks look like. There is no way a local cop could confuse legal fireworks with a pipe bomb. They know the difference. If our cops say it wasn't fireworks, it wasn't fireworks.

Those two Egyptian guys are mechanical engineering college students. They obviously know how to make simple pipe bombs. If 12-year-old rednecks can do it, college engineering students can do it.

Barbaro

Perhaps they were going to experiment pipe bombs in the ocean to see if it is successful, then they will probably move on to much advanced pipe bombs. We'll never know.

Any 'burb kid can pull pipe bomb lesson from internet and build it easily.

Fireworks are legal in SC? I miss playing with fireworks, but it is not legal in San Diego for many reasons, including wildfire and set the house on fire. Oh, well.

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Reba

Yes, they are legal in this state; it's a booming business (heh, heh).

They aren't legal to use within city limits of some cities in SC but even then the police usually look the other way on New Year's and Fourth of July, as long as no one complains or does something dangerous. You can't shoot them in the downtown areas but most of the residential areas are OK. Some neighbors pool their money and set up fairly sophisticated displays on their cul-de-sacs.

PuyoPiyo

Those names sounds like Arabic names... Maybe they was a terrorist?

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Reba

They are Egyptian.

Reba

Update:

About the two points that I put in bold.

1. If they are practicing Muslims going on a road trip that lasted several days, why weren't they carrying their own Koran?

2. If Mohamed is here on a student visa, why doesn't he have accurate proof of his age?


Just wondering.

PuyoPiyo

Egypt is a Arabic speaking country.

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Freaky Cat

good question, Reba.. hmm... i sincerely hope its isolated incident... sigh

Reba

More news:

Reba

Hubby and I were chatting about this case today. I asked him if he could think of any possible reason or way someone driving from Tampa to North Carolina would detour off the interstate to the place where these guys were stopped. Hubby said there is no way anyone can "accidentally" end up in Goose Creek from the interstate to NC. He said you have to really go out of your way to end up there.

In Hubby's work, he drives all over the three counties of the Lowcountry, and he knows lots of "back ways" and short cuts in this area. He has also driven the north - south (between Florida and South Carolina, and between South Carolina and North Carolina) route several times. Depending on the route the two guys were driving, they were 50 - 80 miles off course.

Hubby asked, "Why would those guys have to 'make' fireworks for themselves? You can easily buy fireworks all over the state."

Freaky Cat

I wonder if they are exchange students? it didnt mention if they are or not? if they were exchange students- it explains why they got off course? i really dont know.... but its suspicious especially when closing the laptop and everything..

rockdrummer

This is exactly why I am not against profiling.

Barbaro

Darn..

My local media still haven't mentioned it yet. Thanks for the updates.

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Reba

I think it is covered mostly in Charleston and Tampa local news, and by Fox News national. Things were quiet in the news today; I think the FBI is still analyzing what they found.

Barbaro

I'll check the websites regularly from now. I'm sure it takes time to ensure the FBI is processing it right.

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Dixie

Reba when they were arrested all personal effects were likely confiscated so when they were taken into custody they had to ask for another Koran and a prayer rug from an approved source, as their own are probably part of the contents taken from the initial search warrant as evidence. That is entirely possible.

But as for everything else it does look very suspicious. The news keeps saying that Chertoff keeps saying he has a gut feeling that something is up since we have not been under attack in recent years (since 9/11)

They keep looking primarily at the airports, but I am more concerned about an attack on a major US highway such as I-40 near a large metropolitan area, somewhere they could incur alot of damage and damage part of the infrastructure that allows people and goods to move across the country. I would say where a good hit w\could take place but I dont want to give any lurking terrorists any ideas.

As for the laptop that does make me curious especially if he did close it quickly when he got stopped. They likely could have taken the laptop as well as evidence in the search warrant. When they go to court the laptop will come up.

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Reba

I found out today that their local lawyer is Andy Savage. He has a reputation around here for defending "lost causes", such as drunk drivers who are caught in the act. He takes a lot of the cases that no one else will touch. He is well known in this area.

