DETROIT - A Nigerian man accused of trying to ignite an explosive on a Detroit-bound US airliner on Christmas appeared before a judge for the first time yesterday, against a backdrop of protesters who stood outside the courthouse waving American flags and denouncing acts of terror.
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab’s arraignment was brief - less than five minutes - and a not guilty plea was entered on his behalf. He said little, telling the judge simply that he understood the charges against him.
At least one passenger from Northwest Airlines Flight 253 watched the hearing from the court benches. Hebba Aref, a Detroit-area native who sat six rows in front of Abdulmutallab on the plane, said she came because the attack “changed my life.’’
Aref, who drew international attention in 2008 after being refused a seat directly behind then-presidential candidate Barack Obama at a Detroit rally because she was wearing a headscarf, said she just wanted to see Abdulmutallab again.
She said she wants him to be “tried by the system’’ but also is concerned about what his case could mean.
It’s the “whole ideology out there that’s radical and misuses a beautiful religion,’’ she said. “That’s what needs to be dealt with and deterred. . . . He’s just a small part of it.’’
Authorities say the 23-year-old Nigerian with Al Qaeda links was traveling to Detroit from Amsterdam when he tried to destroy the plane carrying nearly 300 people by injecting chemicals into a package of explosives concealed in his underwear. The failed attack caused popping sounds and flames that passengers and crew rushed to extinguish.
Obama considers the Christmas attack an attempted strike against the United States by an affiliate of Al Qaeda. He also has said the government had information that could have stopped Abdulmutallab, but intelligence agencies failed to connect the dots.
A grand jury indicted Abdulmutallab earlier this week on six charges. The most serious - attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction - could land Abdulmutallab in prison for life if convicted.
During yesterday’s arraignment, Abdulmutallab, who wore a white T-shirt, tennis shoes, and a chain shackle at his ankles, stood at the podium and answered questions in English from US Magistrate Judge Mark A. Randon.
He said “yes’’ when asked if he understood the charges against him and said he had taken “some pain pills’’ after the judge inquired whether he had taken any drugs or alcohol in the past 24 hours. Abdulmutallab, who is being held at a federal prison in Milan, Mich., had been treated at a hospital for burns after the attack.