Posted on 10/09/2005 11:22:54 AM PDT by JustaCowgirl
NORMAN - University of Oklahoma officials, the Muslim community, students and others are waiting for the FBI to connect the dots in last week's public suicide of an OU student.
Joel Henry Hinrichs III, 21, was killed Oct. 1 in an explosion that officials say he caused not far from a packed Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.
But the dots cannot be connected, at least at this point, said Stephen Sloan, a former University of Oklahoma professor who is alarmed that far-right extremist groups have taken to the Internet with conspiracy theories attempting to link the actions of Hinrichs to the Muslim community of Norman and to the Middle East.
The FBI has provided little information about its investigation but said last week that there is no known link between Hinrichs and terrorist or extremist organizations. But questions linger as to Hinrichs' intent before he died in an explosion while sitting on a park bench in front of the George Lynn Cross microbiology building about 100 yards west of the stadium.
"No doubt there are a lot of questions to be answered," Sloan said. "But it is unfortunately logical to think that he was trying to get into the stadium."
The terrorism expert said the size of the explosion indicates that it was designed to hit more than Hinrichs. He said it seems more than coincidence that this occurred on the Saturday night of a football game.
A student, Adam Smith, related last week that he learned from a ticket taker at Gate 6 on the north side of the football field that a young man had tried to gain entrance. The ticket taker wanted to examine the man's backpack, which prompted the man to sprint away, Smith said he was told.
The FBI reportedly has confirmed that its review of surveillance cameras in the stadium did not reveal that Hinrichs tried to gain entrance. However, OU President David Boren declined at midweek to say whether cameras are mounted at all entrances.
The FBI has kept mum about the explosive that Hinrichs used and declined to comment on reports that large amounts of explosives were in his apartment.
The explosion that killed Hinrichs also burned a large area around the bench. If the explosion had occurred inside the stadium, it could have killed fans, prompting the question of whether that was Hinrichs' intent all along.
A suicide note apparently has not been found. Hinrichs' father, who had conversations with the FBI, told The Associated Press that his son did not leave a suicide note.
Joel Hinrichs Jr. told the Tulsa World that he knew his son was troubled, but he had no idea he wanted to die.
"I would have been there within whatever the speed limit would allow me to be if I had any inclination that he was this unhappy," the father said from his family's home in Colorado Springs the day after the explosion.
It remains unanswered as to whether Hinrichs could have concocted the explosive device on his own, although there are no indications he acted with others.
Those who knew of him -- from his high school teacher in Colorado Springs to fellow engineering students at OU -- said he was typically a loner who sat by himself in the classroom. He was among the National Merit Scholars whom Boren has attracted to the OU campus.
His father told the Colorado Springs Gazette that at an early age, Hinrichs was fascinated with science. At the time of his death, he was a third-year engineering student at OU.
Boren has said it appears this is an "individual suicide," noting that Hinrichs waited until people were inside the stadium before he took his life.
University officials say they have no record of Hinrichs having a season ticket or purchasing one for the OU-Kansas State game.
OU Vice President of Communications Catherine Bishop added, however, that the university has no way of knowing whether Hinrichs could have purchased a ticket from someone outside the stadium, where many people typ ically sell tickets on game day.
Sloan said the public should note the fact that if Hinrichs did try to get into the stadium, he was stopped.
"If Hinrichs was turned away, that is a positive mark in terms of security awareness," he said.
While Hinrichs' individual actions are still being probed, the Islamic community of Norman is on edge, fearful that this troubling event is somehow linked to Muslims.
"Haven't we learned from the bombing of the Murrah Building (in 1995) in Oklahoma City, when the first reports tried to tie the bombing to a foreigner from the Middle East?" Sloan said. "But that proved to be false.
"It is much too early to render a full judgment," said Sloan, who regrets that some people already are convinced this is a conspiracy.
Hinrichs lived at Parkview Apartments, just a few blocks from the mosque of the Islamic Society of Norman. Also fueling the link to some kind of Middle East terrorism is the fact that Hinrichs' roommate, Fazil Cheema, is from Pakistan. Acquaintances of Cheema's say he is not a practicing Muslim and never attends services at the mosque.
Muslims who attend the mosque also say they are not aware that Hinrichs ever set foot in the mosque.
The quest for the truth, however, has been hindered by the fact that Cheema himself has not made himself available to the media since the incident occurred. He has left the apartment where he lived with Hinrichs, although he is still believed to be in Norman.
Acquaintances say that Hinrichs and his roommate have in common the fact that both could be called loners, and possibly ended up as roommates at Parkview because neither of them had other friends, so they were assigned to live together.
