Ryan J. Reilly asked Eric Holder the "entrapment" question:
On the heels of FBI's arrest this week of a 21-year-old Baltimore man who converted to Islam and allegedly tried to set off a fake car bomb outside of a military recruitment center, Attorney General Eric Holder defended the federal government's undercover operations to prevent terror plots before they further develop.
"I think that we are on an appropriate course," Holder said at a news conference Thursday in response to a question from TPM. "I'm comfortable with the way that we've been conducting ourselves with regard to these investigations."
The answer is it's not entrapment, because in this case, like in every other case, federal agents were careful to ask the target several times whether he really wanted to go through with it. Absent evidence of serious coercion, that's enough to defeat an entrapment defense. The question is whether cases involving fake plots divert resources better used elsewhere, and whether the backlash caused among American Muslims ultimately undermines the goal of preventing terrorism.
Some conservatives portray every wannabe terrorist as some kind of devout warrior/monk, but in this case, the alleged perpetrator, Antonio Martinez, was a recent convert who seemed more attracted to jihadi cool than actual Islam. Also worth noting is that everyone he asked to help him refused, with the exception of the two individuals preparing the sting.
