Posted on 09/16/2002 10:16:31 PM PDT by Marak
Sheriff Hunter said he had new information on the trio before the medical students appeared on Larry King Live
Tuesday, September 17, 2002
By MIREIDY FERNANDEZ, mmfernandez@naplesnews.com
Just hours before the three men who were detained in Collier County on suspicion of carrying explosives appeared on CNN on Monday night, Sheriff Don Hunter said he had new information on the trio, whose alleged joking comments about a terrorist plot ignited fears across America last week.
"We believe the information (in this case) is not over because of other uncorroborated information we have at the moment," Hunter said.
The sheriff declined to elaborate because the investigation is continuing, but he did point out a discrepancy.
Authorities say Kambiz Butt, Ayman Gheith and Omar Choudhary were pulling a prank when the men made statements at a Georgia restaurant about a Sept. 13 terrorism attack in Miami.
All three men were detained along Alligator Alley for 17 hours between Thursday and Friday but were released after authorities learned the men had made the comments in jest.
On Monday night, they appeared on CNN's "Larry King Live'' and denied they ever made any statements with regard to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks or future terrorist strikes against Americans.
"What hurt me the most is they said it was a hoax," Gheith told King. "We didn't say anything about 9-11, 9-13 or September or anything like that."
What authorities said turned out to be a likely hoax Friday prompted the temporary closure of portions of Interstate 75 and brought law enforcement officers from 20 local, state and federal agencies to assist. Officers used a robotic bomb detector to search the two cars the men were aboard and led a bomb-detecting dog to sniff their belongings.
E.J. Picolo, regional director with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, said Monday it was too early to determine whether the men will be charged with a crime. After watching the King interview, Picolo said he couldn't comment about specifics of the investigation such as whether the men's account on live television concur with statements they made to police Friday.
"Our job is to investigate the situation," Picolo said. "We're going to report the facts as we find them and we'll go from there."
From the outset of last week's high-profile episode, Hunter and Picolo both said the men were uncooperative with authorities while they were interviewed.
"They weren't rude but they weren't fully cooperative," Picolo said.
Hunter said two of the men refused to answer questions, while the third would answer in the form of a question and "fished for information." Hunter declined to be specific.
Although no explosives or traces of bomb materials were found in either car, at a press briefing Monday, Hunter addressed a discrepancy.
A bomb-detecting dog alerted law enforcement there was some kind of bomb-making pattern in both cars, although authorities did not find any such materials.
"The dog alerts to a particular scent, picture or pattern . . . the dog doesn't make mistakes," Hunter said. "One theory may be that there were materials in those vehicles at some point that caused the scent."
Choosing his words carefully, Hunter told media representatives that he wasn't suggesting the three men were transporting explosives.
The sheriff, however, raised a number of questions he wants answered.
"I would want to know whether they were in the vehicles at the time" when any bomb-making materials were present, Hunter said. "We need to be able to explain why the dog alert happened and why the searches happened."
Hunter declined to divulge what new information he has received pertaining to the three men, all of whom are of Middle Eastern descent. The men are medical students who said they were on their way to Larkin Community Hospital in Miami to begin internships.
Hunter said he believes restaurant patron Eunice Stone of Calhoun, Ga., was telling the truth when she contacted authorities Thursday after she said she overheard the three men saying that Americans "mourned 9-11 and they are going to mourn again on 9-13."
Stone, who sat next to the men in a booth at a Shoney's restaurant, said she notified authorities because she feared the men were planning some sort of terrorist attack on Miami.
"That would lead one to believe that we're going to be attacked," Hunter said. "My professional opinion at the moment is that I believe Eunice Stone. She told the truth and did her civic duty and she should be commended."
Stone's attorney, Michael Prieto, also appeared Monday on "Larry King Live'' and said his client had no reason to fabricate a story about what she is certain she heard the Muslim men say inside the restaurant.
Stone was hospitalized with chest pains Monday, her attorney said.
An investigation is under way surrounding the comments the men made in Georgia and their bizarre behavior in Collier County that led deputies to make a traffic stop and issue a traffic ticket to one of the drivers who they say drove past a $1.50 tollbooth on Alligator Alley late Thursday without paying. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation issued a be-on-the-lookout bulletin, which Collier sheriff's deputies responded to when they stopped both cars, Hunter said.
