Has Terrorism Returned to America’s Heartland?

CBN News ^ | Erick Stakelbeck

[PhiKapMom]

Whatever type of explosives in the car, the NPD took it to their bomb disposal dump in small quantities because they feared doing it in large quantities as it could have blown up the motorcade and everything around it. When it was blown up by NPD, it left a crater in the ground, it was very loud heard all over Norman, and shook my front window which is about five miles away.

[PhiKapMom]

During the announcement on the Soonervision they told everyone if there was an emergency for everyone to stay in their seat to listen to further instructions including going down on the field and out the gates if necessary. It was quite clear that they had rethought their evacuation plans and wanted everyone on the same page. They handed out the plans, had it on Soonervision, received it in my mail, and my email.

From the letter: "In addition, we have applied for and received several grants from state and federal agencies to enhance stadium security, including bomb X-ray devices and a large number of security cameras, which are placed throughout the stadium at locations that have been advised by security experts. We have also acquired new concrete barriers on hydraulic lifts which can block off streets or sidewalks to protect the stadium. Last year we conducted a major practice exercise with law enforcement partners to test our security plan. We have also added to the number of law enforcement personnel available to us at each game, comprising a large team of university, Norman, county, and state law enforcement officers. They are present at every game and are immediately available to respond to a crisis, just as they responded so well to my directives and requests at the recent game."

When is the last time, you have seen anyone apply for grants, receive the money, install the equipment, etc., all within a couple of weeks? I have NEVER seen as many law enforcement types as I did at our game last Saturday night. Want to state that OU did an outstanding job with the new security put in place so that something like the suicide bomber would not happen again.

Reason I think the rumor he may have tried with a car bomb to enter the oval may have some credence is the amount of the concrete barriers for roads/sidewalks. No one without a permit is going to get near that stadium now.

At least OU woke up to the fact that security needed to be tightened and it definitely was tightened. At the same time IMO blows big holes in the "lone, depressed suicide bomber" theory.

[FlashBack]

It would seem that they fear something is up, for the big bueracratic "system" to make such massive/swift changes makes one think that something is indeed "rotten in Denmark".
I read many of your posts that weekend...very disturbing happenings...be safe out there!!

[PhiKapMom]

Nothing happens that fast but I have to admit I felt very safe at the game. My daughter and I were carrying sweatshirts and they had us shake them out. You could not carry any bags into the stadium. Saw cops everywhere, concrete barriers on the sidewalks and the oval with a lot of cops after the game directing traffic. Usually it is every person for themselves but the cops were directing traffic after the game. I have been complaining for years about lack of cops directing traffic but they were there Saturday night.

Your statement about "rotten in Denmark" fits this situation completely.

[Rte66]

I really don't believe those numbers--400 pounds of explosives in his car trunk and 1000 pounds in his apartment.

Unfortunately, I may have contributed to the spreading of that rumor, when I brought it over here from a blog comment--and many other statements by the same blog poster were very erroneous. In fact, when I posted it here, it was to show how ridiculous the rumors had gotten. *sigh*

The kid who watched the whole bomb squad operation of removing the items from Hinrichs' apartment only saw a very small amount of *anything* removed. I can't imagine 1,400 pounds of anything being *hand-carried* anywhere, not even by a robot.

If the 13 plastic bottles were full of something, I still can't imagine them weighing 400 pounds, that's 30 pounds apiece--IF that is what they were referring to. Isn't that triacetate peroxide a liquid? If even a tiny, tiny amount of it is volatile, then these numbers don't make sense to me.

[MizSterious]

I also did a drive-by (DFU posted the pics I took), and yes, the parking lot is behind the fence line. The parking lot is not closed off by the fence, mind you. But if you are in the parking lot of this place, you're on their property, and I can think of no good reason for being there unless you're visiting the Islamic Center.

[MizSterious]

Our rural fire department went through the grant procedure for a new fire truck a couple of years back. The entire process took almost an entire year, and they thought that was pretty fast. Just for the sake of comparison.

[MizSterious]

I've seen the 400 pounds number in other places, perhaps even on one of the early news broadcasts when they were telling about hauling all that stuff off. I think it's probably true, or real close to true. Many here have mentioned the huge trunk space in a Lincoln Town Car, and suggested that this might be why he had that particular car.

[RegulatorCountry]

"Many here have mentioned the huge trunk space in a Lincoln Town Car, and suggested that this might be why he had that particular car."

I'm puzzled as to why "evidence" was left languishing in a parking lot for all to see for weeks, myself (speaking of the Lincoln), if explosives were in that car, regardless of amount or type.

[MizSterious]

A question a lot of us have asked. Not to mention all the things visible inside the car, including the road atlas and other items.

[RegulatorCountry]

"Not to mention all the things visible inside the car, including the road atlas and other items."

FBI notes were visible on the front seat too, if I'm not mistaken. The car was under surveillance? It's the only thing that makes sense, but that would thoroughly shoot down the public "lone suicide" story.

[Zack Nguyen]

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.”

