Terrorism charge on ex-student dropped

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A terrorism charge against a former MSU student was dropped Thursday because it is not “in the interest of justice” to pursue the case, Ingham County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings III said.

Zachariah Aslam, 18, was arrested Oct. 20, 2009, and faced up to 20 years in prison on a single charge of making a terrorist threat or false report of terrorism.

Police never specified what threats were made, but friends of Aslam told The State News he was suicidal and talked about jumping off the Chemistry Building with explosives.

Friends said the explosives would have been intended to kill Aslam, not to harm others.

The charge was dropped one day after MSU police concluded its investigation into the case.

Aslam’s attorney, Jeff Chip, said the charges were dropped because of a lack of evidence against Aslam.

“There was no terrorist situation,” Chip said.

“But the atmosphere is so paranoid now, people overreact.”

Dunnings said Aslam called a Minnesota-based crisis line in October and made comments to an operator that prompted her to call MSU police.

“The person that he spoke to on this crisis line in Minnesota was sufficiently concerned, not only by what he said, but also by the tenor of what he said,” Dunnings said.

“It was worthy of being charged and it was a thorough investigation.”

An MSU police report provided to The State News indicated police contacted Aslam on Oct. 14, 2009, because of mental health concerns.

According to the report, police said Aslam had a mental illness and could have seriously injured himself or other people as result of the illness.

The report also suggested Aslam had acted on or made significant threats to his health or those around him.

Chip said dropping the charges was the correct decision for Dunnings based on the investigation findings.

“(Dunnings) did show a great deal of class in dismissing these charges upon review of all the agencies who were involved,” he said.

Chip said Aslam currently is staying with his grandparents and mother in South Rockwood, Mich.

Chip did not know whether Aslam intends to re-enroll at MSU.

“I would imagine that he would continue going back and there would be no bar to re-admit him to the school,” Chip said.

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