Voices were raised in the courtroom this afternoon, as lead prosecutor Kim Lindquist heatedly objected to the idea that his characterization of Sami Al-Hussayen's postings to a Yahoo email group about Chechnya are an "assault on the First Amendment."

Judge Edward Lodge said, "As I understand it, it's a cut-and-paste. He's taking an article that's newsworthy, and passing it along."

Lindquist responded, "It's 'newsworthy' in the sense of fundraising and recruiting. ... This is how you get people to go fight in Chechnya." He added, "This sort of 'news' is specifically purposed for recruitment and fighting of jihad!"

Lead defense attorney David Nevin responded, "Your honor, this is an assault on the First Amendment, plain and simple." He said such postings are how the genocide in Kosovo came to light: "Human rights organizations and people just like Sami Al-Hussayen screamed about it all over the world, and NATO stepped in."

He added, "He is passing along what other people have written. ... You can say it inspires people to volunteer, it inspires people to fundraise. Well, the truth does that."

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