Airport screeners will be taking a closer look at remote control toys in carry-on luggage due to concerns they could be used to detonate bombs, U.S. officials said Monday.
The new practice is not a result of a specific threat, according to the Transportation Security Administration. But authorities recently arrested two Florida college students and accused one of them of posting a video online with instructions on how to use a remote-controlled toy to set off a bomb.
Passengers — including children — carrying these toys may have to go through secondary screening.
"While not associated with a specific threat at this time, TSA is aware that remote control toys can be used to initiate devices used in terrorist attacks," according to Monday's press release. "Transportation security officers have trained on this possibility and travelers may encounter additional screening when bringing remote control devices in carry-on luggage."
I can hear it already, people whining about the TSA. The additional screening is a good idea.
Mohamed's laptop also contained a 12-minute video on transforming a toy remote-controlled car into a detonator._________________
Mohamed and Megahed
Remember Ahmed Abda Sherf Mohamed and Yousef Samir Megahed?
They're students from the University of South Florida in Tampa. They were picked up in South Carolina after a routine traffic stop. They were driving around the U.S. Naval Weapons Station with pipe bombs in their car.
Mohamed and Megahed claimed the explosives were harmless fireworks. They also claimed to be victims of racial profiling.
Defense attorney Dennis Rhoad said the men have a reason for having the devices and it would become clear in later court hearings.
"The defendants deny the allegations the state and the sheriff have made against them," Rhoad said.
Rhoad was right. Things have become clearer since the men were arrested.
TAMPA -- A suspended University of South Florida student facing explosives charges regarded American troops and U.S. allies as invaders of Arab countries, an FBI agent says in federal court documents filed this week.
The agent's affidavit gives more details about a secretly taped conversation between Ahmed Mohamed, 26, and fellow student Youssef Megahed, 21, and also about the contents of Mohamed's laptop.
In a sworn affidavit, FBI Special Agent Daniel J. McTavish said that when agents searched Mohamed's hard drive they found a folder named "Bomb Shock." It contained files of information on explosives, explosive ingredients and downloads from Web sites about explosives.
Investigators also found another folder labeled "High-Order Explosives," which included information on the composition and use of explosives, including TNT and C-4.
...Mohamed's laptop also contained a 12-minute video on transforming a toy remote-controlled car into a detonator. The face of the man narrating the video wasn't seen, but FBI investigators said Mohamed admitted it was him.
"He explained that he made the tape to assist those persons in Arabic countries to defend themselves against the infidels invading their countries," McTavish said in his statement.
And Mohamed "added that the technology which he demonstrated in the tape was to be used against those who fought for the United States," he said.
When the men were stopped and their car searched, investigators also found pieces of PVC pipe cut into various sizes and filled with potassium nitrate, a box of .22-caliber bullets, an electric drill and gasoline.
The men were secretly recorded as they spoke in Arabic while being taken to the Sheriff's Office. According to the FBI report, Megahed said to Mohamed that he told investigators the gasoline was for the car.
Well, well, well.
Mohamed and Megahed weren't the innocent amateur firework makers that they claimed to be.
These "students" were actively engaged in an effort to do harm to the U.S. military.
These poor abused victims of Islamophobia!
As defense attorney Dennis Rhoad said, Mohamed and Megahed did have a reason for having the devices, but it wasn't an innocuous one.
University of South Florida students Mohamed and Megahed wanted to teach others how to kill Americans.
(h/t Michelle Malkin)
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