Update- Aldawsari found guilty on terror charges
By Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari was found guilty on terror charges Wednesday in federal court in Amarillo, Texas.
Sentencing is scheduled for September 11.
Aldawsari, 22 and former student at Texas Tech University and South Plains College, was accused of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction.
He was arrested in Lubbock, Texas in February 2011 by FBI agents on the alleged charge in connection with his attempt to buy a large amount of “phenol,” a chemical which can be used in homemade bombs.
According to police, Aldawsari purchased ten 500 mL bottles of 80 percent concentration phenol from Carolina Biological Supply, less than a mile away from Elon University’s campus.
The order was shipped to a Con-Way Freight facility in Lubbock, but was sent back to North Carolina. FBI worked with Carolina Biological Supply to question Aldawsari for his reason to purchase the chemicals.
He had other chemicals needed to make a highly explosive substance called picric acid, agents testified in court.
On Tuesday, prosecutors played videos that were found in Aldawsari’s apartment, which included a masked man demonstrating how to build bombs in Arabic, along with lessons in how to wire cell phones and clocks to be used as remote detonators.
Officers also told jurors about Google searches Aldawsari conducted to look at possible locations, including the Dallas Arboretum, the Cotton Bowl, Cowboys Stadium and George W. Bush.
FBI special agents also said they found journals and a website written by Aldawsari. A translator appeared in court Monday and read through a list of words from the writings, most of which were used in violent context.
Aldawsari’s defense attorneys said they would not provide any evidence in favor of their client.
Elon Local News will bring you updates as the story develops.
