A
federal judge ruled Thursday that two Berkeley County sheriff’s deputies
acted legally when they searched the car of two Egyptian college students and
found low-grade explosives in the trunk during a traffic stop near Goose
Creek last August.
Defense
attorneys for the two students used a video of the incident which showed the deputies
calling the suspects “Taliban” and “terrorists” to argue that the officers lacked probable cause,
and were motivated by racial stereotypes when they decided to question the
students and seek consent to search the car.
Magistrate
Judge Mark Pizzo rejected that argument in his ruling in Tampa on Thursday, which means
the evidence obtained in the search, included pipes with loosely packed
explosives, will be admissible in trial. The pair, Ahmed Mohamed and Youssef
Megahed, are charged with illegally transporting explosives across state lines,
but maintain that they planned to use the materials found in car to make
fireworks, and were on their way to visit beaches.
Mohamed
also faces terrorism related charges for allegedly posting on the internet a video
he made with instructions on how to turn a toy remote controlled car into a bomb
detonator.
The
trial is expected to begin in April.
The
Tampa Bay tribune has obtained copy of the video of the traffic stop, which can
be seen here, though it does not include the controversial section in which the
deputies joke that the two are “terrorists”.
