~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the Los Angeles Times

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For some Chinese college students, sex is a business opportunity

In a country fast-changing economically and culturally, some middle-class women become mistresses to live a better life. A university pimp explains how it works.

by Megan K. Stack, Los Angeles Times

October 20, 2010

Reporting from Beijing

The girls from the drama academy cost the most. Actresses are pretty, after all, and pretty is the point. Steady access to their sexual favors could cost a man more than $25,000 a year, not to mention the perks and gifts they would expect.

The gentleman on a budget had better browse through students at the tourism institute, or perhaps the business school. Women there can be had for as low as $5,000 a year.

Those are the prices advertised by the young man who calls himself "Student Ding," a senior at Shanghai University who, in the grand tradition of Chinese entrepreneurship, is earning his money by working as a pimp.

Ding calls himself "an agent, a fixer," but his job is all pimp. He started out small: fliers passed on the street to the chauffeurs of expensive cars. He has found his niche arranging long-term, cash-for-sex arrangements between wealthy men and aspirational students, taking a 10% commission off the top.

He is nonchalant about the work, even vaguely proud. He insists that he is doing a service to the men who don't want to hire streetwalkers, and to his middle-class, ambitious and frostily pragmatic college friends.

"Most of the girls are financially comfortable, but they see their classmates carrying Louis Vuitton or Gucci bags, and they're jealous," he said on the phone from Shanghai. "These girls want to have better lives."

He is feeding on a wave of prostitution that, academics and sex workers say, has spread throughout universities and among young, would-be professionals in recent years. This semester, at least two universities introduced rules banning students from working as escorts or mistresses.

But the motivation is strong. The young women are coming of age at a time when China's family structure has eroded and staggering class divisions mean living, for the first time, in a country where shiny things are dangled carelessly under the noses of those who can't afford them.

In China, everybody seems to be selling something these days. Advertising crowds the skyline and the roadsides. A closed country has opened up in a span of decades, and is experiencing an economic boom that has introduced new desires and an "anything goes" mentality.

"More and more students are making this choice, taking a shortcut to a better life" said Lan Lan, a former prostitute who now advocates for the rights of sex workers in China, where prostitution is technically illegal but often tolerated. "They find a rich lover, post services on the Internet or just walk into a high-end club and sell themselves. The end result is the same."

Lan Lan has years of street-level research in China's sex trade; today, she runs an organization that raises HIV awareness and distributes condoms to sex workers.

Just a few decades back, premarital sex was looked down upon by respectable families. Now, some members of those families are not just having premarital sex; they're selling it.

Lan Lan calls the Chinese prostitution market "very complicated," with various manifestations of sex work at each economic level, from relatively cheap streetwalkers catering to migrant workers to the students. Many in the latter group are reluctant to think of themselves as hookers and are therefore lax about protecting themselves.

"If they're trying to become a mistress, they won't take a condom when they go to meet this man," she said. "They want to show their purity and loyalty."

The women are generally careful not to get trapped in a life selling their sexual favors. This is paid sex as a strategy, a way to look more elite, get a better job, find new opportunities.

"They move on to other jobs after a while," Lan Lan said. "It's not that they're too poor to make a living. The younger generation wants to wear all the brand names, the expensive cosmetics, use the newest cellphones and computers."

But even if that's true, few women want to admit it. And, perhaps, sex and love aren't quite so simply parsed.

Xiao Yi, a 27-year-old woman from the southern province of Guangdong, insists that she and the other young, paid mistresses are misunderstood.

She met her lover when she was an intern at an advertising agency, and he was a much older boss, nestled in the comforts of money and family. In the years since, she has taken his money, and he has set up profitable business opportunities and what she calls "financial aid" for several of her relatives. (Her family, she insists, doesn't realize that she's sleeping with this man, and takes him for a friend.)

"He can look after people," she said. "And as a very independent girl, when I'm with him, even I can rely on somebody."

But she insists she is drawn by something deeper than the cash and perks. She says she has fallen in love with him. Sometimes, she says, she even takes him out for a meal.

