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Shoe-Bomb Suspect Pleads Not Guilty
Friday, January 18, 2002
The Associated Press

“To allege that a 767 airplane is a vehicle, let alone is a vehicle used in urban mass transportation, is a stretch,” Reid's attorney, Tamar Birckhead said.

BOSTON -- AP
A man allegedly trained by Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda terrorist network pleaded innocent Friday to trying to blow up a trans-Atlantic flight with bombs hidden in his shoes.

Richard Reid, a 28-year-old British citizen, shuffled into a federal courtroom in shackles and answered “not guilty” to eight charges, including the attempted murder of 197 passengers and crew members aboard an American Airlines flight last month. A judge entered an innocent plea on his behalf to a ninth charge.

Reid was initially charged with interfering with a flight crew. New charges issued this week accuse him of having been trained in Afghanistan and of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction.

He could receive five life sentences if convicted.
(More: The Miami Herald News Source)
2002 © The Associated Press.

Dan