Joe Brown is on trial for spying against the U.S. and so far, the only piece of evidence for his defense is his utterly bogus association with the American flag. A homemade video that was shot during a neighborhood Fourth of July celebration shows Brown coming out of his rented house to which is attached an American flag. The defense was hoping to convince the jury that the flag is proof that Brown is all-American.
The only problem is that Brown is not all-American – “Brown” is just an alias. He is really Shaaban Hafiz Ahmad Ali Shaaban, a 53 year old Indiana truck driver from Palestine. And if you think that’s bizarre, it’s only the beginning.
Shaaban was indicted nearly a year ago on various charges including acting as a spy for Saddam Hussein’s government and illegally travelling to Iraq in 2002. Shaaban denies working for the Iraqis claiming instead that he was acting as a double-agent for the CIA. He says that his CIA contact was a man named Jim but so far, he has been unable to produce Jim or any evidence of any meetings with Jim or even that Jim exists.
If there is a hero in this weird tale, it would have to be U.S. District Judge John D. Tinder, who has patiently endured the ridiculous behavior of Shaaban. Shaaban has been acting as his own attorney, first questioning himself in English, then replying to his own questions in Arabic. The Court has an Arabic interpreter on hand to repeat in English what Shaaban has just said in Arabic. The highlight of the proceedings may have been when, on several occasions, Judge Tinder has asked Shaaban, “Do you have another question for yourself?”
And when answering questions for the prosecution, Shaaban has avoided direct answers by replying with a question or by saying things like, “Can you repeat your question one more time?” or, “I didn’t understand the question.” In ten days, Shaaban has produced only one witness – himself – and provided only one piece of evidence – the American flag video, which after showing, he simply said, “This is our flag.”
I hope someone is shooting some video – I’d love to see this on Court TV.