Steve Neavling

The father of a young man charged with terrorism testified during his son’s trial Monday that his son was brainwashed and manipulated by the FBI, the Associated Press reports.

Osma Barre, the father of Oregon terrorism suspect Mohamed Mohamud, was the first witness for a defense that plans to portray Mohamud as an impressionable, troubled teenager caught up in an overzealous FBI operation, the AP wrote.

Prosecutors allege Mohamud was an extremist bent on killing people.

He’s accused of attempting to detonate a bomb what turned out to be a phony bomb during a Christmas-tree lighting ceremony in 2010.

Mohamed Mohamud

Before pulling the switch on what he thought was a bomb at a tree-lighting event in Portland, Mohamed Mohamud posed before a camera wearing a camouflage jacket and red scarf, saying his goodbyes, the Oregonian reports.

The video was shown during the second day of testimony in the trial of Mohamud, who is accused of trying to ignite a weapon of mass destruction on Nov. 26, 2010. 

“Did you think you could invade a Muslim land and we would not invade you?” Mohamud asked, according to the Oregonian.

His attorney claims the government entrapped his client, who never would have considered detonating a bomb if it were not for the prodding of FBI informants, the Oregonian reports.

Mohamed Mohamud

The Somali-born man charged with pulling the trigger on what he thought was a bomb at a Christmas tree event in  Portland, Ore., first attracted attention from authorities by discussing martyrdom in email exchanges with Islamist extremists, according to opening testimony Monday in the trial, Reuters reports.

Supervisor of the FBI sting, Miltiadis Trousas, testified that agents intercepted communication between Mohamed Osman Mohamud and Islamist militants.

But under cross-examination from a defense that wants to show that Mohamud was entrapped, Trousas acknowledge there’s no evidence that the defendant sought bomb material until after he met undercover FBI agents, Reuters reported.

Mohamud faces up to life in prison on a charge of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction to blow up a Christmas tree-lighting ceremony in Portland in November 2010 when he was 19.

Mohamud is a naturalized U.S. citizens and former Oregon State University student, Reuters wrote.

The second day of testimony begins today.

Steve Neavling

 An Arizona man charged with trying to blow up a Social Security Administration Office was researching how to build the type of powerful bombs used by terrorists, the Associated Press reports.

Abdullatif Ali Aldosary, 47, was charged in federal court Monday with maliciously damaging federal property by means of an explosive and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Despite evidence found at his home that suggested Aldosary was building a much more destructive bomb, the explosion was relatively small and injured no one at the Social Security Office in Casa Grande, about 50 miles south of Phoenix, the AP wrote.

ATF handed the investigation over to the FBI.

Steve Neavling

 A Bangladeshi man is accused of assembling what he thought was a 1,000 pound bomb and trying to detonate it to blow up the New York Federal Reserve Bank, Reuters reports.

The FBI said Wednesday that Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis drove the devise to the bank and walked back to his hotel, where he recorded a video statement, saying, “We will not stop until we attain victory or martyrdom.”

Authorities arrested Nafis as he repeatedly tried to detonate the bomb, which the FBI assured was never in working condition, Reuters reported.

‘Attempting to destroy a landmark building and kill or maim untold numbers of innocent bystanders is about as serious as the imagination can conjure,” said Mary Galligan, FBI acting assistant director-in-charge. “The defendant faces appropriately severe consequences.”

The FBI employed a tactic it has used in the past: Befriend a would-be terrorist and provide him with fake equipment to see if he will go through with an attack, according to Reuters.

The FBI said Nafis traveled to the U.S. in January 2012 and claimed to have been in contact with al Qaeda, a claim that agents could not substantiate.

Nafis considered several targets, including President Obama, before deciding on the bank building, which is one of the most secure and guarded in the country, authorities said.

Steve Neavling

The attorney of a Saudi man accused in a bombing plot against the U.S. didn’t present much of a defense, resting the case without any evidence or witnesses to testify, the Associated Press reports.

Closing arguments in the terror case against Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari in Amarillo, Tex. are expected this morning.

If convicted, Aldawsari could be sentenced to life in prison for attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, the AP reported. Authorities said the 22-year-old former Texas Tech chemical engineering student had long planned to attack the U.S. and even created a target list that included the Dallas home of former President George W. Bush.

The substance of the defense argument is that Aldawsari didn’t take a “substantial step” to carry out an attack because he never had a bomb, according to the AP.

Steve Neavling

A Texas man was indicted by a federal grand jury late last week on charges he violated the civil rights of Muslims when he threatened to blow up the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro in Tennessee, according to DNJ.com.

Javier Alan Correa, 24, is accused of leaving an expletive-laced voice mail at the mosque, threatening to blow up the building with a bomb.

Correa faces 10 years in prison on one count of intentionally obstructing by threat of force the free exercise of religious beliefs and one count of using an instrument of interstate commerce to communicate a threat to destroy a building by means of an explosive device.

According to authorities, Correa left the message, “On Sept. 11, 2011, there’s going to be a bomb in the building.”

By Danny Fenster

FBI Agents were summoned to Boston’s Logan Airport on Sunday as an inbound flight from London landed and a ”suspicious note” mentioning a bomb was found by a flight attendent, reports Boston.com.

FBI agents, police and k-9 units searched the plane along with its 200 passengers and 16 crew members when the flight touched down at Logan Airport, according to State Police, though nothing was found.

Virgin Atlantic Airways Flight 11 arrived in Boston without incident at about 6 pm on Sunday

Trooper Thomas Murphy, a spokesman for the Massachusetts State Police, said authorities do not believe the bomb threat to be credible, but are investigating at the moment.

To read more click here.