She can't imagine getting married anymore, because she has lost faith in male monogamy and hates the idea of playing the role of the wife, sitting at home while her husband steps out with a young woman like her.

"There are quite a few of us girls," she said. "We are thinking of ways to make our lives better."

Using sex as a commodity, it turns out, goes a long way. And in a fast-changing China, rationalizations are easy to cobble together.

"Years ago, when people heard somebody was a prostitute, they would criticize her very harshly, so girls who might want to copy her would change their minds," she said. "These days, people's attitudes have totally changed. They laugh at poor people, but they don't laugh at prostitutes."

Yi Haiyan, a former prostitute who now pens a blog documenting the plight of sex workers, agrees.

"The importance of virginity and sexual purity is not as strong as before. People are realizing that sex won't have a huge impact on our future lives compared with other things that happen to you," she said. "Life is more than just being pure. It's not that important."

Student Ding put it more succinctly.

"Many girls are gold diggers," he said, but don't know how to find a "sugar daddy."

As for the men, he said, they find it degrading and time-consuming to troll for hookers in karaoke bars and hotels. They want young, fresh women who are less apt to carry diseases. But their daily activities don't take them into college campuses to meet women.

"They don't have time and they don't know how to find them. They can't drive their posh cars around campus asking girls if they want to be their mistresses," he said. "I feel I am very important. I act as a bridge between these two groups."

As for the list he distributed, putting a price tag on women from each university, he says it was mostly just a gimmick.

"The price of the girl depends on her face and her features," he said. "And how good her figure is."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-china-escorts-20101021,0,319844,print.story

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Police officers describe Fort Hood gunfight

Civilian officers Kimberly Munley and Mark Todd testify at military hearing for Maj. Nidal Hasan, who is accused of killing 13 people. Hasan 'had a determined look on his face,' Munley says. 'Solemn. No expression.'

by David Zucchino, Los Angeles Times

October 21, 2010

Reporting from Ft. Hood, Texas

On the chaotic afternoon of Nov. 5, a gunman firing a laser-equipped pistol shot and killed several soldiers inside a crowded base processing center, then ran outside to shoot more victims.

There, he encountered Ft. Hood civilian police officers Kimberly Munley and Mark Todd.

The gunman opened fire — first on Munley, then on Todd. Within 30 seconds, the officers testified at a military hearing Wednesday, Munley lay wounded and defenseless as Todd confronted the gunman from 20 feet away.

"I challenged him — 'Halt! Military police! Drop your weapon!' '' Todd said.

The gunman, identified by Munley as Maj. Nidal Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, had just shot Munley in the hand, thigh and knee. She was flat on the ground, crawling to recover her police handgun, which Hasan had kicked away, she said. He stood over her.

At that moment, Todd testified, he saw the gunman's red targeting laser fixed on him. The gunman got off several shots. Todd returned fire five times from his Beretta M9 semiautomatic pistol.

"I seen him wince a couple times," Todd said. "I rushed him. I kicked the weapon, placed him in hand irons."

Those five shots ended a terrifying rampage for which Hasan is charged with killing 13 people and wounding 32 more. In their first courtroom testimony, Officers Munley and Todd added dramatic details to a compelling prosecution narrative that paints Hasan as a coldly efficient and remorseless killer.

"He had a determined look on his face," Munley told the court. "Solemn. No expression."

Maj. Joseph Richter, testifying later Wednesday, described watching Munley and Hasan from about 15 yards away. "She lay there and looked up at him hopelessly," Richter said. "She was very alert, very pale-looking."

As Munley and Todd calmly described their overlapping gun battles, Hasan stared impassively from a few feet away. He sat slumped in a wheelchair, paralyzed from the chest down by Todd's gunfire. He was warmed by a blanket and a green cloth watch cap inside the air-conditioned courtroom.

Hasan watched intently as video from the officers' car-mounted cameras was played in court. The videos did not show the shootings, but the bam-bam-bam of rapid gunfire resonated in the cramped courtroom as police sirens wailed in the background.

The Article 32 hearing will determine whether Hasan faces trial at a court-martial, where he could face the death penalty. The prosecution concluded its presentation late Wednesday after testimony from 53 witnesses the past two weeks.

