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Alleged Portland bomb plotter in court today

Members the Islamic community in Corvallis, Oregon say 19-year-old Mohamed Osman Mohamud appeared to be a typical college student
Multnomah County Sheriff
Members the Islamic community in Corvallis, Oregon say 19-year-old Mohamed Osman Mohamud appeared to be a typical college student

The Oregon teenager charged with attempting to explode a bomb in Portland's Pioneer Courthouse Square is due to appear in federal court in Portland today.

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kplu/local-kplu-937145.mp3

Members of the Islamic community in Corvallis, where Mohamed Osman Mohamud lived, say the 19-year-old appeared to be a typical college student.

Mohamud faces a possible sentence of up of life in prison and a quarter million dollar fine if convicted on the charges. The Somali native and naturalized U-S citizen had attended classes at Oregon State University but a school spokesman said Mohamud dropped out in October.

Yosof Wanly is the imam at Salman Alfarisi Islamic Center in Corvallis. He said the alleged bomb plotter was not a regular at the mosque.

"We knew of him. A number of us knew of him. They were companions of his, friends of his. They would hang out with him. So he was living a regular student life. He would go to his parties, you know what I'm saying. He would hang out with the frat brothers," said Wanly.

He stressed that the Muslim community in Corvallis does not support extremist acts.

Meanwhile, the FBI and the Corvallis Police Department are investigating a suspected arson fire at the Corvallis mosque early Sunday morning. No one was injured in the blaze, which damaged an office, according to KVAL-TV.

Chris Lehman graduated from Temple University with a journalism degree in 1997. He landed his first job less than a month later, producing arts stories for Red River Public Radio in Shreveport, Louisiana. Three years later he headed north to DeKalb, Illinois, where he worked as a reporter and announcer for NPR–affiliate WNIJ–FM. In 2006 he headed west to become the Salem Correspondent for the Northwest News Network.