Cleared by a jury, man is labeled a terrorist and detained by Immigration cops !

[Better Believe It]

Cleared by a jury, man is labeled a terrorist
By Rich Phillips
CNN Senior Producer
June 29, 2009

SARASOTA, Florida (CNN) -- Gary Meringer pulled out of his driveway in his red sedan on a rainy Florida morning. He headed south towards a federal detention center two hours away to visit Youssef Megahed.

Meringer was apprehensive, unsure of what he would say to a man with whom he'd spent a month in the same room, but had never met.

Meringer was the foreman on the jury that set Megahed free.

But, three days after Megahed was acquitted of charges of possessing and transporting explosives, he was arrested again. This time, the U.S. government wants him deported, based on evidence authorities say suggests the Egyptian-born Megahed is a terrorist, in violation of his immigration status.

"We never expected anything like this," said Megahed, reached by phone at the detention center in Moore Haven, Florida.

Neither did his jury foreman.

"I saw the story about the re-arrest, and it literally just took the air right out of my chest," Meringer said. "I could not believe what my eyes were seeing."

The Muslim community, the jurors and the Megahed family say they believe that Youssef Megahed is a victim of profiling. They hope President Obama will intervene. Earlier in June, in his speech to the Muslim world, Obama called for an end to what he called the "cycle of suspicion."

"This is like a great starting point for the Obama administration to translate their speech and their vision, into some reality here in the U.S.," said Yahia Megahed, Youssef's brother.

Megahed is now being detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, as someone ICE says is "engaged or likely to become engaged in ... terrorist activity" even though he has never been criminally charged with terrorism.

From his prison phone, Megahed said: "If President Obama wants to talk about change, he should look first inside the U.S. before talking about change worldwide."

Please read the complete article at:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/06/29/florida.terror.redo/index.html

[AndyA]

1. Obama is going to have to start walking the walk instead of just talking the talk.

Results.

Honoring campaign promises.

Change.

That's what we want. Anything less makes him just another politician.

[pleah]

2. Megahed is right.

From his prison phone, Megahed said: "If President Obama wants to talk about change, he should look first inside the U.S. before talking about change worldwide."

This stinks.

K&R

[Ikonoklast]

10. Change for the better.

Send him back home to Egypt.

This guy is no innocent bystander. Under no law in this land are we compelled to let him stay.

[imdjh]

3. deport him

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2007/sep/14/141853/me-few-release-options-appear-likely-for-usf-stude/news-metro/


He was acquitted in a criminal court where rules of evidence apply to the prosecution and reasonable doubt applies to the theory of the verdict. This is quite different from immigration law under which Megahed can be determined to be an undesirable.

A US citizen has a right to remain in the US regardless of verdict in his criminal trial - this is simply not the case with a resident alien. Legal resident aliens do not have a right to be in the US, they have permission. There is a huge difference.

[readmoreoften]

4. You should join the Minutemen.

I'd rather have "undesirables" like Megahed in the US than undesirable racist thugs like the Minutemen, but, hey, who am I to call you a fascist?

[imdjh]

5. You should read the articles on the trial.

http://www.examiner.com/x-7403-Tampa-Crime-Examiner~y2009m4d7-Youssef-Megahed-acquitted-on-explosive-charges-back-in-custody

The reason Megahed was acquitted was because the jury believed he had no knowledge of what was in the trunk of his brother's car. That's entirely plausible. It doesn't mean that he isn't associated with terrorist wannabes. We know this because his friend is currently in jail:

The jury determined that the federal prosecutor had no case against Youssef Megahed. Megahed was arrested in 2007 with his friend, and fellow USF classmate, Ahmed Mohammed, in South Carolina. The two had been pulled over and it was discovered that there were explosives in the trunk of their car. The car that Ahmed Mohammed was driving belonged to Youssef’s brother, Yahia. Youssef Megahed’s defense attorney claimed that the explosives were homemade fireworks. Ahmed Mohammed plead guilty in an earlier trial to terrorism charges and is currently serving a maximum sentence of 15 years in federal prison.

[atreides1]

6. Evidence

An association does not make him a "terrorist wannabe", anymore then an associate of yours might make you a facist, racist, KKK, Neo Nazi, etc, etc, "wannabe".

[leftynyc]

7. I'd prefer getting rid of both

But the minutemen are citizens so that's not an option.

[Better Believe It]

8. Should everyone that might engage in some sort of undefined terrorist act be locked up or deported?

Let's see .... that would be tens of millions of people.

Do I hear police state?

According to a Department of Defense training manuel, people who participate in peaceful protest demonstrations are "low-level terrorists".

[imdjh]

9. It would not be tens of millions of people by the Megahed scenario

There are not tens of millions of people riding in their brother's car with explosives in the trunk, and a confessed terrorist in the drivers seat.

We're not sending Megahed to jail, we're sending him HOME. His criminal trial proved that our criminal justice system works- there was reasonable doubt that he knew what was in the trunk and was part of that particular plan.

Now we will see what the immigration court has to say about whether he should remain in this country. There are different standards of proof for a reason.

[Better Believe It]

11. Cleared by a jury, man is labeled a terrorist and detained by Immigration cops!

Cleared by a jury, man is labeled a terrorist
By Rich Phillips
CNN Senior Producer
June 29, 2009

SARASOTA, Florida (CNN) -- Gary Meringer pulled out of his driveway in his red sedan on a rainy Florida morning. He headed south towards a federal detention center two hours away to visit Youssef Megahed.

Meringer was apprehensive, unsure of what he would say to a man with whom he'd spent a month in the same room, but had never met.

Meringer was the foreman on the jury that set Megahed free.

But, three days after Megahed was acquitted of charges of possessing and transporting explosives, he was arrested again. This time, the U.S. government wants him deported, based on evidence authorities say suggests the Egyptian-born Megahed is a terrorist, in violation of his immigration status.

"We never expected anything like this," said Megahed, reached by phone at the detention center in Moore Haven, Florida.

Neither did his jury foreman.

"I saw the story about the re-arrest, and it literally just took the air right out of my chest," Meringer said. "I could not believe what my eyes were seeing."

The Muslim community, the jurors and the Megahed family say they believe that Youssef Megahed is a victim of profiling. They hope President Obama will intervene. Earlier in June, in his speech to the Muslim world, Obama called for an end to what he called the "cycle of suspicion."

"This is like a great starting point for the Obama administration to translate their speech and their vision, into some reality here in the U.S.," said Yahia Megahed, Youssef's brother.

Megahed is now being detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, as someone ICE says is "engaged or likely to become engaged in ... terrorist activity" even though he has never been criminally charged with terrorism.

From his prison phone, Megahed said: "If President Obama wants to talk about change, he should look first inside the U.S. before talking about change worldwide."

Please read the complete article at:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/06/29/florida.terror.redo/index.html

[hootinholler]

12. How is this not double jeopardy?

ICE will present an immigration judge with the very same facts that led to Megahed's acquittal in the criminal case. In immigration court, the burden of proof is significantly less.

The evidence, from a search of the computer at his family's home, includes "numerous videos, documents and an Internet search history that supports Islamic extremism, jihad against the United States...," ICE alleged in court documents.

:shrug:

-Hoot

[leftynyc]

13. It's not a criminal case

It's an immigration case where the burden is much lower (same way OJ was found not guilty of murder in a criminal court but was found responsible for his wife and Ron Goldman's death in a civil court).