Free Republic

BAY CITY -- Lawyers for three Texas men once accused of plotting to blow up the Mackinac Bridge claim the government is bailing out an overzealous prosecutor by bringing unprecedented charges. Until Wednesday, even the FBI said the business of buying and altering cell phones -- as the men claim was their only motive -- was a legal enterprise, and that the only issue was whether proceeds end up in terrorist coffers. But now, the FBI and U.S. attorneys in Bay City say the entrepreneurial behavior of three Americans of Palestinian descent amounts to fraud, not terrorism. <excerpted>

CARO, Mich. - The FBI said Monday it had no information to indicate that the three Texas men arrested with about 1,000 cell phones in their van had any direct connection to known terrorist groups. Authorities had increased patrols on Michigan's 5-mile-long Mackinac Bridge after local prosecutors said investigators believed the men were targeting the span. Local authorities didn't say what they believed the men intended to do with the phones, most of which were prepaid TracFones, but Caro's police chief noted that cell phones can be untraceable and used as detonators. The FBI issued a news release Monday saying...

Terrorists in Caro? By Amy Joles Staff Writer CARO — Whether sold for profit or as bomb detonators, the purchase of 80 disposable prepaid cell phones by three Palestinian men raised eyebrows at Wal-Mart SuperCenter Friday morning. “Are they terrorists or involved with terrorism?” asked Caro Chief Benson Page. “I can’t prove that right now. But at this point, I have a suspicion of that.” FBI agents arrived in Caro shortly after 10 a.m. Friday to question the men who purchased the phones earlier that same morning, 1:50 a.m. The same kind of phones - which do not require purchasers...

(TV5) -- It was revealed that the goal of an alleged terror plot, uncovered in Mid-Michigan, was apparently to hit the Mackinac Bridge. In response to the announcement by the Tuscola County Prosecutor the U.S. Coast Guard is increasing its patrols of the Mackinac Bridge. The bridge security had already been increased for several months due to elevated terror alert levels. Cameras on the bridge are monitored so that any suspicious packages or activity will be responded to by authorities. There is growing speculation as to why the Might Mac was the alleged target of these three Palestinian-American men. Tuscola...

By now, you've probably read the news that the three Palestinians caught in Caro, Michigan with 1,000 TracFone cellphones are involved in a plot to blow up Michigan's Mackinac Bridge (it connects both Michigan peninsulas). Mackinac Bridge site here. But here's what you didn't read: Sources tell DebbieSchlussel.com that the men are from Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the group that works in concert with HAMAS in performing homicide bombings in Israel. The group once even considered merging with HAMAS, at the time that it was headed by University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian, a founder of the group. Maybe now...

(AP) DALLAS -- The wife of one of three Texas men arraigned on terrorism-related charges in Michigan says her husband and his relatives are not terrorists, but are simply trying to make money by reselling cell phones. "They're locked up in jail for something that they didn't do," 20-year-old Lina Odeh told The Associated Press on Saturday. Her husband, Louai Abdelhamied Othman of Mesquite, along with his brother, Adham Abdelhamid Othman of Dallas, and their cousin Maruan Awad Muhareb of Mesquite, are charged with collecting or providing materials for terrorist acts and surveillance of a vulnerable target for terrorist purposes....

Mackinac Bridge; Alleged Target Of Terror Aug 13, 2006 10:47 AM EDT (TV5) -- We are following breaking news today after it was revealed that the goal of an alleged terror plot, uncovered in Mid-Michigan, was apparently to hit the Mackinac Bridge. The suspects are 21 year old Adham Abdelhamid Othman, 18 year old Maruan Awad Muhareb, and 23 year old Louai Abdelhamied Othman; all are apparently from Texas. All have been charged with one count each of collecting and providing material support for terrorism; and one count of surveillance of a vulnerable target (that target allegedly being the Mackinac...

Tuscola County prosecutors say they plan to arraign three young men of Middle Eastern descent on ''terrorism-related charges'' after Caro police found the trio with about 1,000 new cell phones inside a rented minivan at 2 a.m. Friday. Prosecutor Mark E. Reene said police arrested the trio - ages 23, 21 and 18 - late Friday afternoon, after FBI agents interviewed the men for hours inside the Caro Police Department. ''It's a very complex situation that involves interstate as well as international activity,'' Reene said, declining to specify the charges until after the arraignment of the men, who spent Friday...

