Posted on 10/07/2005 6:24:23 PM PDT by Pikamax
OU's Muslim Students Fearful After Explosion Authorities: No Evidence Hinrichs Had Ticket, Tried To Buy Ticket To Game
POSTED: 9:42 am CDT October 7, 2005 UPDATED: 11:11 am CDT October 7, 2005
NORMAN, Okla. -- Many Muslim students at the University of Oklahoma are laying low after rumors spread that a terrorist plot was behind a deadly explosion near a packed football stadium, Muslim leaders say.
"A lot of students are taking precautions, staying at home," said Houda Elyazgi, an officer with the Muslim Student Association. "I wear the scarf, so I fear for my security now because of all this speculation."
In an e-mail sent Thursday afternoon to students, faculty and staff members, OU President David Boren encouraged all not to "judge others or jump to conclusions about others on the basis of color, race, gender, economic status or freely exercised religious beliefs.
"To rush to judge others or make assumptions about them on that basis is nothing short of prejudice. It has no place in America and it certainly has no place at the University of Oklahoma."
Investigators believe the bomb blast that killed OU engineering student Joel Henry Hinrichs III, 21, was a suicide. Boren reiterated in the letter that there is "no evidence of a conspiracy involving others which creates an ongoing threat to our OU community."
Oklahoma Muslim leaders feared their community would be targeted after the explosion.
"When it first happened, we said, 'Oh, God. Here we go again,"' said Imad Enchassi, president of the Islamic Society of Greater Oklahoma City.
Enchassi remembered how suspicion fell on the Muslim community in the days after the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, as did Boren, who noted that some speculated early on that the explosion that killed 168 people was the work of a Middle Eastern terrorist.
"As we all now know, the person responsible was not someone from the Middle East but was Timothy McVeigh and at least one other American who assisted him," the statement read. "We can only hope that all of us, including some media outlets, would have learned from that recent rush to incorrect conclusions."
At least four Muslim students were handcuffed and questioned after the OU explosion, and Muslim leaders fielded telephone calls from reporters.
Hinrichs' Pakistani roommate, Fazal M. Cheema, is Muslim, although not particularly religious, according to regulars at the Norman mosque.
Cheema worked at the football stadium, according to the OU student directory, and the men lived at Parkview Apartments, a university-owned property popular with Islamic students because it is adjacent to the local mosque.
Some media reported that Hinrichs spent time recently at the mosque, which was denied by the president of the mosque, who asked that his name not be used for fear of retaliation.
Hinrichs' father, Joel Hinrichs Jr., said this week his son was skeptical of ideology and was not Muslim.
Meanwhile, OU officials addressed allegations that Hinrichs had tried to enter the Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, which sits about 100 yards from the spot where the explosion happened.
University spokeswoman Catherine Bishop said OU officials reviewed their ticket records and determined that Hinrichs, of Colorado Springs, Colo., didn't purchase a football ticket from any university outlet.
Bishop also said university officials hadn't heard anything to indicate Hinrichs tried to buy a ticket from one of the fans selling them outside the stadium.
The FBI has reviewed video surveillance tapes and, so far, haven't uncovered anything that indicates Hinrichs tried to enter, Boren said.
Norman police, however, reported that an officer became suspicious when he overhead Hinrichs trying to purchase ammonium nitrate fertilizer from a local feed and seed store two days before he died.
The manager of Ellison Feed and Seed said the store no longer carried that kind of fertilizer, which was used in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.
As for the Muslim community, Elyazgi said it has been particularly difficult because Wednesday marked the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, when the faithful fast from dawn to dusk.
"I'd rather be focusing on my fast and this joyous month than having to worry about my back," Elyazgi said.
Thanks for the important pings to this story. I don't always respond because I have nothing of value to add, but I read all of the posts about this matter.
There appears to be little limit to how gullible the authorities, especially Boren, think we are. Two hours after that bombing, purely based on what was known at that time, I could have told you there was more to this than just a simple suicide. I wouldn't have know exactly what was behind it (still don't).
Boren's statements sounded hollow and patently false based on simple logic alone, even immediately after the event and based on a more limited set of facts. They sound even more hollow now. It makes you wonder how stupid these people think we are.
By the way, someone just posted on the OSU sports board that they have seen bomb trailer(s) headed toward Stillwater (OSU-Missouri game). I imagine there are extreme precautions being taken with football games and events this weekend. I'm praying and hoping for the safety of everyone attending games this weekend.
Boron (that's his new name now; courtesy of Grampa Dave) seems to be mainly concerned about 2 things: football ticket sales and petro-dollars from OU's ME students (not necessarily in that order). Oh, add his PC sensibilities to that list too.
Oh, yes, anniversaries are very important. Wonder why the fixation with anniversaries old and new?
Watch for enrollment numbers to decline starting now, and at the beginning of each semester.
Watch for professors to leave.
Watch for the National Merit Scholars that Boren likes to brag about all the time decline scholarships and go to other schools.
Watch for donations from wealthy alumni to dry up
Watch for athletes to decline scholarship offers, for teams to start losing, and for stadium seats to be empty.
OU will become a ghost town because of Boren.
If you don't mind me asking, are you from "around here" or somewhere else?
Is it too much to ask that we clamp down on letting these cockroaches into the country, much less our institutions?
If we had surveillance cameras they have been reviewing why are they adding them? I know they are not allowed in the parking garages.
They tightened security at our high school football games because of this "lone, depressed suicide bomber" -- would hate to be as dumb as they think we are!
"I think one of the members of the local Muslim student organizations said this. It might have been the head of the group"
I do too...I believe he was a member of the Muslim Students Association...also tied in with the Islamic Society of North America.
I just could never visualize a ship-cake, personally. so I made these squares of a flat cake, dec'd with toothpicks with post-it sails (cut in triangles) with a Big Red CROSS on each one. As if they were Crusader ships. If they weren't, they should have been.
Um, you think some of our posts are 'of value'??? Perhaps not .... Sometimes I post because I have a lot of opinions and no one ever asks for them, but here I get to post them. We welcome yours, too.
And this is of course the way these Muslims think. Dates, anniversaries.... as well as the mystical number 19 from the Koran always show up in their plans. That's why this Sunday as a target date in New York City makes sense. October as the 10 month + the 9th day gives you the "magic 19" of the Koran.
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