#2 More on the Fireworks Boys...
In the back of the patrol car on the way to jail on charges of possession of an explosive device, the two whispered in their native Arabic while a hidden recorder taped their conversation, according to court documents:
“Did you tell them there is something in them?” Mohamed asked, an apparent reference to the PVC pipes.
“Water,” Megahed said.
“Water! Right? The black water is in the Pepsi.”
A few seconds pass in silence. Mohamed speaks again.
“Did you tell them about the benzene (gasoline)?”
“I have nothing to do with it. I do the fireworks and so... so... so... that is it.”
But the pipes werenÂ’t fireworks.
An examination by the FBI’s explosives unit found the materials in the PVC pipes fit the legal definition of an “explosive.”
After examining Mohamed’s laptop computer, which was in the 2000 Toyota Camry that was stopped in Goose Creek, agents found an electronic folder titled “Bomb Shock.” The folder contained several computer files about explosives, including TNT and C-4, a military-grade plastic explosive.
They also found the 12-minute video on the laptop. Someone had uploaded the video onto YouTube, a video-sharing Web site. It could be found on YouTube by entering a complicated 14-word search term, which included the words “martyrdooms” and “suiciders.”
Two days after the traffic stop, FBI agents found a remote-controlled toy boat, still in its box, and a partially dismantled digital watch in MegahedÂ’s Tampa, Fla., home, where he lived with his parents. Authorities said in court documents they believe the two items were the beginnings of a homemade bomb.
And it looks like one of them has a shot at making bail...
Prosecutors also argued that if released, Megahed could flee to his native Egypt. They said he had lived in the United States for 10 years and his application to become a naturalized citizen was denied because he had traveled out of the country too many times.
Megahed has two Egyptian passports, one of which is under a different last name. Prosecutors said it would be difficult to bring Megahed back from Egypt if he were to go there because his family has “substantial assets.”
MegahedÂ’s lawyers told the judge he traveled out of the country with his parents when he was younger than 15. They said his two passports were because one, with the additional last name, had expired.
The name was a family name the family was no longer using, according to court documents filed by Adam Allen, MegahedÂ’s attorney.
“The government was forced to concede that, other than speculation they were unwilling to offer, the government had no evidence that the ‘low grade’ explosive materials were possessed in connection with some other unlawful purpose,” Allen wrote in court documents.
The judge agreed with Megahed. He ordered that Megahed be released on $200,000 bail and that Megahed and his family surrender their passports. Megahed also was to be on house arrest with GPS monitoring. He remains in jail in Tampa while federal prosecutors appeal that ruling. |
A college student facing a terrorism-related charge made a video showing how to detonate explosives using a remote control toy, and the demonstration was uploaded to a popular Web site before the native of Kuwait was arrested, according to court documents.