By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com The Justice Department is fighting back attempts by defense attorneys to muzzle Attorney Gen. Eric Holder Jr. and other government workers when it comes to pre-trial comments in the terrorism case involving a teen who tried to detonate a bomb in Portland during a Christmas tree lighting ceremony in December. It…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com WASHINGTON — The year 2010 was full of almost-disastrous terrorist acts from the Times Square Bomber to the the Portland teen who tried to detonate a car bomb during a Christmas-lighting ceremony in Oregon, only to find out it was an FBI sting. Not everyone agreed with the FBI tactics when…
By The Los Angeles Times Editorial Page From Abscam to the arrest of former Washington Mayor Marion Barry on drug charges, sting operations have brought accusations that the government was entrapping its targets. This perennial complaint has acquired a new sensitivity with charges that the FBI, as part of its anti-terrorism activities, is inducing Muslims…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com Attorney Gen. Eric Holder Jr. delivered a forceful speech Friday night before the Muslim Advocates’ Annual Dinner in suburban San Francisco, strongly defending the FBI stings involving terrorism. “Our nation’s law enforcement professionals have consistently demonstrated not just their effectiveness, but also their commitment to the highest standards of professional conduct,…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com The federal defender for the Oregon teen accused of trying to detonate a fake bomb in an FBI sting, is claiming his client was entrapped by the government, the Los Angeles Times reports. Mohamed Osman Mohamud, a Somali-American, pleaded not guilty Monday in U.S. District Court in Portland to charges he…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com Mohamed Osman Mohamud, the Somali-born teen busted in an FBI sting after trying to detonate a van with dummy explosives during an annual tree-lighting ceremony in downtown Portland, Ore., on Friday night, was angry at his parents for keeping him from jihad, the Oregonian newspaper reported. The paper, citing government court…