With great respect for a grieving father, I'm afraid this is no evidence at all. The explosive device might have gone off prematurely, before he could get inside the football stadium. If that was the case, then thank God.

[justshutupandtakeit]

Has there been any confirmation of the attempts to get into the stadium which is universally believered to have happened? Is this true, a myth, do we know?

[Nancie Drew]

There has been some talk on this thread about 400 lbs. of explosives in Hinrich's car. Like others on this thread, this is the first that I have heard about that. Do you remember anything in your archives about it?

[archy]

And of course an old Lincoln Town car would provide plenty of fragments.

Data following is for a 2005 Lincoln Town Car, but I bet his older version was pretty similar:

Find a Car
2005 Lincoln Town Car
Fuel Type Regular
MPG (city) 18
MPG (highway) 25
MPG (combined) 21
Miles on a Tank 359 miles
Tank Size 19.0 gal

[archy]

I can't imagine 1,400 pounds of anything being *hand-carried* anywhere, not even by a robot.

I take it you've never beenon a sandbag detail.

[archy]

Isn't that triacetate peroxide a liquid? If even a tiny, tiny amount of it is volatile, then these numbers don't make sense to me.

Nope. As refined by home-brew or terrorist chemists, it's usually a white or off-white powder, discoloured by a yellowish or greyish tinge,depending on the precursor source chemicals used.

Per an article on Wikipedia.org [chemistry and ingredients list deleted]:

Acetone peroxide (triacetone triperoxide, peroxyacetone, TATP, TCAP) is an organic peroxide Organic peroxides are organic molecules containing the peroxide functional group

ROOR'

If the R' is hydrogen, the compound is called organic hydroperoxide.

The O-O bond easily breaks and forms free radicals of the form:

RO¡¤

This makes organic peroxides useful as catalysts for some types of polymerisation, such as the epoxy resins used in glass-reinforced plastics. MEKP and benzoyl peroxide) are commonly used for this purpose.

Click the link for more information.
. It is a high explosive that can be made from common household items: acetone acetone (also known as propanone, dimethyl ketone, 2-propanone, propan-2-one and beta-ketopropane) is the simplest representative of the ketones.

Since its precursors are readily available, it is commonly used by amateur chemists and explosive makers, often for detonators, and is sometimes found in improvised explosive devices. It takes the form of a white crystalline powder with a distinctive acrid smell.

It is highly heat, friction, and shock.
TCAP generally burns when ignited, unconfined, in quantities less than about 2 grams. Above this, it will usually detonate, although even slight confinement will promote detonation in smaller quantities. Completely dry TCAP is much more prone to detonation as opposed to fresh product still wetted with water or acetone. The oxidation that occurs when burning is:

2 C9H18O6 + 21 O2 ¡ú 18 H2O + 18 CO2 The explosive decomposition of TCAP, in contrast, results in "formation of acetone and ozone as the main decomposition products and not the intuitively expected oxidation products." [1] It is the rapid creation of gas from a solid that creates the explosion. Very little heat is created by the explosive decomposition of TCAP. Recent research describes TCAP decomposition as an entropic explosion.

The extreme shock, heat, and friction sensitivity are due to the instability of the molecule. Big crystals, found in older mixtures, are more dangerous, as they are easier to shatter - and initiate - than small ones.

Many people have been killed or permanently injured by accidents with acetone peroxide. There is a common myth that the only "safe" acetone peroxide is the trimer, made at low temperatures: "If one is making tricycloacetone peroxide, the temperature must be less than 10 ¡ãC at all times, otherwise the product formed will be dicycloacetone peroxide, which is so unstable and sensitive that it has no uses in the field of explosives: dicycloacetone peroxide has been known to explode spontaneously." In reality, the acid-catalyzed peroxidation of acetone always produces a mixture of dimeric and trimeric forms. The trimer is the more stable form, but not much more so than the dimer. All forms of acetone peroxide are very sensitive to initiation and degrade in long-term storage, so they are used as explosives only by unconventional forces (e.g. guerrillas, freedom fighters, terrorists) and curious amateurs. At the same time, no form of acetone peroxide will truly explode spontaneously.

[archy]

Off. Harding and Sgt. Plows are both in the Media Relations section of LAPD....who knows why the stories conflict.

You familiar with the interesting story of the death of LAPD Bomb Squad boss Arleigh McCree and bomb technician Ronald Ball, both killed while attempting to disarm a pipe bomb in 1986, shortly after the December 1985 crash of an Air Arrow charter flight carrying members of the 101 Airborne home from duties as Mid-East peacekeepers? Oh, and shortly before Pan Am Flight 103 went down over Lockerbie, Scotland on December 21, 1988, also during the Christmas holiday season?

[Squantos]

Do ya know if this turdpolisher had added any "frag" to his little home grown IED Archy ?

That alone IMHO is telling of the Terrorist vs Suicide debate.

[MizSterious]

People reported seeing authorities digging small metal pieces out of a tree near the bench. They said the pieces were about the size of a nail-head.