Confirmed: Two arrested at Goose Creek traffic stop were part of terrorist plot
Rmemeber the story from early last month where, during a traffic stop in Goose Creek, SC, two men who were described by witnesses as being of “Middle Eastern descent” were arrested after police found explosives in the trunk of their car? Initially, indictments were handed down in Tampa against the two Egyptian nationals for “transporting explosives materials without permits.”
Well, it turns out that, as expected, there was a lot more to this story than was initially reported:
In a 12-minute video posted on YouTube, an Egyptian man wearing a white shirt, khaki pants and rubber gloves explains in Arabic how to turn a toy boat into a bomb.
His name is Ahmed Abdellatif Sherif Mohamed, and last month he was arrested in Goose Creek after authorities found four PVC pipes containing a mixture of potassium nitrate, kitty litter and sugar in his car’s trunk.
Mohamed told FBI agents he made the video to teach “those persons in Arabic countries to defend themselves against the infidels invading their countries” according to federal court documents released late Tuesday.
Specifically, he told the FBI “the technology which he demonstrated in the tape was to be used against those who fought for the United States.”
What started as a traffic stop for speeding in South Carolina has led to a two-count federal indictment on terrorism-related charges and a multistate mystery investigators still are working to unravel.
[…]
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 weren’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 Megahed’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.
Hat tip: LGF