Posted on 10/26/2005 12:40:47 PM PDT by LibertyRocks
OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma - Has terrorism returned to the Oklahoma City area? That is what folks in Norman have been asking, ever since a 21-year-old student at the University of Oklahoma killed himself in what some are calling an attempted homicide bombing.
On Saturday, October 1, engineering major Joel Hinrichs detonated a homemade bomb near Memorial Stadium, where 84,000 fans were watching the hometown Sooners take on Kansas State.
That was just a hundred yards from a newly replaced bench -- it was there, just before halftime, that a powerful explosion ripped through the entire area, taking Hinrichs with it.
From the outset, both the FBI and University of Oklahoma President David Boren have insisted that Hinrichs acted alone. They say his death was a random suicide, carried out by a troubled young man, and that Hinrichs had no intention of hurting anyone but himself. But others who have followed the case closely are not so sure.
Mark Tapscott of the Heritage Foundation remarked, “There are about 30,000 suicides in America--unfortunately--every year. And you can go back a decade, and you will not find a single one of those suicides who blew themself up in proximity, close proximity, to 84,000 people at a football game.”
Tapscott and other online bloggers have questioned Hinrichs' true intentions. They point to his Pakistani Muslim roommate and the location of his apartment--just one block from the Norman Mosque.
It is the same mosque that convicted 9/11 plotter Zacarias Moussaoui attended when he lived in Norman. As for Hinrichs, a spokesman for the mosque told us he had never seen him there.
“The first time we've seen his picture is when the news and the media put his pictures in the papers and on TV. Other than that, we've never seen him here,” stated Mohamed Elyazgi, a spokesman for the Norman Mosque.
But in a CBN exclusive, a former neighbor of the mosque, who wishes to remain anonymous, told us she did see Hinrichs there--not once, but several times.
“I did see Joel on several occasions outside of the mosque, actually, in the parking lot of the mosque,” the neighbor said. “It wasn't in the yard, it wasn't behind the fence, it was always in the parking lot when I would see him. And there was one time when I passed him, actually, on the sidewalk. As soon as I saw the picture of Joel Hinrichs on TV, not the clean-shaven one, but the one with the beard, I knew immediately that that was the gentleman I had seen on several occasions.”
Hinrichs' father says his son never would have converted to Islam, and that young Joel was no terrorist. Joel Hinrichs Sr. declared, “My pride is under challenge somewhat, by the fact that he took his life. But in terms of a terrorist, a terrorist is somebody who tries to scare other people. And there was nobody around when Joel did what he did.”
But the FBI has admitted that it still is not sure whether Hinrichs tried to enter Memorial Stadium.
And why did Hinrichs attempt to buy ammonium nitrate fertilizer at a local feed store just days before killing himself? That is the same deadly material Timothy McVeigh used to blow up the Oklahoma City Federal Building in 1995.
“We don't have a lot of people who come in and actually specifically state that they need ammonium nitrate,” Dustin Ellison of Ellison Feed & Seed said. “When it's used in that terminology now, it's kind of...it just catches your attention when somebody asks for that.”
Oklahoma Congressman Tom Cole understands the concerns surrounding Hinrichs' death. But he is confident that the FBI's findings are correct, and that Hinrichs only meant to harm himself.
Rep. Cole stated, “We do have a person that has a long documented history of having a very troubled past. It's a person that had been isolated, who seemed a little bit odd. Who, according to his brother, had frequently been teased and tormented as a young person by fellow students. Sort of classic loner, who didn't fit in.”
Law enforcement authorities found additional explosives during a search of Hinrichs’ apartment. Some news outlets have reported they also found jihadist literature. The FBI denies this claim.
But anyone looking to dig deeper will not have much luck--the Department Of Justice has sealed the search warrant for Hinrichs' apartment.
Although it has grabbed most of the attention, Hinrichs' suicide is not the only troubling incident to take place on America's college campuses these past few weeks.
At UCLA, authorities discovered what they called "an improvised explosive device." Near the University of California's San Diego campus, authorities found a homemade chemical lab in the bathroom of a student's apartment. The student killed himself as police attempted to enter the residence.
At Prairie View A & M in Texas, a student was arrested when authorities found bombmaking materials in his dorm room. He is also charged with trying to buy a handgun with counterfeit money.
And at Georgia Tech, in what officials now say was a prank, a student planted three explosive devices on campus.
As for the University of Oklahoma, it has tightened security at all home games in the wake of Hinrichs' death.
The Oklahoma City Memorial is a daily reminder of the deadly effects of domestic terrorism. And for many here, questions still linger about Hinrichs' death. Was it just a lone suicide? Or was it part of a larger conspiracy to bring terrorism back to America's heartland?
That is the key IMO.....Thanks for the info !
Stay safe !
Here is the relevant information re: Adam Smith and the ticket taker. To my knowledge no members of the media have contacted Mr. Smith, or the ticket taker since OU's denial...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1498353/posts
NORMAN -- An incident related by a ticket taker at Saturday's OU-Kansas State game raises questions about whether a student who died in a suicide explosion tried to gain entrance to Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.
