April 28, 2003

(Updated) Suspicions of Neighbors Launched Investigation Into Mike Hawash

Note: This post has been updated. Any and all updates appear at the end of the original post.

Warning: Ahead lay the musings of an utter layman. But I've been slowly going through the complaint against the Portland Six Seven which now incorporates Mike Hawash (the formal charges are Conspiracy to Levy War Against the United States, Conspiracy to Provide Material Support and Resources to Foreign Terrorist Organizations, and Conspiracy to Contribute Services to Al-Qaida), and I might as well make some comments.

There does appear to be something of a clear paper trail regarding Hawash's alleged trip to China at the same time as the other defendants, including records which indicate Hawash was assign the same hotel room as one of them at one point (not that this proves he was actually staying in that room). What I'm curious to know is whether this evidentiary paper trail rises beyond the level of a circumstantial case.

I'm not making a claim -- lay opinion though it would be -- either way. But I would like to see a lawyer's take on this matter after they've gone through the complaint.

Most interesting to me thus far, however, is just how the investigation into Hawash appears to have begun: With telephoned tips from his neighbors.

What follows are two sections from the complaint dealing with this aspect.

147. On October 5, 2002, the day after the arrests of Ford, Lewis, Battle and Muhammad Bilal, a neighbor of HAWASH, called the FBI Portland Division and stated that his wife and he resided at 2650 NE Aurora, Hillsboro, Oregon, until approximately June 2002. The neighbor stated that his previous neighbors (to the west of his residence in a light blue house, identified as Hawash's residence) who he identified as "Michael and Lisa" (HAWASH) were close friends of Ahmed Bilal and Habis Al Saoub. He observed Bilal, Bilal's wife Corrine, and Al Saoub frequently visit Michael and Lisa's house. The neighbor further stated that Ahmed Bilal occasionally provided gardening services for him.
...
149. On October 20, 2001, FBI Portland Division received a telephone call from a second neighbor of HAWASH in Hillsboro, Oregon, concerning Maher Mofied HAWASH. The caller described HAWASH as a "Palestinian Muslim who works at Intel and is married with three children." The caller wanted to advise the FBI that HAWASH was spending more time at home following September 11, 2001, and that HAWASH was not as friendly as usual. During a follow-up interview with the second neighbor, he told investigators that following a visit by HAWASH's mother in the Spring of 2001, HAWASH changed his attire from "western" clothing to "eastern" clothing, grew a beard, and distanced himself from his neighbors. The second neighbor observed more vehicles driven by other Middle Eastern males coming and going from the residence. The second neighbor further beleived that HAWASH had begun attending Mosque on a regular basis.

And that, or so it seems from my reading of the complaint, is how the authorities became interested in Mike Hawash. Regardless of his guilt or innocence, these two "complaints" -- most especially that of the "second neighbor" -- don't seem to me to be very legitimate reasons to suspect someone of a crime.

April 28, 2003

Update

You'll note that the above appears to offer a date discrepency, as it would make more sense if both of these "complaints" were filed in the same year. According to this Associated Press story on KPTV's website, both of these calls were made in October of 2002.

If this is the case, it makes the copy of the affidavit wrong, because I've double-checked and the affadavit indeed places the "second neighbor" call as happening a full year prior to the the first complaint -- a timeline which makes no sense, as it would contradict the use of the term "second neighbor" since it would make that neighbor's call the first one.

For the moment, I'm operating under the premise that the affadavit is wrong in statting that the "second neighbor" complain was made in 2001, and that it did, in fact, occur on October 20, 2002 -- which would be a mere 15 days after the initial neighbor complaint.

Posted at 02:51 PM | PermalinkComments (1) | TrackBacks (3)
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Comments (1)

  1. TalkLeft on 28 Apr 2003

    Just finished reading the complaint and wrote about it on talkleft. Don't see much in it against Hawash. Some circumstantial evidence about his traveling at the same time as the others, helping one set up a landscaping business (likely low end) in the U.S., and the fact he attended the same mosque. So he went to China for three weeks and came home. Maybe there's more they haven't disclosed.

    We think its a far cry from what's in the affidavit to conspiracy to levy war against the U.S.

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