Suburban teen charged in bombing plot may be mentally ill, his attorney says
BY KIM JANSSEN Federal Courts Reporter September 6, 2013 12:35PM
FILE - This undated file photo provided by the U.S. Marshal's office shows Adel Daoud, of Hillside, Ill. The teenager already facing terrorism charges in what U.S. prosecutors describe as an attempt to bomb a Chicago bar will be arraigned on new charges after authorities say he tried to have an undercover FBI agent killed. Daoud is scheduled to appear in federal court Friday, Sept. 6, 2013, a week after prosecutors announced the new charges, including solicitation of murder. The 19-year-old is expected to enter a not guilty plea.(AP Photo/U.S. Marshal's office, File)
Updated: September 8, 2013 6:44PM
A suburban teen accused of attempting to blow up a pair of neighboring downtown Chicago bars and soliciting the murder of an FBI agent in a terrorism plot is “very gullible” and may be mentally ill, his attorney says.
Adel Daoud, 19, of Hillside, again acted strangely in court Friday as he pleaded not guilty to attempting to arrange the assassination of the FBI agent who helped catch him in the alleged bar bombing plot last year.
Smiling beatifically throughout the hearing, he fist-bumped his attorney Thomas Durkin and asked him “What’s up, man?” before waving at Magistrate Judge Daniel Martin — a jovial gesture he’s previously used on other judges handling his case.
Durkin paused before telling Martin that Daoud was mentally fit to follow Friday’s hearing, but later told reporters he was “not sure” that the “happy-go-lucky” Daoud understands how serious a situation he’s in.
Daoud was originally charged with plotting to blow up the downtown Cal’s Bar and the neighboring Cactus Bar and Grill. While awaiting trial, he then allegedly offered to pay an assassin to kill the undercover FBI agent who helped catch him.
Durkin, who accused the FBI of setting up his client in the bomb plot case, called the latest allegations “laughable,” saying they were based on the claims of an unreliable jailhouse snitch.
For the snitch’s account to be true, Durkin said, Daoud would either have to be “the most dangerous man in the world or . . . awfully gullible and stupid and possibly crazy, because I don’t know how anyone with those pending charges could be that naive.”
Durkin said that Daoud’s mental health was “an issue we’re exploring.”
“There are different levels of psychiatric or psychological issues,” he said. “If you just watch his demeanor it almost proves what I’m saying about how naive he is and how gullible he is.”
He added, “If this kid’s a terrorist, I’ll eat my hat.”
