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| QUOTE | Mass. man accused of plot to kill shoppers, troops
By DENISE LAVOIE (AP) – 1 day ago
BOSTON — Tarek Mehanna grew up in Boston's upscale suburbs, earned a doctorate in pharmacology, taught religion and math at a Muslim middle school and was considered a typical American kid by those who knew him. Yet Mehanna, who had Egyptian and U.S. citizenship, told a friend he felt out of place in America, according to documents filed in court. And prosecutors say he used his hostility toward this country in a plot to kill U.S. troops in Iraq, assassinate top politicians and shoot down shoppers in U.S. malls.
Mehanna, 27, was arrested early Wednesday at his parents' home in Sudbury, an affluent town around 20 miles west of Boston. He was charged with conspiring with two others — Ahmad Abousamra, an American now in Syria, and an unidentified man who is cooperating with authorities — to support terrorism.
Ultimately, the trio never came close to pulling off an attack. Authorities say they never got the terrorist training they sought. The men told friends they were turned down because of their nationality, ethnicity or inexperience, or that the people they'd hoped would get them into such camps were either in jail or on a religious pilgrimage.
They abandoned the mall attack plans after their weapons contact said he could find only handguns, not automatic weapons, authorities said.
Mehanna's friends were shocked to see him depicted him as a would-be terrorist.
"He's not going to go crazy in a mall. There's no way he would do something like that," said Rola Yaghmour, 20, of Shrewsbury. "I read it and I was laughing, and I was like, 'They have to be kidding.' Because there's no way he would do something like that. It makes no sense."
Dr. Abdul Cader Asmal, a family friend who was president of the Islamic Center of Boston in Wayland when Mehanna was a middle school student attending weekly religious education classes, remembered him because they shared an interest in Superman. He said Mehanna would bring comics to show in class.
"He looked like a fun-loving, ordinary, typical American kid," said Asmal, an internist at Massachusetts General Hospital. "Certainly there was no hint at all that there was anything at all that would go awry in his behavior at that point."
Mehanna, who has taught math and religion at Alhuda Academy in Worcester, made a defiant appearance in federal court Wednesday. He refused at first to stand when the charge of conspiring to support terrorism was read against him but finally stood — tossing his chair loudly to the floor — after his father urged him to do so.
"This really, really is a show," said his father, Ahmed Mehanna, a professor at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy, where his son earned a doctorate in 2008. When asked if he believed the charges after his son was led away in handcuffs, he said, "No, definitely not."
According to authorities, a friend of Mehanna's who is cooperating with the investigation but is not accused of participating in the alleged plot said Mehanna told him it was "unfathomable" that the United States has military bases in the "heart of the Muslim world" and that the "land of Mohammad ... is being used as a military base to attack Muslims."
Mehanna also told the friend that in the United States he feels "like a fish out of water," according to an affidavit filed in court.
Prosecutors say Mehanna and his friends used code words such as "peanut butter and jelly" for fighting in Somalia and "culinary school" for terrorist camps, and talked extensively of their desire to "die on the battlefield."
He was allegedly part of a conspiracy between 2001 and 2008 that intended to "kill, kidnap, maim or injure" soldiers and two politicians who were members of the executive branch but are no longer in office. Authorities refused to identify the politicians, who they said were never in danger.
Acting U.S. Attorney Michael Loucks said the men justified the planned attacks on malls because U.S. civilians pay taxes to support the government and are "nonbelievers," Loucks said. He refused to identify the targeted malls.
"I'm confident that the American people will put aside their fears and instead rely on the fairness guaranteed by our Constitution," said Mehanna's attorney, J.W. Carney Jr. "Mr. Mehanna is entitled to that."
Mehanna first was arrested in November and charged with lying to the FBI in December 2006 when asked the whereabouts of Daniel Maldonado, who is now serving a 10-year prison sentence for training with al-Qaida to overthrow the Somali government.
Authorities said Wednesday that Mehanna and the other alleged conspirators had contacted Maldonado about getting automatic weapons for their planned mall attacks, but he told them he could only get handguns.
Court documents filed by the government say that in 2002, Abousamra became frustrated after repeatedly being rejected to join terror groups in Pakistan — first Lashkar e Tayyiba, then the Taliban.
"Because Abousamra was an Arab (not Pakistani) the LeT camp would not accept him, and because of Abousamra's lack of experience, the Taliban camp would not accept him," Williams wrote in the affidavit.
Mehanna and Abousamra traveled to Yemen in 2004 in an attempt to join a terrorist training camp, according to court documents.
Mehanna allegedly told a friend, the third conspirator who is now cooperating with authorities, that their trip was a failure because they were unable to reach people affiliated with the camps.
Abousamra said a terror group rejected him when he sought training in Iraq because he was American, according to authorities.
