Miami 'Terror Cell' Case On Shaky Grounds

The more information that comes out in this case, the more we see that the FBI might have 'made' this terror cell themselves.

(WaPo)But lawyers for the defendants have raised questions about where a government sting ends and entrapment begins. Not only did government informants provide money and a meeting place for Batiste and his followers, but they also gave them video cameras for conducting surveillance, as well as cellphones, and suggested that their first target be a Miami FBI office, court records show.

What would make the informant tell the FBI what they wanted to hear?

The FBI would eventually pay the informant, who had previous arrests for assault and marijuana possession, $10,500 for his services in the Batiste investigation and reimburse him $8,815 for his expenses.

What about the other informant?

By mid-November, the FBI decided to take a more active role. Agents introduced a more experienced Middle Eastern-born informant, CW2, to play the role of a potential financier to prevent Batiste from seeking money elsewhere. CW2, according to court papers, had worked for the FBI for six years and provided information that led to the arrests of two individuals on "terrorist-related charges."

But CW2 soon also took a key role in the plotting, suggesting targets and supplying videotaping equipment, according to the court papers. His reward was $17,000 the FBI paid for his services, and approval of his petition for political asylum in the United States.

He obviously has no reason for telling the FBI what they wanted to hear either. We are moving into a gray area here where we arrest people for their thoughts. How many people, in a heated situation, have ever told someone that they will kill them or do something harmful to them? Even though you had no plan or intensions to kill them, under theses guidelines, you would now be guilty of a crime.