Wrigleyville Bomb Suspect Could Plead Entrapment

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Sep 22, 2010 9:20PM

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:

In a conversation cited in the complaint, one agent several times asks Hassoun if he wants to abandon plans to set off a bomb, telling him there was "no shame" in walking away.

"Do you still want to do it yourself?" the agent asks.

When Hassoun says he does, the agent asks him again, "Are you sure?"

"Positive," Hassoun responds, according to the complaint.

Today's hearing was described as a detention hearing.