Three Texas men were arraigned Saturday on terrorism-related charges after police found about 1,000 cell phones in their minivan, and prosecutors say they believe the men were targeting a bridge connecting Michigan's Upper and Lower peninsulas. But two of the men said they were only trying to buy and sell phones to make money, and one said the money was intended to help pay for his brother's college education. A magistrate set bond at $750,000 for each of the men, who are charged with collecting or providing materials for terrorist acts and surveillance of a vulnerable target for terrorist purposes....

U.S. arrests 3 men suspected of targeting Michigan bridge for terrorist attack (AP) Link coming...

Tuscola County prosecutors filed terrorism-related charges Saturday against three men who they say bought dozens of cell phones Friday in Caro in a globally coordinated plot involving the Mackinac Bridge. They charged brothers Adham Abdelhamid Othman, 21, and Louai Abdelhamied Othman, 23, along with their cousin, Maruan Awad Muhareb, 18, with identical counts of collecting material to support terrorist acts and surveillance of a vulnerable target with intent to committ terrorism.

The FBI, Homeland Security and police are investigating a suspicious purchase of cell phones at a Wal-Mart in Caro, Mich. Three men were arrested Friday on suspicion of buying more than 1,000 cell pones, Local 4 reported. The Nokia Tracfones cost about $20, and customers receive a phone plus 40 minutes of airtime. Also, the phones do not have to be registered to a name, the station reported. These are the same type of phones connected to terror charges against two Dearborn men arrested in Ohio, according to the station's report.

Early yesterday, when I wrote about "All-American" Islamic Terrorists Ali Houssaiky and Osama Sabhi Abulhassan a/k/a "The Dearbornistan Boys," I noted that both are graduates of Dearborn's Fordson High School a/k/a "Hezbollah High." As I wrote, Houssaiky was the star running back and co-captain of Fordson's football team. (More about them here.) The school's principal, Imad Fadlallah, is a relative of Hezbollah spiritual leader Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, a Specially Designated Terrorist (SDT) on the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Asset Control terrorist list, used by the State Department. Imad Fadlallah's wife, Susan, is the daughter of Lebanese Parliament Speaker...

Around 1:00am August 11th three men purchased cell phones from the Wal-Mart store on M-81 near the corner of M-24 in Caro. Wal-Mart places a limit on the number of cell phones that can be purchased at once, that number is three. The three men allegedly bought 80 by purchasing them three at time so that an alert wouldn't be triggered by the cash register. They also paid cash. An alert clerk grew suspicious and called Tuscola County central dispatch. The Caro Police Department sent a unit and stopped the rented van on M-81 just east of Caro. The suspects...

MARIETTA, Ohio -- Investigators in southeast Ohio said they were working to unravel how two Michigan men charged with supporting terrorism came to have airplane passenger lists and airport security information. Osama Sabhi Abulhassan, 20, and Ali Houssaiky, 20, both of the Detroit suburb of Dearborn, were being held at the Washington County Jail on $200,000 bond each, which could be raised at a Thursday afternoon court hearing. Each was charged Wednesday with money laundering in support of terrorism. Deputies stopped the two on a traffic violation Tuesday and found the flight documents along with $11,000 cash and 12 phones...

For one particular sophomore at Dearborn Fordson, the teasing began a few days after the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. "Hey, bin Laden," fellow students would yell in his direction as he walked the hallways. Others would point and call him "the terror squad." Why would students single out someone to be teased about Osama bin Laden, good-natured or not? Well, it doesn't help that his first name is Osama. Osama Abulhassan is a sophomore on Fordson's varsity basketball team. Having Osama as a name today must be like having had the name Adolf...

Dearbornistan terror arrests:Flight docs and 600+ tracphones By Michelle Malkin   ·   August 09, 2006 11:01 PM Busted (hat tip: Paul): Two men were charged Wednesday with money laundering in support of terrorism after authorities said they found airplane passenger lists and information on airport security checkpoints in their car. Deputies stopped Osama Sabhi Abulhassan, 20, and Ali Houssaiky, 20, both of Dearborn, Mich., on a traffic violation Tuesday and found the flight documents along with $11,000 cash and 12 phones in their car, Washington County Sheriff Larry Mincks said. It wasn't clear what significance the airline information might have. Assistant...