Two Students Indicted on Terror Charges in South Carolina

Ahmed Abdellatif Sherif Mohamed and Youssef Samir Megahed, two Egyptian students at South Florida University, were indicted Friday for carrying explosive materials across state lines, and one of them was charged with teaching the other how to use them for violent reasons.^[1]

Mohamed and Megahed are both engineering students who face terrorism charges for teaching and demonstrating how to use the explosives.^[2] The two students were stopped for speeding in Goose Creek, South Carolina, on Aug. 4, where they have been held ever since.^[3]

They allegedly were stopped with pipe bombs in their car near a U.S. Navy base in South Carolina where it is thought that enemy combatants have been held in the past.^[4] They were held on state charges while the FBI continued to investigate whether or not they should be charged with terrorism crimes.^[5]

Mohamed was charged with distributing information relating to explosives, destructive devices, and weapons of mass destruction, which is a crime that carries a maximum of 20 years in prison.^[6]

Distributing information relating to explosives, destructive devices, and weapons of mass destruction is covered under 18 U.S.C. § 842(p)(2)(A) wherein it states that it shall be unlawful for any person to teach or demonstrate the making or use of an explosive, a destructive device, or a weapon of mass destruction, or to distribute by any means information pertaining to, in whole or in part, the manufacture or use of an explosive, destructive device, or weapon of mass destruction, with the intent that the teaching, demonstration, or information be used for, or in furtherance of, an activity that constitutes a Federal crime of violence; ^[7]or to teach or demonstrate to any person the making or use of an explosive, a destructive device, or a weapon of mass destruction, or to distribute to any person, by any means, information pertaining to, in whole or in part, the manufacture or use of an explosive, destructive device, or weapon of mass destruction, knowing that such person intends to use the teaching, demonstration, or information for, or in furtherance of, an activity that constitutes a Federal crime of violence.^[8]

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^[1] AP Staff, Two Egyptian students in Florida charged with terror-related crimes, Associated Press Newswire, August 31, 2007, available at available at LEXIS, News Library, Wire News Services File.
^[2] Id.
^[3] Id.
^[4] Id.
^[5] Id.
^[6] Id.
^[7] 18 U.S.C. § 842(p)(2)(A) (2007)
^[8] Id., at § 842 (p)(2)(B).