But University of Oklahoma officials continue to deny that Joel Henry Hinrichs III tried to enter the stadium before dying about 100 yards away.
OU student Adam Smith said Thursday that he was approached as he was leaving the stadium Saturday by a ticket taker from Gate 6 who wanted to know what had happened.
Smith said he told the gate worker that there had apparently been an explosion outside the stadium and someone had been blown up.
"He gave me a wide-eyed look, and said: 'Oh, that's really strange,' " Smith said. The ticket taker recounted that a young man who looked strange and was wearing a backpack that looked full tried to get into the stadium.
However, when he was asked to open his backpack, "the guy didn't say a word and sprinted away," Smith said he was told.
Vice President of Communications Catherine Bishop said OU officials have "been assured that there is no validity to the Gate 6 rumor." Bishop said the story has been checked out by the university's athletic department.
I don't have any sourced information regarding the amount of explosives taken from the apartment and/or the car. It was only confirmed that there were explosives located at least in the apartment, and that it was taken to the training/firing range just outside Norman and detonated on 10/02.
Thanks for attempting to clear this up but that article doesn't do it. Why would a ticket taker ask someone coming from inside the stadium about the explosion outside the stadium? That makes no sense.
This is a very important point. As are those regarding the material taken out of the BlownUp's apt and car. And the allegation of an attempt to purchase ammonia nitrate at the store.
I never heard or saw anyone say or write that authorities were digging metal fragments out of the tree. The only person mentioning metal in conjunction with the tree was Tapscott, saying that ...
"a tree near where Hinrichs' bomb detonated displays a number of small round holes and some areas of a metallic substance. The holes and substance are only on the side facing the bench on which Hinrichs was seated when the bomb detonated. The holes appear to be about the size of the head of 16 penny nail."
There was no shrapnel damage to the bench, the lamp post or the buses which were all close by.
From what I understand Adam Smith was outside the stadium and was recruited by LEOs to help divert the crowd away from the crime scene. The part about "as he was leaving" isn't correct according to the taped interview I saw with Smith initially. (I think it was on Ch. 9, but not sure...).
The Ammonium Nitrate attempt to purchase was confirmed by OUPD and the owner of Ellison Feed & Seed (I think that's the name of the store). You can check out my summary, and links listing on my blog for more details as I don't have the time right this moment to retrieve it all. (sorry!) (o:
The clarification also leads to questions. (Don't they always? :^( )
It is difficult to believe that LEO would just draft a stranger into assisting them in their duties.
After the "Hundreds of Bodies in Trees" article posted here after Katrina I have become very skeptical over unsupported statements about events. Before that I was a sweet, innocent, gullible, dewy-eyed believer.
I think he was working for the university in some capacity, but I can't recall what it was. There was much more information in the video taped segment I watched than the article. I'll try to locate the video segment later tonight if I have the time - have to go start dinner in a few minutes! (o:
Too bad we all don't have the benefit of the newscasts you reference. It never happened at all to those we in the rest of the nation have access to.
They're still available online at http://www.newsok.com in the videos section - I don't know which date I saw the clip though off-hand. I'm thinking it had to have been the 1st through the 3rd. (Oh, and I'm in Wisconsin - a long way from OK! (o: There has been NOTHING in our papers or on TV regarding this event that I've seen. No-one at my husband's job has heard of it either... )
OK, now I've really got to get dinner on... kids are getting hungry!
Feed those kids mama before they get ornery.
The AN has been documented over and over on these threads and in the local news.
I've seen others mention it, people who walked by the tree to check, and one who was there right after the bomb went off.
To say there was no damage to the bench must be wrong--he was sitting on the bench, and of course it was damaged--and hauled off. The bench that is there now is not the same bench.
Perhaps you could check out LibertyRocks' blog. You wouldn't believe the amount of information posted there. Most of your questions would be answered, and for most things, there are links to the source(s). The Channel 9 site will likely require registration, but has a wealth of information--as far as I know, there is no charge.
I didn't say there was no damage to the bench. I said there was no shrapnel found in it.
;)
No it's not liquid. Although the stuff used to make it is. Has a tendency to crystallize, and the crystals are easily set off by mechanical stress.
Fairly similar. The '93 was 3 inches longer, but 300 pounds lighter. Still the curb weight of the '93 is 4050 pounds, making for plenty of fragments.
The gross weight of the 2005 is 5524 pounds, assuming the '93 to be similar, that means it could easily have carried 400 pounds of whatever in it's trunk. (Data from Edmunds.com)
That was exactly my point. You don't go there unless you have business there. You don't take a short cut across the parking lot, because there is no such short cut.
This is still the invisible bombing. People are beginning to wonder now, I hope. Been saying it for years. The Federal government has the power to clamp down on big news like this. Rick Roberts talked about it. I don't recall Savage ever following up on it, BTW, but my memory is not exactly perfect. Humphrey Rusty talked about it. God bless both those men. And now, it's crickets chirping.
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