Life For America-Based Terrorist "Scholar" Inciting And Soliciting Jihadists

Let 'em rot:

“I will not admit guilt nor seek the court’s mercy. I do this simply because I am innocent,� al-Timimi said.

Prosecutors said the defendant, a native U.S. citizen who has an international following in some Muslim circles, wielded enormous influence among a group of young Muslim men in northern Virginia who played paintball games in 2000 and 2001. Authorities said they were a “Virginia jihad network� training for holy war around the globe.

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Nine members of the group have been convicted and sentenced for their roles in the conspiracy, with prison terms ranging from three years to life.

Al-Timimi’s lawyers argued that their client merely suggested that Muslims may want to leave the United States after Sept. 11 because of the potential for a backlash against them.

But he was accused of telling a group of young Muslim men just days after the attack that an apocalyptic battle between Muslims and nonbelievers was at hand and that Muslims were obligated to engage in holy war. He told the group that defense of the Taliban was a requirement and that U.S. troops were a legitimate target, according to court testimony.

Several of the men who heard Al-Timimi’s speech traveled days later to Pakistan and began training with a militant Islamic group called Lashkar-e-Taiba, officials said. Some testified that their goal was to obtain training that would allow them to fight alongside the Taliban, though none actually made it to Afghanistan.

To put it into terms a libertarian can understand: Your rights extend only as far as the blast-radius of your homemade suicide-bomb.

posted by Ace at 12:34 PM

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