14 DAY TRIAL // The prosecution has put in final arguments in the case of suspected terrorist Mohamed Mohamud. His father Osman Barre is defending him, claiming that he acted under the guidance and influence of the FBI.
The 21-year-old is accused of trying to set off a bomb at Portland's Pioneer Courthouse Square. The Oregonian details that he was arrested for pushing cell phone buttons, trying to detonate explosives in a van, during the town's 2010 tree-lighting ceremony.
Somali-American Mohamud's father initially claimed that his son was being “brainwashed” by al-Qaida before the incident.
He had contacted the FBI and expressed concern after noticing that his son was emailing Islamic jihadist Samir Khan, publisher of a propaganda publication for the terrorist organization.
Mohamud himself wrote four articles for the magazine, under the title Jihadist Recollections. Kahn was later killed in the midst of a CIA operation, during which he was accompanied by al-Qaida leader Anwar al-Awlaki.
According to the Examiner, Mohamud had plans of learning Arabic in Yemen. His father feared that he would be recruited to join the mujahedeen army in Somalia, as were other Somali-American teens before him.
During his trial, Barre reiterated that his son was going through a state of confusion that led him to connect with terrorist group members. He described him as a "good-hearted kid, very simple," OPB relays.
He blames the FBI for influencing his son during his “identity crisis,” since he first came to them, in 2009. He argues that a lack of stability in family life might have harmed his son's fragile personality, pushing him further into depression. Wikipedia informs that the suspect had been arrested prior to the bomb plot, for attempted date rape, while on campus at Oregon State University. He was never prosecuted for the charges.
Police reports reveal that he was convinced he would be detonating a real bomb in 2010. A tragedy was avoided because FBI agents were able to switch the explosives for fake ones beforehand.