Despite arguments from his attorney that he should be released to home confinement, Sami Samir Hassoun, the 22-year-old Lebanese man accused of trying to set off a bomb in Wrigleyville over the weekend, has been ordered held without bond. Calling Hassoun a "troubled young man who was scattered in his thoughts," his attorney Myron Auerbach argued he should be turned over to family supervision. But federal judge Susan Cox disagreed: "There's an instability in this man that cannot be addressed through electronic monitoring. It's hard to imagine an offense that presents more potential danger to the public." more ›

More news in the case of the young man arrested for plotting to set off a bomb in Wrigleyville over the weekend. As Sami Samir Hassoun was prepped for a court appearance that happened earlier this afternoon, his attorney, Myron Auerbach, said he may claim entrapment: "My client didn't bring anything of his own making to the incident. Things were given to him." Hassoun had expressed a desire to pull off such terror acts as the bombing, poisoning Lake Michigan, bombing the Willis Tower and assassinating Mayor Richard Daley. But an acquaintance tipped off the feds to his desires and he was eventually connected with a pair of undercover agents who "aided" him in his plans, leading to his planting a fake bomb - though Hassoun thought it was real - in a trash can in Wrigleyville Saturday night. While federal prosecutors aren't commenting, the Associated Press reports that their complaint against Hassoun might have anticipated such claims: more ›

A group of men labeled the "Liberty City Six" began their third trial today on four terrorism-related charges including scheming to blow up the Sears Tower; two previous trials have ended in mistrials when the juries couldn't reach a verdict. Ana Jhones, defense attorney for one of the men - Narseal Batiste-, claims it was a set-up by FBI informants who were manipulating the six men for money. Batiste testified at one the earlier trials that he never intended to act on any threat and was simply playing along with the informant in hopes of receiving up to $50,000. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacqueline Arango countered, "What's relevant is their intention - what they wanted to do...They all agreed to sell out their country for money," Arango said. "The fact that they did so for the mighty U.S. dollar is no excuse." more ›