Detroit:
Umar Abdulmutallab, charged with trying to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day, pleaded not guilty when produced in court.
23-year-old Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian national and self-professed Al-Qaida operative, is accused of trying to blowup a packed American jetliner, with a homemade bomb that was sewn into his underwear on Christmas Day.
The first 77 people in line were admitted to the courtroom to watch the 5-minute-long hearing. Outside, the crowds waited in vain.
Abdulmutallab was brought into the courthouse in an SUV with tinted windows.
Abdulmutallab was charged with six counts including attempted murder on an airplane, and attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction. He pleaded not guilty. If convicted he will face life in prison.
Nearby, a group of American Muslims carried signs denouncing Abdulmutallab. They were there to send a message to the world that "Islam is against terrorism."
The bomb failed to bring down Flight 253 and Christmas celebrations across America continued as usual. But today, hundreds gathered for their first glimpse of the man who exposed the holes in America's security system, even 8 years after 9/11.