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Bomber's Roommate Held Briefly After Attack
Channel Oklahoma ^ | 10/05/05 | AP

Posted on 10/05/2005 10:22:17 AM PDT by BurbankKarl

NORMAN, Okla. -- The Pakistani roommate of a man authorities said died when he detonated an explosive device outside a crowded football stadium was led in handcuffs from a party shortly after Saturday's explosion, the head of an Islamic student group said.

Fazal M. Cheema, a finance major, shared a university-owned apartment with Joel Hinrichs III, 21, who died Saturday when a device attached to his body exploded as he sat on a bench outside George Lynn Cross Hall.

Cheema and three other Muslim students were led in handcuffs from a party by police after the blast, Ashraf Hussein, president of the Muslim Student Association, said Tuesday. They later were released.

Cheema is "a really, really nice guy," Hussein said.

OU President David Boren said authorities continue to believe that Hinrichs did not try to get into the stadium and that he acted alone. He said Hinrichs' roommate, along with his acquaintances, were questioned by federal authorities.

"All the people who lived in that building, all the people that lived in the building surrounding it, all the people who knew him well or were living in proximity to him ... have been questioned; none of those people have been held by law enforcement," Boren said.

The FBI said in a statement Tuesday that there is no current threat posed by additional explosive materials, that there is no known threat from anyone else related to the incident and that there is no known link between Hinrichs and any terrorist or extremist organization or activities.

Hinrichs' father, Joel Hinrichs Jr., said the FBI re-interviewed him Tuesday at his home in Colorado Springs, Colo. The father told investigators his son was skeptical of ideology.

"Joe would have become a Muslim fanatic when pigs fly," the father side.

Meanwhile, Norman feed store operator Dustin Ellison said Hinrichs attempted to purchase ammonium nitrate a few days before the explosion.

Ellison, whose family operates Ellison Feed and Seed, said the store no longer carries the product because of new federal guidelines regarding its sale. Ammonium nitrate can be used to build bombs and was a key ingredient in the 1995 attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.

Hinrichs' father said the FBI told him the bomb his son had was made of hydrogen peroxide. He said the FBI told him more high-density hydrogen peroxide was found in the apartment.


TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: Oklahoma; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: cheema; hinrichs; normanbombing; oklahoma; oubombing
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To: Calpernia

Furthermore, what good are they when political interference prevents their effective use at all? Any such interference is a high crime.


61 posted on 10/05/2005 1:14:41 PM PDT by GOP_1900AD (Stomping on "PC," destroying the Left, and smoking out faux "conservatives" - Take Back The GOP!)
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To: DJ MacWoW

OK, that's a bit of a redirection from the topic at hand (since whether or not muslims were involved in OKC has no bearing on whether Henrich was working for muslim extremists, or more importantly whether his roommate is a terrorist), but --

I do not find the evidence of a muslim connection compelling at this time, but admit to not caring enough to spend enough time looking into it to state an opinion with any certainty.

I suppose the "enemy of my enemy" is my friend theory could apply, and also it is possible that a muslim terrorist pretended to support McVeigh in order to help him attack the building, but I don't see McVeigh as a muslim terrorist, or supporting muslim causes.

But it could be true, I don't have proof that they weren't involved.

OK, I answered your question. Anybody want to answer mine?


62 posted on 10/05/2005 1:16:36 PM PDT by CharlesWayneCT
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To: CharlesWayneCT

No answer but a comment. You are a royal pain in the butt and you are disrupting this thread. Good bye!


63 posted on 10/05/2005 1:23:58 PM PDT by GOP_1900AD (Stomping on "PC," destroying the Left, and smoking out faux "conservatives" - Take Back The GOP!)
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To: GOP_1900AD

>>>what good are they when political interference prevents their effective use at all? Any such interference is a high crime.

Like when Koregate and Abscam .... Torricelli quashing CIA Ops.