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| QUOTE | Tamer Mehanna (Boston, MA) wrote at 02:47 on 22 October 2009
Background:
Tariq Mehanna is a 27 year old Muslim Egyptian American born and raised in the United States. Highly educated, Tariq holds a doctorate in pharmacy from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy. He is a devout and tolerant Muslim who is not only respected in the local Islamic and interfaith communities, but who also gives back to his Islamic community by fulfilling the roles of brother, educator, mentor, scholar, and friend. Tariq is described by those who know him well as humble, reserved, warm, peaceful, intelligent, knowledgeable, reflective, pragmatic, dedicated, and straightforward. He is a person with strong ethical values who refuses to compromise on them regardless of the circumstances. It is unfortunate then that this customarily admirable trait plays a role in his current situation.
Several years ago, the Boston FBI began to approach Tariq. They recognized that he was a religious Muslim who was active in the local Islamic community, had earned the respect of many, and was beloved to the youth. The FBI recognized in Tariq an individual who is intelligent, charismatic, influential and trusted by many in the local Islamic community. They decided that they wanted Tariq on their side, and began to approach him in an effort to recruit him as an informant. Their objective was to secure Tariq as a tool to corroborate any FBI claims or accusations against members of the community that might arise, at the discretion of the FBI. Of course, Tariq flat out refused to backstab his fellow Muslim brothers and sisters, a decision that did not sit well at all with the FBI.
The FBI then proceeded to repeatedly approach Tariq over the coming months, each time pressuring him more and more to collaborate with them. This pressure most often came in the form of blackmail; Tariq was told that unless he consented to cooperating with the FBI, they would continue finding new ways to disrupt his life and to deprive him of a sense of security. He was told outright by interrogators that they knew he was innocent, but that they would not be satisfied with his refusal to cooperate. Regardless of whether their methods were unethical, coercive, or failed to respect his civil rights, the FBI were quite fortunate in catching an opportunity to arrest Tariq in 2008 based on a weak accusation of issuing "false statements" to a federal officer. After two months of imprisonment, his court-appointed attorney, Jay Carney, jr., was able to negotiate a bail settlement of $1,250,000. Tariq was subsequently released after this absurdly inflated amount was paid by his parents, who were desperate to have him return home safely.
Tariq did return home for nearly a year, living a quiet life, restricted by a court-ordered curfew, and monitored by FBI investigators. In the meantime, the case against him, based on "false testimony" charges, began to stagnate, and court dates were far and in between with no advances made by the FBI. Over time, the Mehanna family began to finally feel a sense of restored normalcy and stability in their lives. This feeling was suddenly and violently shattered during the fajr hours of September 21st, 2009, when FBI agents showed up at the Mehanna home doorstep at 5:00AM in the morning. Despite the lack of ANY new evidence since the prior arrest, the agents came with an arrest warrant. According to Dr. Ahmed Mehanna, Tariq's father, the agents were visibly excited and enthusiastic about their invasion of the Mehanna private household and the seizure and arrest of Tariq. The situation facing Tariq now is one where his second arrest means that there is no chance for bail. Tariq is currently incarcerated at the Plymouth Correctional Facility, where he is expected to remain for the several year duration of a new trial based on outright FALSE AND LUDICROUSE accusations of aiding and abetting terrorism. He currently faces LIFE IN PRISON if convicted guilty in a trial by grand jury. We must offer our greatest support and most dedicated effort if there is to be hope of Tariq's release. Thank you for taking the time to read this history, and we are confident that you will share our knowledge of Tariq's innocence. In addition, it is our sincere hope that the United States justice system remain true to its "innocent until proven guilty" origins, and for Tariq to receive a fair and just trial. |
| QUOTE | Father: Terror label will stick
By Laura Crimaldi
Friday, October 23, 2009
The father of a Sudbury man accused of plotting a murderous jihad in shopping malls lamented yesterday the terrorist scar tattooed on his family may never heal.
“I cannot defend my son’s name,” said Ahmed S. Mehanna, father of accused terrorist Tarek A. Mehanna.
He told the Herald he moved to Sudbury because of the American rule of law - which he’s now banking on for his 27-year-old son.
“I do believe in the justice system in the United States. We are looking forward to the truth coming out,” he said.
Tarek Mehanna is being held without bail on charges he provided material support to terrorists. Federal investigators allege Mehanna, Ahmad Absoumra and a government informant planned to kill civilians at a mall and assassinate two members of the executive branch of the federal goverment.
The case against Mehanna relies in part on statements from Daniel J. Maldonado, who is serving 10 years in prison on charges he received terrorism training from al-Qaeda in Somalia.
In December 2006, Maldonado called Mehanna from Somalia to encourage him to join him by using code words such as “culinary school” and “peanut butter and jelly” to discuss jihad training, an affidavit said.
A federal Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman said she has no public record of Maldonado, who was sentenced in 2007.
On the Web site MyUmmah.co.za, Maldonado supporters give an address for him at the Federal Detention Center in Houston.
“He didn’t do anything,” said his father, Jose Maldonado, of Londonderry, N.H. “We live a peaceful life here. I don’t need to open the wounds.”
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3 men accused of plot to bomb shopping malls, Mehanna, Abousamra & FBI informer
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