"Liberty City 7" Case Ends in Second Mistrial

Remember those seven Americans from Miami who were accused in June 2006 of plotting to destroy the Sears Tower in Chicago? The government's second attempt at prosecuting them has resulted in a mistrial:

The decision comes after 13 days of deliberation and marks the second time government prosecutors have failed to convince a jury that the six defendants were guilty of terror-related charges.

It is unclear whether the government will pursue a third trial against the defendants.

http://www.cnn.com/...

After the first trial, one of the men was acquitted and the jury deadlocked on the remaining 6.

After the initial scary news reports about a foiled terror plot, it became increasingly clear that these "terrorists" not only did not possess the means to commit the terrorist acts they were accused of plotting, but that an FBI informant was probably the catalyst for the plot itself. The leader asked for boots, money, and "artillery" at one point.

Were these people idiots? Probably. Were they anti-American? Sure. But it is pretty clear that they did not represent an imminent danger that merited the government/media hype that surrounded their arrest. Over-hyped cases like the "Liberty City 7" and failed prosecutions based on flimsy evidence are not only an embarrassment, they undermine the ability of the government to achieve successful prosecutions in serious terrorist cases. Crying "wolf" doesn't make us safer.

•  Morever!

  How much money was spent in this debacle

  by American by Choice on Wed Apr 16, 2008 at 10:40:43 AM PDT

  •  If you bought into the fear

    it was well worth it.

    As I recall from my years in Miami, Liberty City is depressed area of Northwest Miami, primarily African-American in demographics, where there is plenty of despair and not much hope. It's understandable to me that anti-American statements are likely made here.

    What Northerners don't realize is that abject poverty in the semi-tropics doesn't even require a roof or shoes.  Now that's poor.

    by john07801 on Wed Apr 16, 2008 at 10:48:54 AM PDT

•  And while the Gov't prosecutes this show trial

  OBL is still at large, the perpetrator of the anthrax attacks is still at large, ....

  I have to admit that the consistently theatrical nature of all the public, prominent attempts at securing die Heimat, combined with the consistent failures and coverups around any effective investigations or enforcement, lead me to wonder if I wouldn't look better in tinfoil.

  by oldjohnbrown on Wed Apr 16, 2008 at 10:42:10 AM PDT

  •  You're

    beginning to sound like a Moody Loner.

    by Moody Loner on Wed Apr 16, 2008 at 10:43:21 AM PDT

  •  Shoot...

    ...George W. Bush and Dick Cheney are still at large...

    by Ken in MN on Wed Apr 16, 2008 at 10:54:34 AM PDT

    •  Be careful there

      Shoot... ...George W. Bush and Dick Cheney  

      by NMDad on Wed Apr 16, 2008 at 11:02:50 AM PDT

      •  yeah, better to title it "WTF???..." [n/t]

        by N in Seattle on Wed Apr 16, 2008 at 11:29:47 AM PDT

•  Tips/Recs

  by Marinesquire on Wed Apr 16, 2008 at 10:42:39 AM PDT

  •  Thanks for bringing this to my attention

    amazing the ammount of stuff that almost slips beneath the radar because the media sucks ass.

    by ETinKC on Wed Apr 16, 2008 at 10:53:08 AM PDT

•  Yep

  The Bush Administration protecting the nation and the world.

  by wmc418 on Wed Apr 16, 2008 at 10:42:59 AM PDT

•  How many times will they retry these men.

  Isn't there a law against that? Should be.

  by Owllwoman on Wed Apr 16, 2008 at 10:43:58 AM PDT

  •  There is a law its called double

    jeapordy but it only applies in cases where the accused has been acquitted. A mistrial is different it means something has gone wrong with the trial and they have to start all over, whether its a deadlocked jury as in this case or something else.

    by Nylawstudent on Wed Apr 16, 2008 at 11:20:01 AM PDT

  •  Are they in jail or out on bail?

    by LakeSuperior on Wed Apr 16, 2008 at 12:46:31 PM PDT

•  Replay of the 60's and 70's

  Waste tremendous resources on any group of organized dark-skinned men, back then they were supposedly communist sympathizers, today they are supposedly terrorist sympathizers, Kristol and Lieberman trot out the "marxist" charge against Obama just like others trotted out the communist charge against MLK, history doesn't repeat but it sure does rhyme.

  by Gator1980 on Wed Apr 16, 2008 at 10:47:45 AM PDT

•  I missed this diary and posted my own ...

  Now deleted.  Here's my version:

  -------------------

  After the acquittal of one defendant and a deadlocked jury on the other six last December, federal prosecutors could have admitted the obvious - they had no case.  But that wouldn't fit the need of providing security theater in the "War on Terra (tm)".  So they plowed ahead with a second prosecutions.  Well ...

  After 12 difficult days of deliberations, a federal jury on Wednesday deadlocked in the second trial of a Miami group accused of plotting with al Qaeda to overthrow the United States -- an unprecedented outcome in the government's legal war on domestic terrorism since the Sept. 11 attacks.

  ---

  Now my first comment is that "plotting with al Qaeda to overthrow the United States" is one heck of an overstatement of the charges in this case.  At worst, they "plotted" with Al Qaeda to make a play to blow up some buildings, notably the Sears Tower.

  But in reality, they did a lot less than that.

  After the first two-month trial, jurors interviewed by The Miami Herald said the case was hobbled for a couple of reasons: FBI agents found no explosives, weapons or blueprints for any terrorist activity at the Liberty City group's warehouse, dubbed The Embassy; those same agents relied on a pair of paid informants who had credibility issues.

  This was a bunch of homeless guys trying to scam some goods out of a sucker who (unfortunately for them) turned out to be working for the FBI.

  During closing arguments in the second trial, which wrapped up on March 28, defense lawyers mocked the government's case, questioning why the Justice Department targeted these hapless defendants instead of chasing down dangerous terrorists like al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

  Mockery is just what this crap deserves.  There are real terrorists out there.  We ought to be looking for them, not manufacturing phony ones.

  Hopefully, this farce ends here.

  by jrooth on Wed Apr 16, 2008 at 11:24:38 AM PDT

•  They are also still after...

  ...Steve Kurtz in Buffalo...the artist....and remember the trumped up charges against those in Lakawana, NY

  by LakeSuperior on Wed Apr 16, 2008 at 12:45:56 PM PDT