Is this an isolated incident?

Reba

Reba

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Is this just a minor event, or could it be something important? :hmm:

The happened last night a few miles down the road from my neighborhood.

Names released: Men found with explosives

Sunday, Aug 05, 2007 - 05:44 PM Updated: 06:11 PM
By Tara Lynn

We now know the identities of two men in custody after deputies found possibly explosive materials in the trunk of a car.

Berkeley County officials say they stopped 24-year-old Ahmed Mohamed and 21-year-old Yousef Megahed on Highway 176 around 6p.m. yesterday for speeding.

Deputies say they found materials used in making explosives during the car search.

Count on Two’s Tara Lynn spoke with the FBI, Berkeley and Charleston County Sheriff’s departments, and the state law enforcement division. They have not confirmed what exactly the materials are. The two suspects are in custody awaiting charges of unlawful possession of explosives.

Authorities used a robot to remove suspicious items from the trunk of the four-door sedan and they detonated the items around 3:45 a.m.

Berkeley County deputies say they became suspicious when one of the men in the car tried to quickly shut down a lap top computer, which lead to the search.

NBC is reporting authorities found pieces of PVC piping, various model rocket motors and other suspicious items, but officials at the scene early this morning would not say what they found.

“Reports will be completed during the day today and should be available if requested come Monday morning and any further information will have to be made available through the sheriff's office PIO office on Monday” Lieutenant Vince Lombardo with Berkeley County Sheriff’s Department.

Around 11:00 p.m. Charleston County Sheriff Al Cannon said the materials did not pose an immediate threat.

Goose Creek police did shut down part of Highway 176 while crews investigated.

NBC is also reporting that the two men in the car did not show up on any terror suspect list.

Count on Two’s Tara Lynn spoke with authorities at the detention center. They said immigration officials will interview the suspects tomorrow and will probably be transferred into their authority.

Deputies say they will officially charge the two men tomorrow. The Berkeley County Sheriff will hold a news conference to reveal more information tomorrow morning.
Names released: Men found with explosives - News - Charleston, SC
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ABC News 4 Charleston - Details on Materials Found in Trunk Unclear
 
:gpost: I noticed the names and I didn't have to wonder anymore.
 
An update:

Felony charges

The news has also spread to the national cable networks.

We live just a short distance from the area mentioned. The road those guys were stopped on goes to the Naval Weapons Station, which is home to the Navy's Nuclear Power School and Consolidated Brig, both very highly restrictive places. We go to the NWS (non-restricted area) almost weekly for bowling with the grandsons. Because Hubby and I are veterans, we use other facilities and services at the NWS. When Hubby was on active duty, one of his duties was escorting some of the brig prisoners. One of our friends at church is a volunteer chaplain to some of the prisoners in the brig.

Just a reminder: the brig is where they also keep enemy combatants, previously including Jose Padilla. Charleston, SC Latest Local News: Brig's role has evolved

If these two guys were headed to North Carolina from Florida, they were on the wrong road. There is no reason to exit the interstate between NC and FL to get on that road. It's not directly connected to the exits where people might pull off for gas or food.
 
Oh, boy. The news in my city have never mentioned this incident.

I think it is too early to determine whether it is an isolated incident or not. If it is, it is serious. I wonder what he was doing with his laptop. Making pipe bombs for a firework? I'd rather waiting for updates first after FBI is done processing laptop and everything.
 
Reba,
Very apparent what was going on there.

The media in this area states that the FBI says there were no bombs or bomb materials but the Locals say there were.
I'd certainly take the word of the local law enforcement, they know what they found.

Unfortunate but we are sliding toward the blaise attitude that Europe is now regretting.
An isolated incident? - No Way!
 
Scary! I hope it was an isolated incident.
 
Barbaro said:
Oh, boy. The news in my city have never mentioned this incident.

I think it is too early to determine whether it is an isolated incident or not. If it is, it is serious. I wonder what he was doing with his laptop. Making pipe bombs for a firework? I'd rather waiting for updates first after FBI is done processing laptop and everything.
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Yes, I'm curious to know what is in the laptop.

I'm also curious to know if their luggage included beach wear for their supposed visit to the NC beaches. :hmm:
 
ASLGAL said:
Reba,
Very apparent what was going on there.

The media in this area states that the FBI says there were no bombs or bomb materials but the Locals say there were.
I'd certainly take the word of the local law enforcement, they know what they found....
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Fireworks are legal in SC. Since many years, a couple weeks before every Fourth of July and New Year's Eve, portable sales booths (metal trailers) set up in every neighborhood selling fireworks. Every kid growing up in the Lowcountry eight years and older is familiar with what legal fireworks look like. Every cul-de-sac or dead end street has its own fireworks show every year. My 11-year-old grandson could probably identify different fireworks.

