Terrorism

Suspect Pleads Guilty in New York Subway Bomb Plot

Najibullah Zazi, an Afghan immigrant and airport shuttle driver living in Colorado, pleaded guilty today in a conspiracy to detonate explosives in New York’s subway system. Zazi pleaded guilty to three charges: conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction, conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country and providing material…

Feb 22, 2010 10:14 PM CST

Apparently Angry at IRS, Pilot May Have Intentionally Crashed Small Plane Into Office Building

A man identified as the pilot of a small plane that crashed into an office building in Austin, Texas, this morning apparently did so intentionally to get back at the Internal Revenue Service. The building houses nearly 200 IRS employees, and Joseph Andrew Stack, 53, who piloted the Piper Cherokee,…

Feb 18, 2010 7:41 PM CST

It’s Free Speech v. ‘Material Support’ for Terrorism at High Court This Week

Ralph Fertig believes in peaceful social advocacy—and he has the scars to prove it. In 1961, he was a young social worker in Chicago when he journeyed to Alabama and rode with the Freedom Riders to integrate the interstate buses. He was arrested and beaten in a Selma jail, leaving…

Feb 15, 2010 3:47 PM CST

Small Firm Hires Greenberg’s Top DC Gun to ‘Punch Above Our Weight Class’ in New Outpost

Little known in BigLaw circles, a 16-attorney South Florida law firm has hired the managing partner of Greenberg Traurig’s office in Washington, D.C., to open its new outpost in the nation’s capital. Ronald Kleinman will start Monday at Colson Hicks Eidson, where he will head the D.C. office, the firm…

Feb 13, 2010 12:53 AM CST

Lawyer for Mumbai Terror Suspect Shot Dead

A lawyer who was representing a man accused of aiding terrorists who killed 164 people in Mumbai, India, was fatally shot by several attackers. Killed was Shahid Azmi, who represented Fahim Ansari, who is accused of helping to plan the 2008 terrorist attacks on the Taj Mahal Palace, Tower and…

Feb 12, 2010 1:21 PM CST

Obama to Help Pick Site for Khalid Sheik Mohammed Terror Trial, Military Tribunal Possible

Responding to political backlash, President Obama plans to insert himself into the decision about where to try Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the accused mastermind behind the 9-11 terror attacks. The president initially delegated the task of selecting a trial site to Attorney General Eric Holder in an effort to keep the…

Feb 12, 2010 11:25 AM CST

UK Court-Ordered Release of CIA Docs Summary Supports Torture Claim

An appeals court in the United Kingdom has required the British government to release an unredacted version of a seven-paragraph document summarizing U.S. intelligence information about the 2002 interrogation of a terrorism suspect subsequently detained by the U.S. military at Guantanamo Bay and released last year. The release of the…

Feb 10, 2010 11:15 PM CST

ACLU Airport Suit Says Feds Detained Student Over Study Aid for Arabic Class

A federal lawsuit filed today by a Pomona College student says he was detained, handcuffed and interrogated at the Philadelphia International Airport over a five-hour period last year simply because he was carrying English-Arabic flash cards he used for a college language class. Nicholas George, 22, alleges that his treatment…

Feb 10, 2010 9:16 PM CST

Lawyers Turn to 9th Circuit with Pleas to Hold Yoo Accountable

Recent news reports have indicated that the Justice Department has softened its stance on John Yoo for his role in drafting memos advising the Bush administration on its treatment of terror suspects. The reports could mean that Yoo won’t face any disciplinary troubles for the advice he gave during his…

Feb 10, 2010 4:52 PM CST

‘Boy Soldier’ Faces Gitmo Tribunal, Could Be First Under Obama Administration

The youngest detainee at Guantanamo Bay—Omar Khadr, who was 15 when he is alleged to have thrown a grenade that killed a U.S. Special Forces medic in Afghanistan—is a lightning rod for criticism of the Obama administration over whether it’s proper to try a child soldier. His age and circumstances…

Feb 10, 2010 11:30 AM CST

Appeals Court: Ex-Prosecutor Can’t Be Sued Over His Work on Terror Case

A former federal prosecutor who was tried and acquitted of conspiring to hide evidence in a terrorism case cannot be sued civilly over his work on the case by one of the defendants, a federal appeals court has held. Reversing a Detroit federal judge’s ruling in favor of plaintiff Karim…

Feb 3, 2010 6:51 PM CST

Ex-AG Mukasey: DOJ Indecision on 9-11 Trials Looks ‘Like Amateur Night’

Former Attorney General Michael Mukasey slammed the Justice Department today for indecision on where to try five accused Sept. 11 plotters. In an appearance on Fox and Friends, Mukasey showed little patience when asked about an apparent flip-flop on a Manhattan venue, the Huffington Post reports. “It makes it look…

Feb 2, 2010 4:37 PM CST

US Won’t Try Alleged Sept. 11 Plotters in NY; What Is Plan B?

The administration won’t try five alleged plotters of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in Manhattan after all, a decision announced after Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the security costs could be at least $200 million a year. The New York Times had the story on Friday, and ran a story about…

Feb 1, 2010 1:32 PM CST

DOJ Report Won’t Trigger Ethics Referral for Authors of Terrorism Memos

Former Justice Department lawyers Jay Bybee and John Yoo are likely to be relieved by a forthcoming report that concludes they exercised “poor judgment” in legal memos authorizing harsh interrogation techniques. The report by the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility has been rewritten to eliminate a finding that Bybee…

Feb 1, 2010 12:59 PM CST

Sen. Wants AG to Resign; Others Also OK’d Miranda for Alleged Bomber

The Department of Justice was one of at least four agencies that approved giving a Miranda warning to alleged underwear bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab—after he had stopped talking, according to a published report. “Knowledgeable law enforcement officials” told the Los Angeles Times that other agencies consulted included the FBI, the…

Feb 1, 2010 12:18 PM CST