Tariq Alzoubi, a Muslim who has been part of the Islamic community in Norman for several years, said when he found out that the individual who died was white and not Middle Eastern, "I was not happy, but I was relieved. Then the issue came up that his roommate might be Pakistani."
Originally from Jordan and Saudi Arabia, Alzoubi said Muslims have been on edge when something like this happens ever since Sept. 11, 2001.
"Before 9-11, I knew 30 Saudi students at OU; all but two of them left," he said.
"My only concern in all of this is that we stay away from collective punishment for something bad that happened here," he said.
Mick Hinton (405) 528-2465 mick.hinton@tulsaworld.com
"I have asked a couple of rather routine questions and objected to the insult to the dead guy's dad."
A quick perusal of your contribution to this thread would make this seem a bit less reasonable.
Are you of the opinion that there's nothing unusual about the commentary thus far from Hinrichs, Jr.?
"Yeah, I made a stupid typo which he gleefully jumped on."
An annoying habit, isn't it, JustShutUpAndTakeIt?
I'm not inhumane, I had a spelling/grammer error in my post. If you look long enough, perhaps you'll find it and I'll run away from the GREAT AND POWERFUL REGULATOR!
It's beginning to look like this Administration wants to be able to say, "There were no terrorist attacks on American soil since 9/11/01. We fought them 'there' so we wouldn't have to 'here'."
No matter what.
Rte66 has been investigating the family. You may wish to write to her for more info on that angle.
The Webster Police are on the scene, folks! Praise Jesus..just in the knick of time. (rolling eyes)
"If you look long enough, perhaps you'll find it and I'll run away from the GREAT AND POWERFUL REGULATOR!"
If you re-read the post, you'll discover that it's not a spelling error, referring to a past go-round between the two of us about how "the national income" is reduced by home schooling.
I have no problem with you, so back off, OK?
Let me guess... one of these groups is the Muslim Student Association. How convenient for them not to have cameras around. Meanwhile, the Islamic Center looks like a fortress and has security cameras.
I think you are mixing up 2 different descriptions. The initial blast, where the "despondent" student blew himself to smithereens, had one witness describe a puff of smoke after the initial blast. The explosion also broke windows in nearby bldgs. The police blowing up the explosives found in the apt. shook the windows in houses miles away. This was described by posters here who live in Norman.
We should appreciate the fact that for two years, they've been nice enough to gather in one place (Iraq), so it would be easier for us to kill them.
LOLOL... yep, I figured as much. Thanks for looking that up!
He certainly had Bush41's ear. Maybe so.
You're right, Professor Sloan. We're jumping the gun.
Hi LibRoc - oh, dear, that's not a good abbreviation, is it? You know who I mean!
Sorry I have been "in absentia" most of the last couple of days and pings--I am still doing all the elbow grease work on the family background of our "splodeyman" (a term used *affectionately* by some on one of the Sooner fans forums, which cracks me up every time I see it).
I have come to a sort of stopping place, temporary dead-end, so I can write up something of a summary--so much of it is still in question. But guess where dead-end came to? LOL. Fresno!!
I would bet on that one -- that organization is sure in a spin mode right now too. But then they have all kinds of credibility on campus from the President.
Webster! I used to love that little guy!
Last Sunday night at 9:30 Norman PD blew up enough explosives from the perp's apartment to rattle my front window 5 miles away and for people all over Norman to hear. Estimated to be approximately 500 lbs of explosive material.
But I guess we are just imagining everything because the OU President says nothing here, move on! (sarcasm)
The initial reports of the first explosion was that it was heard for miles, was heard over the crowd and gameplay in the stadium. It was also said that there was a small amount of smoke, and no fire. From what I understand this is normal considering the type of explosives used.
When authorities exploded the "cache of explosives" found in the apartment that blast was also felt for miles - rattling people's windows and such. According to PhiKapMom who lives 4-5 miles from the training grounds it rattled her front window. There was also a very large crater where they had buried the materials. The video of the detonation site was shown on Ch. 5 news the next day. People were reportedly scared because there was no notice of the detonation that night. Boren stated that there was no notice because authorities deemed the materials too volatile to wait.
I've sourced all of this in my summary - the link has been posted several times already, so I won't do so again in this post...
" Originally from Jordan and Saudi Arabia, Alzoubi said Muslims have been on edge when something like this happens ever since Sept. 11, 2001."
Wow. What a coincidence Mr. Alzoubi. Americans have also been on edge from all of the violence perpetuated by Middle Eastern Muslims from Jordan,Saudi Arabia... ever since Sept. 11, 2001.
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