Breaking: Jose Padilla Found Guilty

Al-Qaida dirty bomb wannabe and homegrown jihadi Jose Padilla and two co-defandants, Adham Amin Hassoun and Kifah Wael Jayyousi, were found guilty today of supporting al-Qaida and other violent Islamic extremist groups overseas. The jury verdict was read a short time ago before U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke at the federal courthouse in Miami.

The unindicted terrorist co-conspirators from CAIR immediately began seething.

Reaction so far from Michelle Malkin, Allahpundit at Hot Air, LGF, Captain's Quarters.

UPDATE 2:37 ET: CNN story.

The jury in the Jose Padilla terror trial has found the American guilty of conspiracy to support Islamic terrorism overseas.

Jose Padilla was originally accused of planning a "dirty bomb" attack in the U.S.

Padilla's two co-defendants, Adham Hassoun and Kifan Jayyousi, were also found guilty on the three counts as charged: conspiracy to murder, kidnap, and maim people in a foreign country, conspiracy to provide material support for terrorists, and providing material support for terrorists.

The verdict came after less than two days of deliberations, according to a U.S. District Court official.

Sentencing is set for December 5. All three defendants face life in prison.

UPDATE II 3:18 ET: Assorted reaction at Memeorandum.

It appears many of the leftwing blogs are too busy wiping away the tears, but I'm sure the venom will start flying before long.

UPDATE III 3:30 ET: Sure enough. The Democrat Party's favortie blog is apoplectic.

Over at the Home Office For Hate, the commenters, the commenters are losing it, as expected.

lisakaz (See profile | I'm a fan of lisakaz)
That's about where I see things. Given this guy was broken down over 3.5 years and this is what they got, I gotta wonder if even this was manufactured. A judge permitted some "evidence" of Osama to prejudice the jury seems awfully like hangman justice to me, too. Unless they can concretely tie one to the other with documents or audio, etc. I don't understand how this was allowed. Frankly I don't even get how this guy was ruled competent to stand trial when he seems so fearful to his family that they hardly recognize him and he clams up begging not to be asked about torture. I bet he and the others get shanked in prison before the truth comes out. This seems fishy to me. I'm not ready to say he isn't guilty of something but I have doubts about this case and whether or not the process was tainted.
Log in | Parent | posted 02:50 pm on 08/16/2007

collapse SanityNotHannity (See profile | I'm a fan of SanityNotHannity)
This dumbshit should have changed his name to Bin laden the bush would have flown him home.
Log in | posted 02:45 pm on 08/16/2007

coastalcarla (See profile | I'm a fan of coastalcarla)
This has been the most ridiculous "trial" ever conceived. They trumped up a bunch of charges and railroaded this guy. So far, they haven't found one single real terrorist yet. Just a bunch of scapegoats that happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. And I love how they keep "recovering" evidence from Afghanistan. Have you looked at that place lately? We bombed it to rubble after the Soviets bombed it to rubble. They must have a document-forging operation over there, just so they can come up with "evidence" against people here. One more person thrown in prison for the rest of his life to prop up Bush's GWOT. How can they expect us to believe any of this?
Log in | posted 02:45 pm on 08/16/2007

esquire07 (See profile | I'm a fan of esquire07)
"the U.S. The administration called his detention an important victory in the war against terrorism, not long after the Sept. 11 attacks."

Lies, lies, lies.

The Administration was behind 9/11. George W. Bush and Company profited handsomely from 9/11 and the illegal and immoral occupation of Iraq.

Lies, lies, lies.

Wake up America, it is just about to late.

www.911truth.org
Log in | posted 02:50 pm on 08/16/2007

rbspickles (See profile | I'm a fan of rbspickles)
And don't forget Silverstein. Also, Bush's little brother owned the security company for both World Trade Centers and the airport the planes came from. Too many coincidences.
Log in | Parent | posted 03:05 pm on 08/16/2007

galaxy101 (See profile | I'm a fan of galaxy101)
This verdict is outragous, this government is not legitimate, this is sick. I just feel bad for those taken by the Bush Administration and held illegally that we don't know about...
Log in | posted 03:06 pm on 08/16/2007

I question their patriotism.

