Muslim communities fear association with bomber

Distorted media stories have city and student Muslim communities on edge, after it was revealed that bomber Joel "Joe" Henry Hinrichs roomed with a Muslim student at the Parkview apartments near the University of Oklahoma campus.

However, the FBI has found no connection between the 21-year-old engineering major, who died from an explosion at about 7:30 p.m. Saturday about 100 yards outside OU's Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium packed with more than 84,000 fans, and the Muslim community, other than other than Hinrichs' rooming with OU finance major Fazal M. Cheema from Pakistan.

And Hinrichs apparently never visited the Masjid An-Nur Islamic mosque that has served the Muslim community at 1304 George Avenue since 1978.

"He had never been to our mosque and he's not associated with our mosque in any way, shape or form," said 44-year-old Mohamed Farid Elyazgi, who has lived in Norman with his family since 1985. "We had never seen him until we saw his picture in the media."

Elyazgi emphasized that Islam forbids suicide and Muslims condemn all acts of violence.

He said many area Muslims have become concerned about television stations filming stories about the bombing in front of the mosque and its sign, fearing it could fan fear and perhaps violence against Muslims or associate the incident with the Islamic Society of Norman.

The community is mindful of what happened after the 1995 Murrah Building bombing, when it was thought there could be Middle Eastern involvement, spurred on by some Oklahoma City stations.

"(There were) a lot of Muslims who got harassed and some hate crimes against them," Elyazgi said, remembering that Stillwater's mosque was shot at.

The Oklahoma City bomb- ers turned out to be homegrown in the form of Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols.

OU President David Boren warned against jumping to conclusions in an e-mail that went out to students, faculty and staff Thursday.

"To rush to judge others or make assumptions about them on that basis is nothing short of prejudice," wrote Boren, emphasizing the campus' low crime rate. "It has no place in America and it certainly has no place at the University of Oklahoma."

Elyazgi is especially concerned because two of his six children attend the University of Oklahoma.

"I think the concern right now is because some of the Muslim women, they wear their scarfs and they become a target for everyone to identify them," he said.

When he first heard the news about the bomb, it sent chills and a silent prayer through him.

"To be honest, when I heard about the bombing and that it was a suicide bomb, I just prayed to God that no one was hurt and I hoped that no Muslims were connected to that because we don't need that here," Elyazgi said.

After 9/11, emotions were high and Elyazgi kept his children at home for several days.

"Because you never know how people are going to react," he said. "We're just asking people to be understanding as usual. There was a big difference in how Oklahomans reacted to 9/11 than the way they reacted to the 1995 bombing.

"We are part of society here and we know that one of the things great about America is the diversity in America and the acceptance of different people from different places. They come together and they live in peace. We'd like to see our country prosper."

Elyazgi said they want to invite people to the mosque to see Muslim culture for themselves, with today being the third day of their holy month Ramadan.

"Anybody is welcome to come and eat with us and we welcome them to the mosque," he said.

There are special night prayers and dinners as Muslims break their all-day fast from dawn to sunset.

"So anybody who would like to see what we are all about and how we live and how we try to uplift our souls in this holy month of ours and try to share the hunger and the thirst of others," Elyazgi said. "It's just a beautiful atmosphere. I wish you would come and join us and how we are very peaceful and caring about each other."

Here's the Summary I've been working on the last few days that I quickly updated. I apologize for lack of proper grammar. I hope I haven't left anything important out. Please alert me if I did. I will be cross-posting this to the original thread, as well as on Backhoe's compilation thread.

UPDATED (10/08) "Cliff Notes" summary...

First, the MSM is still following the AP and Official Story as well as keeping the lid on things for the most part - Several local media outlets in both CO and OK are not buying the official line and have done their own in-depth reporting. Channel 9 and Channel 4 in particular are doing a better job than ANY of the other channels/papers. The local station in CO Springs - KKTV Ch. 11 deserves a plug here too.

Agencies investigating are reported as: Homeland Security, Joint Terrorism Task Force, FBI, Norman and OU PD, ATFE (BATF). FBI has officially taken the lead in this investigation although they are not releasing details at this time.

1.) Someone set off a bomb sometime between 7:20 and 8pm outside the OU/Kansas State game on Oct. 1, 2005. There are discrepancies on the exact time and we are working on getting a definitive time right now. The blast itself according to those at the game reportedly shook the walls of the stadium itself and the noise was heard over the crowd and gameplay. There are reports that the explosion could be heard for a fair distance from the location itself.

