Update: More Curious Details Emerge In SC Case

Update: One suspect's Father goes on the record - video here. Broken English: "We are come to this continent because America is the leader of the world to live in peace. But they hang everything upon us."

Update: According to video top right here, the Feds have moved to put a hold on the SC suspects as regards their immigration status, which means even if they do make bond they would be transferred to Federal Prison instead of being released. Also, even if cleared of any current charges, they could be deported depending on the outcome of that process. Also court documents specifically state "several pipe bombs" were in the trunk of their vehicle.

While the FBI has now seized home computers and Wal-Mart security tape in the investigation into Yousseff Samir Megahed and Ahmed Abda Mohamed h/t Rusty, it seems one as yet unidentified roommate left the country on Monday, after the investigation had begun. It's unclear if the FBI has been able to identify the individual, or if they even want to talk to him in the case. I suspect they may, as he seems pivotal given this latest report.

Ishtay, who rents a Temple Terrace house and works at Boston Market, said he met Mohamed and Megahed through a roommate. He said he didn't know the roommate's last name, but he was from Mauritania.

Another of Ishtay's roommates, Ghassan Salhab, 27, said the man from Mauritania moved here from Canada recently and returned there Monday.

Meanwhile, another spokesperson has emerged for the boys. M. Nachabe, who would appear to be Mahmood Nachabe. In perhaps an unfortunate coincidence, Nachabe has the distinction of being listed in the same Engineering College Faculty catalog as the now infamous Sami al-Arian.

"They know their son is innocent," said M. Nachabe, faculty adviser for student Mohamed, after speaking by telephone with the man's parents in Egypt.

Details around the boy's trip remain vague. Blogging archive on the case here.

It remained unclear Tuesday exactly why the men were in rural South Carolina or if they had a destination.

Comments

[Fred Fry]

Thanks for the continued coverage.

A timeline of events would really be useful at this point. All I could find was departure from Tampa around midnight Friday and then their arrest Saturday late afternoon. Given the time it takes to drive to Charleston from Tampa, they seem to not waste any time getting into trouble.

The press mentions that they were headed to North Carolina. I think that was probably cover for their planned activity in Charleston. (That is, if they were up to no good.)

[mensablonde]

As I just mentioned on another thread, highly unlikey that our two "boys" were in on this alone.

My thought when hearing about all the activity around the apartment was that the apartment was being used as a "base" (but not a residence) for a larger group of people.

The neighbor mentions numerous deliveries by UPS and other. My guess is that much of what was received at that location was for use by people other than the residents.

One thing which struck me was the demeanor of our "boys." Smiling mug shots. Happy in court. Not the behavior one would expect of someone wrongfully accused of a crime. Also not the behavior one would expect from someone whose well-laid plans were foiled.

For some reason, these men seemed to be quite pleased with themselves. And that is what concerns me most of all.

[Dan Riehl]

"For some reason, these men seemed to be quite pleased with themselves"

They could just be clueless young men, in this case from the Middle East, we have a tendency to let run around America doing whatever they want ... or low level dupes who actually don't know anything.

[mensablonde]

Dan,

Clueless or low-level: I think "clueless" might be an underestimation, but "low-level dupe" might be a strong possibility.

[ollie]

What about? Smug in the fact that they had accomplished something else and were on their way to a cover up or back to where they were from?

One wonders. Conspiracy theories abound...

We need more facts before evaluating this.

[SwampWoman]

I haven't received enough information to even make an educated guess about the probable misconduct or lack of it by these two characters. However, since all Americans have been threatened time and again with violent death by practitioners of a certain religion, keeping them safely under lock and key while this is investigated fully seems to be the prudent thing to do.

As a Floridian, do I believe that there are terrorists amongst us here in the sunshine state? Definitely.

[Fentriss]

So far as I know, making pipe bombs is a federal crime in itself. There is no legitimate reason to possess them.

[Richard R]

I don't have any real detail on the pipe bombs, but it's possible that they were basically home built detonators intended to set off a larger charge of high explosive.

For example, if they were filled with black powder, the worst they would do is make shrapnel. If thy were filled with PETN or triacetone triperoxide (the explosive in Richard Reid's shoes and the one used in the London Subway bombing) it could be used to set off ANOF (Oklahoma City) or slurry explosive (WTC first attack).

They may be smiling because they've been told there's "no link to terrorism" and the Americans believe their "fireworks" story.

