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Home Front: WoT
Three convicted in NC terror trial
2011-10-14
A federal jury has convicted three North Carolina Muslims of plotting to attack unspecified targets overseas, as well as the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Va., in what prosecutors called a case of "homegrown terrorism."

Omar Aly Hassan, 22, Ziyad Yaghi, 21, and Hysen Sherifi, 24, were convicted Thursday of providing material support for terrorists. Yaghi and Sherifi were also convicted of conspiring to kill, kidnap or maim unspecified people overseas; Hassan was acquitted on the conspiracy charge.

Prosecutors in the trial said the men traveled overseas, raised money and trained with weapons in the service of a jihadist plot to kill perceived enemies of Islam. Defense lawyers said evidence presented in court did not show the defendants discussing or agreeing to any specific attack.

The government collected 750 hours of audio and video that included conversations between the defendants and three paid FBI informants; in those conversations, the defendants discussed jihad and their hatred for non-Muslims.

Friends and family members who attended the trial said there was selective prosecution of Muslims. Hassan's father, Aly Hassan, said that the trial had been "a long nightmare."

"Every single witness came out and said they never conspired with my son," Hassan said. "Conspiracy is a very elastic word."

Outside the courtroom, Sherifi's mother shouted, "Racist vultures!"

Mauri Saalakhan, director of an Islamic organization called the Peace Thru Justice Foundation, said the convicted men were victims of guilt by association. He called the undercover informants "provocateurs" who entrapped them.

Eight men were indicted in the case in 2009. Their accused leader, U.S.-born Daniel Boyd, a Muslim convert, testified for the government in a plea deal. So did his sons, Daniel Boyd, 24, and Zakariya Boyd, 21. They are to be sentenced later. A trial for the seventh defendant, Anes Subasic, has not been scheduled. The eighth defendant, Jude Kenan Mohammad, is a fugitive.

Prosecutors named no specific places, times or dates for attacks, except for a potential attack on the Marine base in Quantico. The elder Daniel Boyd had visited the base, and he and Sherifi had discussed its vulnerability to an attack on Marines and their families. Sherifi was also convicted of conspiring to kill members of the U.S. military and weapons violations.

In court, prosecutors displayed a stockpile of almost two dozen guns and 27,000 rounds of ammunition taken from a bunker under Daniel Boyd's home; they also played tapes of the defendants praising jihadist publications.

Defense lawyers said the defendants were foolish young men who made "stupid'' and offensive comments but did not commit any crimes.

Hassan and Yaghi are U.S. citizens. Sherifi, a Kosovo native, is a legal permanent U.S. resident. Sentencing is scheduled to take place in 90 days.
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Home Front: WoT
NC town braces for terror trial
2010-08-03
The federal trial of seven alleged terrorists could be held in U.S. District Court on Middle Street in New Bern next year. A tentative trial date had been set for next month in New Bern, but the case was continued because thousands of pages of Arabic documents had to be translated, according to district court officials.

A U.S. District Court spokeswoman, Robin Zier, told the Sun Journal that the trial could be held sometime next year, but no court has been designated. “It could be held in U.S. District Court in New Bern or Raleigh. Chief U.S. District Court Judge Louise Flannigan is assigned the case,” she said.

Facing charges are:
Daniel Patrick Boyd, 39, the suspected ringleader of the group.
Hysen Sherifi, 24, a Kosovan immigrant who legally relocated to the Raleigh area.
Anes Subasic, 33.
Zakariya Boyd, 20.
Dylan Boyd, 22.
Mohammad Omar Aly Hassan, 22.
Ziyad Yaghi, 21.
All are U.S. citizens except for Sherifi. They all face life sentences if theyre convicted of the charges of conspiracy to take part in a terrorist plot. The men were indicted July 2009 and for conspiring to murder, kidnap, maim and injure persons abroad.

Daniel Patrick Boyd of Johnston County went under the alias of Saifullah. The indictment said Boyd trained in Afghanistan from 1989-1992 and fought in the Soviet war in Afghanistan, which ended in 1989.

According to David Kris, an assistant attorney with the U.S. Justice Department,“Daniel Patrick Boyd is a veteran of terrorist training camps in Pakistan, who over the past three years, has conspired with others in this country to recruit and help young men travel overseas in order to kill. Boyd received military-style training for the purpose of engaging in terrorist training for the purpose of engaging in violent jihad.” The indictment also says that Boyd and several of the accused traveled to Israel in June 1997 to engage in “violent jihad” but subsequently returned to the U.S. after failing in their efforts.

Across the street from the federal courthouse in New Bern is Centenary Methodist Church, which also has a day care facility. The senior pastor of the church, the Rev. Susan Pate Greenwood, said no notices had been sent to parents of day care students because no notification of a trial date has been made. “There had been rumors, but no official notification from federal officials had been made with church officials,” Greenwood said. Greenwood said if the trial is held in New Bern next year, notifications would be sent out to parents. “We have no hard evidence of such a trial, but will be in contact with federal officials,” she said.
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Home Front: WoT
7 in North Carolina charged with supporting terrorism
2009-07-28
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Federal authorities have charged seven men in North Carolina with supporting terrorism and conspiracy to commit murder abroad, the Justice Department announced Monday.

Officials said one of the men, identified as North Carolina resident and U.S. native Daniel Patrick Boyd, had traveled to Pakistan and Afghanistan, where he trained in terrorist camps to carry out "violent jihad."

Boyd, 39, who went by the name Saifullah, was charged along with two of his sons: Dylan Boyd, 22, also known as Mohammed, and Zakariya Boyd, 20.

The four others also are residents of North Carolina, and all seven are accused of engaging in weapons training and military tactics in their home state, the Justice Department said. "We consider this significant. We've been watching them for some time, and we think they were dangerous," said a federal law enforcement official who asked not to be identified.

The Boyd family and defendant Mohammad Omar Aly Hassan are identified as U.S.-born citizens. Defendant Hysen Sherifi is identified as a native of Kosovo who is a legal permanent resident of the United States, and Hiyad Yaghi and Anes Subasic are said to be naturalized U.S. citizens. Officials did not immediately identify their native countries.
So...I wonder which one's the informant?
Eenie .. meenie .. meinie .. ... ... Mo?
The indictment, made public by the Justice Department, says Daniel Boyd and others left the United States for Israel in June 2007 to "engage in violent jihad but ultimately returned to the United States after failing in their efforts."
Find out the Joooos play for keeps, did ya?
The defendants, with a substantial cache of weapons, had "practiced military tactics and use of weapons on private property in Caswell County, North Carolina, in June and July 2009," the indictment says. The documents make no reference to a direct threat to individuals or property in the United States.

In a written statement, the Justice Department's top counterterrorism official, David Kris, said that Daniel Boyd, "a veteran of terrorist training camps" had conspired with others to recruit and help young men travel overseas in order to kill."

The U.S. attorney in Raleigh, George E. B. Holding, said, "These charges hammer home the point that terrorists and their supporters are not confined to the remote regions of some far-away land, but can grow and fester right here at home."

The defendants made an initial appearance in federal court in North Carolina. Officials said they are expected to return to court Thursday for detention hearings.
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