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CNN Saturday Morning News
Islamic Activist Discusses Detention of Three in Florida on Terror Suspicions
Aired September 14, 2002 - 08:06 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: We should learn more today about the arrest in a Buffalo, New York, suburb of five men that are suspected of terrorist activity. Sources say that all of the men are U.S. citizens of Yemeni origin, that they cannot be described as an active al Qaeda cell. Rather, sources say that some of the men may have been trained by al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Justice Department officials are not commenting. One source says the men could be charged with providing resources and material support to terrorists.
And the arrests come as south Florida recovers from a terrorist scare that unfolded over 17 hours yesterday. Authorities are still trying to sort things out in that one. A nation watched as police searched the cars of three men reportedly heard talking about a terror plot. But when it was all over, no evidence of terrorist activity was found.
Here's CNN's David Mattingly with more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Thursday, September 12, a Shoney's restaurant in the Northern Georgia town of Calhoun. Eunice Stone overhears a conversation around 10:30 a.m.
EUNICE STONE, WITNESS: They were laughing about Americans mourning September the 11th. And I have very good hearing. And then they were saying, "If they mourned September 11, what will they think about September the 13th?"
MATTINGLY: Seated next to three men of apparent Middle Eastern decent, Stone hears what sounds like a terrorist plan to attack a target in Miami.
STONE: One guy said, "Do you think that will bring it down?" And I looked at my son. And we were just looking at each other. And he said: "Well, if that don't bring it down, I have contacts, I'll get enough to bring it down." And to me that meant they were planning to blow up something.
MATTINGLY: 10:50 a.m., the men leave the restaurant, but not before Stone gets a tag number and descriptions of their two vehicles, then calls the local authorities. But no alert goes out right away. Instead, a state investigator is dispatched to determine the credibility of Eunice Stone's report. Then, 6:00 p.m., seven hours after the Shoney's incident, authorities in the State of Florida issue an alert to be on the lookout for the vehicles. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Things happened so fast that there wasn't a need at that point to notify the public. It was like Mr. Keanan (ph) said, the information needs to be verified. The last thing we want to do is cause panic.
MATTINGLY: Shortly after midnight, 13 hours after they left Calhoun, the cars are spotted on South Florida's section of I-75 called Alligator Alley.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of the vehicles flew through the tollbooth without paying the toll. We had traffic units on scene from Collier County looking for the vehicles anyway, and they were subsequently stopped.
MATTINGLY: 1:00 Friday morning, the men are taken into custody. Bomb sniffing dogs alert officers to the possible presence of explosives. And a 20-mile section of the interstate is closed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The dogs did alert on both vehicles. And from then, we called the bomb team in from our task force. We have asked for reinforcement resources from Miami-Dade. They have some specialized equipment that will help us complete the searches.
MATTINGLY: After dawn, the country awakens to live pictures of a robot searching the first vehicle and officers in special bomb protection gear. Hours pass as the men are held in a van. They are described as of Jordanian, Pakistani and Iranian decent, two of them U.S. citizens, the third with a valid visa. The three are medical students studying on the Caribbean island of Dominica, on their way to medical classes in Miami. Still, the men are described by authorities as uncooperative, not volunteering information. But they are not listed as suspects.
11:45 a.m., the first vehicle is cleared and the robot searches the second vehicle. Then hours pass and nothing is found. 4:30 p.m., families of the detained men speak out in Chicago.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just because of the way we look or the way we choose to live our lives, we are still persecuted. And I don't think that's fair.
MATTINGLY: Next, Florida authorities publicly suspect it was all a hoax.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At this spot, we have completed that search now and believe that there are no explosives on board those two vehicles.
MATTINGLY: Then, more than 31 hours after a seemingly menacing conversation is overheard in a Georgia restaurant, three medical students are released from custody. And now two states consider what charges, if any, will be filed.
David Mattingly, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE) O'BRIEN: All right, let's hear from the three at the center of all this. They spoke with CNN's Aaron Brown last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMBIZ BUTT, MEDICAL STUDENT: Our interrogation didn't begin until the FBI came into the scene.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.
BUTT: And as far as the local police were concerned, they wouldn't answer any questions. The whole time I kept repeating myself and asking why are we being pulled over, why is this happening? Well, they just told us, we can't tell you because it's not in our authority.
OMER CHOUDHARY, MEDICAL STUDENT: At 11:30 when we got handcuffed and placed
BUTT: And as far as the local police were concerned, they wouldn't answer any questions. The whole time, I kept repeating myself and asking, "Why are we being pulled over? Why is this happening?" Well, they just told us, "We can't tell you, because it's not in our authority."
in the squad cars, we were each in an individual car, from that time onwards, we were never told why we were pulled over. I found out, I think, an hour or so before we were released this morning or this afternoon.
Around 5:00, 4:30.
AARON BROWN, HOST: What kind of questions did they ask you?
AYMAN GHEITH, MEDICAL STUDENT: Everything.
BROWN: Like what?
BUTT: Where were you born?
