Remember those two Egyptian ‘students’ from the University of South Florida in the news back on August 4th? They were stopped for speeding in South Carolina and were not heading in the direction they said they were going. They were headed in the direction of two sensitive areas of national security, a Navy base where nuclear warheads are loaded onto submarines and another military base where some former Guantanamo prisoners are being held.
Well, surprise surprise, they were indicted on terrorism-related charges relating to explosives and explosive training.
So much for the FBI warnings that University of Sami’s (Al-Arian) Friends a/k/a University of South Florida students Ahmed Abda Sherf Mohamed and Yousef Samir Megahed–the Smiling Mugshot “Just Fireworks” Muslim terrorists–were not terrorists.
Two Egyptian students at the University of South Florida who were arrested in South Carolina have been indicted on federal charges for carrying explosives across states lines. One of the men also is charged with teaching the other how to use the material for violent reasons.
H/T Debbie Schlussel for the update.
They claimed the explosives found in their car were fireworks. They were not fireworks in the trunk. Their names are Ahmed Abdellatif Sherif Mohamed, 24, and Youssef Samir Megahed, 21. If you are into profiling, one might guess that these two are Muslim, not that there’s anything wrong with that. And you would be right. According to Megahed’s mother, Muslims are not into terrorism. She is obviously among the 69% of Muslims in America that reject terrorism. Unfortunately for her, and us, her son is among the 31% of Muslims that don’t.
Mariam Megahed read a prepared statement, “We have a high regard for honor, so breaking the law or bringing harm to anyone is not something that we as Muslims support.”
Note: Pensacola, FL, Pensacola News Journal link.
Update: 09/04/07, State of South Carolina drops charges on the two, deferring to a federal prosecution on their federal indictment.