The defense may present witnesses and testimony beginning Thursday but is not required to put on a case.

The civilian police officers were the 49th and 50th prosecution witnesses. More than three dozen soldiers, most of them wounded in the rampage, have described a gunman who shot and killed bleeding soldiers — including a pregnant private, Francheska Velez — as they awaited medical processing for deployments to or from Afghanistan and Iraq.

Several soldiers, some of them glaring at Hasan from the witness stand, identified him as the uniformed major who cried out "Allahu Akbar" — Arabic for "God is great" — before opening fire.

Defense lawyers have not challenged witnesses' testimony, but have focused on whether the gunman seemed to be firing randomly or at specific people. Testimony suggested that the shooter passed up several opportunities to shoot civilians while firing point-blank at uniformed soldiers.

While a resident at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Hasan reportedly told colleagues he believed the U.S. was waging war on Muslims. He said Muslim soldiers shouldn't be asked to kill fellow Muslims.

Hasan, a Muslim born in the U.S. to Palestinian parents, was at the processing center preparing to deploy to Afghanistan.

Officer Munley, who was praised by Ft. Hood commanders as a heroine for confronting Hasan, became a media favorite and appeared on the "Oprah Winfrey" and "Today" shows. Her testimony confirmed that she fired six or seven times at Hasan, but apparently did not hit him.

"I did not see him fall. Not from my shots, no," Munley testified.

Todd, who also appeared with Munley on the Winfrey show, was not injured and remains on duty. Munley, who had surgery for wounds that included a femur shattered into 120 pieces, said she plans to return to full duty Nov. 1.

At least 214 cartridge casings fired from the gunman's pistol were recovered from the shooting scene, investigator Kelly Jameson testified. The weapon was mounted with two laser targeting sights — green and red.

Jameson said the gunman carried 16 magazines loaded with rounds; some magazines were extended models that hold 30 rounds. He had 177 rounds still available when Todd's bullets brought him down.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-fort-hood-20101021,0,2198526,print.story

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tijuana officials begin burning 134 tons of marijuana seized in record pot bust

Mexican officials Wednesday began burning 134 tons of marijuana seized in what authorities believe is the largest pot bust in the nation's  history.

As a drum and bugle corps played in the background, soldiers piled thousands of blocks of marijuana onto a wooden platform during a ceremony at a military base in Tijuana that included dozens of local, state and federal officials. The roughly 10-foot-high by 100-foot-wide pile was then sprayed with diesel fuel.

At 4:40 p.m., an army general pushed a button, triggering an electrical charge that detonated gunpowder beneath the pile.

Baja California authorities seized the marijuana Monday morning. About 15,300 packages of marijuana were hidden inside six cargo containers stored in a warehouse in an industrial area of the border city.  

The marijuana was discovered after police intercepted a convoy of vehicles escorting a tractor-trailer that had left the warehouse, officials said.

After a shootout, 11 people were arrested. Police and soldiers, acting on information from the suspects, raided the warehouse and two homes near the coast, where smaller amounts of marijuana were found.

The neatly packaged cannabis -- guarded by masked, heavily armed soldiers -- was later displayed for the media at an army base. Gen. Alfonso Duarte Mugica, the military's top commander in Baja California, said the pot had an estimated street value of about $340 million.

The drugs were destined for the U.S., he said.

The seizure is the latest blow against organized crime in Baja California, a major staging ground for drug smuggling into California. In April, the military seized 19 tons of pot in a Tijuana warehouse.

"With these results, it is evidence once again that the strategy ... continues striking the operations and financial structure of the organized crime groups," said a statement released by the Mexican military.

Officials said a preliminary investigation showed that the marijuana, broken into smaller shipments, was transported to Tijuana by the Sinaloa cartel, also known as the Pacific cartel.

“There are indications that suggest that it belongs to the organization of the Pacific,” said Alejandro Poire, security spokesman for Mexican President Felipe Calderon.

The marijuana arrived via land, air and sea routes, according to Duarte.