Yes, my blue state, 'The Torch'


64 posted on 10/05/2005 1:25:05 PM PDT by Calpernia (Breederville.com)
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To: Calpernia

LOL!! (but with a few tears ... ;)


65 posted on 10/05/2005 1:25:51 PM PDT by GOP_1900AD (Stomping on "PC," destroying the Left, and smoking out faux "conservatives" - Take Back The GOP!)
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To: CharlesWayneCT
OK, that's a bit of a redirection from the topic at hand

Not really. It was basic. I believe there is a terrorist presence in OK. You aren't sure. It clarified where both of us are coming from.

66 posted on 10/05/2005 1:26:39 PM PDT by DJ MacWoW (If you think you know what's coming next....You don't know Jack.)
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To: CharlesWayneCT
What evidence that we have would preclude this interpretation of events?

Well, we do have Occhams Razor.

67 posted on 10/05/2005 1:27:38 PM PDT by Lazamataz (Islam is merely Nazism without the snappy fashion sense.)
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To: Lazamataz

Which isn't a fact, but lets go with that.

It is a simpler explanation that his roommate is a terrorist, but the police just let him go even though he should have seen all the bomb-making stuff in his room,

than it is to believe that he never saw the bomb-making stuff because Henrich planted it just before blowing himself up to make his roommate look guilty?

Occam's razor is what is fueling the "oh, he's just a guy who blew himself up"

Here we are pushing theories that there are at least 4 people in a conspiracy, Henrich, his roommate, and the two "middle eastern" looking men seen running away from the explosion. henrich was trying to get materials to build a truck bomb two days before blowing himself up (wearing a partially-built suicide vest with wires hanging out), but when that failed decided to plant the bombs anyway, but then messed up and his roommate blew him up with a remote detonation because he thought the bomb would have been in place by then.

I hardly see Occam's razor helping me to decide between THAT theory and the speculation I'm pushing that Henrich just was mad at his roommate (probably for playing his islamic music too loud, or tearing down his suggestive posters of Brittany Spears).

Come on, this isn't the anti-tin-foil crowd. We entertain any plausible theory here. I know there must be something factually wrong with the speculation I have made, but what is it?

How do we KNOW that Henrich's roommate was an islamic terrorist and should be put to death? How do we know he wasn't a peaceful muslim set up by a roommate who, as his father says, didn't like ideology?


68 posted on 10/05/2005 1:38:13 PM PDT by CharlesWayneCT
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To: DJ MacWoW

If we presume there is a terrorist presence in Oklahoma, and I have no reason to disbelieve that premise, they could be anywhere, that doesn't mean that every middle-eastern person is a terrorist in Oklahoma.

So it doesn't seem to provide a factual refutation of my speculative theory. That's all I meant by not being directly on-topic of facts which refute the speculative "set-up" theory.

Maybe one of the posters here who knows that the roommate is a terrorist could give us the facts to support that conclusion?


69 posted on 10/05/2005 1:41:06 PM PDT by CharlesWayneCT
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To: CharlesWayneCT
I like the Occham's Razor version that has the perp (Heinrich) as a converted Islamic radical who decided to perform America's first suicide bombing.

Your version has a lot of extra fat for Occham's Razor to trim.

70 posted on 10/05/2005 1:43:00 PM PDT by Lazamataz (Islam is merely Nazism without the snappy fashion sense.)
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To: Lazamataz

But then we have to explain why his roommate didn't have any idea, and why he tried to buy the means to make a real bomb but then just blew himself up on a bench.

I certainly think it could be true -- in fact, a previous speculative theory of mine was that he WAS going to blow people up, but at the end his conscience got to him so he just blew himself up.

I'm fine also with the idea that he was just a stupid islamic convert bomber.

But here we are trying to explain his roommate. Some think only explanation is that the roommate is a terrorist. I am providing one possible explanation in which his roommate would NOT be a terrorist, and asking if there are any facts which refute my speculation.

I'm as ready as the next guy to string up a real islamic terrorist, but I get a little squimish about arranging a firing squad for a guy who just happened to get stuck with a really bad roommate.....