CHOUDHARY: They asked us about where we're from.
GHEITH: Well, where were you born? How long have
you been a U.S. citizen? I mean, questions like...
BUTT: Why are you going to Miami?
GHEITH: What business do you have in Miami? Who are your friends? They asked me about a hundred people, do you know this person, do you know that person, do you know this person? No, I don't.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: All right, is it a hoax, fears raised by the 9/11 anniversary, racial profiling?
To talk more about the incident, we're joined by Nihad Awad. He is executive director of the Council on American Islamic Relations in Washington. He's been in close contact with family members of all three men.
Mr. Awad, good to have you with us.
NIHAD AWAD, COUNCIL ON AMERICAN ISLAMIC RELATIONS: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Tell me what the family members are telling you.
AWAD: Well, they're concerned. From the beginning, I got a call around 11 o'clock yesterday, saying that they're concerned about the way their sons are treated, the media attention that has been there all over the country and probably all over the world. They're concerned about the reputation of their children and what will happen next and why they have been picked on just among so many people who just go to a restaurant and eat and just leave without any question, without any reports to the authorities.
O'BRIEN: What were they saying in that restaurant, Mr. Awad?
AWAD: Well, I have not spoken to any of those students and, again, let me just say this. It is very important for us to be alert and vigilant, but also we have to check sometimes our prejudices and, you know, stereotypes of others. The public and media attention has been phenomenal yesterday. And yesterday also I brought the point that just almost two weeks ago in the State of Florida a Jewish doctor was busted by the local law enforcement authorities having more than 30 devices of explosives. Twenty of them were ready to go with a plan to bomb Islamic centers, a school and a list of those and a little plan, what he's going to do next. And I have not seen any live coverage of that incident.
O'BRIEN: All right, in...
AWAD: I have not seen that public attention.
O'BRIEN: Just to clarify, this picture has nothing to do with what you're talking about. I just want to make sure our viewers understand.
AWAD: Oh, nothing, yes.
O'BRIEN: We're showing a picture of the three men involved here. You're talking about another case. May I suggest to you, sir, that as a news event, this one rated more coverage because of the very public nature of it all? It happened on Alligator Alley. They had to shut down the highway. The air space was closed down. This other case didn't happen on a public byway, if you will.
So I think there might be more to it than that. But let's not debate the journalistic decisions here.
AWAD: Well, it was... O'BRIEN: If these three men were, in fact, joking, shouldn't they be arrested for felonious stupidity?
AWAD: It's a stupid joke. It is bad. I wouldn't do it and it does not reflect me or the Muslim community. And I think we have to check the resources, the sources, and just make sure that if this lady is credible, she did the right thing. The law enforcement authorities have done the right thing. And I think that the system was tested, the system is working, but also we have to see if our diversity is being tested at the same time.
O'BRIEN: Well, I mean what do you propose that a person should do if they hear a conversation such as the conversation this woman apparently heard?
AWAD: Oh, I...
O'BRIEN: Regardless of what the person's race or religious background might be? Of course they should call the authorities, shouldn't they?
AWAD: Oh, they, definitely. If I was in her position, I would do the same. But also I have to check what constitutes now a suspicious behavior or action...
O'BRIEN: I would say running through a toll booth is suspicious, isn't it?
AWAD: Oh, definitely. But also wearing a Kofi (ph) cap like this man was (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
O'BRIEN: No, no, no, no. She didn't say anything about the cap. She said they were talking about 9/11, wait till you see what happens on 9/13. A little later they run a toll both. Now, that's suspicious activity, in my opinion.
AWAD: Definitely. But see, you know, the question is people have heard from her and they have heard from them. Now I think we have to have a serious investigation, who's telling the truth. But also, again, we have to commend her if she was credible and also we have to check our own prejudices and stereotypes. And we cannot just judge the looks of people, the way they dress and their religion --
O'BRIEN: All right, but...
AWAD: ... because we have incidents in the past.
O'BRIEN: Given the stakes here and given who the enemy is, can you conjure up any scenario where profiling is justified? I mean after all, there are millions of people in this country and there's only so many security officials, law enforcement people. Isn't racial profiling, within certain boundaries, appropriate?
AWAD: Well, remember after the Oklahoma City bombing? I have not seen white males being stopped while driving trucks passing by federal buildings. It is all to do and it should never have happened. But it does not happen today. African-Americans can tell you a lot about racial profiling and Muslim and Arab-Americans can tell you abundant of stories now.
Just yesterday I heard in our office that we are receiving so many reports from just couples who have been, for example, in Washington, D.C., tourists taking pictures for, you know, of the monument and surrounded by 12 agents and asking them not to take pictures.
And these are Americans like you and me. Why are they being suspected? Because of the way they dress.
O'BRIEN: All right, we're just going to have to leave it at that, unfortunately.
Obviously, that's not going to settle it.
Nihad Awad, we appreciate you joining us.
He is the executive director of the Council on American Islamic Relations from Washington this morning.
Thanks for your time, sir.
AWAD: Thank you.
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