BOSTON.com: "NO BAIL FOR ALLEGED SUDBURY TERROR PLOTTER" by Shelley Murphy and Martin Finucane (SNIPPET: "Prosecutors allege that Mehanna, 27, and a second man, Ahmad Abousamra, 28, formerly of Mansfield, tried to join a terrorist training camp overseas, but were rejected, then plotted to shoot shoppers at a suburban mall, but scrapped the plan because they could not get automatic weapons. They are also accused of plotting to kill two unidentified government officials. Mehanna also allegedly incited violence by translating pro-jihad materials from Arabic to English and posting them on the Web.") (November 18, 2009, 05:46 pm)
INTERNET-HAGANAH.com: "UNDERSTANDING TEREK MEHANNA" (SNIPPET: "What is important to understand about Terek Mehanna is how his online activities - operating his own website, translating key jihadi texts in to English, and distributing videos - were manifestations of his underlying ambition to eventually participate in real-world terrorism, an ambition which is amply demonstrated by the activities described in the criminal complaint against him.") (October 27, 2009)
BOSTON HERALD.com: "TERROR SUSPECT A PHARMACIST, SON OF A PROFESSOR" by Jessica Van Sack and Laura Crimaldi (SNIPPET: "He also maintains a blog at iskandrani.wordpress.com, where he posts English translations of Web pages devoted to influential jihad advocates and spiritual patrons in Afghanistan and Iraq, according to an arrest affidavit. His online blog identity is Abu Sabaaya.") (October 21, 2009)
TERRAPLEXIC.org/Current-Intelligence: "WHEN IDEOLOGUES (PLAN TO) ATTACK" by Marisa Urgo (SNIPPET: "Today, the FBI arrested for a second time Tarek Mehanna, a 27 year old Massachusetts man. This time Mehanna was arrested on various terrorism-related charges associated with a plot to attack shopping malls. Mehanna's plot appears to have been more "aspirational" rather than operational. However, the Mehanna arrest is significant, because he was a member of a prominent circle of young Salafist-Jihadists living in the United States. His blog was primarily dedicated to Salafist-Jihadist thought, and it was regularly linked back on by other members of the circle. Those members remain very active online, blogging and sharing jihadi media. They are for the most part the virtual epicenter of Salafist-Jihadism in the United States.") (October 22, 2009)
What's left for you after you get rejected from terrorist training camp? Hamburger U?
The magistrate judge did note that a number of people spoke in support of Mehanna."They describe him as kind, religious, and gentle in his behavior and dedicated to his community. They describe Mehanna's parents and family in similar or even more glowing terms. The Court credits this evidence. However, the Court has before it evidence that there is another side to Mehanna," Sorokin said.
"This evidence ... shows Mehanna promoted terrorist activities, encouraged others to engage in terrorism, recruited others to participate in terrorism, and protected, or attempted to protect, a terrorist from law enforcement scrutiny," Sorokin said.
I suspect the revelations about the Fort Hood jihadist, someone also described as "religious," may have influenced the judge in his decision to deny bail.
http://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/case_docs/1095.pdf
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http://www.investigativeproject.org/blog/2010/02/key-massachusetts-terror-case-witness-gets
by IPT News • Feb 5, 2010 at 4:08 pm
“Key Massachussets Terror Case Witness Gets Probation”
SNIPPET: “A man who cooperated in an FBI terrorism investigation in Massachusetts was sentenced to probation Thursday after pleading guilty to a weapons charge.
Bilaal McCloud, 54, of Roxbury started cooperating with investigators after his 2005 indictment for illegally possessing a semiautomatic pistol and ammunition. He is credited with helping build the case that led to terrorism charges against Tarek Mehanna, 27, of Sudbury, and 28-year-old Ahmad Abousamra, formerly of Mansfield, the Boston Globe reported.”
http://www.telegram.com/article/20110804/NEWS/108049423/-1/NEWS04
Thursday, August 4, 2011
“Terror charges against former Worcester teacher allowed to stand
Judge rejects free speech bid”
By Denise Lavoie THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BOSTON —
SNIPPET: “As a volunteer before his arrest in October 2009, Mr. Mehanna was teaching science, math and religion at the Muslim academy on East Mountain Street in Worcester.
Authorities have said Mr. Mehanna and two other men sought training at terrorist camps in the Middle East. Prosecutors said the men told friends they were rejected because of their nationality, ethnicity or inexperience, or that they were unable to make contact with people they hoped would get them into such camps.”
http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/stay-strong-boston-article-1.1318038
“Stay strong, Boston
I know that one of the nation’s great cities will rally in the wake of marathon attacks”
by S.E. Cupps
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
TUESDAY, APRIL 16, 2013, 10:41 AM
SNIPPET: “According to a 2011 infographic from Boston.com, the website of the Boston Globe, Boston’s high-profile events, including the marathon, made it one of the top 10 potential terror targets in the country, even though there had been no attacks in Massachusetts over the last decade.
And though there had been no attacks, there had recently been some significant ties to terrorist plots hatched in the area.
In 2007, Daniel Maldonado, who had ties to Methuen and Lowell, was charged with supporting terrorists in Somalia.
In 2008, Sudbury resident Tarek Mehanna was arrested for allegedly plotting to kill U.S. troops in Iraq, conspiring to support Al Qaeda and traveling to Yemen in an attempt to get terrorist training.
And in 2011, Rezwan Ferdaus, an Ashland man with a physics degree from Northeastern University, was charged with an Al Qaeda-inspired plot to send a remote-controlled aircraft carrying explosives into the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol.
His arrest prompted Rep. William Keating, the state’s only member of the House Homeland Security Committee, to remind his constituents of the dangers of homegrown extremists, even in Boston’s tony suburbs.”