Alhaggagi’s attorney August Gugelmann said: “Amer is not anti-American and does not support ISIS or any other terrorist organization. He is completely nonviolent, and he took no actions to harm anyone….Amer is a very young and naïve man, and it appears he allowed himself to be drawn into conversations that he should have been far more suspicious of.”
How naive does Alhaggagi’s attorney August Gugelmann think we are? This naive, nonviolent kid got “drawn into conversations” that led him to being indicted for aiding the Islamic State, which he does not support? This naif who had “spent significant time in Yemen” just happened to fall into planning a jihad massacre, despite being “completely nonviolent”?
In today’s politically correct, propaganda-addled world, this defense, as absurd as it is, just might work.
“Oakland Man Indicted For Allegedly Aiding ISIS,” CBS SF, July 21, 2017 (thanks to gravenimage):
OAKLAND (CBS SF) – A 22-year-old Oakland man, who allegedly met with undercover agents to plan a potential terrorist attack, has been charged with attempting to set-up social media accounts for ISIS, federal prosecutors confirmed Friday.
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Amer Sinan Alhaggagi — who has been in federal custody since last November — was indicted on Thursday by a federal grand jury on several counts including attempting to provide social media accounts for the use and benefit of ISIS.
In a detention document filed in December, federal prosecutors told the court that Alhaggagi had spent significant time in Yemen and had allegedly met undercover agents on “numerous occasions to plan a potential terrorist attack.”
In a statement, Alhaggagi’s attorney August Gugelmann denied his client knowingly was involved in terrorism.
“Amer is not anti-American and does not support ISIS or any other terrorist organization,” the statement read. “He is completely nonviolent, and he took no actions to harm anyone.”
He said Alhaggagi was “naïve” and not aware of who the individuals were that he was communicating with in chat rooms.
“The evidence we have suggests these charges are based on internet chat conversations that he had with a number of unknown people,” the statement read. “Amer is a very young and naïve man, and it appears he allowed himself to be drawn into conversations that he should have been far more suspicious of.”
It appears in some of those chatrooms were either undercover government agents or cooperating sources, according to a protective order sealing evidence in the case that was filed in December.
The order read in part that the sealed evidence included “materials describing communications that occurred between the defendant on the one hand and undercover agents and cooperating sources on the other, whose identities remain confidential and non-public.”
In the detention order for Alhaggagi filed on Dec. 20, federal prosecutors told the court that the Oakland man was “both a serious flight risk and a danger to the community.”…