ATLANTA — A federal magistrate judge denied bond Thursday afternoon for Hasher Taheb, a Forsyth County man accused of plotting a terrorist attack on the White House.
It’s been about a week since Taheb was arrested in Gwinnett County, and Thursday, his attorneys hinted at what their defense will be, when he pleads not guilty – that he was set up.
Taheb sat silently in court on Thursday with a full, long beard, in shackles and an orange jumpsuit. His mother sat directly behind him, sobbing silently and shaking.
Prosecutors said the 21-year-old suspect created hand-drawn diagrams of the West Wing in the White House. According to the federal affidavit, Taheb also plotted to attack other landmarks in Washington, D.C., including the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial.
Taheb is accused of trying to recruit others to join him in his plotted attacks. Government prosecutors said Taheb ordered explosives and firearms from undercover agents. When he was arrested last week in Gwinnett county, police said he was getting into a rental car with the bombs and guns, ready to drive to D.C.
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Taheb’s public defenders argued that it all started when someone in his Forsyth County neighborhood, where he lives with his mother, became suspicious and reported him to police last March. The defense attorneys said Thursday that the FBI, in effect, decided to frame him to make the evidence fit their assumptions. They claim Taheb has never owned or even shot a gun – and the undercover FBI agents had to teach him about guns and bombs and how to detonate them.
Magistrate Alan Baverman wasn’t buying it. He denied Taheb bond, stating that the evidence indicates Taheb is a danger to the community.
“He is no stooge,” Baverman said in court. “He actively instigated and planned attacks to create havoc and mayhem and harm as many people as possible.”
A federal grand jury in Atlanta has indicted Taheb and he is expected to be arraigned within the next 10 days or so.