Chicago... according to the Wall Street Journal, “Federal authorities charged a 22-year-old man with attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction, saying he placed a backpack he thought contained explosives on a crowded street near Wrigley Field.
The suspect, Sami Samir Hassoun, plotted for months to terrorize Chicago, unaware that his associate in the scheme was cooperating with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, according to a 25-page federal indictment filed Monday.
Officials said Mr. Hassoun placed the backpack, which authorities had loaded with harmless materials, in a trash can near a sports bar just after midnight last Sunday near the home of major league baseball’s Chicago Cubs.
The Cubs were out of town, but the Dave Matthews Band had played a concert at the stadium that night.
Mr. Hassoun, who lives on Chicago’s northwest side, was taken into custody just after midnight Saturday in Chicago, and he was scheduled to appear in court Monday afternoon.
Mr. Hassoun was charged with one count each of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and of an explosive device, both felonies. If convicted, he would face a mandatory minimum sentence of five years to a maximum of life in prison.
The complaint describes Mr. Hassoun as a Lebanese citizen and a permanent resident alien of the U.S.
According to the complaint, Mr. Hassoun in June began discussing various plots with a paid FBI informant to sow mayhem in Chicago. They included launching a biological attack; poisoning Lake Michigan; targeting police officers; bombing the Willis (formerly Sears) Tower; and assassinating Mayor Richard M. Daley.
The complaint says Mr. Hassoun was motivated by the hope of financial gain and a desire for “political transformation,” which he wanted to spark by embarrassing Mr. Daley. who recently announced he wouldn’t seek re-election next year.
Attempts to reach Mr. Hassoun or his family were unsuccessful.
The address cited in the federal complaint is a brick building on a street lined with kabob restaurants, hookah stores and Lebanese meat markets. One of four mailboxes in the stairway of the building was labeled Samir Hassoun.
According to the complaint, the FBI in 2009 asked “a cooperating source”—an individual previously on the agency’s payroll—to befriend Mr. Hassoun. The source met frequently with Mr. Hassoun and, in June, Mr. Hassoun began talking of a desire to commit an act of terror. At that point, the source began taping Mr. Hassoun at the FBI’s request.
According to the indictment, much of the taped conversation took place in Arabic.”
Although this article completely ignores the “500 pound gorilla in the room” I don’t believe that it is a stretch to imagine the accused is another Muslim attempting to kill innocent Americans.
I am just amazed how the press “dare not” address the subject because it might seem racist if they report the obvious. It is just as obvious a case of political correctness as the Chicago Police Department’s edict (in the 1980’s) that police dispatchers were not allowed to use “race” when describing fleeing felons or issuing APB’s to officers in the field.
I guess that:
It’s “OK” to put Americans at risk as long as we don’t make people feel bad.
That is the current world in which we are living.