The find is considered Mexico's largest-ever pot bust. Intitally, officials estimated that the pot weighed only 105 tons. The Mexican military announced the updated figures after weighing the packages.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/10/tijuana-officials-begin-burning-134-tons-of-mairjuana.html#more

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the New York Times

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Experts Review Canadian Commander's Sadistic Crimes

OTTAWA — He had a privileged upbringing, a highly successful career and sadistic sexual urges that would qualify as extreme even by the morbid standards of serial killers.

Yet for those who track such cases, perhaps the most striking element in the crimes of Col. David Russell Williams, a former Canadian military commander hanging his head in an Ontario courtroom this week, is how late in life it apparently started, experts say — and how quickly it escalated.

According to evidence presented so far, Colonel Williams, 47, began breaking into houses near his own two homes to steal girls' and women's underwear only in the past several years, growing ever more brazen and reckless until he committed his most serious crimes: two sexual assaults in September 2009, a rape and murder in November that year, and another this January.

He kept obsessively detailed records, photographing himself thousands of times in the underwear and comprehensively videotaping his most brutal attacks. He pleaded guilty to scores of charges on Monday.

“Most sexual killers begin in their 20s, peak in their mid-30s and start to taper off by their 40s,” said Dr. Michael H. Stone, a New York psychiatrist who wrote the book “The Anatomy of Evil” (Prometheus, 2009).

He and other forensic psychiatrists said it was impossible to offer anything like a complete assessment of Colonel Williams without knowing more about his life and interviewing him directly.

But the evidence of his particular mental twists has been mounting as prosecutors have outlined his crimes during his sentencing hearing. On Monday, they showed many of the photographs — some showed him, aroused, in girlish underwear decorated with cartoon characters or, arms akimbo, in ladies' lingerie. Most were close-ups of his genitals protruding through the cloth.

Some of the homes he broke into were those of acquaintances. He masturbated with bedroom objects and then put them back in place; he left thank you notes on his victims' computer screens.

On Tuesday, the prosecutors described videotapes of the protracted assaults on the two women he killed. The first victim found him hiding behind her furnace while she was looking for her cats; he bashed her in the head with a flashlight, bound her and brought in lamps to improve the lighting before he recorded himself repeatedly raping the bleeding woman.

On Wednesday, the prosecutors played video recordings from a 10-hour police interrogation. Colonel Williams initially appears confident as he meets an officer from a behavioral science unit in an interrogation room at an Ottawa police station.

“I have never been in a room like this,” he says, grinning up at a camera.

Later, however, after the interrogator tells him that the unusual tread pattern of his sport utility vehicle matches tracks found in a snowy field near his second victim's home, Colonel Williams drops his head. He confesses for hours.

Forensic psychiatrists said that many sexual killers made records of their acts or kept mementos to revisit the experience. Dr. Angela Hegarty, a forensic psychiatrist at Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in Queens, who also teaches at Columbia University , said, “I would say the No. 1 reason he kept these meticulous records is to recreate the Proust moment, the ‘biting into the madeleine' that brings back the rich memory.”

The records are so full, she suggested, because for the killer, “You don't know going in which detail is going to provide that.”

In the interrogation, Colonel Williams said he became interested in women's underwear in his 20s or 30s, but did not act on it until a few years ago.

Psychiatrists call such desires paraphilias, a broad class of unusual compulsions that include pedophilia and sexual sadism; they are thought to be rooted in neural abnormalities traceable to early brain development. They usually surface early in life, and those who act on them tend to begin in young adulthood.

“But if what we're hearing is true, it almost has the quality of a breakdown,” said Dr. Hegarty. “It's like the person who's never smoked marijuana suddenly going on a binge and doing everything, all drugs, all at once.”

Colonel Williams certainly seemed in control, at least publicly. He was a married, highly organized, widely respected commander who for a while kept his two lives wholly separate. “This capacity for compartmentalization is in fact quite common in people like this,” said Theodore Millon, a former Harvard professor who is an expert on personality disorders. “It's only the contrast to public appearances that makes it so startling.”

