Texas men arraigned on terrorism charges in Thumb
CARO, Mich. Three Texas men were arraigned today on terrorism-related charges after police found approximately one-thousand cell phones in their minivan.
Maruan Awad Muhareb, Adham Abdelhamid Othman, and Louai Abdelhamied Othman are charged with collecting or providing materials for terrorist acts and surveillance of a vulnerable target for terrorist purposes.
OK, let’s get this straight. These guys bought 1000 cell phones and were staking out a “target” in Michigan. Thus it’s a terrorist plot. What kind of leap of faith are we talking about here? I’m watching this story on the network news and apparently because a cell phone can be used to trigger a bomb, these guys were terrorists because they bought a 1000 phones. So this couldn’t be for drug dealing, reselling phones for a profit to street kids, or a dozen potential scams. It had to be terrorism? Is everything going down from now on going to be called terrorism because there is a long-shot chance that it could be maybe? When will people begin to be busted for terrorism after making a Hollywood stop? Or after kissing in public. What about shoplifting? Hey, it could be terrorism. Sad.
Curt wrote: “Oh, by the way, did anybody research this and discover that they were examining the Mackinac Bridge. I didn’t think so.”
Knowing how complete the FBI can be with their investigation, I’m sure they just found a printed Yahoo Map in the guys car on how to get to WalMart and the bridge was on the route. Anything to make the war on terror valid by taking away our rights in a free country. If you are fighting for freedom, shouldn’t that include the freedom to sell prepaid cell phones without the assumption of guilt?
Normal citizens risk their lives too for freedom. It sounds silly but it is true. When people want the freedom to drive cars, they take the risk of being in an accident. When people want the freedom to go hunting, they take the risk someone might get shot. When people want the freedom to play in a park, they face the risk of a drive by shooting.
In order to keep our freedoms soldiers as well as citizens must be ready to risk their lives. Soldiers fight in the foriegn lands and citizens fighthere in the homeland.
I have photographed many bridges, does that make me a terrorist? Should I have the freedom to photograph bridges?
John, you really put on the idiot goggles sometimes. Are you really unaware of what’s going on in the world? Did you not notice anything unusual in the news last week? Are you not aware of the potential uses for an anonymous prepaid Tracfone account?
You’re really not able to make the connection and understand that it is these very Tracfones that are behind the government’s efforts to engage in quick unplanned electronics surveillance with no warrants? You really don’t get the connection?
We should be deeply concerned with what these guys were up to. Three Moslems going to another state to buy 1000 Tracfones DOES strongly suggest terrorism, wake up. I promise you there are Tracfones aplenty in Texas, an honest person doesn’t need to drive to Michigan to find them, much less buy 1000 of them for any purpose.
There is something profoundly wrong with these guys doing what they’ve done. And in the unlikely event it’s about mere drug running instead of terrorism, well, that’ll be sorted out.
Curt, One thing I want to mention first up. My father was a bomber pilot in WWII. My uncle commanded a tank squad. My mother also worked in the armaments industry during the war. My uncle never came home and my father came home with some steel that is still in his leg. A cousin was killed in Cyprus while peace keeping for the UN. I know a few veterans who have served in Korea and Vietnam as well as those from my family who served.
All of them have one thing in common. They will not discuss that they served unless asked directly. None of them ever discuss their war experiences. Oh, they talk about the fun in boot camp or a certain Private Smith or Captain Jones. But they NEVER use their veterans status to bolster their argument. Sure they claim the government should address their health concerns. But they NEVER claim their facing the enemy makes them special.
Why? Because ALL of them realize they were the lucky ones that made it home while many buddies didn’t. Curt, I truly don’t know if you served or not. But sure as sh*t, you don’t sound like any veteran I have ever met.
Personally, I seriously doubt there was any terrorist connection here. It is simply some people who figured out how to make a buck by buying a product and reselling it for more money. That is about as American as you can get.
As asked before… Who are their customers?
(1) Are they terrorist trying to buy triggers? No. Why would a terrorist need to biy thousands of phones? Why would a terrorist need to buy new phones? Why would a terrorist not simply buy one with a stolen credit card?
(2) Why would someone buy a cell phone from these guys versus walking into WalMart themselves and buying it? Simple. Some people don’t have access to WalMart. If you live in the inner city, you often don’t find Wal-Mart’s there. All you have are small merchants who charge and arm-and-a-leg for everything.
(3) Why would somone buy a phone that you don’t have to register to use. Oh… I’d say anyone who doesn’t have credit and can’t get service in their own name. Some who doesn’t read or speak English. Someone who doesn’t even have a bank account.
(4) Who would buy a phone from guys like this. Immigrants from the Middle East and Asia are used to buying cell phones from guys at flea-markets. Nothing weird there. They consider it normal.
(5) Why WalMart? Simple. Walmart has the ability to buy massive amounts of goods cheap, and sell them cheap. These guys calculated that they could buy buy the phones from WalMart cheaper and easier than they could trying to get a deal from the suppilers themselves.
(6) Where did they get the money? If you have ever dealt with first immigrant communities, you will be amazed at how much cash they use. They are used to it. They don’t trust banks. Nor do they feel they need them. Immigrant families can raise amazing amounts of cash to fund a business in the US. Nothing unusual there. No one said the cash belonged to these buyers. It might have belonged to a wealther father or uncle they were working for.
They are simple a “value-added” company buying a product and adding value. In this case, they bring the phones to the customers and give them the cell service they want.
So while US corporations go around looting the remaining pension funds and trying to scam money out of Americans. Our law-enforcement is worried about a group of guys who figured out how to make a buck.
