Tarek Mehanna: ‘Sweet’ Teacher, ‘Best Son,’ Terrorist?

By Steve Brown (@WBURSteve)
Oct 22, 2009, 5:27 AM
24 Comments

SUDBURY, Mass. — Tarek Mehanna is a dual U.S.-Egyptian citizen. He graduated from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy last year. His father is a professor there. The 27-year-old has also worked as a math and religion teacher at an Islamic school in Worcester, where colleagues say he’s a “sweet guy” loved by his students.

In Sudbury, on the quiet, tree-lined cul-de-sac where Mehanna lives with his parents, neighbors say they’re surprised to hear of his arrest. Mike DeMarco who lives just across the street says other than the occasional wave, he really doesn’t know the man federal prosecutors say was planning a “violent jihad.”

Neighborhood boys stand in front of the house where federal and local police took Tarek Mehanna into custody before dawn on Wednesday in Sudbury. (AP)

In Sudbury, on the quiet, tree-lined cul-de-sac where Tarek Mehanna lives with his parents, neighbors say they’re surprised to hear of his arrest. (AP)

DeMarco is surprised by Mehanna’s arrest. “I guess it’s surprising, but who knows if it’s true or not, honestly,” DeMarco says. “We’ll find out in court, I guess, but, I mean, I feel like maybe he got his path crossed with the wrong person at one point. Maybe that’s what had happened, or something.”

As DeMarco and his friends watched reporters and cameras and satellite trucks gather in front of the upscale, yellow clapboard home, a black town car arrived to whisk Mehanna’s mother, Souad, past reporters to her son’s court appearance in Boston.

One reporter called out, “Can you repeat that about your son? What you were saying about your son ma’am?” Souad Mehanna replied, “He’s the best son, is a best friend, he’s a very … he has a very good heart.”

But that’s not the description prosecutors are using. They say Mehanna, along with another man, tried to join terrorist groups in Iraq, Yemen and Pakistan. When they were refused admission, they allegedly began planning acts of terrorism on U.S. soil.

One alleged plot involved an attack on two prominent elected officials, described as formerly being in the executive branch. Acting U.S. Attorney Michael Loucks says Mehanna, the other man, and their co-conspirator also planned to randomly shoot people at shopping malls.

“Mehanna and his co-conspirators ultimately abandoned this plan, because they could not obtain the automatic weapons they thought necessary to effectively carry out such an assault,” Loucks said Wednesday.

Federal authorities have dealt with Mehanna before. When he was arrested at his home early Wednesday, he was out on bail on other federal charges that he’d lied to the FBI concerning the whereabouts of a friend who was a suspected terrorist.

After his arrest for that, in November last year, Mehanna developed a cult following among Islamic civil rights groups and Web sites. One site published a letter they say he wrote from prison at the time, thanking his supporters.

Today, Tarek Mehanna is back behind bars, on the new charges. He will remain held without bail until his next court appearance on Oct. 30.

Please follow our community rules when engaging in comment discussion on wbur.org.

Kamel Ridouh

Hi,

I have met this person few times in Muslim gatherings, and I don’t believe there is any small chance that he’s done or planning to do what he’s been accused of.

The guy is smart, very responsible and much mature to think of doing stupid things like the ones he’s been accused of.

Not a single chance that this is true!!

–Kamel
Sam

I have not met Tarek personally but he was my kid’s teacher at the school and all the students have a very good opinion about him. All I have heard about this person was that he was a very nice & intelligent guy.

I am very alarmed and dissapointed at the justice system here in the US where muslims are being targeted, charged and arrested without clear proof and humiliated for the weakest reasons citing terrorism. If a person from any other religion had done this this would not have made to the news at all. I have seen a few people targeted from my community on similar grounds.

Even though the FBI is said that Tarek is assumed INNOCENT until proven guilty(in the news conference), the TV media shows images of the terrorist traing camps at the background during this news to spread the fear among the innocent public and to imply that he is already guilty.

I fear that this would have been either a violation of free speech or religious discrimination if this was done by a person who was not a muslim.

