Another American Muslim Convicted of Terrorism

When I first started posting about this issue, most of the articles were about Muslims in Europe. But recently most of them have been about America Muslims as the problem is starting to snowball here.

After a Georgia Tech student was convicted of terrorism related charges his father stated “He’s not guilty of any crimes in the eyes of Allah. He’s guilty of U.S. laws.” We need to make it clear that any Muslim who places Islamic law above US laws is the enemy of the state.

Ex-Tech student found guilty on terrorism charge
Father: Ahmed ‘not guilty of any crimes in the eyes of Allah’

By BILL RANKIN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Moments after his son was convicted Wednesday of a terrorism conspiracy, Syed Riaz Ahmed said the young man never harmed anyone and committed nothing more than thought crimes.

“You think something and you’re guilty of something,” said Ahmed, somber and weary as he stood outside a federal courtroom. “He’s not guilty of any crimes in the eyes of Allah. He’s guilty of U.S. laws.”

During a brief hearing, U.S. District Judge Bill Duffey pronounced Syed Haris Ahmed, a former Georgia Tech student, guilty of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists here and overseas. He will be sentenced later this year.

U.S. Attorney David Nahmias said Ahmed’s case did not involve an imminent threat, “because in the post-9/11 world we will not wait to disrupt terrorism-related activity until a bomb is built and ready to explode.”

“The fuse that leads to an explosion of violence may be long, but once it is lit once individuals unlawfully agree to support terrorist acts at home or abroad” we will prosecute them to snuff that fuse out,” Nahmias said. The investigation was connected to the convictions of multiple terrorists around the world, “all before any innocent people were killed,” he said.

Ahmed, 24, once a Centennial High student who earned a Georgia Tech scholarship to study mechanical engineering, embarked on a spiritual journey during his college years to learn more about Islam. Upset by how fellow Muslims were being treated across the world, Ahmed turned to the Internet and became besotted with jihadist Websites espousing violent, radical views.

At his trial last week, prosecutors introduced into evidence e-mails and Internet chats in which Ahmed said he wanted to engage in violent jihad. The trial culminated in Ahmed’s refusal to allow his defense lawyer deliver a closing argument. Instead, Ahmed waived a jury trial so he could use the allotted 45 minutes for closings to deliver what he said was the message of Islam.

Ahmed quoted nine passages from the Quran in Arabic while giving his statement to Duffey, who presided as judge and jury. By delivering “the message that has been revealed by Allah,” he said, “the promise of protection from evil will also apply to me.”

Ahmed also admitted to the court he had been “misguided.”

Prosecutors said Ahmed began plotting acts of terror in early 2005, when he and his alleged co-conspirator, Ehsanul Islam Sadequee of Roswell, met with suspected terrorists in Toronto. The men talked big, discussing attacks on military bases and oil refineries, even using lasers to disable the GPS satellite system.

A month later, Ahmed and Sadequee drove to Washington and took 62 amateurish “casing videos” of area landmarks, such as the Capitol and World Bank. Some of the recordings were later found on the computers of two men now convicted of terrorism crimes in Great Britain.

Prosecutors said Ahmed and Sadequee took the videos to earn the respect of terrorists overseas by proving they could take risks and showing how close they could get to potential targets.

Link to Article