Posted on 08/14/2006 10:42:22 AM PDT by WmShirerAdmirer
(TV5) -- It was revealed that the goal of an alleged terror plot, uncovered in Mid-Michigan, was apparently to hit the Mackinac Bridge. In response to the announcement by the Tuscola County Prosecutor the U.S. Coast Guard is increasing its patrols of the Mackinac Bridge.
The bridge security had already been increased for several months due to elevated terror alert levels. Cameras on the bridge are monitored so that any suspicious packages or activity will be responded to by authorities.
There is growing speculation as to why the Might Mac was the alleged target of these three Palestinian-American men. Tuscola County Prosecutor Mark Reene couldn't go into specific detail about what exactly was found relating to the target.
One theory is that the men weren't targeting solely the bridge itself but the people on it. The Annual Labor Day Bridge Walk has drawn over 60,000 people in the past few years. In 2000 there was an estimated 65,000 people who participated in the Annual Bridge Walk.
The two east lanes of the bridge are used by walkers until 9:30am. To keep I-75 moving the two west lanes will be used for vehicles traveling north and south across the bridge. The National Guard is present in case of an emergency.
The suspects are 21 year old Adham Abdelhamid Othman, 18 year old Maruan Awad Muhareb, and 23 year old Louai Abdelhamied Othman; all are apparently from Texas. The three are all related Adham and Louai are brothers and Maruan Awad Muhareb is their cousin.
All have been charged with one count each of collecting and providing material support for terrorism; and one count of surveillance of a vulnerable target, that target allegedly being the Mackinac Bridge.
State police in Gaylord are reporting that the men bought a large quantity of TracFones from the Wal-Mart in Gaylord on Thursday August 10th around 11:00pm. That number is reported to be 90 cell phones. The store manager allegedly told police the next day, but it was too late because the men were already on their way to Caro.
Receipts in the van show the men had purchased cell phones in Wisconsin. It is a possibility that the route they took into Michigan from Wisconsin took them across the Upper Peninsula and led them across the Mackinac Bridge. We are currently working with the bridge authority to find out if three men had traveled across the bridge at some point around August 10th.
The van driven by the men contained about one-thousand TracFones. These cell phones are often used by drug dealers because they are cheap and virtually untraceable. They have also been used to detonate IED's or improvised explosive devices.
There are usually three types of IED's, package, vehicle borne, and the suicide bomb. Because these devices are "homemade" they can very in shape and form. They all share the same components: an initiation system, explosive, detonator, a power supply for the detonator, and a container.
It is speculation that the phones where to act as both the initiation system and detonator. Tim Nausler with the Michigan State Police bomb squad says this has all the tell tale signs of using cell phones to detonate bombs.
He says you need two phones to detonate a bomb one to be with the explosive and the other to make the call to that phone. In some instances he says you can detonate with one phone using the alarm clock function. The cell phones contain three of the five ingredients needed to build an IED.
The charges against these men are 20 year felonies. We have also learned the men will face no federal charges. Each of the men was arraigned on August 12th with bond set at $750,000 cash per suspect.
The men purchased the cell phones in Caro around 1:00am which would have given them just enough time to drive directly from the Wal-Mart in Gaylord to the store in Caro. The three men purchased cell phones from the Wal-Mart store on M-81 near the corner of M-24 in Caro early morning August 11th.
Wal-Mart places a limit on the number of cell phones that can be purchased at once, that number is three. The three men allegedly bought 80 by purchasing them three at time so that an alert wouldn't be triggered by the cash register. They also paid cash.
An alert clerk grew suspicious and called Tuscola County central dispatch. The Caro Police Department sent a unit and stopped the rented van on M-81 just east of Caro. The suspects were headed towards Bad Axe on M-81 where there is another Super Wal-Mart.
One man was driving while the other two were in the back opening the phone packages with box cutters throwing the phones in one box, batteries in another and the packaging and phone charger in another container. The suspects had 1000 other cell phones in the van.
The phones were Nokia TracFones selling for $20 at Wal-Mart. For your twenty dollars you receive a phone charger and 40 minutes of airtime. The phones do not have to be registered with a name. Also discovered was a laptop with store addresses and store logos.
The TracFones are a nationwide prepaid wireless phone service and are even offered with international long distance. These phones according to www.tracfone.com don't even have coverage in the Thumb area where they were purchased.
The men have been "cooperative, upfront, not hiding" anything according to police. They also told officers they get stopped frequently and say they buy the phones for $20 and sell them elsewhere for $38. They sell them without the packaging or charger.
The investigation continues at both the state and federal level.
Alleged Terrorist May Have Crossed Mackinac Bridge
Aug 14, 2006 12:23 PM EDT
Customer Witness Asks Men Use Of Phones
Related Links
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(TV5) -- It was revealed that the goal of an alleged terror plot, uncovered in Mid-Michigan, was apparently to hit the Mackinac Bridge. In response to the announcement by the Tuscola County Prosecutor the U.S. Coast Guard is increasing its patrols of the Mackinac Bridge.
The bridge security had already been increased for several months due to elevated terror alert levels. Cameras on the bridge are monitored so that any suspicious packages or activity will be responded to by authorities.
There is growing speculation as to why the Might Mac was the alleged target of these three Palestinian-American men. Tuscola County Prosecutor Mark Reene couldn't go into specific detail about what exactly was found relating to the target.
One theory is that the men weren't targeting solely the bridge itself but the people on it. The Annual Labor Day Bridge Walk has drawn over 60,000 people in the past few years. In 2000 there was an estimated 65,000 people who participated in the Annual Bridge Walk.
The two east lanes of the bridge are used by walkers until 9:30am. To keep I-75 moving the two west lanes will be used for vehicles traveling north and south across the bridge. The National Guard is present in case of an emergency.