Dr. Stone, who keeps a database of serial killers that now includes 152 cases, said they tended to fall into two broad categories: those who maintain responsible public lives, and those who are loners, misfits. Colonel Williams is clearly in the former group, he said, along with John Wayne Gacy, the Illinois businessman who strangled more than 30 boys, and Dennis L. Rader, known as the B.T.K. killer (for bind, torture, kill), a civil servant in Kansas who pleaded guilty to killing 10 people.

David Russell Williams was born in Britain, the son of a metallurgist who emigrated to Canada to work in the country's top nuclear research facility.

The only obvious sign of upset during his youth was the collapse of his parents' marriage when he was 7.

There was no apparent lack of money in the family. For his final two years of high school, Colonel Williams boarded at Upper Canada College, an elite private school in Toronto.

After graduation, he studied economics and political science at the University of Toronto. He joined the military in 1987 and rose swiftly, piloting military jetliners that provided official transportation for the prime minister and playing a direct role in some of Canada's largest military procurement programs.

As commander of Canada's biggest air base, at Trenton, Ontario, he was not only one of the largest employers in a mostly rural area along the shores of Lake Ontario, he was also a community leader. He appeared in local newspapers presenting checks to charities, posing with hockey players and dropping pucks at season-openers.

Colonel Williams clearly moved between his two lives with great fluidity.

For example, after killing Cpl. Marie-France Comeau, a flight attendant under his command, he drove for about three hours to an aircraft procurement meeting.

Later, fulfilling his duty as base commander, Colonel Williams sent an official letter of condolence to her father.

The morning after his second murder, he piloted a troop flight to California.

His activities may have been aided by the largely separate life he lived with his wife, an executive with a large Canadian charity. During the week, he lived alone in a cottage near the base. He spent weekends with his wife in Ottawa.

He confessed, he said, to “make her life easier.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/21/world/americas/21psych.html?_r=1&ref=world&pagewanted=print

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pentagon Will Help Homeland Security Department Fight Domestic Cyberattacks

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has adopted new procedures for using the Defense Department's vast array of cyberwarfare capabilities in case of an attack on vital computer networks inside the United States, delicately navigating historic rules that restrict military action on American soil.

The system would mirror that used when the military is called on in natural disasters like hurricanes or wildfires. A presidential order dispatches the military forces, working under the control of the Federal Emergency Management Agency .

Under the new rules, the president would approve the use of the military's expertise in computer-network warfare, and the Department of Homeland Security would direct the work.

Officials involved in drafting the rules said the goal was to ensure a rapid response to a cyberthreat while balancing concerns that civil liberties might be at risk should the military take over such domestic operations.

The rules were deemed essential because most of the government's computer-network capabilities reside within the Pentagon — while most of the important targets are on domestic soil, whether within the government or in critical private operations like financial networks or a regional power grid.

The new approach will begin with a Department of Homeland Security team deploying to Fort Meade, Md., home to both the National Security Agency , which specializes in electronic espionage, and the military's new Cyber Command. In exchange, a team of military networking experts would be assigned to the operations center at the Homeland Security Department.

The rules were detailed in a memorandum of agreement signed in late September by Janet Napolitano , the secretary of homeland security, and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates , but they were not released until last week.

Robert J. Butler, the Pentagon's deputy assistant secretary for cyber policy, said the memorandum was intended to cut through legal debates about the authority for operating domestically, and to focus on how best to respond to the threat of attack on critical computer networks.

Mr. Butler said teams of lawyers would watch for potential violations of civil liberties. “We have put protection measures in place,” he said.

The Pentagon is expected to release a full National Defense Strategy for Cyber Operations this year, to be followed by broader interagency guidance from the White House, perhaps in the form of a presidential directive, in 2011.

Congress also is weighing legislation that would update domestic law to deal with advances in computer-based surveillance and cyberwarfare.

William J. Lynn III, the deputy defense secretary, underscored the Pentagon's “need to protect our military networks,” but said that “it's a national challenge as well.” In an interview with Charlie Rose broadcast Monday by PBS , Mr. Lynn added: “We need to protect our critical infrastructure. We need to protect our intellectual property. And that's a whole-of-government effort.”

During a visit last week to NATO headquarters in Brussels, Mr. Gates lobbied for new partnerships to combat computer threats, while warning that the NATO networks were vulnerable.