I hope and pray that this person is proven innocent and released soon. And I am happy that WBUR’s coverage is a little better than the other organizations.
Bob

Kamel:

The same could have been said of the 9/11 hijackers: “they were smart, very responsible and much mature.” This made them all the more dangerous. Certainly, there is a chance it is true. That is a lesson already learned. It is a shame you have not learned it.
Michael

Being nice does not make one innocent, most of the 9/11 criminals were also “nice” and no one presumed they could do what they did. The court system will sort it out. He has a better chance in the judicial system in the US than most countries in the world
http://jondreyer.org Jon Dreyer

If this allegation is true, it is yet another example of the real-world danger of irrational belief. Here is (allegedly) a nice, smart guy planning to do horrifying things based on a completely imaginary greater good.

To everybody with religious beliefs, please measure your actions by their real-world consequences. Why would any god wish otherwise? Here’s a Christian who did that and the world is a better place because of it: http://www.newsweek.com/id/216910
Kamel

Hi,

I’m not that naive to think so simplistically. I wouldn’t have written my previous comments if I thought there is even a 10% or 20% chance that this person would’ve done that, but I honestly don’t believe that there is any slim chance that this is true, and again, I think people are jumping too fast to conclusions before even giving the person a chance to defend himself.

If there is anything we should do is to ask for a clean/transparent and just process.

I also believe that there is definitely some bias in that whole thing due to the fact that he is Muslim.

–Kamel
Stephen

The most pertinent information I glean from this example is that “they could not obtain the automatic weapons they thought necessary to effectively carry out such an assault.” I’m thankful that we live in a state where it is difficult to get such weapons.
sam

It is very unfortunate that the media and publicity have made the majority think that it is OK to arrest & charge someone on very weak grounds mostly because of his faith and looks.

Let us ASSUME that as per statistics IF it was determined and proven that white males between the age of 20 and 40 are the people who are responsible for most of the rapes that are happen, Do you think that it would be OK to accuse, charge and arrest most white males (in the age group mentioned) who are found in the company of women or appear to be following some woman?

What I am implying here is there is a lot of stereotyping of the people of a certain faith and fear mongering/hatred spread by certain groups and media. Unfortunately most people think that this is true. The lives of the innocent people caught in this quagmire and affected forever due to the bad publicity and if this person is found INNOCENT (as have many in the past), the media gives the least possible information about their innocence if at all they do (Maybe a small paragraph buried in the middle of the page or a small flash news in the TV for 10 secs).

Nobody denies that terrorism is a horrible thing and whether anybody agrees or not, Islam prohibits it. Yes there are some Muslims that twist the message and use these horrible methods to achieve their goals.

So let us not jump to conclusions, try to assume the innocence until proven guilty and not the other way around.
Abdullah

حسبنا الله ونعم الوكيل…..that is all what I have to say!
ahmed

The accusations made seem to indicate that this is a person who has no focus regarding what he wants to do.
Which contradicts his achievements as a well educated individual. He wants to kill people in the mall. No, wait, he wants to kill politicians. Oh, just a second, he now wants to wage a war outside the US. This case seems like the prosecutors are throwing all they can think of, hoping that something sticks. If this person was a threat, why did they not capture him when they first learned about one of the many alleged accusations against him? They arrested him 3 years ago. Why give him time to plan, not for one crime, but rather for all these crimes? You know why? He is not such a threat if he can not even get a weapon according to the FBI, however, he is vulnerable because he is a Muslim.
zahir

Having spoken with Tarek, I have always found him to be soft and caring of people around him. Unfortunately, in the environment of fear that has been created around us, a lot of us will assume he is automatically guilty. I sincerely believe that he was caught with some bad company at some time, and that he will be found to be the soft, quiet, and respectful young man that I have had the opportunity to talk with in the past.
Donna Wells

I am always so sad when I hear of the potential for violence. I will always believe in innocence until proven guilty. I hate stereotyping and pray that this man has not provided ammunition for those who will condemn an entire community and religion with behavior that has nothing to do with true Islamic belief.
umar

Can someone please tell me from all the false arrest that we have seen over the years under the banner of “Muslim Terrorism” How many have been indited ? Do we have any data ? Once the case get dropped for lack of evidence the Media will reporting on that case Because it’s all about rating , isn’t it ?
Sameer Abu-Alsaoud

