New Terror Indictment - Homegrown conspiracy

The US Department of Justice announced yesterday that "Seven individuals have been charged with conspiring to provide material support to terrorists and conspiring to murder, kidnap, maim and injure persons abroad."

All the defendants are charged with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, as well as conspiracy to murder, kidnap, maim and injure persons abroad. In addition, Daniel Boyd, Hysen Sherifi and Zakariya Boyd are each charged with possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. Daniel Boyd and Dylan Boyd are also each charged with selling a firearm to a convicted felon. Finally, Daniel Boyd is also charged with receiving a firearm through interstate commerce and two counts of making false statements in a terrorism investigation.

The full press release, the indictment is sealed, can be found here. Let's see what develops.

St. Petersburg Times Sacrifices Accuracy - Once Again

Reporter Meg Laughlin has been covering the twisted case of Dr. Sami Al-Arian for many years. Al-Arian first came to the public eye in 1995 when his computers and other records were seized in a November raid in connection with terrorism allegations.

After years of seeming government disinterest, Al-Arian was put on trial. Acquitted of most counts, Al-Arian pleaded guilty to "conspiracy to make or receive contributions of funds, goods or services to or for the benefit of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a Specially Dedicated Terrorist..." (Read the full Plea Agreement.)

Called to testify before a grand jury in a non-related terrorism case, Al-Arian refused and standing trial for contempt. Among the issues to be resolved is whether his plea agreement exempted him from further cooperation with the government. Demonstrations on behalf of Al-Arian have been frequent. He draws his supporters from the far left fringes of society. Under the guise of protecting Al-Arian's rights, his supporters quickly turn to the Palestinian cause and Israel's "occupation of Palestine." Nonetheless, the trial has begun.

While reporting on the case today, Ms. Laughlin writes, "in May 2006, Al-Arian pleaded guilty to helping associates of the terrorist group Palestinian Islamic Jihad with immigration issues." I think the language of the plea agreement disproves that statement.

One of the purposes of this blog is to seek honesty in reporting. It's a never ending challenge. I wish it weren't.

Read Laughlin's report here.

Sami Al-Arian - About to catch a break?

Admitted terror supporter Sami Al-Arian might catch a break next month when a court rules on a motion to dismiss contempt charges. Al-Arian's request is based upon the prosecutor's strengthening of the plea agreement Al-Arian signed in connection with his admitted support of Islamic Jihad, a violent terror group responsible for the murder of many dozens of civilians in Israel.

Of course, Al-Arian's release is hypothetical at this time and is being drummed up by his supporters.

According to the Tampa Bay Tribune report,

Charles Rose, a law professor at Stetson University, said if he were Al-Arian's attorney, he would have strongly advised him not to testify with the immunity order he was given. The order put Al-Arian at high risk of criminal prosecution, no matter what he did, Rose said.

"This was in no way done for the benefit of the defendant," Rose said.

One reason is that obstruction of justice is not a clearly defined crime, Rose said. Prosecutors have a lot of leeway in deciding when to bring such charges. With obstruction of justice added to the immunity order, the prosecutor could decide Al-Arian was obstructing justice if the prosecutor didn't like Al-Arian's testimony before the grand jury.

The court is expected to rule on Al-Arian's request in mid-January 2009.

Holy Land Foundation - New York Times Coverage

The New York Times has weighed in with its coverage of the guilty verdicts announced yesterday in the Holy Land Foundation trial in which the purported charity and its officers were found guilty of providing aid and support to Hamas. See sidebar for more information on Hamas. Read Five Convicted in Terrorism Financing Trial.

The defendants and their supporters (of which there are many) maintain that all work of Holy Land Foundation was for charitable purposes, or in the words of one supporter, it

“simply provided food, clothes, shelter, medical supplies and education to the suffering people in Palestine and other countries."

What this naivete conveniently overlooks is that the main objective of Hamas is the destruction of a democratic country, Israel, through any means possible, including murdering its civilian citizens. Holy Land Foundation's contribution of money to Hamas for charitable and welfare purposes overlooks the fact that other Hamas resources were thereby freed to be used in the group's horrific acts of terror.

Holy Land Foundation Verdict - Islamic Charity Guilty of Supporting Hamas

The Holy Land Foundation trial ended today with guilty verdicts on 108 counts.
According to the Associated Press,

U.S. District Judge Jorge A. Solis announced the guilty verdicts on all 108 counts on the eighth day of deliberations in the retrial of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, once the nation's largest Muslim charity. It was the biggest terrorism financing case since the attacks of Sept. 11.

The trial gives the United States a victory in its domestic war against terrorism after suffering setbacks over the last three years. In addition to the corporation, five officers were found guilty.

As previously noted by this writer, terrorism trials are difficult by their very nature and made more so considering that much information was developed during the Clinton Administration but not acted upon until the Bush Administration.

Dirty Money to an American University - What is George Mason University Thinking?

The Washington Times reports today that "George Mason University is expanding its Islamic studies program with a $1.5 million grant from a Northern Virginia-based think thank still operating under the cloud of a six-year federal terrorism investigation." The donor is the International Institute for Islamic Thought.

The IIIT's Northern Virginia center was among 14 homes and offices raided by federal agencies in March 2002 in an attempt to disrupt domestic financing for global terrorism. The raids - known as Operation Green Quest - resulted in 21 search warrants, 12 arrests, four indictments and the seizure of about $10.3 million smuggled into the United States, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

What gives with GMU? Temple University received the same offer earlier in 2008 and saw the sense in distancing itself from the IIIT which is suspected of supporting admitted terror sponsor Sami Al-Arian's efforts with World and Islam Studies Institute at the University of South Florida to support Islamic Jihad's activities in the Middle East, especially targeting Israeli civilians.

Wake up GMU. When you lie down with.....

Sami Al-Arian -- The Lies Continue

The supporters of Palestinian terror sponsor Sami Al-Arian have had a busy winter and spring. These friends of Sami are promoting two aspects of Al-Arian’s life, first, his incarceration in Federal prison, and, second, a film about his trial, “USA vs. Al-Arian.”

Al-Arian remains in prison today because of his refusal to testify in other terrorism cases which led to his being held in contempt of court. (His supporters fail to mention that Al-Arian admitted and pleaded guilty to supporting Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a vicious terror organization.) But you wouldn’t know that if you relied solely on the press releases and “news stories” put out by his friends and the film. Instead of admitting that Al-Arian has been found to be in contempt of court, his friends claim he was subpoenaed “to testify before a grand jury in Virginia, even though as part of his plea bargain, Al-Arian had said he would not testify against anyone else. Al-Arian was then found in contempt of the grand jury so that he could be held up to 18 months before he could resume serving his original sentence. This is a ploy that can be used repeatedly Charles Reese

I’ll need someone to point out to me where in the Al-Arian Plea Agreement you find the government agreeing that Al-Arian is not required to testify in other cases.

As for USA vs. Al-Arian, it follows the same twisted thinking as other articles and stories about Al-Arian.

Al-Arian’s biggest crime is the one of chutzpa, you can look it up. It reminds me of the story of the man who kills his parents and then asks the judge for leniency because he’s an orphan.

In my book, the sooner Al-Arian finishes his contempt sentence and is deported from the United States of America, the better off we’ll all be.