This guy is every bit as scary as those six, homeless, barefoot, and broke "terrorists" that were going to bring down the Sears Tower (apparently with their bare hands). Or that guy that was going to bring down the Brooklyn Bridge with his blowtorch.

If possession of stereo speakers now makes a person a terrorist suspect I guess I should worry, 'cause I have a killer surround sound system in use right now in my living room.

Instead, all I see is excuses. He had no money to carry out this threat, etc.

And the required, Impeach Bush from edger and scar's  attack on Christmas.... What happened scar, see a cross this morning??

Oh, and

bill, he could very well have gnawed his way through the ceiling supports for that mall. you don't give these guys nearly enough credit.

scar, his name used to be "billy bobby ricky", before he changed it to the more easily pronounceable "shareef", to honor his muslim ancestors. more or less.

clearly, this guy is a desperate headcase, seeking his andy warhol 15 minutes. he seems more a danger to himself (probably would have hurt himself with the speakers) than anyone else. nonetheless, he should be incarcerated, in an institution.

It is disturbing to think Derrick Shareef -- along with god knows how many others -- will be denied habeas corpus and a host of other rights. Who knows, maybe he is so "dangerous" that he will be renditioned to one of the CIA's ghost prisons, held indefinitely and tortured.

Oh wait... that's right, Padilla, the infamous alleged bomber, has been imprisoned in America without legal recourse for close to 4-years -- so I imagine that will happen to Shareef, too.

The Bush administration was basically forced to finally charge Padilla -- knowing the Supreme Court would over-rule his incarceration. Oddly no charges were made in relationship to terrorist acts. After enduring years of suffering from sensory depravation it is no wonder Padilla has been

"... judged by professionals as mentally ill as a consequence of his brutal treatment, has been denied his Constitutional right to a fair and speedy trial and was permitted no legal representation for 21 months...

Ashcroft claimed Padilla, an American citizen, was

"... a known terrorist who was exploring a plan to build and explode a radiological dispersion device, or `dirty bomb,' in the United States." Those lurid claims were abandoned when the government, faced with a belated U.S. Supreme Court censure, finally charged Padilla with vague and lesser crimes carrying a maximum 15-year sentence."

"In the end, the administration has retreated from its hoary claims; Padilla's trial, set to begin on Jan. 22, does not include any reference to dirty bombs, al Qaeda, or any specific plans to attack America. Instead, he faces lesser charges claiming he was the recruit of a "North American support cell," whose interest was in jihad in Bosnia and Chechnya. As if it had no bearing on the disoriented state of mind of the defendant, the Bush administration's lawyers have argued in motions that his treatment as a prisoner should not be presented before the jury."

Who knows how many others are secretly locked away simply because they are Middle-Eastern or are "suspected" of being an enemy of the US.

People's lives are not expendable. Suspects are not "guilty" until proven so in a court of law.

However in this day and age the Fifth Amendment means little, if anything, under this administration.

Americans have had enough of the fear mongering. Terrorists were not as much of a problem until Bush elevated their status. Wars will NOT stop "terrorism" -- addressing the root cause, will.

Denying any American of his/her rights is counterproductive. It is destroying the very essence of what made our nation unique.

Last, the case against the 12 London "terrorists" has basically the same hand print as the case against Derrick Shareef: both lack solid evidence. Due to carelessness and an over-eagerness to catch the "bad" guys people's, innocent people's lives are ruined. The intelligence agencies, one would assume, would wait until the evidence was in-hand...?

Talking about doing something versus actually acting on it are two completely different things. Arresting people based on what they say will not make us safer.

The administration over-played their hand one too many times.

Isn't it weird that other countries like England, Spain, Germany, France, and so many other nations are using their police to fight terrorism because that's what police do: they get info, they investigate, they get warrants, they arrest suspects and accord them all their rights, and then present evidence to the courts that convicts these people and put them away.

Fighting terrorism is a police matter. It didn't take a "shock and awe" bombing campaign by our military to find and arrest Rudolph and obtain a conviction in a court of law.

That does not, however, speak to the matter of his confinement driving him insane. If his psychological abuse claims can be documented and shown to be harmful, then it could indeed be found to be cruel and unusual punishment and alternative methods of dealing with people like this devised.

My comment regarding the use of police to fight terrorism still stands.