Texas Taliban plotter denied bail

Houston Chronicle:

A Pakistani student living in southwest Houston was taken into custody last week because of what he did and overheard on a weekend camping trip in Willis last year, an FBI agent said Thursday.

But Shiraz Syed Qazi's relatives, who also have another family member charged on suspicion of supporting the Taliban, said they were misled about the circumstances under which investigators obtained information from Qazi.

Qazi, 25, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of possession of a firearm by an alien. His cousin, Adnan Mirza, and Kobie Williams are charged with conspiracy in what prosecutors say was a plan to aid the Taliban by training to engage coalition forces overseas. Williams has pleaded guilty.

Syed Maaz Shah, 19, a student at the University of Texas at Dallas, also was charged with possession of a firearm by an alien. All four men are Muslims.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Frances Stacy denied bail Thursday, pending Qazi's scheduled Feb. 5 trial. Assistant U.S. Attorney Shelley Hicks argued against bail, saying Qazi was "with someone who has admitted to being a jihadist."

...

Prosecutors have produced photos showing the four men on the weekend outing, which authorities say involved paramilitary training.

On Thursday, Hicks showed King four photographs. Two show Qazi holding an AR-15 rifle, one shows Qazi and Williams together and the fourth photo shows two targets with bullet holes, King testified.

...

That is pretty close to smoking gun evidence on the charge of possession of a firearm by an alien. With evidence like that it is not hard to understand why the dependents have tried to construct some Miranda violation to some of the admissions. But Miranda warnings are not needed to introduce the photo evidence anyway. I doubt their credibility on not receiving a Miranda warning too.