Prosecutors filed for a hearing on Tuesday to restrict and limit the type and amount of evidence material released to Terry L Loewen's defense attorney in a case where he faces terrorist-related charges, the Associated Press reported.
According to the court filing, much of the evidence in this case is "far too important" to the national security of the country to be made public during the trial, according to the AP.
After months of a sting operation conducted by the FBI involving multiple undercover agents, Loewen was arrested on Dec. 13 when he drove a van filled with dummy explosives, which he believed were real, onto the tarmac at Wichita Mid-Continent Airport with intentions of killing as many people as possible, the AP reported.
Loewen, 58, is an avionics technician who served in the Marines, the AP reported. He pleaded not guilty to attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, attempting to use of an explosive device to damage property, and attempting to give material support to al-Qaida.
"It simply is not acceptable for the government to be put in a position where its ability to interrupt the next plot to murder hundreds of innocent travelers during the height of the Christmas travel season is not protected to the greatest degree possible," prosecutors wrote in the court filing, according to the AP.
If the order passes, the government will be allowed to limit the spreading of evidence and information to witnesses and others unless the court allows it, the AP reported. This would include a limitation on making copies of recordings without approval.
Prosecutors also want sensitive national security material to only be viewed by the judge without the defense and would consist of government summaries and not full investigative files, according to the AP.
The defense is arguing such "micromanagement" and "restrictions upon handling the material are unnecessary, burdensome and invasive," the AP reported.
Loewen's defense attorney also states the FBI's purpose in limiting the dissemination of the evidence is to hide the method in which the undercover agents turned "a Wichita aviation mechanic with over 30 years of experience and a former Marine who loves his family" into a terrorist who was prepared to kill himself and others to aid al-Qaida, according to the AP.
The government and the FBI both agree their "tradecraft" methods are necessary to find, locate and watch people who are a threat to national security, and releasing this information would place them at a disadvantage, the AP reported.
They argue if the information is made public it "would significantly compromise the ability of law-enforcement agents and intelligence personnel to prevent, attempt to interdict, or stop acts against the national security and interests of the United States," according to the AP.
But the defense argues unless the undercover agents told Loewen secret information in the tapes and footage, there is no reason why the evidence should not be treated the same as any other sting operation case, the AP reported.
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