ABC News Exclusive: Two Men on United Flight from Chicago Arrested for 'Preparation of a Terrorist Attack' in Amsterdam
Suspects Had Been Cleared Sunday by TSA in Chicago, Birmingham Despite Security Concerns
Aug. 30, 2010
Two men taken off a Chicago-to-Amsterdam United Airlines flight in the Netherlands have been charged by Dutch police with "preparation of a terrorist attack," U.S. law enforcement officials tell ABC News.
U.S. officials said the two appeared to be travelling with what were termed "mock bombs" in their luggage. "This was almost certainly a dry run, a test," said one senior law enforcement official.
A spokesman for the Dutch public prosecutor, Ernst Koelman, confirmed the two men were arrested this morning and said "the investigation is ongoing." He said the arrests were made "at the request of American authorities."
The two were allowed to board the flight at O'Hare airport last night despite security concerns surrounding one of them, the officials said.
The men were identified as Ahmed Mohamed Nasser al Soofi, of Detroit, MI, and Hezem al Murisi, the officials said. A neighbor of al Soofi told ABC News he is from Yemen.
Airport security screeners in Birmingham, Alabama first stopped al Soofi and referred him to additional screening because of what officials said was his "bulky clothing."
In addition, officials said, al Soofi was found to be carrying $7,000 in cash and a check of his luggage found a cell phone taped to a Pepto-Bismol bottle, three cell phones taped together, several watches taped together, a box cutter and three large knives. Officials said there was no indication of explosives and he and his luggage were cleared for the flight from Birmingham to Chicago O'Hare.
Once in Chicago, officials say they learned al Soofi checked his luggage on a flight to Washington's Dulles airport for connections on flights to Dubai and then Yemen, even though he did not board the flight himself.
Instead, officials say, al Soofi was joined by the second man, Al Murisi, and boarded the United flight from Chicago to Amsterdam.
When Customs and Border officials learned al Soofi was not on the flight from Dulles to Dubai, the plane was ordered to return to the gate so his luggage could be removed. Officials said additional screening found no evidence of explosives.
The two men were detained by Dutch authorities when the United flight landed in Amsterdam, according to the officials.
OK, so here's the thing. They technically did nothing wrong - no law against taping pepto bismol bottles together without explosives - even though we all know damn good and well what they were planning. Other than the huge red flag that would raise, and the rightful extra screening that they did in BHM, there were no grounds to hold these fuckers because our laws do not allow us to do so.
This is concerning on many levels. Do we turn into a police state and arrest these fuckers for what they MIGHT be planning to do in the future? Do we have to wait until they actually kill people, including, probably, themselves? How do you stop this kind of crayzee? You really can't. Note they are from Michigan, which has the highest Muslim population in the US, I believe. I hope the FBI has established a freaking new Hoover Building up there - if there is a terrorist attack again in this country, the odds are good that it started in Michigan, or at least the fuckers who do it have connections there.
Technically the people in BHM did their job. And it seemed like the system worked - these assholes got flagged and searched and followed every step of the way on their trial run for the journey of death. Now we know who these assholes are, at least. I think they should have been sedated while in custody and chipped like a dog - then we can GPS track their every move...
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