October 9, 2009 2:23 PM

Zazi's Father Indicted in NYC Terror Plot

By
CBSNews
(AP)  The father of an Afghan immigrant accused of plotting a terror attack in New York City was indicted on a charge of lying to investigators, federal officials said Thursday.

The U.S. Attorney's office in Denver announced that a grand jury returned the indictment against Mohammed Zazi for allegedly making a false statement in a matter involving terrorism.

Zazi, 53, was arrested last month on that charge pending a grand jury indictment.

U.S. Attorney's office spokesman Jeff Dorschner said the indictment doesn't change Zazi's bail status. Zazi, who was released on $50,000 bail and under electronic monitoring, was scheduled to appear in federal court Friday.

Zazi's son, Najibullah Zazi, was being held without bond in New York. He pleaded not guilty to a charge of conspiring to detonate explosives in the United States.

The indictment alleges that Mohammed Zazi lied to FBI when they asked him if he had spoken to anyone about his son on the phone and whether he was in any trouble with authorities.

Prosecutors say that Mohammed Zazi did speak to someone on or about Sept. 11 about his son and that at one point, Mohammed Zazi warned his son that he should hire an attorney.

"What has happened? What have you guys done?" Mohammed Zazi asked his son, according to a criminal complaint.

If convicted of lying to authorities, Mohammed Zazi faces a maximum of 8 years in prison.

Federal authorities accuse the younger Zazi of trying to make a homemade explosives using ingredients from beauty supply stores in the Denver area.

Authorities say the 24-year-old, who allegedly received terror training at an al Qaeda camp in Pakistan, was plotting an attack in New York City on Sept. 11.

AP
Add a Comment
by wyodutch October 9, 2009 11:14 AM EDT
In order to justify sneak and peek raids... monitoring of emails and phone calls... the militarization of American society, it is necessary to keep mindless fear at a high level.
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In order to keep mindless fear at a high level... It is necessary to conduct periodic show trials.
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As James Madison said.. "If tyranny amd oppression come to this land... It will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy."
Reply to this comment
by pvperson3 October 8, 2009 8:22 PM EDT
Now this is Witch Hunt kind of stuff, they arrested him for speaking to someone about his son that had been arrested and accused of a major crime, get real, is this what the US has become, if so, then Osama Bin Laden won, America has been destroyed.
Reply to this comment
by stuart-johns2 October 8, 2009 8:34 PM EDT
No. He was arrested and charged not for talking to his son or for tsalking about his son with someone else. He was arrested for LYING TO THE FBI!

READ THE ARTICLE.
by 1notrub11 October 8, 2009 11:25 PM EDT
So, why is it a witch hunt?
Had it been someone else, they would/should have been charged with the same type of thing. Just because it is his father, makes no difference.
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