Tarek Mehanna (AP Photo/Sudbury Police Department)
Posted: Wednesday, 18 November 2009 11:28PM
Sudbury terrorism suspect ordered to be detained
M.L.
Boston (AP) -- A Massachusetts man accused in a terror plot to kill Americans should be detained in a federal jail away from other inmates while he awaits trial on terror charges because his actions have demonstrated ongoing support for terrorism and he is a flight risk, a federal judge ordered Wednesday.
Tarek Mehanna of Sudbury was arrested a year ago and charged with lying to the FBI. New, more serious charges were added last month, when Mehanna was accused of conspiring with two other men to shoot shoppers at U.S. malls and to kill two unnamed prominent U.S. politicians as well as American soldiers in Iraq.
Authorities said he and the other men never came close to pulling off an attack but did seek training at terrorist camps in the Middle East. The men allegedly told friends they were turned down for terrorist training because of their nationality, ethnicity or inexperience, or that they were unable to make contact with people they hoped would get them into such camps.
The men abandoned plans to attack malls because their weapons contact said he could find only handguns, not automatic weapons, prosecutors allege.
Defense attorney J.W. Carney Jr. had asked that Mehanna be released to home confinement while awaiting trial, saying prosecutors have built their case against the 27-year-old suspect based on anti-American statements he made from 2002 to 2006, when he was in college.
But Magistrate Judge Leo Sorokin ruled Wednesday that prosecutors have presented evidence that "reveals a strong allegiance to terrorists and al-Qaida, as well as a strong desire to leave the United States."
"This evidence of another side to Mehanna, in the form of his own recorded words and deeds, shows Mehanna promoted terrorist activities, encouraged others to engage in terrorism, recruited others to participate in terrorism, and protected, or attempted to protect, a terrorist from law enforcement scrutiny," Sorokin said. "Over a sustained period of time, Mehanna has demonstrated his ongoing support of terrorism both by his own recorded statements and by investing his time and effort in promoting terrorism."
Sorokin rejected arguments from Mehanna's attorney who had said in court that his client's anti-American statements, though unpopular, are protected by the First Amendment.
"The Court has detained Mehanna because the evidence establishes that he poses both a risk of flight and that he poses a danger to the community. This ruling presents no First Amendment concerns," Sorokin said in his ruling.
Carney did not immediately return phone messages Wednesday afternoon.
2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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