School bus riding Saudi men in Florida escape prosecution

Mana Saleh Almanajam and Shaker Mohsen Alsidran--the two Saudi men who boarded a Tampa school bus "just for a joy ride" will get off scott free, ... or should I say Saudi free.

(via Debbie Schlussel) Tampa ABC Action News reports that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, our "ally in the War on Terror," is picking up Almanajam's and Alsidran's legal fees in the entire trial on their misdemeanors for trespassing on the bus. The Saudis will not plea, but will have fancy lawyers fighting the charges courtesy of the Kingdom. The Saudi government also paid the legal fees of accused terrorist Sami Omar Al-Hussayen, helping him beat an incompetent Justice Dept. on well-founded charges of running websites for terror groups, etc. (More about the men, here and here.)

Most of us with half a brain say their boarding of a bus (one in a trench coat in the hot Florida weather) was a dry run for a school bus hijacking.

We know that children have been targeted by Islamic terrorist not just in the Beslan massacre, but--attention, Oprah!--in Ma'alot, Israel, where dozens of school children were slaughtered on school buses.

And the Saudi royal family is paying for the lawyers of the two Saudi men. Gee, I wonder why.
Debbie Schlussel

The two men are in America to attend "English speaking school" in Florida. This seems to be a popular excuse for many Saudis to get into America. They entered the school bus, sat down, began talking in Arabic, laughing, looking around and made the school bus driver very concerned. Of course my question was, why did the driver let them on in the first place?

A teacher at the school said there was actually a third man who was not arrested and that the teachers and children at the school were very concerned. Apparently the authorities do not share that concern.

They lied to police about their nationality (Saudi), and they are here on Saudi scholarships for Saudis in American colleges and universities. Of note, one of them has a driver's license, but neither has a car, and they live within walking distance of their classes at the University of Sami's [Al-Arian] Friends, er . . . South Florida. Pursuant to my investigation this morning, Ober has decided to allow the two men to enter a "Misdemeanor Intervention Program" for first time offenders. That means, the charges against them for the school bus incident will be set aside. If they stay out of trouble for a few months the case against them will be dismissed. Debbie Schlussel

This is just a green light for other similar attempts at checking the security of our children here in the US. Republican Mark Ober, Florida State Attorney for Hillsborough County, Florida's 13 Judicial Circuit should be ashamed.

NOTE: Just in case is isn't already clear to everyone, the quotes and the investigation for the above article are credited to Debbie Schlussel here and here

Comments

[f mcdonald]

I was wondering what happened with this case. I almost wish I didn't know now. Thanks for posting the info.

[Debbie]

Yep, they got off. Sad, so sad. Nice blog you have f mcdonald.