Federal authorities are detaining a Somali immigrant who is suspected of plotting to carry out a terrorist attack during the recent holiday season. The man appeared Wednesday at a closed hearing marked by extraordinary security in Detroit's federal immigration court. He was arrested in early December at his home in Columbus, Ohio, and was a factor in the government's decision to raise the national alert level to orange, or high, that month. The officials would not describe what kind of plot they suspect. The man, a U.S. resident for six years, is being held for alleged immigration violations and has not been charged with a crime or any act of terrorism, said his lawyer, Douglas Weigle. Weigle, who is based in Cincinnati, said the government's suspicions are farfetched. He said his client owns a small cell-phone business and is married with two children, ages 9 months and 2 years.
| They never seem to say, "Yep, my client's guilty as sin!" |
Weigle declined to discuss the terror allegations, but said his client is a victim of the times. "I don't think his case would be handled this way prior to 9/11," Weigle said.
| Prior to 9-11 we didn't have quite so many dead people. |
The man appeared in Detroit for a deportation hearing to answer government claims that he has overstayed his visa. He is being held at an undisclosed location and is appealing for asylum because he fears torture and death in war-torn Somalia. Jorge Martinez, a U.S. Justice Department spokesman, and Greg Gagne, a spokesman for the federal Executive Office of Immigration Review, said the case has been classified as a special interest matter, meaning federal officials are investigating possible terrorism links. The man's appearance in Detroit prompted federal officials to turn the small immigration court -- squeezed onto the fourth floor of the Crain Communication Building in Brewery Park -- into a high-security zone. Detroit police accompanied federal agents escorting the detainee to his appearance before immigration Judge Elizabeth Hacker. Bomb-sniffing dogs and extra guards were brought in to augment the court's usual security measures, a metal detector and a lone security guard.
| It sounds like they expect his buds to bump him off, possibly taking everyone for several hundred yards around with him... |
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