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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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12

Feds Head Off Bombing Plots in Dallas, Illinois

Cases unrelated to each other; no link to Denver, NY terror arrests

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(Newser) – A Jordanian citizen arrested in an elaborate FBI sting is to be arraigned today on charges of attempting to blow up a Dallas skyscraper. The court appearance comes a day after an Illinois man was charged with plotting to detonate a bomb near a Springfield courthouse, only to learn that his supposed al-Qaeda contact was an FBI agent. The cases are not related to each other nor to the terror arrests in Denver and New York, authorities say.

In Dallas, agents found Hosam Maher Husein Smadi on an extremist website espousing jihadist views. When they posed as al-Qaeda operatives and provided him with a fake bomb, his neighbors were stunned. "He was just an awesome person,” one tells the Dallas Morning News. Michael Finton of Decatur, Ill., who also went by "Talib Islam," seems less benign. "I got to thinking, ‘Why does this person even choose to live in this country if he thinks we’re so evil?’" an acquaintance tells the Springfield Journal-Register.

Michael C. Finton (left) and Hosam Maher Husein Smadi are in federal custody after attempting to detonate what they thought were bombs outside an Illinois courthouse and a Texas skyscraper.
Michael C. Finton (left) and Hosam Maher Husein Smadi are in federal custody after attempting to detonate what they thought were bombs outside an Illinois courthouse and a Texas skyscraper.   (AP Photo)
Hosam Maher Husein Smadi.
Hosam Maher Husein Smadi.   (AP Photo)
Hosam Maher Husein Smadi planned to topple Fountain Place, a 60-story glass office tower in Dallas, authorities say.
Hosam Maher Husein Smadi planned to topple Fountain Place, a 60-story glass office tower in Dallas, authorities say.   (AP Photo)
Michael C. Finton, who was arrested Wednesday and charged with attempting to murder federal officers or employees after attempting to detonate what he thought was a bomb outside a federal courthouse.
Michael C. Finton, who was arrested Wednesday and charged with attempting to murder federal officers or employees after attempting to detonate what he thought was a bomb outside a federal courthouse.   (AP Photo/Illinois Department of Corrections)
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A coordinated undercover law enforcement action was able to thwart his efforts and ensure no one was harmed. - David Kris, assistant attorney general for national security

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12 comments
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dontlikeyou
Sep 25, 09 12:22 PM CDT
Maybe they did and maybe they didn't. Two things I have learned over my years. (1) Every person accused of a crime in America is not guilty of the crime. (2) The government will knowingly fabricate evidence to get a conviction. ---- So, like I said, maybe these guys are guilty, or maybe they are not. We cannot take the word of the government's media (ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, CNN, FOX, et al). Reply
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-14
IN RESPONSE:
Doctor_Zaius
Sep 25, 09 12:26 PM CDT
Why do you hate America?
Vote up! Vote down!
+7
IN RESPONSE:
BeatBlaster
Sep 25, 09 1:42 PM CDT
@dontlikeyou: I'm so glad I can't take your word.
Vote up! Vote down!
+7
IN RESPONSE:
tman3220
Sep 25, 09 2:15 PM CDT
No,dly, their white. They gotta be guilty. Now, if they were black.... hmmm.....
Vote up! Vote down!
-3
IN RESPONSE:
fancygapva
Sep 25, 09 7:30 PM CDT
@dontlikeyou: I don't generally like you either, but you're right. The government has and does fabricate things and the media is pretty much the creature of it's various corporate owners who have their own reasons for warping the "news" and turning it into infotainment. Greed seems to be the motivator in all the above from individual elected officials to bureaucrats to media moguls/editorial boards, etc. Here's the liberal punchline: If the human race doesn't get in touch with its compassion we really won't survive the next century or so. For the sake of the earth and all the other critters, that might not be such a bad thing....
Vote up! Vote down!
-1

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