Sad
#35 Ron, you are correct. Another thing you can add is that many people without “good credit” are forced to buy prepaid cell phones. Also, many companies like Tracfone and Cingular will not sell you a phone (prepaid or postpaid) if your zip code is not in their system, even if their service can be used in that same zip code. Many people pay a premium, especially on eBay, to get a cell phone that they cannot get through normal channels. This does not make them criminals.
Like someone else said above, terrorists can buy cell phones anywhere without resorting to buying cheap Tracfones from WalMart. Every convinience store sells them in every state.
What worries me most is that our government officials are not experienced enough to see these other reasons for someone doing something that they feel is odd. Many of the smart government employees tend to move on to the private sector leaving our system needing some kind of knowledge base. The people that run our government, like FEMA, FBI, CIA, etc have been filling up with morons since the late 70s.
Thats sad.
If you’re an Arab, then yes, anything you do is considered potential Terrorist activity. See, we’re going down the slipper slope (no turning back) until cash is gone, and you have to have a special mark to buy or sell anything. Dont think it can happen?
Doesn’t matter. It still will. I figure in 15-20 years you’ll see it.
The infrastructure is being put in place now. Soon (5-10 years) all items will have a small (rice size or smaller) RFID tag so that companies can save TONS of money by getting rid of cashiers. You could walk through a ‘gate’ and get a total for all your items w/out having to run each one over a scanner. (You wont even be able to STEAL things when everything has RFID – There is your CONTROL mechanism)
Then because of counterfitting CASH MONEY, and because CASH can’t be TRACKED, (to stop terrorism) we’ll have to go to credit cards (And btw, all new credit cards and passports have RFID)..
But hey, now people are using RFID readers and counterfitting Credit Cards and Passports worse than ever..
So the last security measure is to do an implant.
The local news near Mackinaw City stated that the security cameras on the Mackinac Bridge (sic) caught them “doing something suspicious”. They also purchased a large quantity of phones from a Wal-Mart 55 miles to the South. This has not been reported on the national news that I can tell. This may be why they are in custody.
#38, cheese, I know you are only passing on the information, but could you post a link? “Something suspicious” doesn’t tell me anything. Still sounds like a bogus charge.
And why the Mackinac Bridge? Although it is big, it is still a backwater bridge. A bridge from almost somewhere to god knows where. Why not a highly traveled, very important bridge such as the Peace Bridge in Buffalo or the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit? Losing either bridge would seriously cripple a lot of trade with Canada, hurting both countries. There are no close alternatives available.
The local news near Mackinaw City stated that the security cameras on the Mackinac Bridge (sic) caught them “doing something suspicious”
What? “being muslim in michigan”?
Authorities say TracFones are often used by terrorists because they are not traceable.
How often? for what?
Why aren’t there tighter controls on TracFones?
Cell phones can also be used to make detonators.
Next, we’ll have to check on any “contractors” buying cases of nails at Home Depot, because nails have been used in bombs.
Phillip K. Dick and his fictional “PreCog” units arresting people before they commit a crime is becoming reality…
This is just STUPID.
For years, I knew people who bought pallet loads of satelite dishes from KMarts near the border to resell in Canada. A good buyer could instantly double his money making $5K or more net a week by moving a single 50 unit pallet. Good job no one thought that they might be trying to receive signals from the middle east!
I used to own a candy store and bought tons of product and supplies from BJ’s, Sams, Christmas Tree Shops, all to resell in my rural candy store.
We have come to a point where folks need to see a continued threat daily on our soil. Without it, the population grows weary of a war with no apparent end, in a country that half the 90% of us could not even find on a map after 5 years of continually hearing about it.
So what do we do?? We loosen the definition of terrorism, find cause under the new definition to make charges somewhere, blow things totally out of proportion by asking questions that are leading and restrictive, avoid any questions that may provide legitimate and simple answers, and convince the population that we are doing the right thing by serving up some sacrificial lambs.
Yes there are terrorists
Yes there is a threat, there always was, and probably always will be
Yes we need to be vigilant
But knee-jerk reactions and stupidity acts do nothing but pacify the masses, while the real threat is still out there. Saying or believing that something is a threat does not make it so. Wasting time on non threats, and making the media frenzy that this has become does not solve anything. other than tell the terrorists what the limits are before raising an eyebrow.
Maybe instead of arresting these guys when they did, they might have simply followed them around a little and tried to see what they were really planning?? If there were nepharious intentions, then maybe, JUST MAYBE, the kingpins could have been spotted also, rathern than what at best is a few low level pions, and at worse just a few guys trying to make a buck.
(PS Were they planning on 1000 bombs?? Seem s like a lot of cellphones for a terror plot!)
#41 haha. im with you 100%.
p.s. Now to all you s***h**** who don’t know about the cell phone business i’m gonna explain it once. You go to work and make your $11/hour or maybe even $9/hr :))). Now me on the other side I go to Walmart when there is a sale and buy this phones for 9.99 and than resell them for 18. see i made
7.60 after taxes on each phone i buy. Walmart knows about this so that is why they restrict to 2 phones per customer. So when i go 3 times to same walgreens i can get 6 phones = 42 bucks in only one Walmart. In a day I can go to over 20 walmarts and make some BIG $$$ while the stupid americans work at McDonalds for 7.50/hr :)) hahaha…. p.s. they guy i sell them to sends them to countries in Soviet Union and not Arab countries so shut up and keep on eating:)
p.s. these guys went to another state because probably there were no phones left in their own state. duhhhhh. check it out. try finding a tracfone in Michigan right now. you won’t – they are all sold out. duhhhhh