Chicago bomb suspect to appear in court

[October 20, 2010]  CHICAGO (AP) -- A 22-year-old man accused of placing a backpack he thought contained a bomb near Chicago's Wrigley Field is due in court.

Sami Samir Hassoun is charged with the attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and of an explosive device.

The Lebanese immigrant was arrested last month, and he's scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday in federal court in Chicago.

Prosecutors have said Hassoun has no apparent links to extremists and that he appeared motivated in part by thinking he could profit from bombings.

Defense attorney Myron Auerbach has said his client isn't a terrorist and that the actions ascribed to Hassoun, if true, were strange and uncharacteristic.

[Associated Press]

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