Government Says Would-be Catonsville Bomber Showed No Signs of Remorse

Antonio Martinez, the 21-year-old Woodlawn resident recruiting center in Catonsville, "was grinning ear to ear" the morning of the thwarted attack, a federal prosecutor said Monday.

In a hearing Monday afternoon before Judge Susan Gauvey, U.S. Attorney Christine Manuelian described in detail Martinez's actions on the morning of Dec. 8. Gauvey ruled that Martinez should be detained until a possible pre-trial hearing on Dec. 21. He faces a sentence of up to life in prison on charges of attempted murder of federal officers and attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.

Martinez was arrested Wednesday after he was caught by federal agents with a fake bomb in the parking lot of the  on Baltimore National Pike in Catonsville.

Manuelian said that the morning of the attack, Martinez showed no remorse and when he saw the car bomb in the back in the informant's car that morning, he was smiling.

A recent convert to Islam, Martinez goes by the name Muhammad Hussain and was under surveillance by agents for months after they noticed his  postings supporting radical Islam.

Defense Attorney Joseph A. Balter argued that Martinez was caught in a government sting operation.

"This was an act that was clearly the design of the government," he said. He also called this "a ruse of a fake boming."

Balter also questioned the background of an informant in the case, adding that the federal government's affidavit doesn't include any background or vouch for the reliability of the informant.

Martinez, dressed in a maroon jumpsuit, turned once during the hour-long court proceedings to look behind him. His hair, which was past his ears, appeared uncombed. He also had several days of stubble on his face.

The government also said in addition to recorded conversations, Martinez chatted on Facebook with the informant and agents several times leading up to the incident.

But Manuelian said on the days leading up to the incident and the morning of it, Martinez showed no signs of backing down.

On the morning of the incident, Martinez met with agents at another location, where he was shown an SUV with the fake car bomb in the trunk, Manuelian said. Martinez went to the back of the SUV, opened it up and received instruction on how to arm the device, he added.

An agent also filmed Martinez, who posed at the back of the SUV.  Martinez was quoted as saying, "There will be no peace for the oppressors.... You will feel our bullets."

Martinez is "grinning from ear to ear to get ready to drive off," Manuelian said.

Then Martinez drove to the recruiting center and circled the building several times to look for police, according to Manuelian. He waited for a call from another agent to confirm that there are in fact members of the military inside the recruitment center at the time, and he made a second call, which was supposed to detonate the device, according to Manuelian.

When nothing happened, Martinez said, "'We need to get out of here,'" said the prosecutor.

Details also emerged about the day-to-day life Martinez led for three weeks leading up to the incident.

Martinez, who is married, had been staying several nights with his mother and several nights with his father-in-law, prosecutors said. In the past, he had also done work off-the-books for a local construction company, but was not working regularly.

Balter argued that if it weren't for federal agents, Martinez would not have posed a threat.

"Every person he sought out for help simply blew him off," he said. "This is a cookie cutter arrangement that the FBI uses."

Balter cited a recent case in Portland, OR, that he said unfolded in a similar way. Mohamed Osman Mohamud, a Somali-born U.S. citizen, was arrested minutes before the Christmas tree lighting in Portland and charged with attempting to set off a car bomb.