Trial Begins for Lodi Terror Suspect
Opening statements began Thursday and the first witnesses were called in the trial of young Lodi man accused of attending terrorist training camp in Pakistan.
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(Sacramento, CA)
Friday, February 17, 2006
Twenty-three-year-old Hamid Hayat is accused of providing material support to terrorists and three counts of making false statements to federal authorities, over his alleged attendance at a terrorist training camp in Pakistan. Government attorneys characterized Hamid as a trained terrorist while his defense attorney characterized his admissions as “storytelling”. The first two witnesses called were F-B-I agents—The second agent said it was during the course of his interviews when the young man reversed his earlier story that he had not attended a Jihadist camp—and said instead that he had attended what he thought was going to be a religious education camp. His father Umer is expected in court next week—he too is facing counts of making false statements to federal authorities.