Posted on 07/16/2006 9:04:08 AM PDT by MizSterious
OU death not linked to terrorism
By Nolan Clay
The FBI concluded a University of Oklahoma student who blew himself up last year on campus was not a terrorist, the top agent in Oklahoma says.
"We have no evidence he had a social or political agenda that he was trying to bring attention to," said Salvador Hernandez, the FBI's special agent in charge in Oklahoma.
"We don't consider this terrorism the way we define it," he said. "There would have to be a cause."
Joel "Joe" Henry Hinrichs III, an engineering student, died Oct. 1 when his bomb went off at a campus bench a short distance from an OU night football game.
Fans inside the packed stadium heard the blast during the second quarter of OU's game against Kansas State.
Hernandez spoke about the investigation to the media for the first time last week as he prepares to end his two-year stint in Oklahoma. He has been promoted to a new position with the FBI in Washington.
He disclosed the FBI interviewed more than 200 people during the bombing investigation but never found any evidence that Hinrichs had extremist views or ties to extremist groups.
Hernandez would not speculate whether the student intentionally set off the bomb on the bench as a suicide or if he also had intended to harm others and the bomb went off prematurely.
"None of us can know what was going on in his head," Hernandez told The Oklahoman.
Hernandez described Hinrichs, 21, as a loner who had a longtime interest in explosives.
Hinrichs, who was from Colorado Springs, Colo., was very bright, but his grades had slipped at OU, the agent said. Hinrichs belonged to the Triangle Fraternity, an organization of engineers, but just didn't seem to fit in, the agent said.
Hernandez said agents did not find any conclusive evidence Hinrichs tried to enter the stadium. They found no evidence he bought or tried to buy a football ticket, Hernandez said.
The top agent also said two ticket-takers who saw Hinrichs' photo in the media thought they might have seen him outside the stadium but they could not provide descriptive information when interviewed.
Agents viewed hours and hours of tapes from stadium security cameras but never spotted Hinrichs, Hernandez said.
Agents also turned up no evidence Hinrichs ever went to the mosque near his apartment, Hernandez said.
He said fellow students knew Hinrichs was interested in and had experimented with bombs and they should have reported it to law enforcement.
"People should be more vigilant or more responsible and bring this stuff forward," he said.
Officials said earlier that Hinrichs built the bomb from hydrogen peroxide and acetone. The explosive is known as triacetone triperoxide or TATP.
In the interview with The Oklahoman, Hernandez revealed these new details about the bombing:
Using receipts, agents determined Hinrichs bought the bomb ingredients from local retail stores a few days before. One store had a video camera and agents reviewed the tape from it. Hinrichs was alone.
Agents could not reconstruct much of what Hinrichs did the day of the bombing, a Saturday. They believe he was on the Internet in the morning. They believe about 6:15 p.m. he typed, "None of you are worth living with. You can all kiss my ass," on his apartment computer. They believe he then walked to where he died. The bomb went off about 7:30 p.m.
Hinrichs made a final payment on handlebars for his mountain bike a few days before the bombing.
Hinrichs apparently was carrying the TATP around in a plastic container and could have accidentally set the volatile bomb off by simply opening the container.
The bomb did not go off in Hinrichs' backpack.
FBI agents interviewed some witnesses who live in Europe and had dealt with Hinrichs on eBay, the Internet auction site.
PING... Information on the OU Bombing from the FBI. No new information, just the FBI sticking to their story... Hernandez must have done a good enough job covering this up because he's being rewarded a position in Washington -- makes you feel all warm and safe doesn't it?
And TWA 800 spontaneously combusted.
And FDR didn't know the Japanese were going to bomb Pearl Harbor.
I thought about the ammonium nitrate too. A Norman cop was in the store at the time and followed him out to the parking lot. The Norman PD bomb guy indicated he didn't think Hinrichs wanted the bomb to go off when it did, but since he wasn't in charge of the investigation his opinion didn't mean anything.
Or, just maybe, The Citizens of the USA might get angry?
Our government FEARS what We the People will do when fully provoked. MHO.
The conclusions to stories like these reduce the Freedom of Information Act to a pile of BS.
Thanks for the ping. This latest story explains why I've been getting visits from people using OU's ISP on my blog.
I don't believe or at least don't know for sure that he was an Islamic terrorist, but it's impossible to believe that he didn't intend to kill others with his bomb.
And the circular hole in Ron Brown's skull was not called a bullet hole by the Army pathologist who saw his xrays.
And Vince Foster's pathology report didn't mention a bullet hole under his ear.
So many lies.
Well, guess that settles the issue. FBI says no terrorism, so we can now relax. /sarc
BTW, anyone recall seeing this guys pics? If they weren't photos of a terrorist-in-training, then slap me silly!
On one hand, I fully agree with your comment but I can also understand valid reasons for authorities not to classify these acts as terrorism even though they themselves may believe the perpetrator was acting as a terrorist.
Some reasons that come to mind are:
- Failure to meet legal definition - lone operators probably fail to meet specific legal criteria for terrorism.
- Insurance - Insurance policies exclude coverage against acts of terrorism.
- Official policy - The administration has stated that the best thing for Americans to do is to continue living their lives normally. The intent of terrorists is to force a change. If people stop going to sporting events, shopping malls, etc. the terrorists have won.
The bad thing is, because they are always so quick to say, "Nope, not terrorism." before they could possibly know, people are less and less willing to believe them, so things like the recent NYC building explosion are more suspect (even tho it really does seem to clearly be a case of a nut who wanted to kill himself and destroy his asset so his wife could not have it).
susie
I could be wrong, but I think that first, they are afraid of a backlash against Muslims. Second, they are afraid that it might affect the economy. Third, stuff I haven't thought of....
susie
The US still pretending that what is happening isn't happening!
Congratulations! You win a copy of the book 1984, so that you may continue your linguistic education (/sarcasm - actually you win nothing as you understand things well enough)
Nothing to see here, folks, move along please...
Toe the line and get your reward I wonder.
You left out Adm. Bourda's TWO suicide notes...
I would like to know their names. First names will do.
Pikers! Sheesh! I bet I could interview three hundred people who never even heard of Mr. Heinrichs or his little toy.
I suppose I am supposed to be impressed with all that work, but they trotted out the numbers on OK City, Flight 800, etc., too. Like we are supposed to be impressed.
Crap, plain and simple.
It isn't how many you ask, it is whom you ask. It isn't how many hours of interviews, it is what questions you ask. Just how dumb do they think we are?
If "over two hundred people" knew enough about this guy for the interviews to be germane to the bombing, there just might be something going on, ya think?
No one will miss one 'lone bomber', conspiriacy, terrorist, whatever.
But man, oh man, the university system would sure miss the millions that sports bring in every year, from the gate to alumnae donations to scholarship funds, etc., etc., etc.
That does not begin to cover the billions involved in the organized circuses which have justified the building at taxpayer expense of huge stadia in dozens of venues.
If you interfere with the masses following the circuses, bread alone will not keep them from finding something else to do--like watch what the government is up to...
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