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'We Thought They Were Terrorists,' S.C. Deputy Says

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By ELAINE SILVESTRINI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 20, 2008

Updated: 02/20/2008 06:32 pm

TAMPA – Two University of South Florida students were pulled over on a South Carolina highway in August because of the color of their skin, their attorneys argued today.

Public defender James Smith told U.S. Magistrate Mark Pizzo today that Deputy James Lamar Blakely saw the driver looking in his rearview mirror, observed the two men's faces and noted whether they were wearing seat belts. It follows, Smith said, that the deputy also saw the color of the two Egyptian men's skin. Claims by the deputy that he suspected drug activity are not credible, Smith argued, and are merely a cover for his real reasons.

But a federal prosecutor argued that the motor vehicle stop Aug. 4 near Goose Creek, S.C., was legitimate and based on valid suspicions in the deputy's mind.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Hoffer maintained that the total circumstances surrounding the stop support the validity of the stop and consent from the driver, Ahmed Mohamed, made the later search legal.

Pizzo reserved ruling on whether to grant defense motions that he suppress evidence gained in the traffic stop, including devices in the trunk of the Toyota the men were riding in.

If Pizzo grants the defense motions, the government's case against Mohamed and Youssef Megahed likely would collapse, at least the charge of transporting explosives, since the purported explosives were discovered during the search.

Mohamed is also charged with trying to help terrorists by posting on the Web site YouTube a video of himself demonstrating how to use a remote-controlled toy to detonate a bomb. It's not clear if that charge would be affected by the dismissal of the evidence gained during the search since prosecutors could argue they would have found the video eventually.

A video of the traffic stop has been played in court, and Media General, the parent company of The Tampa Tribune and WFLA News Channel 8, filed a motion seeking access to the recording.

Linda Moreno, an attorney for Mohamed, objected to its release, because, she said, the recording also has a segment that was not played in court that includes extensive statements made by Mohamed to investigators. Moreno said she was afraid releasing the traffic stop video would infringe on Mohamed's right to a fair trial. "This is, as you know, a YouTube generation," she told Pizzo.

Pizzo said he had not seen the whole video and would defer ruling on the Media General request.

Also today, a deputy who helped in the traffic stop said he saw the two Middle Eastern men holding Qurans and assumed terrorism might be involved.

"Seeing the two Qurans and the two individuals in the vehicle and their actions, I assumed or made the assumption there might have been terrorism," said Deputy Andrew Taylor of the Berkeley County Sheriff's Department.

Taylor can be heard on a recording of the stop talking to Blakely about the suspects being in the Taliban.

"Well, he passed freakin' suicide bomber school quick," Taylor says at one point.

Blakely testified Tuesday that his remarks were unprofessional jokes that shouldn't have been made. This morning, Taylor also described his comments as unprofessional jokes.

Asked by a defense attorney whether he was afraid of the two men, Taylor said he was "a little bit nervous."

Taylor also described the deputies' conversation as thinking out loud. He was asked whether that meant those were his thoughts.

"I'm sure we had certain feelings that we both thought and came out," he said. "We thought they were terrorists."

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