FReeper PhiKapMom overheard witnesses telling police that they saw "two Middle Eastern" men running from the scene. The witnesses were an Iranian (Persian) girl, and her boyfriend who is a member of the same Frat as PhiKapMom's son. PhiKapMom also states that the male witness' face was still red from the heat of the blast...

2.) One person reportedly killed. He has tentatively* been identified as 21-year-old Joel Henry Hinrichs III of Colorado Springs, a mechanical engineering student at OU. He was a member of the Triangle Fraternity. He graduated from Wasson High School. He was a National Merit Scholar although he lost that scholarship (Ch. 4 OKC)

Although his father and the MSM media (AP) and one local channel (ch.5) adamantly maintain he was not associated with muslims, and was not one himself he was living with a Pakistani roommate who is(more on him later...). Boren (OU Pres.), FBI and others are trying to play this off as an "isolated incident" and a suicide by a "mentally unstable" young man. Connecting the dots in this story does NOT lead to that conclusion.

Please note his father on 10/07 stated that Joel was "conservative" - earlier the Father said he was "apolitical". It has already been established by the CO Gazette that the last time his father saw him was in Jan. of '05 when Joel stopped by for a half-hour on his way through town on a "road trip".

It is reported that Mr. Hinrichs had a ticket to the game and attempted to enter the stadium (containing approx. 84000 people) with a backpack through at least 2 gates** before running away when asked to allow a search of his bag. (confirmed by several different media outlets). He then went and sat at a bench by the bus loading area.

Some reports state he was taking stuff out of his backpack and trying to put it on his person or fiddling with it somehow and it went off. (Many articles have stated the bomb that exploded was strapped onto the person's body).

The bus driver reported on 10/07 in an interview that when he saw Hinrichs on the bench shortly before the blast he was "bent over" and he said he assumed the person was sleeping.

Seeing as there was a large amount of explosives found in his apartment (see below) it might be assumed that this was an "accident" of some sort and he probably didn't mean to be killed... Report from KKTV Ch. 11 in Colorado Springs reporting on 10/06/05 that the bomb that went off was a "remote-controlled" device.

(* After reports of his identity and comments from his family were obtained by various media outlets in CO and OK they are now saying that there must be DNA testing and it could take a while.

**Report of attempted entry attributed to OU student Adam Smith via several news interviews. States that a gate security guard told him someone ran off after the guard tried to search the backpack he was carrying.)

3.) Five others reported injured and then the 5 injured "disappeared" from the reporting with articles only mentioning that one was killed. I personally followed up with the media outlet (CFRA.com) that was running the story with the 5 injured report. They state that the original report came from usaradio.com. After I contacted them they removed the "5 injured" statement. (I have screen shots to confirm this).

5 "accomplices" were mentioned in reporting on 10/05 out of Oklahoma (Ch. 4 or 9) - reporter says may have been involved with the bombing or taking stuff out of suspected "suicide's" apartment.

4.) Police responding with bomb squad found and detonated a second package containing what is now said to have contained materials or "parts" of a bomb (Ch. 9 - OKC - 10/06). This was originally reported as a second device by authorities (including OU Pres. Boren). Reports state this package was found in the lower-level of the nearby parking garage (early newspaper reports). This claim was later refuted by Boren (10/02).

Authorities on the scene cordoned off the area around the park bench where the explosion occurred and PADLOCKED the gates of the Stadium and did not let people leave until the end of the game. At that time they let everyone out of gates away from the crime scene.

5.) FBI cleared out apartment building on 10/02 and such and hauled away explosives deemed very volatile and exploded them on the local PDs test range before notifying others. People report hearing that explosion some 4-5 miles from the range. Also found in the apartment was Islamic papers and such (THIS REPORT OF PAPERS IS "RUMORED" at this time).

FBI also confiscated items out of Hindrich's car - clearly seen paperwork left in the car which is still parked outside his apartment complex indicate 12 plastic bottles. Reports that came out before the search warrant was sealed also state that they confiscated his hard-drive.

The FBI also took the bench in question which was replaced on Sunday (I think) - I do know it was replaced very quickly after authorities took down the tape and such.

