His communications and travels were being tracked due to methods instituted after 9/11, including the Patriot Act.

Charles:

I think your claim “Tarek Mehanna apparently never even got close to carrying out any attacks” is stretching things a bit. The terror cell found that they couldn’t get their hands on automatic weapons, but could get their hands on handguns. In other words, they had to scale down the scope of their plot, but the FBI moved in before they could act. That’s to the FBI’s credit - to stop plots before they can actually carry out their deadly intentions.

The FBI got ‘em after engaging in material steps in furtherance of the commission of acts of terrorism.

Mahenna was on the radar since 2007.

That’s on the heels of last month’s arrests of Najibullah Zazi, his father, and an imam who withheld information from investigators for a terror plot in NY/CO.