Feds Arrest Somali Immigrant in Oregon Terrorism Plot

A 19 year old Somali-born immigrant was arrested by the Feds in a sting on Friday after twice dialling a number on a cell phone he believed would detonate explosives in a van parked adjacent to a crowd gathered to watch a Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Portland, OR.

U.S. Attorney Dwight Holton released federal court documents to The Associated Press and the Oregonian newspaper that show the sting operation began in June after an undercover agent learned that 19-year-old Mohamed Osman Mohamud had been in regular e-mail contact with an "unindicted associate" in Pakistan's northwest, a frontier region where Al Qaeda and Afghanistan's Taliban insurgents are strong.

An FBI document reveals that Mohamud had contact with the suspected terrorist in Aug. 2009. In Dec. 2009, Mohamud discussed the possibility of traveling to Pakistan to engage in violent jihad.

Mohamud was arrested at 5:40 p.m. Friday just after he dialed a cell phone that he thought would set off the blast but instead brought federal agents and police swooping down on him. The bomb was an elaborate fake supplied by the agents and the public was never in danger, authorities said.

Already there are sob stories circulating of how poor young Mohamud was the victim of entrapment. For those of you who feel that way, ask yourself if you would feel the same if the lad's name was Billy Jo from Tennessee who had been corresponding regularly with senior members of the KKK or Aryan Nation plotting to do the exact same thing.