UConn Student Not A 'Terrorist,' Attorney Says

The attorney for a UConn student from Bristol who is suspected of making a bomb threat at the school’s accused authorities Friday of targeting his client and family as Pakistani terrorists.

“For some reason, somebody is intent on making this young man and his family out to be terrorists, a Pakistani family that is somehow making terrorist threats,” attorney Keith Yagaloff said outside of Hartford Superior Court.

Minutes earlier, Komail Hasan, 19, of 100 Pheasant Road in Bristol, was arraigned on a new charge of possession of bomb-making materials. Hasan, who was first charged April 21 in connection with the alleged bomb threat, was held, with bail set at $750,000.

In total, Hasan, who was born in Pakistan and has lived in Bristol for 12 years, faces 18 charges in connection with a . About 40 students and school personnel were evacuated from three UConn buildings on Asylum Avenue and Lawler Road, police said.

UConn and state police swept the campus, but no explosive devices were found, police said.

The charges against Hasan, a sophomore in general studies, include two counts of acts of terrorism, threatening, criminal impersonation, coercion, falsely reporting an incident and breach of peace.

Hasan allegedly used an Internet service in the Czech Republic to conceal three email threats to UConn administrators, police said.

“Komail is going to be pleading not guilty,” Yagaloff said. “The only link between him and the emailed bomb threat is an Internet website in the Czech Republic that is run by a 22-year-old self-described Internet hacker who is intent on deceiving people, stealing information [and] is a person that I don’t see is in any way trustworthy.”

Hasan was rearrested Thursday at his home. Toilet cleaning solution capable of making crude bombs and a computer were seized during an earlier search, police said. A toilet solution called the Works, aluminum foil and plastic bottles were also seized from the back seat of Hasan’s 2010 Toyota Corolla, according to court affidavits.

“What’s happened now is this 19-year-old, like other 19-year-olds, is involved in a stupid prank,” Yagaloff said. “They mix up this toilet cleaner and foil and put it in a plastic bottle and they set it down and it expands and it explodes.”

Yagaloff said there are “hundreds of examples” of so-called “Works Bombs” on YouTube.

UConn police Officer Thomas Hine, who was trained by the Army in explosives, said in court affidavits that a “Works bomb or drain cleaner bomb is an explosive device created by [a] chemical reaction” and is capable of causing severe injuries.

Hasan was shackled at his ankles and wrists when he appeared in Judge John L. Carbonneau’s courtroom at 12:35 p.m. He was dressed in a red polo shirt, brown khakis and was sockless in brown sandals. His head was bowed as Carbonneau reviewed the charges. A television camera was allowed in the courtroom.

In arguing for lesser bail, Yagaloff expressed concern for the strain on Hasan’s family, particularly his mother, Nargis Hasan, who recently underwent stem cell replacement because of leukemia, he said.

Assistant state’s attorney Robert Diaz pressed for $1 million bail, saying the case was “clearly an issue of public safety.”

Yagaloff said he will file a motion for a bail hearing. Hasan is scheduled to return to court May 20.

“The amount of the [bail] that was recommended by the prosecutor and the charge of manufacture of bombs because of this toilet cleaner gadget is clearly because they are trying to make [Hasan] out to be a Pakastani terrorist student or a Pakastani terrorist family.”

Yagaloff also said outside the courtroom that UConn officials had agreed to allow Hasan to take his exams in a secure location on the West Hartford campus.

“UConn was ready to do that knowing all the facts that have occurred here,” said Yagaloff, a UConn grad and South Windsor attorney who also serves on the Town Council, according to his website. “This high [bail] is completely interfering with his ability to complete his education.”

Police said one of Hasan’s alleged emails threatened, “Cancel today’s [calculus] exams or else I will blow up the school.”

The email was specific, police said.

“This includes both Calc 1 and Calc 2.”

Nargis Hasan spoke briefly outside before she was overcome by emotion.

“He’s a good kid. He’s innocent,” Nargis Hasan said. “During my illness, he’s very cooperative and take care of my son and daughter. He’s a good kid. I can’t believe it.”

The latest bomb threat at UConn’s Greater Hartford campus was the fifth in the academic year. Kendriana Manning was arrested in connection with two threats in October and her case has been sealed by the court.

“[UConn] police [are] under a lot of pressure to try to figure out what’s happening,” Yagaloff said. “And they decided they’re going to take this Pakistani young man and make him and his family into terrorists.”