Muslim Convert Singled Out Soldiers, Prosecutor Says

New York Times ^ | June 2, 2009 | Steve Barnes and James Dao

[reaganaut1]

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A 23-year-old man who the police say shot two soldiers, killing one, outside an Army recruiting office here because he was upset about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan “would have killed more soldiers if they had been in the parking lot,” a prosecutor said Tuesday at a preliminary court hearing.

The suspect, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, pleaded not guilty, and a district judge ordered that he be held without bail.

At the hearing, a deputy prosecutor, Scott T. Duncan, said Mr. Muhammad had told investigators that he fired repeatedly at the soldiers on Monday morning “because of what they had done to Muslims in the past.”

“He stated he would have killed more soldiers if they had been in the parking lot,” Mr. Duncan said, reading from a police report.

Mr. Muhammad, of Little Rock, appeared at the brief hearing in a dark blue prison suit, handcuffs and shackles around his legs. He did not speak, other than to whisper a few words to his lawyer, and sat expressionless for most of the time.

Quoting an unnamed law enforcement official, The Associated Press reported Tuesday that Mr. Muhammad had been arrested and jailed in Yemen at some point for using a Somali passport. A joint terrorism task force led by the F.B.I. has been investigating Mr. Muhammad since he returned to the United States from Yemen, the official said.

After the shooting, Mr. Muhammad fled in a black pickup truck and was arrested minutes later in a bustling suburban shopping center near the recruiting station, the police said. The police said a Russian-made SKS semiautomatic rifle, a .22-caliber rifle and a handgun were found in his truck.

[WellyP]

Alone? Where did he convert to Islam? Who was his Imam? Where did he get the contacts in Yemen and how did this “dimbulb” get to Yemen and on whos Dollars?

[Levante]

The bastard deserves to be skinned alive with a potato peeler....

[antonia]

In prison he has the opportunity to convert hundreds of violent criminals to violent jihadists. So far US prisons have mostly been home to the Farrakhan "Nation of Islam" crackpots, but as Obama proceeds to take foreign terrorists out of Guantanamo and into the US prison system, and as Saudi-funded Wahabism spreads in the US, we might see the beginnings of a home-grown Islamic terrorist movement forming in US prisons.

All too true.

[cranked]

...and nothing said about it.
I suppose the unfortunate death of Mr. Tiller takes precedence in a Barry world.

[peace with honor]

sad commentary on our country and how things are reported, FUC*ING WEAK

[La Enchiladita]

And that is because the climate is right for it.
More unprecedented challenges from without and within.

[La Enchiladita]

I am wondering if he saw the Don Cheadle movie, “Traitor,” and somewhat copy-catted from that.

[La Enchiladita]

You are not alone in asking questions.

And now, officials say, the FBI and the CIA are engaged in an intense effort to reconstruct Muhammad's path to extremism -- and allegedly to murder -- taking apart his life, examining his friendships, educational records, travel within the United States and possible contacts with extremists overseas.

Though police told ABC News that a preliminary investigation indicated that Muhammad acted alone, federal authorities are trying to determine whether others were involved in any way -- including supplying weapons, lending encouragement or support, and helping to identify a target...

Recruiter Shooting Suspect Had Ties to Extremist Locations

Imagine my surprise this a.m. when ABC news announced this as an act of terrorism.