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Virginia Student Arrested on Charge
Of Bomb Plot Against Israeli Consulate
A Northern Virginia college student is facing charges in federal court with plotting a mass casualty attack against the Israeli consulate.
Egyptian national Abdullah Ezzeldin Taha Mohamed Hassan is accused of planning to use a bomb and guns for an attack in New York.
The 18-year-old college freshman came to the attention of the FBI through his use of social media. FBI records describe him as engaging in “radical and terrorist-leaning behavior.”
He accessed videos on bomb-making. He also praised Osama bin Laden as his “idol” on one X account while bragging about his own postings containing antisemitic and terrorist propaganda on other accounts.
Hassan was an information technology major at George Mason University until university officials banned him from campus last week after the prosecutors’ complaint was filed in U.S. District Court in Alexandria.
Much of the evidence against Hassan is based on his social media posts, particularly the ones he used to try to recruit an unnamed person to help carry out a mass casualty attack.
The unnamed person was an undercover FBI informant posing as a terrorist sympathizer.
Last month, he sent the person an ISIS-inspired video calling for the killing of Jews, according to court documents.
During a Nov. 22 exchange of messages, Hassan allegedly wrote that the unnamed person should “…aim for government buildings, use a Zastava rifle if you can access one to carry out your attack … or buy a 3d printed gun and just buy ammunition.”
The next day, Hassan told the same person that it was easier to be “martyred” by police during an attack than to do a suicide bombing, prosecutors said.
He also said New York was a “goldmine of targets” and sent the address for the Israeli Consulate General.
Several of Hassan’s posts discussed guarantees of paradise for martyrs.
U.S. Court Says Russia Must Pay
For Assets Seized from Ukraine
A federal judge in Washington, D.C., ruled last week that Russia must pay a $35 million arbitration award to 11 Ukrainian energy companies whose gas stations were seized when the Russian military invaded Crimea in 2014.
The chances the judgment will be enforced appear to be fading as President-elect Donald Trump signals a change in foreign policy.
The Ukrainian companies secured their arbitration award in 2019 before a Permanent Court of Arbitration tribunal in Switzerland.
Russia claims Crimea is part of its own country, including the gas stations it seized. It has refused to pay the $35 million judgment.
The United States so far has maintained that Crimea is part of Ukraine.
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Latest News
Lawsuit Says Top Universities Favored
Applicants Based on Parents’ Donations
A court filing last week in an antitrust lawsuit accuses some of the nation’s most elite colleges of favoring student applicants for admission if their families donated generously to the schools.
The former students are seeking compensation of $685 million in the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago.
Most of the eight Ivy League schools are named among the 17 defendants. Also listed are Georgetown University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Notre Dame and Caltech.
The schools claim they accept students without considering their financial circumstances. They call it “need blind” criteria.
The plaintiffs say the schools colluded to limit financial aid to students from middle and working class families while showing favoritism toward applicants whose parents gave them donations.
Power the Civil Rights Work of Our Time
Each day members of our community are experiencing wage theft, the effects of gentrification, discriminatory policing, collateral consequences, marginalization in schools, and barriers to public accommodations.
We fight alongside people facing the effects of gentrification like Amira Moore. Our work empowers the people and communities who need it most, “We can do more than we think. There’s a path to equity, we just have to step to it.” –Ms. Moore
For more than 50 years, the Washington Lawyers’ Committee has been on the frontlines of the fight for civil rights in our community. We deploy the best legal talent, we tackle the tough cases, we fight, and we win.
Our work is as important today as it has ever been. Through your support, you can play a role in creating justice for thousands of marginalized members of our community. Together, we will dismantle injustice and pursue lasting change.
Join us! Donate & subscribe: https://www.washlaw.org/support-us
Volunteer with us: https://www.washlaw.org/get-involved/
For more information, contact Gregg Kelley at Gregg_Kelley@washlaw.org
About Us
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Letters to the Editor
D.C. in Brief
D.C. Council Member White Hints
At Qualified Immunity in Bribe Case
D.C. Council member Trayon White appears to be preparing a novel defense as he tries to hang on to his elected position in city administration.
Last week, a D.C. Council committee recommended expelling White after an investigation found “substantial evidence” he used his political influence to win bribes from a city contractor.
Council Chairman Phil Mendelson said in a statement, “Let’s cut through the legal jargon. Trayon White is accused of taking bribes. The prosecutors have established probable cause, our own independent investigation found substantial evidence that he took bribes, and public servants are prohibited from taking bribes. This is quintessential corruption.”
White allegedly accepted $156,000 in exchange for influencing the D.C. Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement and the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS) to extend contracts to a contractor.
White, who represents Ward 8, chaired a D.C. Council committee that oversees DYRS. The Council stripped him of his chairmanship after he was arrested in August.
White is scheduled for a hearing before the Council on Jan. 28. The Council plans to take a final vote Feb. 5 on whether to expel White.
Although he has not said it directly, his statements after last week’s recommendation to expel him indicate White might invoke at the Jan. 28 hearing some form of the qualified immunity the Supreme Court has extended to government officials.
The doctrine of qualified immunity protects state and local officials from individual liability unless they violated someone’s constitutional rights.
In White’s case, there is no hint that he violated anyone’s constitutional rights.
Trump’s Critics Face Prosecution Threats
As Biden Considers Preemptive Pardons
Republican leaders close to taking control of Congress and the presidency are continuing their threats of reprisal this week against fellow lawmakers who accused President-elect Donald Trump of criminal conduct.
Their top target appears to be former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo.
She said Trump incited the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the Capitol as part of an illegal effort to seize control of the government.
She also recommended criminal prosecution of Trump during her leadership role while Congress investigated the riot.
Last week, a House subcommittee recommended that Cheney be investigated and prosecuted for “criminal witness tampering” to portray Trump’s actions as worse than reality.
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Legal Briefs
We Could Use Your Help
Thousands of DC residents need a lawyer, but can’t afford one. They could be illegally evicted from their homes, lose custody of their children, experience domestic violence, and more, all because they lack legal representation.
You could make a difference. By making a donation to the Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia, you will provide free, high-quality, zealous legal representation to low-income DC residents.
Your support could prevent homelessness, domestic violence, hunger, or family separation. In fact, if just 10 people who see this ad give $28 to Legal Aid, it will be enough to staff an experienced attorney at the courthouse for a day.
That way, DC residents like Keith King (pictured above) can get the legal representation they need to win their cases. As Mr. King put it, if it wasn’t for his Legal Aid lawyer, “I would have been homeless again.”
Here is the link to the Legal Aid website for donations: https://www.legalaiddc.org/donate-to-legal-aid/
For more information, contact Rob Pergament at Legal Aid at rpergament@legalaiddc.org