LUBBOCK, Texas - A Saudi student appeared smiling as U.S. marshals accompanied him to his first federal court appearance on a terror charge.
The 20-year-old, Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Nancy Koenig accused of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.
As reported earlier here; the former Texas Tech student was suspected of purchasing chemicals and supplies to build a bomb and of researching possible targets in the United States before his arrest by federal officials late Wednesday.
Aldawsari, constrained and bounded by a little cadre of U.S. marshals, said nothing other than “yes” when Koenig asked if he understood his rights and the charge against him.
Koenig set a March 11 hearing, when the U.S. Attorney’s Office must prove there is a substantial need to keep Aldawsari jailed.
She set for the same date a preliminary hearing in which the government must show there is probable cause to move forward with the case if neither Aldawsari nor his newly retained attorney, Rod Hobson, waive the hearing before March 11.
Hobson, in a written statement, questioned whether Aldawsari could receive a fair trial in Lubbock and blamed one-sided media coverage for possibly tainting a prospective jury pool.
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