FBI manipulated teen terror suspect: claim

A psychologist testified that the FBI used advanced psychological techniques to lure a teenage terrorism suspect into agreeing to a plan that would have killed thousands. Elizabeth Cauffman, a defence witness in the trial of Mohamed Mohamud, testified Tuesday that undercover FBI agents rewarded risky behaviour and used social pressure to convince Mohamud to attempt to detonate a weapon of mass destruction at Portland’s 2010 Christmas tree-lighting. The bomb was a fake supplied by the FBI. Cauffman says recordings of the agents telling Mohmaud he had a choice of whether to detonate the bomb were actually psychologically-coded messages daring him to back out. Testimony from Cauffman and a previous psychologist witness are part of the defence’s efforts to portray the FBI sting as a complicated manipulation of a teenager.