nationalsecuritylaw United States v. Abdo (W.D. Tex.)

* United States v. Abdo (W.D. Tex.) (Ft. Hood indictment)

As you probably have heard by now, an AWOL soldier from Ft. Campbell was arrested this week in Texas in connection with an apparent bomb plot targeting Ft. Hood soldiers. Details from the press release are below, and the indictment is attached:

WACO, Texas – U.S. Attorney John E. Murphy and FBI Special Agent in Charge Cory B. Nelsonannounced that 21-year-old Naser Jason Abdo, an absent without leave (AWOL) soldier from Fort Campbell, Ky., is charged with possession of an unregistered destructive device in connection with a bomb plot.

A criminal complaint, unsealed today in Waco, Texas, by U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey C. Mankse during Abdo’s initial appearance, alleges that on July 27, 2011, Abdo was in possession of a .40 caliber handgun, ammunition, an article entitled, “Make a bomb in the kitchen of your Mom,” as well as bomb making components, including six bottles of smokeless gunpowder, shotgun shells, shotgun pellets, two clocks, two spools of auto wire, an electric drill and two pressure cookers.

The complaint further alleges that Abdo intended to use the materials to assemble two destructive devices with the intention of detonating them inside an unspecified restaurant frequented by soldiers from Fort Hood.

On Wednesday, officers with the Killeen Police Department arrested Abdo without incident. Abdo is currently in federal custody. If convicted, Abdo faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a maximum $250,000 fine.

…

Signed Abdo Complaint.pdf

By Robert M. Chesney

Robert M. Chesney is Charles I. Francis Professor in Law at UT-Austin School of Law. Chesney is a national security law specialist, with a particular interest in problems associated with terrorism. Professor Chesney recently served in the Justice Department in connection with the Detainee Policy Task Force created by Executive Order 13493. He is a member of the Advisory Committee of the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Law and National Security, a senior editor for the Journal of National Security Law & Policy, an associate member of the Intelligence Science Board, a non-resident senior fellow of the Brookings Institution, a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a member of the American Law Institute. Professor Chesney has published extensively on topics ranging from detention and prosecution in the counterterrorism context to the states secrets privilege. He served previously as chair of the Section on National Security Law of the Association of American Law Schools and as editor of the National Security Law Report (published by the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Law and National Security). His upcoming projects include two books under contract with Oxford University Press, one concerning the evolution of detention law and policy and the other examining the judicial role in national security affairs.

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