71 posted on 10/05/2005 1:48:30 PM PDT by CharlesWayneCT
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To: CharlesWayneCT

I don't have enough facts to speculate on the roommate. I suggest that neither of us do.


72 posted on 10/05/2005 1:51:52 PM PDT by Lazamataz (Islam is merely Nazism without the snappy fashion sense.)
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To: CharlesWayneCT
If we presume there is a terrorist presence in Oklahoma, and I have no reason to disbelieve that premise, they could be anywhere, that doesn't mean that every middle-eastern person is a terrorist in Oklahoma.

I agree.

So it doesn't seem to provide a factual refutation of my speculative theory.

I wasn't tryng to refute your theory. I was only trying to get a basic idea of your views.

Maybe one of the posters here who knows that the roommate is a terrorist could give us the facts to support that conclusion?

I don't believe we have all the facts. I'm not certain we'll be told all of them. My premise or belief is that it's possible that muslims had something to do with it. I've become suspicious since Flight 800. And I have a basic distrust of the press giving the facts since I heard an editor of some newspaper on The McLaughlin Group spout that EVERY news agency edits the facts because the American public couldn't handle the truth.

73 posted on 10/05/2005 2:08:58 PM PDT by DJ MacWoW (If you think you know what's coming next....You don't know Jack.)
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To: Lazamataz

Here is my take on the subject.

I was an engineering student at SMU. I had many Muslim friends in school and some are still my friends.

None of these that I knew were devout. They were Muslim by birth. Same as I was a Baptist by birth. I did not go to church very often.

It has been my experiance that people who convert to a particular religion are usually much more fanatical about thier religion than the people who are born into the religion.

I believe Heinrich fits this profile. I believe he was socially an outsider who found Islam and embraced it. It gave him his highest level of esteem and self worth he had ever had.

As such, he became fanatical. He disapeared for several months, probably training somewhere to be a domestic anglo terrorist. Intelligence suggest that was to be Al Quedas next operting mode.

I think it is very possible he could have built these bombs without his roomates knowledge. I did some things in college that my roommates never knew about. So I know it is possible.

If they had no evidence that his roommate was not involved, he should not be held in jail. We cannot throw out the constitution.

However, I hope the FBI is investigating all these guys within the extent of the law. I hope they find a lot of infromation on Heinrich's computer to tie in others involved.

My bet is even if they know of others involvement, none of this information will be forthcoming. It seems our government for whatever reasons chooses to sweep this kind of stuff under the rug.

my two cents


74 posted on 10/05/2005 2:17:22 PM PDT by thepainster
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To: hoosiermama; hispanarepublicana; PhiKapMom; indcons; mplsconservative; investigateworld; ...

PING. Welcome to the new pingees. More pings to follow this one. We have quite a bit of stuff going on re: this topic.

Thanks, Liberty Rocks, for this ping.


75 posted on 10/05/2005 2:19:38 PM PDT by indcons (FReepmail PhiKapMom and Indcons to join the "Norman bombing" ping list.)
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To: indcons

thanks for the pings. i've been away from my computer all day. what have i missed? MSM still MIA?


76 posted on 10/05/2005 2:22:34 PM PDT by hispanarepublicana (No amnesty needed...My ancestors proudly served. [remodel of an old '70s bumper sticker])
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To: hispanarepublicana

I just got to my computer, HR. Not had a chance to catch up as yet. Am sending the pings out first. Long night ahead :)


77 posted on 10/05/2005 2:25:27 PM PDT by indcons (FReepmail PhiKapMom and Indcons to join the "Norman bombing" ping list.)
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Comment #78 Removed by Moderator

Comment #79 Removed by Moderator

To: CharlesWayneCT
but admit to not caring enough to spend enough time looking into it to state an opinion with any certainty.

If you don't care to find out who's attacking our country, this probably isn't the best place for you.

80 posted on 10/05/2005 2:36:43 PM PDT by WhistlingPastTheGraveyard (When you hear the sound of hooves, look for horses, not zebras.)
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