Buffalo

Unfortunately, as long as there is Al Qaeda and the likes, this is not an isolated incident.

Reba

Update:

Explosive indictment

Florida college students could face prison if convicted
By James Scott
The Post and Courier
Saturday, September 1, 2007

Florida college students could face prison if convicted

A federal grand jury in Tampa indicted two University of South Florida students, arrested last month during a traffic stop in Goose Creek, on charges of transporting explosives without a permit, according to a copy of the indictment unsealed Friday.

One of the men also is charged with distributing information about building and using an explosive device, a terrorism-related charge, but authorities wouldn't say if the students planned to use the explosives in an attack.

Ahmed Mohamed and Youssef Megahed face a maximum of 10 years in prison if convicted of transporting explosives. Mohamed also faces a possible 20 years in prison if convicted of distributing information about explosives.

Berkeley County sheriff's investigators arrested the two Egyptian men after discovering what was described as a pipe bomb in the trunk of their car during a traffic stop Aug. 4 on U.S. Highway 176 near the Charleston Naval Weapons Station in Goose Creek. Authorities, who also seized a laptop computer, charged the men two days later in state court with possession of explosives.

Federal authorities shared little new information on the charges Friday, declining to comment beyond what was contained in the three-page indictment. When asked if the men were involved in planning a terrorism attack, U.S. Department of Justice Spokesman Bryan Sierra said only that "no plot was alleged in the indictment."

"Anytime you have an explosives charge like this there is a reason for concern," said Sierra, who declined to characterize or comment on the nature of the charges. "It merited further investigation."

Charleston attorney Lionel Lofton, who was retained Wednesday to represent Mohamed, said his client planned to plead not guilty. Lofton also said he has not yet had access to the evidence against his client, who remains in the Berkeley County jail along with Megahed.

"They are very serious charges, and we take them very seriously," Lofton said. "I don't believe he has done anything wrong. Based on my review of everything to date, I don't think there is a criminal violation."

Attorney Andy Savage, who represents Megahed, also said that he was disappointed that authorities had not shared any of the evidence, which he requested immediately after the arrest. "They have been playing their cards close to the chest," said Savage, adding that he hoped people would reserve judgment. "We're in for a fight."

...Ninth Circuit Solicitor Scarlett Wilson said she expected her office to dismiss state charges and turn over prosecution to federal attorneys. Like the others, she declined to comment on the specifics of the evidence, including the amount of explosives found in the car.

"There's no scientific definition of a pipe bomb," Wilson said. "The issue for us was whether or not they were designed to propel material in the air or to explode. That required a testing of the materials in the devices and also a replication of the devices."

Kevin McDonald, spokesman with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Columbia, said the case involved coordination between authorities in South Carolina, Florida and Washington. McDonald would not comment on the evidence or the charges, noting only that the charges are felonies.

After their arrest, the men told authorities they were on a weekend road trip to North Carolina. They said the devices in their trunk were made from fireworks purchased from a Wal-Mart, but Berkeley County Sheriff Wayne DeWitt has said the devices were not fireworks.

The indictments come after searches of a home in a Tampa suburb, where authorities carried away items belonging to Mohamed, as well as a storage facility and a park. This week, the grand jury, which has been hearing testimony in the case, sent a subpoena to Savage's office for DNA and hair samples from Megahed.

More information could come out during a court hearing for the men, possibly as early as next week.

Mohamed was described by federal authorities as a graduate student studying civil engineering at the University of South Florida. He also is described as being either 24 or 26 years old and a teaching assistant at the University of South Florida. Megahed, 21, was described as an engineering student.

Megahed is being held on $300,000 bail. Mohamed's bail is $500,000.

DeWitt said he expected the two to be moved eventually to the Navy brig in Hanahan, where federal enemy combatants have been held, but so far no federal authorities had been in touch with him about it.

DeWitt said the two men are in cells by themselves, separated from the general population, but have had some contact with each other at times, including during mandated yard exercise.

"They haven't had a lot to say," DeWitt said. "They haven't given us any problems."

Explosive indictment