3 Arrested on Terrorism Charges in Mich.

[Rose Siding]

snip>
(police Sgt. Dale Stevenson) said the men, ages 18, 22 and 23, went to a 24-hour Wal-Mart store in Caro early Friday and bought the cell phones despite a store policy limiting customers to three phones per purchase. A Wal-Mart clerk who thought the purchases were suspicious alerted police.
...
Police stopped the men's van about 1:30 a.m. and found nearly 1,000 phones, most of which were prepaid TracFones, along with a laptop computer and a bag of receipts, Stevenson said.

The men told police they were buying the phones, which cost about $20 and come with a charger, taking them out of their packaging and selling them for about $38 without the charger.
...
Defense lawyers said Houssaiky and Abulhassan planned to resell the phones simply to make money and the flight information consisted of old papers left in the car by a relative who worked at an airport.

"The only illusory connection advanced by the prosecution to date is based on race and national origin," Abulhassan's family said in a statement. "This appears to be a typical case of racial profiling and we are confident Osama and Ali will be exonerated."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/11/AR2006081101518.html

[MysteryToMyself]

1. That could be true

A Walmart checker here told my daughter that a lot of people buy phones and resale them to people that won't shop Wal-mart at double the price.

[Rose Siding]

2. It's a toss up; terrorism or capitalism?

Arrest now, think later. What would terrorists do with that many phones all at once, anyway?

[C_U_L8R]

3. now this could even be fascism

whattaya know

[leesa]

18. If they were Congress Critters they would probably get a Committee

Chair position for that kind of Wheelin' Dealin'.

[creeker]

25. Don't they want the chargers?

[WCGreen]

4. So being an entrepreneur is now equated with terrorism....

[MSchreader]

6. Only if you're non-white

In Caro, Michigan!

Martin

[WCGreen]

7. I guess dat be da hizzle wit' da dizzle.....

Or what ever....

I am sure you are correct...

[creeker]

26. If they want to make money---- WHY OPEN THEM?

why not take them to Dallas and sell them UNOPENED?

[mr_hat]

5. Whew! That's only like... How many cell phones short of?... Um...

Close one!

[longship]

8. Terror???? No!

How could this be terror without a plot?
What were they gonna do? Throw them at people?

Selling cell phones is not terrorism.

Apparently you can use shampoo for terrorist attacks. Are we going to start arresting people with Arab sounding names for terrorism for buying shampoo?

I'm calling fucking bollocks on this!

[evox]

21. i second that... n/t

[jdadd]

9. Hmmmmm

MARIETTA, Ohio (AP) -- Two men were charged Wednesday with money laundering in support of terrorism after authorities said they found airplane passenger lists and information on airport security checkpoints in their car.

Deputies stopped Osama Sabhi Abulhassan, 20, and Ali Houssaiky, 20, both of Dearborn, Michigan, on a traffic violation Tuesday. They found the flight documents along with $11,000 cash and 12 phones in the car, said Washington County Sheriff Larry Mincks./snip

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/08/10/terrorcharges.ohio.ap/index.html?section=cnn_topstories&ref=google


The arrests in Caro, about 90 miles north of Detroit, come three days after two men were arrested in Marietta, Ohio, where police said they piqued suspicions when they acknowledged buying about 600 phones in recent months at stores in southeast Ohio.


OOps different case....I posted this before checking the story from the link on the origional post.

[MysteryToMyself]

10. Mercy

Cell phones can be used to set off their bombs. If it is terrorists with those 600 phones we are in trouble!

[Ian David]

11. Pre-paid, untracable "disposable" cell phones.

Still, this is a little flimsy.

[leesa]

19. Remember the white guys from Texas caught inside the nuc facility with

about $10,000 in cash. They were traced back to some rich white guy and the media was like, "Never mind, Move Along. Nothing to see here."

[NYC]

28. I remember that.

There was one follow up story, and then it disappeared.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2236825

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=983040&mesg_id=983040

That's all I have on it.

[lgn19087]

12. Yet more innocent pawns

Those poor people...someday, something will push the American people over the edge and they will be fed up with it. America cannot be blind to the unashamed fascism at work in our governemnt.

On second thought, it's entirely possible that this was a setup, that GOP operatives recruited these guys, told them they would get ten grand in cash when it was all over. I bet they very quietly get released in a few weeks...

[Vidar]

13. I agree;a setup is very likely. Welcome to DU.

[lgn19087]

14. Thank you! nm

nm

[creeker]

27. oh yes----- got your tinfoil hat on? even I am not so paranoid---

And thats saying something

[eachsmallcandle]

15. well

at least now we know brown people shouldn't purchase TracFones from Wal-Mart.

[HuffleClaw]

16. and THREE more

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060812/NEWS99/60812002an

"Three Texas men were arraigned Saturday in Caro on felony terrorism charges after police found about 1,000 cell phones in their van in the Thumb region of Michigan..."


and the prosecutor has since decided they were part of a PLOT to attack the mackinac bridge! (with not one shred of evidence of course)

http://keyetv.com/topstories/local_story_224213746.html

"Investigators believe the men were targeting the five-mile-long Mackinac Bridge, which connects Michigan's Upper and Lower peninsulas..."

what a complete and utter disgrace. history is going to look back on these years with a very stern eye indeed.

[kittenpants]

17. Did they purchase any liquids or gels with those phones?

oh dear, down to the bomb shelter. :rolleyes:

[ScreamingMeemie]

20. This will happen...over and over again... in Michigan.

Having the largest ME population outside of the ME makes me very sad for my neighbors.

Starting with the owner of La Shish and all the way down the line, it will get worse and worse for these people-the profiling.

My mother works for a major bank and her branch is located in Dearborn. Already, they have "special agent" types hanging around daily, eyeing the customers...who just happen to be Arab Americans living their lives.

[knitter4democracy]

24. I feel bad for him, too.

LaShish is the best restaurant I've been to in a long time. Whenever we go to the Detroit area, we always make sure to eat at one of their restaurants. We did yesterday, in fact.

Did you see the tag on the news last night that they might have been targeting the Mackinaw Bridge? Yeah right. :eyes: It's such an important bridge with all that commercial traffic and is a major symbol of American power. Whatever. I'm calling bs on this whole story.

I just wish they'd leave our state alone.

[High Plains]

22. I would like to know the basis for arresting these guys.

Possession of cell phones?

If I were these guys, I would be working on my false arrest lawsuit already.

[RaRa]

23. My brother is the attorney for one of these guys

I need to check in with him, although I doubt he will be able to talk much about this - I think he needs to be careful about his phone conversations. I warned my mom already.