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Exchange students sent home after prank { November 18 2002 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,450015381,00.htmlhttp://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,450015381,00.html
Monday, November 18, 2002
Teens leave U.S. after terror prank
Trio wore terrorist garb, waved gun, mocked U.S. flag
By Jeffrey P. Haney
Deseret News staff writer
PAYSON — A trio of foreign exchange students returned to their home countries last week after a host family stumbled upon a homemade video of the teens in terrorist garb, waving a gun and mocking the American flag.
The students reportedly made the CD-ROM video — which they sent to friends overseas via the Internet — as a prank.
But Gary and Sheila Thurston, who were hosting two of the three boys, weren't amused. Neither were Payson police officers, FBI agents and the organization responsible for arranging the students' stay in the Utah County burg.
"They said it was supposed to be a joke, and it probably was," Gary Thurston told the Deseret News. "But after 9/11, you just don't joke about that sort of thing."
The students, 17-year-old Fhilup Kojic of Germany, 16-year-old Pablo Sorie of Spain and 17-year-old Marcus Ulander of Sweden, arrived in the United States three months ago. They attended Payson High School.
Thurston, who found the video Tuesday on a CD discarded by Kojic and Sorie as they prepared to move to another host family, said the video showed the boys wearing sheets or pillow cases on their heads like turbans.
They also boasted about planting bombs at the World Trade Center, hijacking airplanes and demanding ransom money, said Thurston, who alerted police and officials from the EF Foundation for Foreign Study after viewing the tape.
The boys claimed in the video to be Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein and Mohammed Atta and pretended to shoot the flag with a BB gun, Thurston said.
The U.S. flag was hanging on the wall behind the boys while they filmed the video. "They said, 'We don't have a lighter but if we did we'd light it,' " Thurston said.
The boys left the country Thursday. The previous day, the boys were detained by Payson police officers, turned over to FBI agents and interrogated.
FBI special agent George Dougherty said the students were not deported. "A lot of people think the FBI told them to leave the country," he said. "But we did not."
After reviewing evidence gathered by federal agents, the U.S. Attorney's Office decided Friday not to file charges against the teenagers for the alleged terroristic threats.
"We generally don't file changes against teenagers except in rare or unusual circumstances," said Melodie Rydalch, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Gary Thurston said the boys appeared disenchanted with life in a quiet suburb. They wanted to experience the urban bustle of a large American city, he said, and often took bus trips or asked for rides to Provo and Salt Lake City.
"These kids were OK . . . for the most part they were good kids," said Thurston, whose family has hosted more than a dozen foreign exchange students over the years. "They were kind of spoiled and didn't like the fact this was a small town."
The incident comes as a state legislative task force ponders the future of state-supported visits by exchange students.
The Enhancement of Public Education Task Force will discuss Tuesday a draft bill that would yank $674,844 from school districts to offset costs of teaching foreign students
Utah is one of 12 states that funds the schooling of foreign exchange students.
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E-MAIL: jeffh@desnews.com
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