Jury Begins Deliberations In Mehanna Terrorism Trial

December 16, 2011

The Associated Press

The first shows Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Auerhahn giving his closing arguments Friday. Behind him are Jay Carney, Janice Bassil and Tarek Mehanna. Their two aides are front right. (Margaret Small)

A jury has begun deliberations in the trial of a Massachusetts man accused of conspiring to help al-Qaida.

Tarek Mehanna, a 29-year-old American from Sudbury, is accused of traveling to Yemen to try to find a terrorist training camp with the intention of going to Iraq to fight against U.S. soldiers. Prosecutors say that when he was unable to find a camp, he returned home and began translating and distributing online materials promoting violent jihad.

During closing arguments Friday, defense attorneys said that although Mehanna expressed anger about the U.S. invasion of Iraq, he never planned to go there to fight American soldiers. They said he wanted to study Islam and went to Yemen looking for religious schools.

Prosecutors argued that Mehanna "was motivated by and inspired by" al-Qaida leaders.

This program aired on December 16, 2011. The audio for this program is not available.