First entrapped, then railroaded: More victims of Bush's "War on Terror"

[Hannah Bell]

Two years ago this month, four African American men, all former prisoners, were arrested on terrorism charges: plotting to bomb two Riverdale synagogues and shoot down military airplanes with missiles. The men, who lived in poverty-stricken Newburgh, N.Y., had neither the means, abilities nor motives to carry out such acts before they met FBI agent provocateur Shahed Hussain.
Long before Hussain met James Cromitie, David Williams, Onta Williams and Laguerre Payen, the FBI had concocted the plot's scenario. Hussain's job was to find people willing to go through with this "terrorist" plan, and lure them into executing it...

After months of fruitless efforts "to talk jihad" at the local mosque, as he put it, Hussain found his target. James Cromitie, unemployed and desperate, was offered $250,000, a vacation to Puerto Rico and his own barbershop if he agreed to commit to the plot. Hussain then spent months trying to get Cromitie to make a move, to no avail.

Roughly a month before their arrest, Cromitie introduced Hussain to David Williams. Payen (who suffers from schizophrenia and has been in and out of mental institutions his whole life) and Onta Williams came in to the picture a mere three weeks prior to May 20. None of the men knew each other very well...Hussain promised David he could pay for a very expensive and badly needed surgery for David's brother, who suffers from liver disease...

Anyone who considers these facts would conclude that the Newburgh 4 were victims of entrapment...
But because of the atmosphere of scaremongering since September 11, new lawless rules apply to Muslims in cases of so-called terrorism. After a three-week trial, the four were convicted, based on Hussain's testimony and various video clips, in which, for example, Cromitie fabricates a story about blowing up a police station...

http://www.www.socialistworker.org/2011/05/17/entrapped-then-railroaded


Their sentencing is in June. They're expected to get life. The article interviews David William's aunt, their advocate.

very much worth reading.

fuck bush. may he choke on a pretzel & die.

[MrDiaz]

1. At what point do we

Reallize that the PATRIOT ACT was going to expire under Obama, but he signed it back into law. The wars are still continuing, plus 1 was escalated under Obama's watch. Guantanomo is still up and running. When does all this become Obama's and not Bush's?

[joshcryer]

2. Hussain and Anna (Green Scare) need to get together.

They'd probably make a fine family: http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/wp-content/Images/elle_anna.pdf