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CNN Live Today

Al Muhajir Not Volunteering Any Information

Aired June 11, 2002 - 10:17   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: And now the latest on a story that broke this time yesterday. You saw it live on CNN, and that is the arrest of a U.S. citizen accused of being a member of al Qaeda and trying to put together a "dirty bomb."

Well, apparently, now that he's in the custody of the U.S. military, this accused terrorist, Abdullah Al Muhajir, is not volunteering any information on his alleged "dirty bomb" plot or any al Qaeda associates.

Our Chicago bureau chief, Jeff Flock, has more on the American- born suspect and his life and arrest in the Windy City. Jeff, hello.

JEFF FLOCK: Indeed Daryn, hello to you. You know, that shouldn't surprise anyone based on what we have been learning about the man who everyone here in Chicago knew as Jose Padilla. In fact, he sometimes made a career of not cooperating with authorities there. There is his mug shot. That is from an arrest in Florida. More on that in a second.

But first, to Mr. Padilla's life here in Chicago. We've got a picture of his neighborhood and the home in which he grew up. That's the gray stone there, that two-flat gray stone in the Hispanic neighborhood, largely Hispanic neighborhood, the Logan Square neighborhood in Chicago.

Apparently, fell in with a street gang in Chicago. It said to be the Latin Disciples street gang. He has a long arrest record, dating back to age 15. Spent a lot of time in juvenile lockups here.

Then, fast-forward to Florida after this long arrest record in Chicago. He spent a year in the Broward County Jail. That was in connection with a road rage incident in Florida. Again spent about a year there awaiting trial. Eventually plead guilty to an aggravated battery -- well, I don't know if it was aggravated battery actually, it was a gun-related charge. He apparently fired at another motorist with a gun, did not hit him. He spent a year in that jail. We talked, our Miami bureau did, with one of the arresting officers about how that incident came on.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DETECTIVE NEIL LAWRENCE, SUNRISE POLICE: It was something that you won't forget because it was a rainy night that night, and he was in dark car with dark-tinted windows. We were able to get him out of the vehicle. We noticed that he was a little nervous and was going for what we -- appeared to be his waist band, which turned out to be a firearm that was in his waist band.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FLOCK: And apparently this was just one incident of several where there was lack of cooperation between Mr. Padilla and authorities who were either trying to arrest him or something else. Incidents both here and in Chicago as well as in Florida. A number of incidents where he did not show up after posting bond. So again, a long history of not cooperating.

One other thing to mention, Daryn, and that is with regard to his mother. Our Miami bureau has located his mother in Florida. She has an attorney, because she was subpoenaed before a New York grand jury when her son was being held as a material witness in New York. When she was subpoenaed, the court assigned her an attorney. He says that his mother never even knew about Mr. Padilla's alleged involvement with terrorism and never knew that he used a different name beyond Jose Padilla. She said she didn't know anything about all of this until she heard about it on the news. So she had not been contacted by authorities. We are continuing to poke around -- back to you.

KAGAN: All right. We'll cut you loose to do just that. Jeff Flock in Chicago, thank you very much.

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