17-year-old charged with threatening terrorism

They at least could have waited to see if he was found guilty before kicking him out. Geez, c’mon. They could have suspended him pending a verdict. If you kicked everyone out when they were charged with a crime MSU would have like 50 students.

You may have a point, unless the threats were delivered directly to University staff and they would expel him whether he is convicted or not.

I have a very hard time believing that a bright computer engineer, physics, math major would make criminal threats. I am willing to wager this is a political prosecution based on dissuading free speech comments he made on the internet.

J,

Most people think of terrorist as uneducated people brainwashed into a radical ideology, but many of the leaders and even lower ranks are highly educated. Bin Ladin has an engineering degree and his #2 is Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri (eye surgeon).

Obviously the nature of Aslam commentx need to be scrutinized to be sure that this isn’t something blown out of proportion, but a threat seems pretty direct.

J,
How much are you willing to wager? I will take the bet – at any amount. And also, where should we meet to exchange the winnings once the details of the case are released?

I would have thought that someone with your knowledge of history would know that freedom of speech is actually protected under the first amendment to the U.S. constitution. Therefore, had the person in question made comments that fit the legal definition of “free speech,” he would not have been arrested and arraigned.

Seriously, J, please do respond with some details as to how I may contact you, as again I accept your wager, and will put up any amount of money behind the opinion that the comments were in fact threats, and thus did not constitute free speech.

Lyle,
Fair enough. Still, what if HE didn’t make the threats (an internet poseur, perhaps)? What if it’s his word vs. someone else? At least hear a defense before kicking him out. I’m not defending him and relly don’t care about this case. I’‘m just worried that in general “The Administration” can kick someone out without hearing a defense.

Who says they didn’t hear his defence before they made their decision? This incident happened almost a week ago, they very well may have heard his defence in that time.

Please read the article carefully. It doesn’t say that he was kicked out, it merely says that he’s no longer a student. It’s quite possible that he realised that he’s not going to be able to complete the semester and voluntarily dropped out. Perhaps they extended his drop date for him. We don’t know.

Read your student handbook, he hasn’t been expelled, this is another example of stellar reporting and people not actually understanding their rights on campus. The only thing the university can do is an interim suspension pending the outcome of criminal charges and on campus university judicial proceedings. Unless Aslam has already been through the university judicial process and a judicial board has suspended him, nothing is permanent and he will have the opportunity to request reinstatment as a student. On another note, I sincerely hope that what Aslam is accused of doing/saying actually rises to the level of a credible, imminent threat and that this isn’t a knee jerk reaction like we’ve seen so many time before at this university and within the community at large.

100 bucks says this is a violation of his free speech, and all this kid was doing was speaking out against this worthless piece of crap president we have.

I’ll bet he walks without a single charge.

Remember, guys, there is no such thing as free speech any more – You can’t say anything against so-called “minority” groups, because they are “better” than your average lowly American, and you can’t say anything against the Obamessiah because then you are a hate monger, and a terrorist.

God Bless America. Riiiight. More like B. Hussein Bless America. And by bless, I am referring to trillions in deficit spending.

sucks to be him

Youtube the recently released 7-year political prisoner former Ohio Congressman Jim Traficant. There’s our precious freedom of speech right there, locked away if you criticize any of the powers that be in the federal government: especially the FBI and the IRS.

Legitimate threats against real people or property are not covered under the first amendment’s guarantee of free speech. Try paying attention in government class once in a while.

If Mr. Aslam is found not guilty, then irreparable damage has already been done to his reputation based only on the publication of this indictment.

Beardface, if you haven’t already, you will before you know it, go up against false allegations from some kind of authority. It could be as minor as a traffic ticket, it could be as severe as an allegation of terrorist threat (under those allegations your rights to confront witnesses against you and to defend yourself properly under the rules of evidence are severely curtailed).

WTF MSU,
Of course, the allegations could in fact be substantive and true. This is the point of the legal process. Additionall, the accused has suffered harm, which I think is often a probelem (especially when later found innocent, i.e. the Duke lacrosse case) and this is my main point about overreaction.

I will take your $100 bet, as it is highly unlikely he is merely being railroaded over some political complaint. It is curious that you express so much rage and quickly formulate an anti-Obama thesis to vent your personal frustruations of being unfairly treated by society compared to (as you say) “minorities”.

Also, DJ, I do not think Rep. JT has much to do with this case.

Sanity on these threads is like a breath of fresh air. Also, don’t hold your breath on the $100 bet. I offered to take up the first person on this thread who made a “wager,” but they just changed their posting name and used the thread in an attempt to gain an audience for their unrelated rant.

Here are some of my favorite “facts” that people have somehow derived from this article:

-The student was kicked out of school
-The student used the internet to make the alleged threats
-What the student said did not legally fit the definition of a “threat,” and in fact should have rightfully been protected as free speech.

People like “J” and his alter-ego simply pollute these threads in an ill-advised and unhealthy attempt to stroke their own ego.

When you look at how far off-topic they get, its madness. Literally implicit of psychosis or delusion.

And when you look at the way such people fall on one of two black and white sides of these issues they have attached, its sad. Literally implicit of a lack of free thought / free will.

The above post is necessarily true.

I can’t wait to find out what the guy actually did.

Glad he’s gone either way.

Typical, there was a light hearted attack on the message as being unrelated (I brought up a high profile unfair trial waged on an American in good standing), and a concerted attack on the messenger as psychotic and delusional.

A very sad, childish attack on the messenger, serving only to highlight the real issue: can this apparently (it’s not stated in the story) Arab Muslim possibly receive a fair trial on these allegations? And we have no idea on the alleged form of the hurled threats, I just have an inkling they were perpetrated on the internet, seeing how character witnesses have already painted him as a meek loner.

And just so that we’re even-handed, let’s suppose this man is guilty. What can we deduce from this?

We could deduce that MSU’s love affair with globalism and internationalism imperils national security, big time! (If he has significant international ties and history, again, removing assumptions of non-citizenship or American dedication)

Zachariah was born natural citizen of the United State.

In this country, a person always is presumed to be innocent until PROVEN guilty.

As no single person reading this or commenting above (or below this for that metter) has any ideas whatsoever as to the facts or evidence of this case, no one should be making any assumptions about guilt or innocence. You know what they say when you assume…

How about you all wait till the facts are known.

He’s also caucasian. Keep going Dan.

We have more facts emerging, good. How many potential jurors in Ingham County are reading the newspapers and are assuming based on this man’s name and the indictment that he’s automatically an F1/H1 Visa foreign national of Arab descent practicing the Islamic religion? State News poll time.

I do presume his innocence. If he’s held in jail on a $150,000 bond and has to wait until December just for pre-trial proceedings, that isn’t due process.

How many other people in Ingham County jail are being held on $150,000 bail and being investigated by the FBI? If he’s not guilty, then he would have served a jail term and excessive bail without any compensation from his captors afterwards forcing his disenrollment late in the semester after the refund period at MSU.

In response to Sparty’s comment… I agree.
But the fact that the University has already expelled him shows that they are assuming he is guilty.
He should have been suspended pending the trial. The university has not presumed him innocent and therefore has tainted the burden of proof on the prosecution. Moreover, they have already destroyed this person’s reputation.
I value law enforcement and the safety that they provide students like myself with; but i think the University jumped the gun in expelling him before the trial. He, like all of us, should be afforded due process and should be considered by all parties innocent until proven guilty.