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| Home Front: WoT |
| Three convicted in NC terror trial |
| 2011-10-14 |
| A federal jury has convicted three North Carolina Muslims of plotting to attack unspecified targets overseas, as well as the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Va., in what prosecutors called a case of "homegrown terrorism." Omar Aly Hassan, 22, Ziyad Yaghi, 21, and Hysen Sherifi, 24, were convicted Thursday of providing material support for terrorists. Yaghi and Sherifi were also convicted of conspiring to kill, kidnap or maim unspecified people overseas; Hassan was acquitted on the conspiracy charge. Prosecutors in the trial said the men traveled overseas, raised money and trained with weapons in the service of a jihadist plot to kill perceived enemies of Islam. Defense lawyers said evidence presented in court did not show the defendants discussing or agreeing to any specific attack. The government collected 750 hours of audio and video that included conversations between the defendants and three paid FBI informants; in those conversations, the defendants discussed jihad and their hatred for non-Muslims. Friends and family members who attended the trial said there was selective prosecution of Muslims. Hassan's father, Aly Hassan, said that the trial had been "a long nightmare." "Every single witness came out and said they never conspired with my son," Hassan said. "Conspiracy is a very elastic word." Outside the courtroom, Sherifi's mother shouted, "Racist vultures!" Mauri Saalakhan, director of an Islamic organization called the Peace Thru Justice Foundation, said the convicted men were victims of guilt by association. He called the undercover informants "provocateurs" who entrapped them. Eight men were indicted in the case in 2009. Their accused leader, U.S.-born Daniel Boyd, a Muslim convert, testified for the government in a plea deal. So did his sons, Daniel Boyd, 24, and Zakariya Boyd, 21. They are to be sentenced later. A trial for the seventh defendant, Anes Subasic, has not been scheduled. The eighth defendant, Jude Kenan Mohammad, is a fugitive. Prosecutors named no specific places, times or dates for attacks, except for a potential attack on the Marine base in Quantico. The elder Daniel Boyd had visited the base, and he and Sherifi had discussed its vulnerability to an attack on Marines and their families. Sherifi was also convicted of conspiring to kill members of the U.S. military and weapons violations. In court, prosecutors displayed a stockpile of almost two dozen guns and 27,000 rounds of ammunition taken from a bunker under Daniel Boyd's home; they also played tapes of the defendants praising jihadist publications. Defense lawyers said the defendants were foolish young men who made "stupid'' and offensive comments but did not commit any crimes. Hassan and Yaghi are U.S. citizens. Sherifi, a Kosovo native, is a legal permanent U.S. resident. Sentencing is scheduled to take place in 90 days. |
| Posted by:ryuge |