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Give Up On 'Liberty City Seven' Case

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 8, 2008

In June 2006, the federal government announced with much fanfare that it had arrested seven Miami men and foiled their al-Qaida-inspired plot to blow up Chicago's Sears Tower and wage a "ground war" against the United States.

The arrest of the "Liberty City Seven" was hailed as an example of the government's ability to prevent terrorist attacks on American soil.

After two costly mistrials, however, it's time for the feds to admit this case is not what they thought.

Last month, a Florida judge declared a mistrial after a second federal jury couldn't decide whether the young men engaged in a coordinated plot to commit terrorist acts.

The video and audio evidence provided at the trial were acquired by an undercover FBI agent pretending to be an al-Qaida member. He offered $50,000 to the seven men, most of whom were unemployed or barely employed. Their so-called "leader" claims the men only wanted the money, not to engage in domestic terror.

As it turns out, the only connection between the seven men and al-Qaida was the informant pretending to be a terrorist.

The jury was bothered by the lack of evidence against the seven. As foreman Jeffrey Agron told the Miami Herald, "There was no bombs, no bomb-making material, no books on jihad, schematics of the Sears Tower or any other building." He said no one on the jury believed that the so-called terrorists were dangerous.

Yet after spending millions on the two mistrials, federal prosecutors plan a third trial beginning Jan. 6. This is fiscally irresponsible and, worse, erodes confidence in the administration's war on terror.
Agron summed it up best: "It seems to me like they are looking to perhaps save face for a case they made a big deal out of at the time of the arrests and has not gone their way."

The Justice Department should drop the case. Wannabes aren't terrorists, and spending millions more won't make them so.

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