Caro, Mich.
Police arrested three college-age American men of Palestinian descent last week, after they bought 80 prepaid cellular phones at a local Wal-Mart. The phones can be used to detonate bombs, and police suspected that the men intended to use the phones to blow up the nearby Mackinac Bridge, a picture of which was found on a computer belonging to one of the men. Now, though, state and federal authorities say the three probably planned to modify the $20 phones and sell them to a wholesaler in Texas for as much as $38 apiece. The men have no known connection to terrorist groups, according to the FBI. “These are college students who just want to make money,” said Sobhi Abdulhassan, father of one of the arrested men. Reselling the phones may constitute consumer fraud, however, and Caro police continue to hold the three on bail of $750,000 each.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Democrats’ strategy to woo voters for 2026: religionThe Explainer Politicians like Rob Sand and James Talarico have made a name for themselves pushing their faith
-
Pregnancy in AmericaFeature Why is it getting riskier to give birth in the U.S.?
-
The potential warning sign of an auto lender’s bankruptcyIn the Spotlight Tricolor collapse an ‘extreme example’ of economy’s challenges