The men say they never blew past the tollbooth, but Hunter said he has a sworn affidavit from the tollbooth operator stating that one of the cars drove through without paying. He also said his agency was in the process of obtaining a copy of a videotape that he said will show the car driving through.
Picolo, with FDLE, said the various agencies that assisted have yet to tally how much the entire operation cost — but assured that it wasn't going to be cheap.
"It was a very expensive proposition to respond in the manner that we did," Picolo said. "But given the information and circumstances, we had no other recourse but to respond at that level."
That might very well be the case. They certainly wasted no time smearing Eunice Stone. I had bad vibes about these guys the minute one of them gave the very first interview to the press at the rest stop. He came across extremely belligerent and not at all believable. I'm sure Eunice heard what she heard. She was not out looking for trouble - she was having breakfast with her son. She obviously overheard something that freaked her out enough to take that step and dial 911.
That's a question worth researching. There are too many unanswered questions. I wouldn't be surprised if the feds somehow connected these guys to the one they picked up in Florida yesterday.
They are making it worse but I don't think anyone wants to tell them that. Let them dig a hole they can't get out of. I don't want dishonest doctors taking care of my family.
They could have apologized and if they aren't involved in anything this would go away overnight but NOOOOO. They have to spit in our faces.
Usually, dogs specialize in only one material. There are dogs that can handle more than one type of substance (i.e. explosives;drugs, or cadaver, air-scent). As far as being reliable... that depends on the dog. All handlers keep training logs and have to pass certifications for their dogs to be used in active duty. If there is a question about the dog's reliability, the training logs are looked at for what kind of training the dog did and under what circumstances. If there is any question, a second dog is brought in to confirm the first dog's findings. I would say that two well-trained dogs hitting on the same thing would mean that the dogs are right. I know that the "testimony" of a bloodhound is submissable in court and is taken as fact. In other words, if you have ten cars lined up and you give the command to find a scent of a person using a scent article from that person, and the dog hits on a car, then that is taken as fact that that person was in that car.
I personally believe that any hospital should think twice before hiring middle easterners, outside of Israelis. They have different values regarding life. My father died two years ago in a Virginia hospital. When he was brought into the emergency room, this man, albeit elderly but who had not hardly been sick in his life, prompted an Egyptian doctor to ask my mom permission to withhold all food and water and allow him to die. They would give him medication so that he would not realize he was being put out to pasture. Couldn't believe it. When I spoke to some of the nurses, they truly didn't seem to realize that this sort of thing was going on under their noses. He died a week later anyway, but not because we allowed this doctor to kill him.
If they're not being watched, God help us. And a 24 hour watch is not long enough. Too many of these types are US citizens or permanent resident aliens (non-immigrants). Maybe they're a little too confident cuz they think the feds are too busy watching the immigrants on temporary visas and not watching the citizens.
I had not heard this. What is your source? I know that the men detained in Buffalo had trained in Al Queda camps, but had not heard this about the FL three. That would certainly change a lot.
That's because their attornies have now "cleaned up their act." If you compare their comments immediately after their release (at a highway rest stop where they publicly prayed), they have significantly changed their tune. On Friday, they and their families called Mrs. Stone a "liar" and a "racist," and denied that they had said anything that could be construed to be a terrorist plot.
Yesterday, they praised Mrs. Stone, and admitted they had said some of the things she quoted, but that she "misunderstood." Note that the Sheriff states that one of them answered questions with questions -- fishing for info on what LE knew, so they could tailor their story accordingly.
These "boys" are on very shaky ground, whatever their motives or intent; and their attornies know it.
Correct. I'm glad LE is still investigating.
I've seen a few posts complaining about these guys being given so much air time. But, each time they open their mouths, they just get in deeper. Let em' talk! LOL They are only hurting themselves.
Technically they are Americans...but in actuality, these fanatics owe their allegiance only to their cult.
They may technically be citizens but they are not Americans.
Eunice told John Scott that she and her son arrived at Shoney's at 10:20 AM and left when the three men left at 10:50 AM.
Mapquest gives the distance from Calhoun, GA to Naples, FL to be 683.24 miles and an estimated driving time of 11 hours, 35 minutes.
The Honda was stopped by ONE police officer (not 700) on Alligator Alley, eight miles east of the toll booth, around 1 AM (the white car was not stopped but it pulled up behind the patrol car). That leaves about 2 1/2 hours to be accounted for.
TWO dogs alerted to BOTH cars. That still has my attention.
Where was it stated that they trained in Al Quada camps?
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