"Judge declares mistrial in Miami terror case"
"MIAMI - In a stinging defeat for the Bush administration, one of seven Miami men accused of plotting to join forces with Al Qaeda to blow up Chicago's Sears Tower was acquitted yesterday, and the case against the rest ended in a hung jury.
The White House had seized on the case to illustrate the dangers of homegrown terrorism and trumpet the government's post-Sept. 11, 2001, success in infiltrating and smashing terrorism plots in their earliest stages.
The group never actually made contact with Al Qaeda. Instead, a paid FBI informant known as Brother Mohammed posed as an Al Qaeda emissary.The defense portrayed the seven men as hapless figures who were either manipulated and entrapped by the FBI or went along with the plot to con "Mohammed" out of $50,000.
The group never actually made contact with Al Qaeda and never acquired any weapons or explosives.
Prosecutors said no attack was imminent, acknowledging that the alleged terror cell was "more aspirational than operational."
Pffffftttt!
"MIAMI -- One of seven indigent men charged with plotting to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago as part of an Islamic jihad was acquitted on Thursday, and a mistrial was declared in the prosecution of the six others after the jury said it was hopelessly deadlocked.
The outcome was a significant defeat for the Bush administration, which had described the case as a major crackdown on homegrown terrorists.
Officials had acknowledged that the defendants, known as the Liberty City Seven for the depressed section of Miami where they frequently gathered in a rundown warehouse, had never acquired weapons or equipment and had posed no immediate threat. But, the officials said, the case underscored a need for pre-emptive terrorism prosecutions.
Jeffrey Agron, the jury foreman, outside the courthouse, declined to detail how the 12 jurors had split on each count and each defendant. But he said they had thought the weakest count was the government’s charge that the defendants had conspired to wage war against the United States."Stuff is fucking silly if it were not so serious!
