It is with concern that I read your story Virginia man had weapons cache, grenade launcher stashed in N.J. hotel room at the link
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/01/suspicious_virginia_man_had_we.html
I had a couple of questions for you, based upon the article.
In particular, my curiosity was roused by the following paragraph:
A U.S. Navy spokesman, Lt. Justin Cole, said Woodson joined the service in February 1988 and served aboard the USS Orion, a submarine tender, before deserting in April 1989. It would be eight years before he was returned to Navy custody, Cole said. A month later, in August 1997, Woodson was discharged.
And then there is the following sentence:
Mixed in among Woodson’s belongings, the prosecutor said, was a Middle Eastern, red-and-white traditional headdress.
This seems to me to be fairly unusual attire for a Navy man, even in an era when the President bows to the King of Saudi Arabia.
In addition, it seems odd that someone who has deserted from the Navy escaped apprehension for *eight years*.
My questions are as follows:
Is there any information available as to where Woodson was living during the interval after his desertion and before his apprehension and (presumably dishonorable) discharge?
Were any other suspicious items found (or disclosed by the authorities) which might shed light on his state of mind or motivations? (A Koran, given the headdress; or maybe screeds against the military given his discharge following desertion; or even connections to the Weather Underground -- remember several of their members died while constructing a homemade bomb meant to kill people on a military base.)
Did he have a laptop computer or a cell phone? Has a warrant been secured to allow them to be examined ? (Remember Zacarais Moussaoui's laptop prior to 9-11.)
Naaah -- I'm sure he had Glenn Beck's private cell phone and a copy of Sarah Palin's Going Rogue (heavily underlined in highlighter). /sarc>
Cheers!
Good point. A defector to Islamic Jihad?
Small Recap and Update:
#
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/01/suspicious_virginia_man_had_we.html
“Virginia man had weapons cache, grenade launcher stashed in N.J. hotel room”
By Star-Ledger Staff
January 25, 2010, 9:45PM
Star-Ledger file
SNIPPET: “Lloyd Woodson, 43, of Reston, Va., today was charged with multiple offenses, including second-degree unlawful weapons possession and fourth-degree possession of prohibited weapons after police found him armed and a battery of weapons in his room at the Red Mill Inn in Branchburg.”
BRANCHBURG —
SNIPPET: “Mixed in among Woodson’s belongings, the prosecutor said, was a Middle Eastern, red-and-white traditional headdress.”
If only *reporters* were as curious as you are....