Speaking of paintball, MSNBC did a segment on this group, pre-arrest, a week or so ago. The leader is a black Gulf War I vet (the implication being that he is therefore a loyal American, just like John Mohammed, I suppose) who appeared in full Muslim garb and, of course, declared he was being persecuted. His spiel: "If white non-Muslims played paintball games every weekend, no one would think there was anything suspicious." If it weren't for a brief quote from Steven Emerson mentioning that the group had trained in overseas Al Qaeda camps after 9/11, and that the Feds had found incriminating docs on seized computers, you might think the DOJ was declaring war on paintball, per MSNBC.
Paintballers recalled in wake of arrests
BY RENEE PETRINA - TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Jun 30, 2003
SPOTSYLVANIA - The FBI's arrest Friday of 11 men suspected of training for terrorist activities has prompted residents to recall unusual paintball players regularly seen at a store near Lake Anna two years ago.
A federal indictment alleges that some of the suspects played paintball in Spotsylvania County at least twice, in March and April of 2001, as part of a training regimen for a jihad abroad.
But the only recognized site for paintball in the county - a free area on private property along Route 208 - was shut down at the time. Jim Lyons, who operates Pink Painter Paintball on his 78 acres as a hobby, wonders where in the area the men might have been playing.
Employees at a convenience store on Route 208 remember seeing male customers who said they were playing paintball during the time mentioned in the indictment.
The men stopped for gas and snacks at the 208 Variety Store, which caters to locals and tour- ists on the way to Lake Anna.
George Kartoudi, 26, who has worked at the store for more than 10 years, recalled a group of men he saw repeatedly on weekends in 2001.
Kartoudi and local residents thought the men stood out. They typically wore camouflage clothing or robes and turbans and appeared to be of various races and ethnicities, including white, black, Asian and Middle-Eastern, he said. It was not always the same group or the same number of men. After the Sept. 11 attacks, Kartoudi called the FBI to report the men.
"They didn't seem like bad people," Kartoudi said, but they were much quieter than usual customers and gave little detail about their activities. A few said they were from parts of Northern Virginia, and when asked, they said they were not going to play paintball on Lyons' property.
Commercial paintball fields are not permitted in Spotsylvania, Lyons said, but paintball equipment is sold in the Fredericksburg area at many stores. The men Kartoudi saw came with their own paintball supplies, he said.
Lyons said he saw the men in the store one day, though they never came to his property. He said the men probably played on private property in some of the fields or wooded areas that abound in the county.
Kartoudi recalls being told by a group member that the men played on Route 601, and another person once heard them say Route 652.
The Lake Anna Winery, at the intersection of routes 208 and 601, has had hunters on and around its property with rifles, but never paintball players, an employee said.
Murphy Fountain, co-owner of TMX Paintball, operates a commercial field near Route 652 in Louisa County. TMX has been open for a little less than a year, and Fountain said he does not know who might have used the field before he started operating there.
However, he said the land is private, so playing there would have required an appointment.
"I've heard of a bootleg field around the area someplace," Fountain said, but he has not found the site.
The idea of using paintball for tactical training seemed strange to enthusiasts. Mike Scrogham, who plays paintball with his son regularly, shot a few balls on Lyons' property to show how hard it is to aim, missing a large target about 100 feet from him.
"The ballistics of a paintball marker are totally different from the ballistics of a firearm," Fountain said.
News of the arrests also has sparked concern about possible backlash against paintball.
"I can tell you what it's going to do - it's going to put a bad name on paintball," Scrogham said. He and Lyons linking terrorism and paintball is akin to blaming school shootings on video games.
Fountain said he is upset when paintball gets a bad rap.
"I think it's a wholesome activity," he said.