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| 2 Saudi men scope out school, bus in Tampa | ||
| 2006-05-20 | ||
Students on the bus became alarmed, as did the bus driver, who called ahead. Hillsborough County sheriff's deputies met the bus at the school and detained the men. No one was injured and nothing out of line occurred on the bus, deputies said. Mana Saleh Almanajam, 23, who lives in Apt. 302 in The Point apartments, and Shaker Mohsen Alsidran, 20 Monticello Gardens, Apt. 304-A, each were charged with trespassing on school property. Both remained in Orient Road Jail on Friday evening. Bail for each was set at $250. "Both defendants gave several versions of the reason they took a school bus to a high school," said Hillsborough County sheriff's spokesman J.D. Callaway. "They said they wanted to go to Wharton to look around, and then they said they wanted to go there to have some fun, and then they said they wanted to enroll in the English classes there," Callaway said. "We're not sure if this was a situation of them just being new to this country, or if they were confused or what it was," Callaway said. "We were unsure as to exactly what the final reason was, but it did cause great concern for the students on the bus and for us. One of the guys was wearing shorts with a black trench coat." While on the bus, the men laughed and spoke in Arabic, Callaway said. Ahmed Bedier, Tampa director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said the men likely meant no harm and that because "they were from Saudi Arabia, that escalated the situation." He blamed the incident on cultural differences. "They didn't differentiate between a school bus and public transportation," he said. The bus picked up the students and the men at about 7 a.m. Friday at the corner of Fletcher Avenue and 42nd Street, deputies said. The bus driver, a substitute, reached her supervisors by telephone. They relayed the information to Wharton High resource Deputy Mike Eastman, who met the bus when it arrived at school at about 7:30 a.m., and detained the men. The sheriff's Homeland Security Division, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's Regional Domestic Security Task Force, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the FBI all were notified. Almanajam and Alsidran at first told deputies they were from Morocco, but later admitted being from Saudi Arabia, deputies said. They said they were enrolled at the English Language Institute at the University of South Florida. Both arrived in the United States about six months ago and have student visas that require them to be enrolled at the English Language Institute, Callaway said. Authorities searched the apartments of the two men and found nothing of concern, he said.
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| Posted by:lotp |
| #13 My first question is why did the driver let then on ? This could have been a dry run/rehearsal or elictation (wrong people in the wrong place gathering info) - both pre-attack indicators. If these guys are dirty (I'm betting yes) they may have done loads of surveilance on various buses, picked this route and time for tactical advantages, and were in the final stages of the attack plan. They needed to know if there was security on the bus and the only way is to catch a lift and see what happens. Or these two guys could be pawns who were told to do what they did and nothing else ( ow risk to the group with a dead-end cut-out). Unfortunately, if this was pre-op activity, the bad guys learned that anyone can get on a school bus. The trick is to not let them on in the first place. |
| Posted by: Bangkok Billy 2006-05-20 23:44 |
| #12 Yeah, why would they lie about being Saudis? Why couldn't they get their story straight about why they were going to a high school? Something stinks here. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2006-05-20 23:20 |
| #11 They lied about being Saudi! Why on Earth would they do that? This stinks all the way around. Sounds like they believe all the "Americans are stupid" propaganda they've been fed. -M |
| Posted by: Manolo 2006-05-20 22:49 |
| #10 This totally sucks. "He blamed the incident on cultural differences." Culture of life v. culture of death It's nice how their adresses are right there in the story. |
| Posted by: Gene the Moron 2006-05-20 22:08 |
| #9 what exactly are they doing in the country anyway? Attending the school where Sami al-Arian taught and built up a network of students. |
| Posted by: lotp 2006-05-20 21:53 |
| #8 not a fucking thing good ES |
| Posted by: Greamp Elmavinter1163 2006-05-20 21:50 |
| #7 Sounds like stupidity all around in this episode. "Casing" is a fairly sophisticated term to describe this activity. The "substitute" bus driver also gets quizzed about this, but not knowing the territory, what else does he or she do when two "youths" hop aboard - who's to say they're not the new "exchange" students? Probably nothing here, but again, what exactly are they doing in the country anyway? |
| Posted by: Ebbogum Sheresh6836 2006-05-20 21:39 |
| #6 First order of business, make sure they weren't simply casing out the route, or timing the trip! They were smart enough to leave their cameras behind to 'avoid' suspicion! |
| Posted by: smn 2006-05-20 20:49 |
| #5 Or both at once, as with those "musicians" on the airflight a year or so ago. |
| Posted by: lotp 2006-05-20 19:40 |
| #4 Alarm bells ringing ... Either that or a perverse sense of humor: playing with the kuffirs. |
| Posted by: xbalanke 2006-05-20 19:38 |
| #3 When they get to version #7 of the excellent story(s), the aclu will be showing up with dire habeus corpses. |
| Posted by: Inspector Clueso 2006-05-20 18:51 |
| #2 Note the ages on these guys: young enough to maybe pass as high school kids if they had a good sense of what the kids wear etc. Alarm bells ringing ..... |
| Posted by: lotp 2006-05-20 18:47 |
| #1 no shit? $250 Bail? Was Sami Al-Arian the judge? these mooks need to have their entire lives examined before they're released. Jeebus! |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-05-20 18:46 |