“On cybersecurity, the alliance is far behind,” Mr. Gates said. “Our vulnerabilities are well known, but our existing programs to remedy these weaknesses are inadequate.”

Mr. Gates said he was not concerned that secret intelligence shared with allies would be compromised, but he said NATO had weaknesses in its defenses for computer networks at its headquarters and throughout the shared command structure.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/21/us/21cyber.html?ref=us&pagewanted=print

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the Chicago Sun Times

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

UK court sentences prince to at least 20 years

October 20, 2010

ASSOCIATED PRESS

LONDON -- A British court sentenced a Saudi prince to at least 20 years in prison Wednesday for beating and strangling one of his servants at a swank British hotel in a case that featured days of lurid testimony about their abusive relationship.

Justice David Bean sentenced Prince Saud Abdulaziz bin Nasser al Saud to a life sentence without the possibility of parole for 20 years for the brutal assault at the Landmark Hotel in London on Feb. 15. The sensational case featured CCTV images of the shaven-headed prince throwing a punch at his aide in a hotel elevator -- the set piece in a prosecution case that alleged the suave playboy prince battered his lover in a rage following years of abuse.

"No one in this country is above the law," Bean said. "It would be wrong for me to sentence you either more severely or more leniently because of your membership of the Saudi royal family."

The jury had deliberated just 95 minutes before returning its verdict. The prince was convicted of both murder and a second count of grievous bodily harm with intent relating to the attack in the elevator.

Prosecutor Jonathan Laidlaw described a flamboyant lifestyle with a dashing prince who lived the luxury life -- dining in fine restaurants and receiving erotic massages from a masseur who compared him to Hollywood actor Omar Sharif.

The prince's lawyers attempted before the trial to stop evidence of his homosexuality from being made public.

"Beneath the surface this was a deeply abusive relationship which the defendant exploited for sadistic reasons, for his own personal gratification," Laidlaw said. He described the assault leading to the aide's death as being "a really terrible, a really brutal attack."

Al Saud originally told police that he and Abdulaziz had been swigging champagne into the early hours of the morning, and that when he awoke at 3 p.m. he could not rouse Abdulaziz.

Jurors rejected a claim by his defense lawyer, John Kelsey-Fry, that the prince was guilty only of manslaughter. Defense lawyers had attempted to shield the prince's sexuality during the bail application process, but failed.

Since the prince's arrest, Saudi officials have said nothing about the case, and Saudi newspapers and television have not even mentioned it, a sign of how embarrassing the trial and sentencing are for the royal family.

Media in the kingdom strictly avoid any discussion of the private lives of members of the royal family -- particularly of anything that casts them in a negative light.

The prince's grandfather is the half brother of the current king.

Britain has no prison transfer agreement with Saudi Arabia, so there is no possibility the prince could serve his sentence there.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/world/2819960,britain-prince-murder-102010.article

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the Department of Justice

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Virginia Man Pleads Guilty to Providing Material Support to a Foreign Terrorist Organization and Encouraging Violent Jihadists to Kill U.S. Citizens

WASHINGTON – Zachary Adam Chesser, 20, of Fairfax County, Va., pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Court Judge Liam O'Grady to a three-count criminal information that included charges of communicating threats against the writers of the South Park television show, soliciting violent jihadists to desensitize law enforcement, and attempting to provide material support to Al-Shabaab, a designated foreign terrorist organization.

The guilty plea was announced by David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division; Neil H. MacBride, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; and John G. Perren, Acting Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office.

Chesser faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison when he is sentenced on Feb. 25, 2011.

"The defendant attempted to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and used the Internet to incite violence.  Thankfully, his commitment to violence was outmatched by the dedicated work of the agents, prosecutors and analysts who worked tirelessly to bring this man to justice," said Assistant Attorney General David Kris.  "Today's guilty plea is a direct result of the partnership and cooperation between the National Security Division, the U.S. Attorney's Office and the FBI."

