I don't want to be their defender. If they were joking, the joke turned out to be on them. However, there is always more to the story than we first hear.
The " more to the story " , is probably that these young men are either part of a sleeper cell, or that they love and agree with what the terrorists did. They WANTED to be overheard. They WANTED the "
EVIL " Americans to be afraid, by what they heard them say.
Give me one GOOD reason why Eunice would make all of this up. What did she have to gain ? Fame ? No one needs that kind of " fame ". Money ? She hasn't gotten one red cent.