(CBS) Not so long ago, Adam Gadahn was a Jewish-American boy, growing up on a goat farm in Orange County, California. Now he's been charged with treason against the United States -- "perhaps the most serious offense for which any person can be tried under our Constitution," according to Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty.
Gadahn, aka Azzam al-Amriki or "Azzam the American," 28, is accused of deliberately making the choice to leave his country and join al Qaeda, providing "aid and comfort" to the country's most determined enemy.
In the videos, Gadahn gloated over attacks he threatened would be coming, promising "the streets of America shall run red with blood." He praised the 9/11 attacks as "the blessed raids on New York and Washington."
But Justice officials said a tape released on September 2nd of this year, in which Gadahn was actually introduced by al Qaeda's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, was "the last straw."
He sounds like a silly/confused Californian goat farmer's boy to me!
This makes me wonder now, about my treatment at the airports coming back from Erie.
At the airports coming back from Erie, PA, I was targeted for inspection, just me, not my brother.
Did I say something or (maybe) browse something on the internet that flagged me as a terrorist.
Security was supposedly looking for bottles of liquids in my luggage.
I asked "Is toothpaste allowed in my suitcase."
The security guard said, "Yes".
I said "Couldn't plastic explosives be disguised in a tube of toothpaste."
He told me "Not to say anything else, or he'd have to call the FBI, and they'd send me to jail".
Is freedom of speech not part of the Constitution now?
I must have missed that Amendment.
I was traveling with my brother, and security asked me which suitcases were mine so they could search them.
I pointed out a suitcase and a box. I made some comments about how silly the inspection rules were.
And, somehow, my new camera got smashed.
I'm as American as anyone can get.
I grew up in the USA. I know its history, and admire the constitution and love Justice, Freedom, and the American way of life
I think Freedom of speech should be a cherished part of the constitution. We must have lost that after the 9/11 attacks.
I'd just hate to see the day when the citizens of the United States become targets of their government for what they say.
I want to chant ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER FOR PRESIDENT!!!
This is what I'd rather be read in the papers (about terrorist and other evil people).
A British man pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiring to bomb high-profile targets in the United States.
including the International Monetary Fund headquarters in Washington and the New York Stock Exchange.
By JILL LAWLESS LONDON Oct 12, 2006 (AP)
"I plead guilty," Dhiran Barot, 32, said in a clear voice at Woolwich Crown Court in south London.
Other alleged targets in the plot, which was foiled by Barot's arrest in 2004, included the World Bank headquarters in Washington, the Citigroup building in New York and the Prudential building in Newark, N.J.
Prosecutor Edward Lawson said Barot planned "to carry out explosions at those premises with no warning. They were plainly designed to kill as may people as possible."