DETROIT — The Nigerian man accused of trying to bomb a Northwest flight to Detroit on Christmas Day was arraigned Friday here in a quiet hearing that lasted barely four minutes yet attracted a throng of reporters, protesters and curious observers.
Wearing a white shirt and metal shackles on his feet, with his head shaved, the defendant, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, was silent when his lawyers entered a plea of not guilty.
On Wednesday, a federal grand jury indicted Mr. Abdulmutallab on six charges, including attempted murder on an airplane, attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and related offenses. He is accused of concealing explosives in his underwear and of trying to detonate them with a syringe of chemicals as Northwest Flight 253, which carried 289 passengers and crew members from Amsterdam, was descending for landing in Detroit. He managed to start a small fire but was overpowered by other passengers and flight attendants, and the plane landed safely.
At Friday’s arraignment, Magistrate Judge Mark A. Randon of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan asked Mr. Abdulmutallab a series of perfunctory questions about his background and whether he understood the charges. He said, softly, “Yes, sir.”
Asked whether he was taking medication, Mr. Abdulmutallab responded: “In the last 24 hours? Some painkillers.”
Mr. Abdulmutallab occasionally conferred with his lawyers, led by Miriam L. Siefer. He appeared subdued and did not show any visible signs of the third-degree burns he sustained on the plane.
His lawyers waived a detention hearing and consented to having Mr. Abdulmutallab continue to be held in the federal prison in Milan, near Ann Arbor.
Hebba Aref, 27, who said her seat was six rows in front of Mr. Abdulmutallab’s on the flight, watched the hearing from the front row in the courtroom, with members of her family. Ms. Aref, of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., a Detroit suburb, works as a lawyer in Kuwait and said she would be flying there on Friday night.
“This person has changed my life, and the way things are done in the United States,” she said. “I just wanted to see who this person was again.”
When Ms. Aref saw Mr. Abdulmutallab, she said, “I felt something in the pit of my stomach.” Asked what resolution she wanted in the case, she hesitated before responding, “Whatever the maximum penalty is.”
Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. has said that Mr. Abdulmutallab could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted. Mr. Holder has also said that the government has obtained significant information from Mr. Abdulmutallab about the Yemen-based branch of Al Qaeda that is suspected of planning the attack.
Mr. Abdulmutallab’s father, Alhaji Umaru Mutallab, a respected Nigerian banker, alerted both Nigerian and American authorities in the fall that his son, a Muslim, had become radicalized and had moved to Yemen. Two Nigerian lawyers — Maryam Uwais and Mahmud Kazaure — attended Friday’s hearing to observe for the family.
Dozens of Muslims from nearby Dearborn gathered outside the courthouse carrying large American flags and colorful signs that read “NOT in the name of Islam” and “Islam is against terrorism.”
“Abdulmutallab is not Muslim,” said Mohssen Sadeq, 40, who said he came to the United States from Yemen in 2000. “I need peace and freedom everywhere. I don’t want terrorists anywhere. This is my country. I love America.”
Nearby, Rasaq Ibrahim, 39, a Nigerian immigrant who said he came to the United States 12 years ago, held a sign that read, “The action of one Nigerian does not reflect all Nigerians.”
“His actions are totally against our morals and our ideals,” Mr. Ibrahim said. “We feel disgraced and betrayed.”
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