Padilla Lawyer: Blame Islamophobia

Such a novel defense, an alleged fear of Muslims. If he said we had fear of Islamic terrorists perpetrating mass murder on American soil, which they are wont to to, then he might have a point.

Otherwise, he needs to lose the CAIR talking points.

Padilla case built on fear of Islam, lawyer says

MIAMI (Reuters) - A lawyer for one of former "enemy combatant" Jose Padilla's co-defendants portrayed the government's case in the terrorism support trial on Tuesday as "U.S. versus Islam" and said it relied on fear of Muslims to cover a lack of evidence.

"That kind of fear and prejudice is what you have sworn your most sacred oath to put aside," defense attorney William Swor told the jury that is expected to begin deliberations later on Tuesday.

Swor has a tough sell, considering the evidence admitted.

The government introduced into evidence about 125 transcripts from more than 300,000 conversations over nearly a decade, Swor said.

Padilla's lawyers, who did not call any witnesses during the 3-month trial, contend he went to Egypt to learn Arabic and study Islam.

Sounds like rampant Islamophobia.

Jose Padilla's Job Application

Check it out via this story.

I wonder if al-Qaeda advertises online?

Judge Rejects Padilla Motion

The road is now clear for Jose Padilla, a/k/a Abdullah al Muhajir, to stand trial beginning next Monday. Naturally, the AP doesn't call it a victory for the President or the Justice Department. Had the judge decided in favor of Padilla, it would be termed a "stinging rebuke" or "major defeat" for the administration.

A federal judge rejected a motion by alleged al-Qaida operative Jose Padilla to dismiss terrorism charges against him over claims he was tortured in U.S. military custody. The ruling removes one of the last major obstacles to the start of Padilla's trial next week.

U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke stressed in a 12-page order filed late Monday that she was not passing judgment on the torture allegations. Rather, she said the effort to dismiss the case for "outrageous government conduct" was faulty on legal grounds.

Padilla's lawyers claim that during the 3 1/2 years Padilla was held as an "enemy combatant" at a Navy brig he was routinely subjected to harsh treatment and torture.

He claimed that he was forced to stand in painful stress positions, given LSD or some other drug as a "truth serum," subjected to loud noises and noxious odors, and forced to endure sleep deprivation, extreme heat and cold and harsh lights.

The Pentagon and Justice Department have repeatedly denied those claims. Officials with the brig in Charleston, S.C., said during earlier testimony before Cooke that Padilla, a 36-year-old U.S. citizen and Muslim convert, was not mistreated, though they acknowledged occasional removal of the mattress in his cell and of his copy of the Quran.

Padilla and his co-defendants, Adham Amin Hassoun and Kifah Wael Jayyousi, are scheduled for trial starting next Monday.

More on Padilla.

Doctors Claim Padilla Unfit for Trial

This seems pretty dubious, but let's play along.

Former "enemy combatant" Jose Padilla is mentally unfit to stand trial on terrorism charges and physically unable to tell his lawyers what happened to him in a U.S. military prison, doctors who examined him for the defense said in court on Thursday.

The doctors testified that Padilla, held by presidential order for 3-1/2 years in a military brig without being charged, is also unable to tell his lawyers anything about the time he spent in Afghanistan and Egypt, where the government alleges he conspired with Islamist terrorists to maim and murder people.

If asked to review taped conversations that will be used as evidence, he breaks into a sweat, hunches over and rocks back and forth, the doctors said.

"He hits a stone wall and his logic shuts down," said Dr. Angela Hegarty, a neuropsychiatrist who examined Padilla in his Miami jail cell. "His overwhelming anxiety interferes with his reasoning."

Cute of the Reuters "reporter" to use quotes are the term enemy combatant. OK, so what to do with Padilla?

Padilla himself denies he has painful memories, depression or any problems at all and believes he will be sent back to the brig to die there regardless of what happens in court, the defense doctors testified.

Sounds like a plan to me.