Al-Arian (mostly) not guilty
Even while framed against the greatest city on this earth, I'm such a tool.The fact that former USF professor Sami Al-Arian was found not guilty of most counts while having others dropped is not much news. He's still not off the hook on all charges; he could be facing a retrial on charges on which the jury was deadlocked; and he could still be facing deportation.
The bigger issue here is that I'm sure Bill O'Reilly is going to weight in on the whole thing. Not that the man needs a greater reason to draw up a few more talking points on the destruction of our justice system, but The World's Least Fun Irishman has a particularly vested interest in this thing.
I will too use this pen.It was O'Reilly who interviewed Al-Arian in late September of 2001, claiming during the segment that USF was a "hotbed for terrorism," helping to fight against the notion of USF - as described by a coworker - as the "biggest school no one has ever heard of."
I work at USF. My biggest fear when I'm there is that a squirrel will steal a snack from my hand - again. Ultimately it seemed pretty obvious to the jury as well as anyone else that followed this story that the evidence against Al-Arian was considerably weak. I'd imagine O'Reilly will find something in the story we're just not seeing, because, well, it ain't there.
Before I launch into a tirade about O'Reilly and the Al-Arian story I should probably find out what he actually says. Not that we all don't know what he will say.
Posted by Joel at 12/07/2005 12:56:00 AM
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