car bombing plot foiled

Federal agents in a sting operation arrested a Somali-born teenager just as he tried blowing up a van he believed was loaded with explosives at a crowded Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Portland, authorities said.

The bomb was an elaborate fake supplied by the agents and the public was never in danger, authorities said.

Mohamed Osman Mohamud, 19, was arrested at 5:40 p.m. Friday just after he dialed a cell phone that he thought would set off the blast but instead brought federal agents and police swooping down on him.

Yelling "Allahu Akbar!" — Arabic for "God is great!" — Mohamud tried to kick agents and police after he was taken into custody, according to prosecutors.

"The threat was very real," said Arthur Balizan, special agent in charge of the FBI in Oregon. "Our investigation shows that Mohamud was absolutely committed to carrying out an attack on a very grand scale,"

A law enforcement official, who was not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press on Saturday that federal agents began investigating the suspect after receiving a tip from someone who was concerned about the teenager.

The FBI affidavit that outlined the investigation alleges that Mohamud planned the attack for months, at one point mailing bomb components to FBI operatives, whom he believed were assembling the device.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101127/ap_ ... rtland_car_bomb_plot


just saying, i trust the government to find these things, but searching an old man or a 7 year old boy to prevent it is wasting money.

"Mohamed Osman Mohamud"

I wonder what tipped the FBI off on him then.

I always have a problem with the way they catch people like this.

I mean, it's good these people are caught, but when agents basically trick people into doing it, it seems questionable. But I won't belabor that too much. Glad they caught him.

You are referring to the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, not the Eighth Amendment. The Eighth Amendment only deals with curel and unusual punishment as well as excessive bail. You should pay more attention in class. Before the Eighth Amendment, it was understood that only US citizens were protected by the Constitution. Though the Fourteenth Amendment had to deal more with blacks and the civil rights movement, the Supreme Court has extended its meaning to essentially cover any people within the borders of the United States. I find this quite problematic. What's the point of having the Constitution and defined citizenship if anyone is protected by the same laws without it? The Constitution, in my opinion, was only meant to protect citizens of the United States, not foreigners. It sounds harsh, but it's the honest truth. True, there are only a few rights that foreigners can claim, but it starts a slippery slope. But the fact this kid is a US citizen makes my aside quite irrelevant at the moment. So I'll just leave it at that.