I know some muslims in Boston here whom where called terrorists before, jailed for 3 years, then they were given a choice to leave the country after they cleared them from all charges of being terrorist, then were sent back to their home country where they were put in jail again by syrian government, where is justice.
Another had a very successful software company, respected and trusted by all community and none community members, was accused and his company of being terroist trying to break into government security, all the news media’s were talking about it, they couldn’t find any thing against him or his company but he was too afraid to sue, he was bankrupt and banks refused to wrok with his company and lost all contracts due to false accusations, no justice in America for muslims, this guy left the country to work in Europe. By the way these people after they were accused falsely and their reputations were destroyed, no compensation was given to them.
garrett

I would think the Muslims would be elated to have jihadists purged from their ranks. Where is the outrage that another Muslim is betraying the faith? All I see in this thread is outrage at racial profileing and a weak case. Muslims should rest content as many white people believe our country has already been given to you by our liberal politicians and eventually you will kill us all.
mark dibois

Sorry to see the intolerence.. Come to south Georgia… you’re welcome here… We are just simple country folk and we extend hospitality to all…
garrett

What is also missing from these comments is praise for the law enforcement community trying to save human lives! What if this guy is guilty and the racial or ethnic profileing was effective in stopping these mass murderers? It wasn’t rednecks from north Florida that cut Ron Perlman’s head off with a pocket knife. It was Arabic chanting Muslims. That terrorist tactic worked on me- I am terrorized and galvinized against anything Muslim.
Abu bakar

Bismillah. I have met Tarek, and I like to say Iknow him personally. I have hugged him and litsened to him speak. Anyone that accuses him of any of these allegations is simply a liar and is only seeking to spread corruption in the land. When did it become OK to arrest someone because you think he wants to kill. There is absolutely no evidence to back these allegations and even the prosecuters know this. It took them months to cook up these lies and finally arrest him without legitimate crime. They only seek to smeer Islam, but God and the people are well aware of their plans. I am PISSED at this preposterous acts. They are the true terrorists for terrifying this humble being and his family and the deserve to know it. So there….I said it.
http://wbur.org Carlos Longoria

Let’s see…all Muslims are terrorists. Nope. All terrorists, from the Middle East, are Muslims. True. So let’s search the old white ladies at the airports for weapons.
garrett

The personal testimonies of what people think of this man may be counter productive to Muslim/American relations. If this man is guilty and all we hear is how sweet he is, how can any arabic looking muslim be trusted hereafter?
It may be the muslim community should be praising law enforcement officials for the preemptive arrest. Then the muslim community should start working with law enforcement to try to and purge itself of radicals.
Red Carolina

at student of Bill Ayers? and people wonder why parents homeschool!!!!!
Ahmed Walu

I hope truth comes out and if he is proven guilty let him rust in jail, but if no evidence is found, then let everyone know that perfection is not in world and that’s why we have the hearafter, ..yeah, sueing, freedom of speech, etc. it does not exist any where especially backhome countries. Killing innocent has no room in Islam, anyone who thinks he is doing good to Muslims by killing innocents no matter where they are on earth, let him know that he is not bringing to Muslims nothing but harm and humiliation, and to himself he will roast in Hell. Life is so short, no room for wasting it in disputes and hate, we are all here for a short period, whether you suffered or enjoined it, where. Everyone has a unique test setup, higher justice will see how he performed.

Here today, gone soon.
The Redneck

–I would think the Muslims would be elated to have jihadists purged from their ranks. Where is the outrage that another Muslim is betraying the faith?–
This man is not betraying the faith. Indeed, with an attempt to slaughter infidels, he’s ~fulfilling~ the tenets of islam, not betraying it.

That’s why there’s rarely any outcry from muslims when a muslim commits some atrocity–only when they’re caught.
Ahmed

He is not guilty of any crime. The only reason this is happening to him & his family is because he refused to spy on the Muslim community. This is not the first time a member of the Muslim community refused to be an informant, and payed a heavy price for it.

The rats are free to roam the streets, but the doves are caged, denying us of their sweet songs.