That's a fair enough statement but these are unusual circumstances. He had multiple meetings with one of the actual hijackers. That, combined with what they found when they initially arrested him makes him highly suspect IMHO. Below is a brief description of what they found. (excerpts from a November 2 Union Tribune article)-- His attorneys and the media were portraying him as a victim from day one:
Pictures of Osama bin Laden and videotapes about martyrs were found in the car and apartment of Grossmont College student Osama Awadallah, according to the first indictment issued by the New York grand jury investigating the terror attacks.
According to the indictment, a search of Awadallah's apartment yielded computer-generated photographs of bin Laden, and inside his car were videotapes titled "Martyrs of Bosnia," "Bosnia 1993" and "The Koran v. the Bible, Which is God's Word?"
The 21/2-hour video "Martyrs of Bosnia" is described on a Web site as a documentary of stories about "Mujahedeen killed in Bosnia." Mujahedeen refers to Muslim warriors engaged in a jihad, or a struggle against injustice.
"For somebody who allegedly has no involvement with these people it certainly is interesting," said a federal investigator, who asked to remain anonymous because law enforcement officials have been told not to comment on the case. "Those (tapes) are the same propaganda devices bin Laden uses to recruit people. How many of these do you have in your collection? Let's see, bin Laden, that comes right after Bambi?"
Awadallah's attorney, Randall B. Hamud, called the new information "meaningless window dressing" meant to spice up a flimsy prosecution.
"They're just trying to demonize the kid, that's all," Hamud said. "It's not against the law to have a picture of Osama (bin Laden) and not against the law to have a videotape.
What is it EXACTLY that you think he might be guilty of? Can I be charged with a crime for being publically associated with a "fringe" militia group, having pictures of bombs and books or info about how to make bombs?
The guy may very well have been involved up to his eye brows, but we have to be able to prove it.