Suspect in Oregon Bomb Plot Is Called Confused [Mohamed Osman Mohamud]

Mr. Khan and Mr. Day said several people who worship at the mosque said the FBI had knocked on their doors late at night on the day of Mr. Mohamud’s arrest, but that none agreed to speak to agents.

The mosque, the largest in Portland, has been the center of controversy before. In 2002, the mosque’s imam, Sheik Mohamed Abdirahman Kariye, who — like Mr. Mohamud — is a naturalized American citizen from Somalia, was arrested at Portland International Airport.

Prosecutors subsequently said that trace elements of TNT were found in his luggage, though those tests were later said to be inconclusive and he was not convicted of any crime.

Mr. Kariye did not immediately respond to a request for comment made through Mr. Day, but Mr. Khan reiterated that Mr. Mohamud’s action were his own.

Several people who said they knew Mr. Mohamud’s family said that they believed his parents had reported their son to law enforcement authorities, citing concerns that his views were becoming extreme. They declined to be quoted by name.

A law enforcement official, who was not authorized to publicly discuss certain aspects of the case, said investigators first became aware of Mohamud because of his alleged efforts to connect with Islamic extremists through email.

Soon after that they received a tip from someone who knows him, alerting them to what the official described as increased radicalization. According to the federal affidavit for his arrest, Mr. Mohamud at one point told undercover agents he had been “betrayed” by his family.

Does anybody recall this : Michelle Malkin • April 28, 2005 10:26 AM From the Left Coast lunacy files, the Los Angeles Times reports today that the city of Portland is withdrawing its cops from the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force:

This city is expected today to become the first in the nation to pull out of an FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, following a series of disagreements between Portland leaders and federal investigators.

Mayor Tom Potter and several city commissioners, frustrated by the FBI’s refusal to grant them full access to classified information, say the withdrawal will signal Portland’s commitment to the protection of individual civil rights.
The proposal to pull out is expected to pass the City Council 4-1. If the Bush administration had guts, it would withdraw all federal homeland security funds from the city immediately. After 9/11, the city refused to cooperate with federal efforts to conduct voluntary interviews of of local Muslims in order to uncover terrorist plots. Portland is also a sanctuary city for illegal aliens. This despite several signs that al Qaeda and pro-Islamists have infiltrated the area.

One of the key recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, repeated endlessly, was the need for improved coordination and information-sharing at all levels of government. Portland has undermined those initiatives at every turn–obstructing investigations and interfering with immigration enforcement.

If Portland’s leaders don’t want to help defend America, then let Portland defend itself.

She made the right call some 5 years ago.

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