The suspects are 21 year old Adham Abdelhamid Othman, 18 year old Maruan Awad Muhareb, and 23 year old Louai Abdelhamied Othman; all are apparently from Texas. The three are all related Adham and Louai are brothers and Maruan Awad Muhareb is their cousin.
All have been charged with one count each of collecting and providing material support for terrorism; and one count of surveillance of a vulnerable target, that target allegedly being the Mackinac Bridge.
State police in Gaylord are reporting that the men bought a large quantity of TracFones from the Wal-Mart in Gaylord on Thursday August 10th around 11:00pm. That number is reported to be 90 cell phones. The store manager allegedly told police the next day, but it was too late because the men were already on their way to Caro.
Receipts in the van show the men had purchased cell phones in Wisconsin. It is a possibility that the route they took into Michigan from Wisconsin took them across the Upper Peninsula and led them across the Mackinac Bridge. We are currently working with the bridge authority to find out if three men had traveled across the bridge at some point around August 10th.
The van driven by the men contained about one-thousand TracFones. These cell phones are often used by drug dealers because they are cheap and virtually untraceable. They have also been used to detonate IED's or improvised explosive devices.
There are usually three types of IED's, package, vehicle borne, and the suicide bomb. Because these devices are "homemade" they can very in shape and form. They all share the same components: an initiation system, explosive, detonator, a power supply for the detonator, and a container.
It is speculation that the phones where to act as both the initiation system and detonator. Tim Nausler with the Michigan State Police bomb squad says this has all the tell tale signs of using cell phones to detonate bombs.
He says you need two phones to detonate a bomb one to be with the explosive and the other to make the call to that phone. In some instances he says you can detonate with one phone using the alarm clock function. The cell phones contain three of the five ingredients needed to build an IED.
The charges against these men are 20 year felonies. We have also learned the men will face no federal charges. Each of the men was arraigned on August 12th with bond set at $750,000 cash per suspect.
The men purchased the cell phones in Caro around 1:00am which would have given them just enough time to drive directly from the Wal-Mart in Gaylord to the store in Caro. The three men purchased cell phones from the Wal-Mart store on M-81 near the corner of M-24 in Caro early morning August 11th.
Wal-Mart places a limit on the number of cell phones that can be purchased at once, that number is three. The three men allegedly bought 80 by purchasing them three at time so that an alert wouldn't be triggered by the cash register. They also paid cash.
An alert clerk grew suspicious and called Tuscola County central dispatch. The Caro Police Department sent a unit and stopped the rented van on M-81 just east of Caro. The suspects were headed towards Bad Axe on M-81 where there is another Super Wal-Mart.
One man was driving while the other two were in the back opening the phone packages with box cutters throwing the phones in one box, batteries in another and the packaging and phone charger in another container. The suspects had 1000 other cell phones in the van.
The phones were Nokia TracFones selling for $20 at Wal-Mart. For your twenty dollars you receive a phone charger and 40 minutes of airtime. The phones do not have to be registered with a name. Also discovered was a laptop with store addresses and store logos.
The TracFones are a nationwide prepaid wireless phone service and are even offered with international long distance. These phones according to www.tracfone.com don't even have coverage in the Thumb area where they were purchased.
The men have been "cooperative, upfront, not hiding" anything according to police. They also told officers they get stopped frequently and say they buy the phones for $20 and sell them elsewhere for $38. They sell them without the packaging or charger.
The investigation continues at both the state and federal level.
Related video link: Customer Witness Asks Men Use Of Phones
But it took him four days to hitchhike to Saginaw.
Hey no problem.......these guys are Texans! Afraid for a moment that they might have been moslims.
Lemme guess, from the Arlington cell or the Houston cell or Waco? Yo, LE! You've sat on you rears about these cells long enough, now how about some action.
Why would they need 1000 of them to blow up a bridge?
Upfront with infidel police? Sure, let's concentrate on Group A while Groups B and C are setting fuses.
So, are these homegrown or "students" with expired visas?
Nah, we ain't got no mooselimbs here in Texas.
And why remove the batteries?
The bridge is almost three miles long and many thousands of people do a "walk across" the bridge on the first Monday in September.
A terrorist attack on the Mac doesn't mean they're going to "blow up" the bridge.
E.G. The annual Labor Day walk across the bridge draws, on average, around 60,000 people - all on foot. A number of small explosive devices, placed along the route, could cause considerable carnage.
BTW The center two lanes are steel grate, so IEDs could, concievably, be placed below the Labor Day walkers and/or traffic.
What bridge? They were just re-selling them on the open market. Hey, this is America, ya know.
Funny, I didn't see where those other 20 year old students from two Michigan colleges (who just wanna b-ball, dude!) who were also buying up phones. At least one, Osama something, was homegrown.
So, if the Mackinac Bridge was blown up and Upper Michigan was separated from Lower Michgan how long would it take before someone noticed?
Just for the record it is 1,258 miles from Dallas to Caro, Michigan. What in the name of all that is holy would they be driving all the way up there to buy cheap cell phones? They were up to no good. You can be certain of that. And tell me again why we allow these people into the U.S.
I hope the laptop went to the appropriate intelligence agency.
Do you or anyone else know if a cell phone is even usable without being charged, no battery and no minutes paid for? They certainly were not going to resell them, but how useful are they without these things?
Do you or anyone else know if a cell phone is even usable without being charged, no battery and no minutes paid for? They certainly were not going to resell them, but how useful are they without these things?
Just a thought, but maybe it's the batteries that they really want. Could there be a way to create a large bomb using a whole lot of these batteries, say some sort of EMP bomb?
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