SC Bombing-Scare Suspects Charged With Felonies; Could Get 2 To 15 Years For Explosives-Related Crimes

This doesn't mean it's terrorism related -- seriously, I'm not being sarcastic. It just means they are charged with (allegedly) the illegal transport and possession of controlled explosives.

Does make it a bit more interesting, though.

DeWitt said the men were pulled over Saturday night on U.S. Highway 176 while driving more than 60 mph in a 45-mph zone. When an officer approached the car, he saw one of them men fold a laptop computer, which the officer believed was suspicious, DeWitt said.

The officer asked them if he could search the car, which the men agreed to. When he asked if there was anything in the car he should know about, the men said there were fireworks in the trunk.

DeWitt declined to say this morning exactly what was found in the trunk. However, the FBI has already said the men are not suspected of orchestrating a terrorist plot.

And an Islamic community leader from Tampa, Fla., who’s been in touch with the families of the two detained college students, told The Post and Courier that Megahed and Mohamed are not troublemakers and that they a were simply on a weekend trip to North Carolina.

Ahmed Bedier, executive director of the Tampa chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a civil rights organization for Muslims, said family members have told him they think the materials were leftover fireworks Megahed kept in his trunk since July 4.

“Both of them are really naïve kids,” Bedier said.

He said Megahed is a permanent legal resident of the United States and Mohamed was the passenger. Mohamed’s legal status is not known.

“There’s a lot of unanswered questions,” Bedier said.

Terrorism is neither ruled in nor ruled out. It could just be the guys had fireworks -- illegal, sure, but hardly something to worry much about.

The FBI is reviewing all the evidence to decide what exactly is going on here.

It's pretty hard for us citizens to even know what to make of this when they won't even clarify if these were true explosives, or fireworks, or somewhere in between (e.g., a sufficient enough of high-powered fireworks which could be used, powder collected and combined, to make pipe-bombs or such).

I'm guessing it's that latter possibility. The claims of "fireworks" seem to be going uncontradicted, so I'm thinking the "explosives" are, in fact, fireworks. But perhaps they're "fireworks" in this sense -- cannisters of "firework" gunpowder which pack a significant punch, and could be used, in quantity, to make a weak-end explosive device. And now the FBI is wrestling over quantity and the likely intention that that quantity may imply.

Thanks to dri.

Nothing To See Here Folks, Move On: Just a couple of young male Muslim engineering students from a campus known to be infested with Hamas terrorist sympathizers.

The two are engineering students at the University of South Florida's campus at Tampa — the same school where Prof. Sami al-Arian, while a computer science professor USF's College of Engineering, was running an outpost of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organization.

In all likelihood they were just up to some Animal House type prankery, like blowing up a faculty mixer with Dean Wormer and all his Zionist Jew buddies. Like, I don't know, maybe "Boone" Schoenstein was supposed to be there for some reason.

Hijinks.

Thanks to Drew. In all seriousness, it's hardly proof. This is something the FBI is going to have to weigh in making its conclusions.

posted by Ace at 01:57 PM

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