Three Texans arrested in Mackinac (Michigan) Bridge terrorism charges

http://www.lSportsJournalists.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060814/NEWS01/608140359/1001/news
Report: 3 terror suspects had photos, videos of 5-mile span

Associated Press

CARO - The U.S. Coast Guard has increased patrols near the Mackinac Bridge after prosecutors said they believe three Palestinian-American men from Texas now jailed on terrorism-related charges were targeting the 5-mile-long span.

The Coast Guard said Sunday that it has increased patrols across the Straits of Mackinac in response to the possible threat.

The men were arrested Friday outside a Wal-Mart Stores Inc. outlet in Caro in the state's Thumb region after employees became suspicious about their purchase of 80 cell phones. Authorities say the men had about 1,000 cell phones in their van.
Advertisement


Maruan Awad Muhareb of Mesquite, Texas; Adham Abdelhamid Othman of Dallas; and Louai Abdelhamied Othman of Mesquite were charged with collecting or providing materials for terrorist acts and surveillance of a vulnerable target for terrorist purposes.

Tuscola County Prosecutor Mark Reene said that investigators believe the men were targeting the Mackinac Bridge.

The Detroit Free Press, citing a law enforcement official familiar with the case who it didn't name, reported today that the phones plus photographs and videos of the bridge led authorities to believe the men were targeting the structure.

Authorities contacted the office of Gov. Jennifer Granholm about the men, The Detroit News reported. Granholm spokeswoman Liz Boyd said: "At this point, there is no credible evidence of a terrorist activity" against the bridge.

Adham Othman and Louai Othman are brothers in their early 20s. Muhareb, 18, is their cousin. They were being held on bonds of $750,000 each.

The men told a magistrate Saturday that they were buying the phones for resale.

On Sunday, the FBI said it was assisting Michigan authorities in the investigation.

Caro's police chief said cell phones can be used as detonators, and prosecutors in a similar case in Ohio have said that TracFones often are used by terrorists because they are not traceable.

 

Wal-Mart: Prices so low, even terrorists love us.

 

When the weather's dodgy the Mackinac is the ultimate white-knuckle ride. Now I have this to worry about on my trip to the Soo?

 

I certainly don't know, but the wife of one of them -- and they have a small child -- says they were simply looking to sell those cell phones to help put one of them through college, nothing more.

 

The two men who were arrested in Ohio last week also said they bought phones at the Caro Wal-Mart.

Authorities said the phones alone weren't a cause for great alarm, but that the phones AND the photos of the Mighty Mac bridge.

 

Probably just a lot of sightseeing pictures to show the folks back home in Texas.

 

My birth mother, who lives in the U.P., sent me a panicky note about news that the terror investigation might be spreading to nearby Marquette, where someone bought 36 phones at the local Wal-Mart.

However, I found it a greater cause for alarm that there is a serial adult-diaper flinger terrorizing the rural roads in the Lake Superior Woods:
http://www.wluctv6.com/Global/story.asp?S=5273964&nav=81AX

 

Wow. I didn't even know they played for Houston.

I was thinking Dunta Robinson, Phillip Buchanon and maybe Domanick Davis.

 

Can I get the feds to arrest my son for going over his minutes on the cell phone? Maybe he is discussing terrorists plots, maybe not, but it's getting expensive.

 

OMFG... laughing hard at the last thee posts...

reported 10 to 15 incontinence products scattered along the highway.

 

Just saw a TV report that said these guys aren't linked to terrorism and the bridge was never in danger. However, a guy who buys cell phones in bulk and resells them for profit said it was highly unusual that these guy separated the phones and batteries. He said that makes no sense.