8A = THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NEWS
THURSDAY, AUGUST 29, 2002
Seattle man charged with helping terrorists
The Associated Press
SEATTLE — Federal authorities yesterday charged a former Seattle man with conspiring to help al-Qaida and set up a terrorist training camp in rural Oregon.
Earnest James Ujaama was named in a two-count indictment that accused him of conspiracy to provide material support and resources for al-Qaida and with using, carrying, possessing and discharging firearms during a crime.
The indictment contends Ujaama, a Muslim who was born James Earnest Thompson, led a conspiracy in 1999 to set up a training camp in Bly, Ore.
In October and November 1999, at meetings with co-conspirators there and in Seattle, the indictment says. Ujaama led discussions about the need "for further training, in order to be able to attend violent jihad-training camps in Afghanistan, the commission of armed robbery, the building of underground bunkers to hide ammunition and weapons, the creation of poisonous materials for public consumption, and the firebombing of vehicles."
Ujaama, who was arrested July 22 at a relative's home in Denver as a material witness to terrorist activity, has maintained his innocence.
Ujaama's attorney, Daniel Sears, said he suspected the government used the material-witness statute to hold Ujama until it could develop charges.
"If there's anything positive to come out of this, it renders some certainty to his situation," Sears said yesterday. "He can go about the business of defending himself against these allegations."
Sears said Ujaama, who remains in custody in Alexandria, Va., has not testified before a grand jury.
The indictment also names three co-conspirators. U.S. Attorney John McKay wouldn't identify them, but said none were U.S. citizens. He also said Ujaama is not connected to the five men in Detroit indicted separately yesterday on terrorism charges.
In written statement Tuesday, Ujaama accused the government of conducting a witch hunt.
"Should it be the policy of this government to convict innocent people before any hearing or before any trial?" Ujjaama asked. "My constitutional rights, my civil liberties and my future have been grossly violated in a bid to seek political gain, not justice or truth."
James Ujaama's brother, Mustafa — born Jon Thompson and also a Muslim convert — said yesterday that his brother remains in good spirits, despite five weeks behind bars.
"He knows he didn't do anything." he said.
Many community leaders in Seattle, where Ujaama grew up, have praised the brothers' work to eradicate drugs and prostitution from their neighborhood. They also worked to recruit former gang members and others into the now-defunct Dar-us-Salaam mosque. Other members of the mosque also have been investigated for possible ties to Osama bin Laden.
Authorities also have looked at James Ujaama's ties to Abu Hamza al-Masri, the leader of a London mosque known for extreme anti-American views.
Family members found dead in rural Alabama
The Associated Press
RUTLEDGE, Ala. — Six family members were found shot to death at their rural homestead, and a baby and her 16-year-old mother were missing. Authorities Wednesday were searching for them, a motive and two people they said were potential witnesses.
The bodies of the victims, including three teenage boys, were discovered at a tin-roofed wooden house and nearby mobile home Tuesday night and yesterday morning, District Attorney John Andrews said.
He said there were no suspects and did not comment on a possible motive.
The district attorney did not identify the victims, but Coleman Ball of nearby Greenville said law enforcement officials told him they were all members of his family.
He said his mother, Mila Ruth Ball, 62, who lived in the house, was killed, as was his sister, Joann Ball, 35, who
"I'm going to find me another place to live."
Lynn Pickens Rutledge resident
lived in the mobile home. He said the other victims were Joann Ball's sons — Jerry Ball, 18, Tony Ball, 16, and John Ball, 14 — and Willie Hasley, Joan Ball's common-law husband and the father of her children.
Joann Ball's daughter, 16-year-old Janice Ball, and her baby were missing, he said. He said that they lived in a second mobile home at the site, and that her boyfriend sometimes visited her there.
Authorities would not say whether the 16-year-old and her boyfriend were the two potential witnesses being sought.
The killings have frightened people living along the surrounding roads near Rutledge,
about 40 miles south of Montgomery.
"I'm going to find me another place to live," said Lynn Pickens, 37, who took her children to stay with relatives Tuesday night after learning of the killings. "I got four young ones. I can't put my children in danger like that."
Andrews said two of the bodies were found when officers arrived Tuesday night, three others were found shortly thereafter, and the sixth was found yesterday morning.
Investigators strung crime tape around the scene and officers kept onlookers away from the house, which has a screened porch and is set on a tree-shaded lawn with the two mobile homes only a short walk away.
Coleman Ball said he went to his mother's home after an aunt called and said the door to the house was locked and she was concerned.
A dog at the home also was shot, but survived.a
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