6.) The device used and presumably stuff detonated the next day were TATP - "mother of satan" is the name the Islamic Jihadists call it. Very volatile substance. Again KKTV Ch. 11 is now reporting that this was a remote control device located on Hindrichs back.

7.) Roommate of Joel Hinrichs is named Fazal M. Cheema and is reportedly MIA at this time. There were reports he was brought back in for questioning and then released back to his apartment but this has been reported as not accurate. Ch. 5 is reporting he has "relocated" somewhere in Norman.

Reports state that an airline ticket belonging to this person for a date in the future was for a trip to Algeria (Confirmed reported on KKTV11 out of CO Springs 10/06 & local OK stations).

Cheema was taken into custody by the FBI and released along with several others in the apartment he was seen emerging from the night of October 1st.

8.) There are reports of Joel being seen at a local mosque on numerous occassions (Ch.9 or 4 reported this - can't remember which off-hand - doing this summary from memory). (THERE ARE CONFLICTING REPORTS COMING OUT ABOUT THIS "ASSERTION" ) . It is known that his roommate visited the mosque.

9.) Hinrichs attempted to buy Ammonium Nitrate several days before the blast at the local feed store (Ellison's). The owner of the feed store states that Joel came in asking to purchase a large amount. When asked why he needed it the owner of the feed store said he mumbled an answer. The owner reports that Hindrichs was dressed in a green vest with many pockets (photographer's type).

Norman PD verified today (10/06) that an undercover police officer was in the store at the time and got a license plate number. The Norman PD officer called in the tag numbers and Joel came back "clean" on paper. Norman PD held a press conference today (10/06) and stated that the officer followed procedure and would've alerted others when he returned to work on the following Monday - two days after the bombing.

10.) Jayna Davis, author of "The Third Terrorist" reported in an interview today on the (10/06) that she called the Attorney General requesting a copy of the search warrant used by the FBI. The AG stated that the file was sealed. When she asked him why - if this was a lone suicide - the file was sealed she said he became uncomfortable. She further pressed and he was forced to admit that there was still an ongoing investigation. The AG refused to speculate on whether the file would ever be opened or when.

Suffice to say that most of us who have been following this story agree that it stinks to high heaven as far as the "official line" goes.

This is especially true considering the history of Norman, OK, OKC, OU, and the presence of Hamas and Al Qaeda groups which are known to law enforcement. (Massoui(SP?), Atta, Nick Berg, et al...)

Some early reports that couldn't be necessarily relied upon (verboten site to FR & WND using their info) are now being confirmed and reported in bits and pieces by local media in CO & OK as well.

Probably the most remarkable thing about all of this is the lack of coverge in the MSM nationwide. Fox originally broke the story and then pulled it. A google search of news (on 10/03) showed only 300 or so articles the other day vs. over 6,000 for Bali and over 1600 for the NY boating accident which took place on the 2nd.

This is slowly changing over the last day or so (10/08) as several editorial writers have commented on this and the AP has released another updated article.

To get caught up on Eyewitness reports you may wish to scan through for posts from PhiKapMom on this thread (and others) - she was there and has a lot of relevant information. Rte66 has done some excellent background searching. Cindy has been posting updating links listings and, a few days ago backhoe put up a thread with a compilation of links as well.

Many other Freepers have contributed parts as always - TEAMWORK is key!!! Thanks to all who have been pinging me and freepmailing me and others with info!

For new articles and such the keyword: NORMANBOMBING is being used to tie all threads together.

I will keep editing and adding to this summary and posting on this thread probably once a day. There is more I could add tonight but I'm falling asleep! LOL

Again thanks for everyone's assistance in gathering information on this event!
LibertyRocks

And, it's interesting that they bring up the Murrah bombing, but conveniently forget all the other ties to Norman, Oklahoma and past terrorist attacks - (Massoui(sp?), Atta, Nick Berg, et al...)

I fear this is going to be covered up just as OKC '95 was. I've got my fingers crossed that the feds are keeping quiet because this thing reaches beyond Norman, perhaps as far as NYC, and they don't want to compromise the investigation. But I see shades of OKC '95. Of course, the primary reason for that cover-up was Klintoon, and he's not a factor today. But a lot of folks on the case today were on the case back then as well, and they might not want to dig too deeply this time for fear it'll expose their involvement in the '95 cover-up. Maybe they think they should let a sleeping dog lie.