Every police officer in this area knows what legal fireworks look like. There is no way a local cop could confuse legal fireworks with a pipe bomb. They know the difference. If our cops say it wasn't fireworks, it wasn't fireworks.

Those two Egyptian guys are mechanical engineering college students. They obviously know how to make simple pipe bombs. If 12-year-old rednecks can do it, college engineering students can do it.
 
Reba said:
Yes, I'm curious to know what is in the laptop.

I'm also curious to know if their luggage included beach wear for their supposed visit to the NC beaches. :hmm:
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Perhaps they were going to experiment pipe bombs in the ocean to see if it is successful, then they will probably move on to much advanced pipe bombs. We'll never know.

Any 'burb kid can pull pipe bomb lesson from internet and build it easily.

Fireworks are legal in SC? I miss playing with fireworks, but it is not legal in San Diego for many reasons, including wildfire and set the house on fire. Oh, well.
 
Barbaro said:
...Fireworks are legal in SC?
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Yes, they are legal in this state; it's a booming business (heh, heh).

They aren't legal to use within city limits of some cities in SC but even then the police usually look the other way on New Year's and Fourth of July, as long as no one complains or does something dangerous. You can't shoot them in the downtown areas but most of the residential areas are OK. Some neighbors pool their money and set up fairly sophisticated displays on their cul-de-sacs.
 
Those names sounds like Arabic names... Maybe they was a terrorist?
 
Update:

Egyptian man held on bomb charges meets with parents
By Adam Parker
The Post and Courier
Originally published 12:00 a.m., August 11, 2007
Updated 07:45 a.m., August 11, 2007


The parents of Youssef Megahed, one of two Egyptian men jailed in Moncks Corner on explosives charges, met with their son Friday at the Hill-Finklea Detention Center.

"They are satisfied with his conditions and with his safety," said Ahmed Bedier, executive director of the Tampa, Fla., chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

The Megaheds, who traveled from Tampa to see their son, brought him a prayer rug and a Koran during their 45-minute meeting, he said.

Nearly a week after their arrest, Megahed and Ahmed Mohamed, who were in the United States studying at the University of South Florida, are still behind bars at the Berkeley County jail awaiting lab results from the FBI, according to Chief Deputy Butch Henerey of the Berkeley County Sheriff's Office.

While Henerey couldn't rule out the possibility that the lab results would lead to additional charges, he said it's unlikely local officials will present new evidence.

Megahed, 21, and Mohamed, who is either 24 or 26 according to warrants, are being held in the maximum security area of the jail for their protection, Henerey said.

The next step is for the solicitor's office to bring the two men before a grand jury on existing charges. What the federal government might do is uncertain as long as its investigation continues, he said....
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About the two points that I put in bold.

1. If they are practicing Muslims going on a road trip that lasted several days, why weren't they carrying their own Koran?

2. If Mohamed is here on a student visa, why doesn't he have accurate proof of his age?


Just wondering.
 
good question, Reba.. hmm... i sincerely hope its isolated incident... sigh
 
More news:

FBI search home in relation to USF students arrested

Temple Terrace [Tampa area] -- The FBI says they did search a house in Temple Terrace in relation to the case involving the two students arrested in South Carolina. The home on Pampas Place was searched Saturday morning. Agents took a suitcase possibly belonging to 24-year old Ahmed Mohamed who is one of the men arrested for carrying pipe bomb making material.

Neighbors tell us the FBI also took from the home large pieces of PVC pipe. Neighbors also say the home was searched several years ago in relation to the Sami Al-Arian case. He is the USF professor accused of raising money for terrorist organizations.
http://www.tampabays10.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=61022
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Hubby and I were chatting about this case today. I asked him if he could think of any possible reason or way someone driving from Tampa to North Carolina would detour off the interstate to the place where these guys were stopped. Hubby said there is no way anyone can "accidentally" end up in Goose Creek from the interstate to NC. He said you have to really go out of your way to end up there.

In Hubby's work, he drives all over the three counties of the Lowcountry, and he knows lots of "back ways" and short cuts in this area. He has also driven the north - south (between Florida and South Carolina, and between South Carolina and North Carolina) route several times. Depending on the route the two guys were driving, they were 50 - 80 miles off course.

Hubby asked, "Why would those guys have to 'make' fireworks for themselves? You can easily buy fireworks all over the state."
 
I wonder if they are exchange students? it didnt mention if they are or not? if they were exchange students- it explains why they got off course? i really dont know.... but its suspicious especially when closing the laptop and everything..
 
Neighbors also say the home was searched several years ago in relation to the Sami Al-Arian case. He is the USF professor accused of raising money for terrorist organizations
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Darn..

My local media still haven't mentioned it yet. :( Thanks for the updates.
 
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