"Zachary Chesser seriously endangered the lives of innocent people who will remain at risk for many years to come," said U.S. Attorney MacBride.  "His solicitation of extremists to murder U.S. citizens also caused people throughout the country to fear speaking out – even in jest – lest they also be labeled as enemies who deserved to be killed.  In admitting his guilt today, Mr. Chesser reminded us of the serious threat homegrown jihadists pose to this country, and I express my gratitude and admiration for the FBI agents who apprehended Mr. Chesser before he could endanger even more Americans."

"The FBI's number one priority is to combat terrorist attacks against the United States," said FBI Acting Assistant Director in Charge Perren. "Using broad-based communication channels to threaten, harm and intimidate and then incite others to do the same will not be tolerated.  The FBI works to investigate persons who have acted on a radical philosophy and seek to harm to U.S. citizens."

According to court documents filed with his plea agreement, Chesser maintained several online profiles dedicated to extremist jihad propaganda. Today, Chesser pleaded guilty to taking repeated steps in April 2010 to encourage violent jihadists to attack the writers of South Park for their depiction of Muhammad, including highlighting their residence and urging online readers to "pay them a visit." Among the steps he took was posting on multiple occasions speeches by Anwar Al-Awlaki, which explained the Islamic justification for killing those who insult or defame Muhammad. Al-Awlaki was designated by the United States as a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist" on July 12, 2010.

Chesser also admitted that in May 2010, he posted to a jihadist website the personal contact information of individuals who had joined the "Everybody Draw Muhammad Day" group on Facebook, with the prompting that this is, "Just a place to start."

Chesser also pleaded guilty to soliciting others to desensitize law enforcement by placing suspicious-looking but innocent packages in public places. Chesser explained through a posting online that once law enforcement was desensitized, a real explosive could be used. Chesser ended the posting with the words, "Boom! No more kuffar." According to court documents, "kuffar" means unbeliever, or disbeliever.

According to court records, Chesser also admitted that from at least January 2010 through July 2010, he posted numerous messages online that included calls from Al-Awlaki to join violent jihadists and step-by-step actions individuals needed to take to leave for jihad. Among those postings included a video Chesser made that featured images of mujahedeen in Somalia and a song, sung by Chesser, with the translated title, "America We Are Coming."

Chesser admitted that he promoted online what he called "Open Source Jihad," where he would direct jihadists through his online forums to information on the Internet that they could use to elude capture and death while maintaining relevance and striking capability. This included linking to the entire security screening manual used by the Transportation Security Administration and hundreds of books that contained information on the construction of antiaircraft missiles, and tactics, techniques and weapons for targeting aircraft such as jet airplanes and helicopters.

In addition, Chesser pleaded guilty to attempting to provide material support to Al-Shabaab. On Feb. 29, 2008, the U.S. Department of State designated Al-Shabaab as a foreign terrorist organization, describing it as a violent and brutal extremist group based in Somalia with a number of individuals affiliated with Al-Qaeda. This designation prohibits providing material support or resources to Al-Shabaab.

According to court records, Chesser admitted that he twice attempted to leave the United States and travel to Somalia for the purpose of joining Al-Shabaab and engage in violent jihad as a foreign fighter. The first attempt was in November 2009, which was postponed because his wife was unable to obtain her passport. The second attempt was on July 10, 2010, when he sought to board a flight from New York to Uganda with his infant son. He was prevented from boarding the plane, and Chesser admitted that he brought his son with him as part of his "cover" to avoid detection of his intention to join Al-Shabaab in Somalia. He also attempted to board the plane with a video camera, which he admitted in court that he intended to use to make production quality videos for al-Shabaab's propaganda campaign.

Chesser also admitted today in court that he posted several online messages in support of Al-Shabaab, including videos of attacks by Al-Shabaab on a government building in Mogadishu, a video claiming that African Union troops are responsible for killing civilians in Somalia, a video supporting the merger of Al-Shabaab with another organization, and links to what Chesser described as the "Al Qaeda Manual" that included instructions in support of violent jihad.

This case is being investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gordon Kromberg and Thomas H. McQuillan of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia and Trial Attorney John T. Gibbs of the Counterterrorism Section in the National Security Division are prosecuting the case.

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2010/October/10-nsd-1174.html

.