In mid-April, the Justice Department failed to sway the jury in yet another attempt to prosecute what it calls “homegrown terrorist cells.” Seven men from a Miami-based religious group had been indicted in 2006 for alleged terrorist plots. The FBI manipulated the group using informants posing as al-Qaeda members to direct them to bomb FBI offices in several U.S. cities. (Washington Post, April 21) This was the second time the jury failed to reach a verdict on the case. Juries for other cases have previously disagreed with Justice Department “findings” on domestic terrorism charges. In a 2003 case against a Tampa-based Palestinian group, jurors acquitted two men and could not agree on charges against the main defendant. In a 2004 case involving the Dallas, Texas, charity Holy Land Foundation, jurors cleared one defendant of the charges while deadlocking on charges against the others.
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