A federal judge yesterday threw out the case against a member of an alleged Virginia jihad network, ruling that prosecutors had failed to present any evidence that the man was involved in a conspiracy to train for jihadist combat abroad. U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema said that although Caliph Basha Ibn Abdur-Raheem subscribed to a “radical form of Islam” and played paintball in the Virginia countryside, there was no evidence that he was training for jihad. Prosecutors contend, and several witnesses have testified, that the paintball games played by the network of 11 men simulated warfare. “He is an ordinary run-of-the-mill paintball player. . . . Paintball by itself is not an illegal enterprise. Many people do participate in paintball,” said Brinkema, who noted that Abdur-Raheem had attended meetings of alleged co-conspirators but had dozed off at a key one. Full Story
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