[plainslow]

Get an interpreter, now. Do not delay.

[clarice]

Excellent work, Dan!

[Pat]

"They know their son is innocent."

Well, then, release him at once! Because when parents believe that their child is blameless, they are ALWAYS right. No point in examining the evidence any further. If Mom and Dad says he's innocent, that's good enough for me!

[BayouJacques]

"It remained unclear Tuesday exactly why the men were in rural South Carolina or if they had a destination."

To get to Charleston, SC you have to drive through Goose Creek. It's plausible tha these folks we going on a site seeing trip... Carrying pipe bombs should automatically disqualify an immagrant from staying in the country.

[Stopwatch]

I find something eerie about this incident.

About a year ago, I was travelling through South Carolina on I-76 (the N-S highway from Columbia to Charleston)and stopped at an Orangeburg motel, about 70 miles North of Charleston (about 55 miles from Goose Creek). At breakfast in the lobby, were two young men of Arab extraction acting very nervous. One kept looking to the front of the motel, and at almost precisely 7 am a taxi pulled up and picked them up. I found it curious that at a place with no major airport within 50 miles, anyone would would need a taxi for transportation.

I thought about contacting the FBI, but didn't. When I returned to Florida the newspapers carried a story of Detroit area arabs who were buying up in bulk, throwaway cell phones in western Michigan and South Carolina, near Orangeburg. The suspicion was these phones were being purchased for use in Iraq to trigger roadside IEDs. I assumed my experience was related, but it now seems this area may be a hotbed for some other unusual activity.

My question, like yours, is why were these two guys in South Carolina?

[Lightnin' Hopkins]

I also find the carefree grinning a little unnerving. People who are wrongfully suspected of serious crimes simply don't act this way, no matter their cultural background. They freak out and vehemently deny guilt - at the very least they look confused or despondent in court. These guys look like they just hit the lottery. There has to be more to this.

[Pick_Handle]

There is more than meets the eye. We should not allow any more "ME's" into this country, and deport about 99% of the ones already here.

[Phoenix]

Maybe they're grinning because their decoy ploy worked. Speeding in that particular area with just enough stuff in the trunk to raise suspicion and a friendly willingness to let the cops search everything.... I guess we'll know if something happens while our attention is on these guys. Grinning for Allah, you know.

[tom]

Goose Creek ain't rural! It's a suburb 20 min from Charleston, and one with some nice houses and golf courses, too.

[now with floride!]

I have been following this story closely since Sunday night. The most intriguing part from the start has been the lack of coverage from the established alternative media.

I checked Drudge repeatedly for more info. I was certain that it would be the become the headline story any minute now…

As it turned out, this story has NEVER appeared on Drudge. You won’t find any mention on WorldNetDaily. Talk radio? Their airwaves have been largely filled with other topics.

The Jihad Birthday Road Trip ‘07 story has been officially relegated to the “Bloggers Only” pile for some strange reason. Nonetheless, I would like to thank Dan for all of his hard work covering this story. So...Thanks,Dan!

[ER]

CAIR spokesman Ahmed Bedier was just shown on the local news saying that it was "irresponsible for some of those websites"--might that be you?--to suggest these 2 could be involved in terrorism at this point. Me, I think it's Bedier that's the irresponsible one by pulling out the race card at this point without a cause--anyway, granted because of their beards and dark hair they look possibly Muslim, nothing about them makes them look of a particular "race" other than mixed or caucasion or hispanic, it's really not clear. Ideological profiling, perhaps a tad (their names gave a strong hint)--maybe, but racial profiling, no, there's no basis for that irresponsible claim, and Bedier's just engendering empathy from the uninformed masses who like most of us empathize with disparate treatment.

[lgude]

My impression is that the commenters on this thread are showing remarkable restraint - speculating but remembering that we have courts and police to work out what is really going on. While this still may all evaporate into a case of youthful bad judgment and fireworks, there already seems to be clear physical evidence of something more serious. It is important to remember that stereotyping is a real issue. Take the recent example of the Duke lacrosse players where the physical evidence disappeared on closer scrutiny and the miscreant was a publicity seeking official. I doubt that is going on here with the rapid involvement of outside agencies like the FBI who also appear to be taking the matter very seriously. I think what is important is to support our institutions and neither fall into denial that Muslims may be bent of violence, like Brit PM Gordon Brown, nor regard them automatically guilty. It sure will be interesting to watch this one play out so thanks again Dan, for the coverage.