Since this article conveniently leaves out all the other links between Norman and terrorism, I'm going to post this list from the site that shall remain nameless. I think I'll post it on every OU Bombing thread from now on. Everything in red is from the site. What follows in black are my own comments.

MANY PATHS SEEM TO INTERSECT IN NORMAN, OKLAHOMA

In early July 2000, Mohammed Atta and Marwan al-Shehhi visited the Airman Flight School in Norman, Oklahoma.
On or about 29 September, 2000, Zacharias MOUSSAOUI contacted Airman Flight School in Norman, Oklahoma using an e-mail account he set up on September 6 with an internet service provider in Malaysia.
On or about 26 February 2001, Zacharias MOUSSAOUI opened a bank account in Norman, Oklahoma where he deposited approximately $32,000 in cash.
Between 26 February 2001 and 29 May 2001, MOUSSAOUI attended the Airman Flight School in Norman, Oklahoma, ending his classes early.
And more recently...26 September 2005: A University of Oklahoma student charged with bringing an explosive device to an airport pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge in federal court in Oklahoma City. Charles Alfred Dreyling Jr. of Norman, Oklahoma faces up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine at a future sentencing hearing. Dreyling, 24, was arrested in August at the Will Rogers World Airport after security personnel noticed a suspicious object in his carryon bag as he was leaving for a family vacation with his parents. He later told FBI agents the device -- a modified carbon dioxide cartridge filled with gunpowder -- was "basically a pipe bomb," according to court papers that he had forgotten was in his bag. (Former Oklahoma City, OK Mayor Kirk Humphreys-- who was also DREYLING'S landlord-- spoke on behalf of DREYLING at his bail hearing).
On a bus trip to the University of Oklahoma, Zacharias MOUSSAOUI was on the same bus as Nicholas BERG, the American man who was beheaded in Iraq in 2004 by Islamic terrorists. At some point on that trip, MOUSSAOUI asked BERG if he could use BERG'S laptop computer. Government sources said BERG gave the MOUSSAOUI his computer password...
September 11 hijacker Ziad Jarrah’s ticket (United Airlines Flight 93) was purchased from a computer terminal at Oklahoma University.
Norman, OK is also cited on a number of occasions in the best-selling book, the most comprehensive investigative work by Jayna Davis titled The Third Terrorist, about the truck bomb blast that killed 171 souls and destroyed the Murrah Federal Building on 19 April 1995 (An absolute MUST read).

Norman's role in Islamist terrorism goes further back than the OKC bombing in '95. It all starts in '91, right after the Gulf War, when thousands of Iraqi Republican Guards who stood down were given asylum by the US and resettled in and around OKC because Saddam would kill them if they stayed in Iraq. Regrettably, the resettled RG were nothing more than a trojan horse, enemy agents transplanted into our heartland and still working for Saddam while pretending to be defectors.
The Gulf War never ended. We signed a cease-fire and kept our end of the bargain, but Saddam continued hostilities throughout the 90's in the only way he could -- through terrorism. And he linked with Al Qaeda to do it, each one fighting on a different front but with much cross-pollination centered in Norman. So what has happened since '91?
1) WTC '93, masterminded by Iraqi agent Ramzi Yousef
2) OKC '95, by Tim McVeigh and Terry Nichols, but aided by Iraqi agents
3) TWA 800, probably by Al Qaeda
4) Embassies in Africa, by Al Qaeda
5) U.S.S. Cole, by Al Qaeda
6) 9/11, by Al Qaeda, but executed in a manner remarkably similar to Yousef's Project Bojinka to finish what Yousef started back in '93.
For twelve years, we sat and waited for the UN to do its inspections while Saddam continued fighting and Al Qaeda joined the battle. And Klintoon fiddled through it all, while the sheeple failed to connect the dots right in front of their faces.
When GW started the Iraq War in 2003, he was simply resuming hostilities on our side and doing what Klintoon should have done but avoided like the plague. The Iraq War isn't a new war. It isn't even Gulf War Part Two. It is a resumption of the Gulf War after twelve years of cease-fire constantly violated by Saddam with both weapons inspections shenanigans and terrorist actions. Saddam is now out of the war, but Al Qaeda continues it. It needs to be finished, no matter what it takes, no matter how long.

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