“In a court filing, the government seeks to counter defense claims that an undercover FBI agent radicalized Loewen and induced him to commit the crime.” How easy would it be to convince you to plot the mass murder of your fellow citizens? Could you be persuaded to do it for love? Or for any amount of money? Islamic jihadists in the U.S. — or their defense lawyers — constantly claim that they’ve been entrapped, but this begs of the question of why they readily agreed to go along with the plot.
“Feds: Man Well on His Way to Becoming Terrorist Before Sting,” by Roxana Hegeman, Associated Press, March 2, 2015:
A man accused of plotting a suicide bomb attack at a Kansas airport was “well on his way” to becoming a violent terrorist before authorities began investigating him, federal prosecutors argued Monday.
Terry Loewen, a former avionics technician, was arrested in December 2013 after authorities say he tried to bring a van filled with inert explosives onto the tarmac at Mid-Continent Airport in Wichita. His arrest capped a sting operation in which undercover FBI agents posed as co-conspirators and gave him the fake explosives.
In a court filing, the government seeks to counter defense claims that an undercover FBI agent radicalized Loewen and induced him to commit the crime. The heavily redacted public version of the document was devoid of most of the facts behind the case supporting the prosecution’s arguments.
“The conduct of the government was not outrageous; rather, it would have been outrageous for the FBI to leave the defendant to his own devices, trolling the internet for someone to help him give action to his violent intentions,” prosecutors wrote.
Loewen has pleaded not guilty to attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, attempting to use an explosive device to damage property and attempting to give material support to al-Qaida.
Defense attorneys contend that the evidence of government entrapment is so strong that the indictment should be thrown out even before the case goes to a jury. They argued Loewen had no predisposition to commit the crime when the government began its investigation in June 2013.
The government disagrees. It argued the facts show Loewen knew what he believed and was not easily influenced by what others told him Islam represented.
“At the time the FBI began appropriately applying their reasonable investigative resources to this defendant, he already was well on his way to becoming a violent terrorist; he embodied the dangerous, disturbing, and chilling definition of predisposition,” the government wrote.
Salah says
“..induced him to commit the crime” ??
Free Will means exactly that: FREE WILL.
We are all Pro-Choice; when we choose Life we are Pro-Life and when we choose Death we are Pro-Death.
This applies to ALL of us.
Kathy Brown, Esq. says
This is a little too close for comfort. I live in Kansas.
These people with their idiotic ‘defenses’ make me ashamed of the really BAD lawyers who advance such preposterous theories.
M S case says
Don’t think this guy was muslim born gotta watch out for your next door neighbor now days. This is old stuff way back in 2013. wonder how many are there in Kansas today just waiting.
Kathy Brown, Esq. says
MS: This is even worse than the everyday muslim scum.
It’s bad enough to have these monsters born and bred to be jihadis. But REGULAR people, CHOOSING this pathology?
You’re right MS: You do indeed have to watch your own neighbors nowadays. How sick is that?
And Kylene? Of course it’s worse in Chicago. But listen: I’m a New Yorker originally. And there-if you can believe it-we actually have some 9/11 widows who blame the USA and love up the ‘Slimes! OK?
I mean if you read a book or saw a movie like this, you’d walk out. It’d be too preposterous.
kylene says
I lived in Kansas and you’d be surprised at some of the people there that want to convince you to suport violent Islam. I live in Chicago now and its even worse here…you really have to educate yourself to know who to stay away from its so bad here.
mortimer says
WHAT? ” induced him to commit the crime” ??? Sting? That’s so racist!
Criticizing Islam is RACIST !!! Oops…I mean…er…jussaminit…can I get back to you?
M S case says
If I was black I’d be out there trying to knock out some muslims for using “racist and Islamophobia” both words WOW!!!
Baucent says
There is an interesting interview with a former al-Qaeda member who was recruited by MI6. It gives a chilling insight into the mind of the Jihadi. What is clear is these people are suicidal, they welcome and embrace martyrdom. It’s only a matter of how many infidels they get to take with them. That sort of commitment is not forced on people, they welcome it voluntarily.
He’s the BBC link http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-31700894
mortimer says
But if you say that to people they’ll immediately call you a racist…Terry Loewen proves that rule.
Angemon says
Precisely. If the FBI suspected he wanted to plot and execute a terrorist attack then they needed to make sure. As far as I can tell, no one pointed a gun to his head and told him to do it or else.