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This is such a strange story! IF this guard shot himself, I would think the FBI would check that the guard had a gun.

I would assume that the guard would have had a gun. However I'm not sure offhand how easy it is to match a bullet from a handgun with the weapon that fired it - it's not as easy as with a rifle. I seem to remember that about all you can verify is if they're the same caliber, possibly also the same or a similar maker, rather than a specific gun.

It should be possible to test for residue on his hand however, and also whether the gun had been fired. That could get fairly conclusive results I would think.

This report says the guard was "unarmed".

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2369939
"The shooting of an unarmed security guard at a chemical plant here drew the attention of national security officials because the gunman, who was who was described as having a heavy accent, told the guard he was taking photographs of the area."

Can you guys refresh my memory about who was discussing rap/muslims? My husband came across a CD by a group called Lifesavas and in between two cuts there is a diatribe with a guy sounding Arab and my son will get those words and I will post them when I get them.

FYI

Islam has had a tremendous influence on American rap and hip-hop for decades, primarily through the Nation of Islam, a faith based on the belief that the white man (also referred to as the devil) aims to oppress the black man.

Rap groups like Public Enemy -- whose members were Nation of Islam followers -- have often made inflammatory statements and have been accused of being racist and anti-Jewish, often railing against what they called the "white world order."

In the post-Sept. 11 world, where paranoia toward Muslims can seem practically institutionalized by the government, traditional Muslim rappers (as opposed to Nation of Islam-influenced MCs, who focus more on civil rights) are gaining attention.

Locally, Des Moines' Sons of Hagar (pronounced "HA-jar") has already released two albums and plans to drop a third later this year -- all self-recorded and self-produced. The group is named for Abraham's wife and Ishmael's mother -- a woman revered for her faith and strength.

What makes Sons of Hagar stand out from other Muslim MCs, such as Washington, D.C.'s, Native Deen, is not the Arabic words they use: Allah, bismellahe rahmane rahim (in the name of the mighty and forgiving God) and other words out of the Quran have appeared in rap songs for years. The group's politics sets them apart.

Take, for example, the protest single "INSurrection" off their upcoming release, "A Change":

"It's the Arab hunting season, and I ain't leavin'

I'm pushing the conscience button on you people

Where is reason?"

Ahmad (stage name: Allahz Sword), 20, and his brother, Abdul (Ramadan Conchus), 18, are the core duo of Sons of Hagar, but Kareem (Keen Intellect), 17, and Musa (Musa), 17, also appear regularly, along with other guest MCs and DJs. Both Musa and Kareem have solo CDs coming out in the next year or so.

A war of words

Despite the angry lyrics, the young men themselves don't come across as hot-headed extremists.

"The revolution's gonna shine

Shine its light on Palestine

Armageddon round the corner kid I'm cockin' my nine

Israelis fightin' coz they think its theirs I'm fightin' coz I know it's mine

I'ma kill Sharon that devil's mine."

Although he makes no bones about loathing Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government ("I disagree with every aspect of Sharon"), Ahmad maintains that neither he nor anyone in the group is anti-Semitic.

"Hip-hop and Islam have a long, fruitful history together and I do not see them splitting any time soon, in'sha Allah (God willing)."

Note:
Adisa Banjoko, an author currently working on several projects, including a book called "The Light From the East: The Story of Islamic Influence in Hip-Hop Culture."

* Lengthy, inormative article:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/pop/108750_muslimrap.shtml

Bum ‘Rights’ Rap
May 1, 2002

By Heather Mac Donald

Human-rights groups began criticizing America's war on terrorism immediately after 9/11 and haven't stopped complaining since. Their criticisms can seem unfathomably ignorant until you grasp one crucial fact: Left-wing rights organizations don't appear to acknowledge that 9/11 even happened.

Take the most recent diatribe against U.S. self-defense: Amnesty International's recent report on the detention of illegal immigrants picked up after 9/11. Throughout the report, Amnesty puts "terrorist" in quotes, to signal the group's ironic detachment from the term.

If you can't bring yourself to use the word "terrorist" non-ironically, there is indeed much about recent government actions that will look arbitrary or discriminatory.

http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/_nypost-bum_rights.htm

Another informative article that gives some insight into their mathematical meanings:

The Five-Percent rap
Is a mysterious black Muslim group a bona fide religion or a dangerous gang?
By David F. Smydra Jr., 12/21/2003

LAUDED BY HIP-HOP ARTISTS from Busta Rhymes to the Wu-Tang Clan, linked to drug dealers and prison gangs, The Nation of Gods and Earths -- or, as they are popularly known, the Five Percenters -- have inspired controversy for almost 40 years. But this past summer, the group received a powerful endorsement from an unexpected corner. On July 31, the Federal District Court in New York ruled that Intelligent Tarref Allah, a 27-year-old convicted murderer currently serving 19 years to life, had been denied his First Amendment right of religious freedom, and is entitled to practice his Five Percent beliefs in prison.

Immediately deemed the "5% Fraud" by The New York Post, Allah's case is the latest installment in the ongoing tug-of-war between the predominantly black Five Percenters, prison officials, and the court system. In the 1980s the group was said to be associated with a drug ring in Queens, N.Y., and in the mid-'90s South Carolina prison officials reprimanded more than 300 inmates for refusing to renounce their Five Percent status. Last year, a New Jersey state court upheld the legitimacy of disciplinary actions taken by prison officials who had broken up an orderly meeting of inmate members.

The Nation of Islam's black supremacist attitude, while off-putting to many, imbued the organization with an almost militant commitment to black self-sufficiency. It successfully rehabilitated hundreds of prisoners and street hustlers from a life of crime and drugs, most famously Malcolm X, who in 1954 became Minister of Harlem's Temple Seven.

To spread his message, Clarence devised peculiar systems reminiscent of the Kabbalah and other mystical traditions, which he called the Supreme Mathematics and the Supreme Alphabet. (See sidebar.) For Five Percenters, Islam is less a religion than a science that can "break down" ordinary words through linguistic gymnastics. For instance, in the Supreme Alphabet A stands for Allah, which, broken down, stands for Arm, Leg, Leg, Arm, Head, thereby proving that the divinity of Allah is physically present in humankind.

The group's connection with hip-hop culture goes back to its early days, when Allah "rapped" the Supreme Mathematics on New York street corners. Gone was the Black Muslim approach of gradually initiating proselytes into the mysteries of the Nation of Islam; rather, Five Percenters aimed to "show and prove," or to immediately mesmerize listeners with their rap. "The nature of the teaching and the learning process lends itself to making really good rap poetry," says Ted Swedenburg, a professor of anthropology and Middle East studies at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, who testified on behalf of Intelligent Allah this past summer.

And then there's the mystery of just how many Five Percenters there are, and who really is one. (DC sniper suspect John Muhammad was briefly, mistakenly identified with the movement on the basis of his written claims to be "God.") The official Nation of Gods and Earth's website, www.ibiblio.org/nge, lists regular parliaments in almost three dozen cities in 17 states and Canada, and hundreds of Gods and Earths have linked their personal webpages to the site.

Whatever its size, the movement, like the Nation of Islam, emphasizes learning and self-improvement; since 1967, its de facto headquarters has been an educational institution, the Allah School in Mecca, or Manhattan. (Five Percenters refer to many geographical locales by a Middle Eastern name: Brooklyn is "Medina," for example, while Seattle, Wash., home of a regular parliament, is "Morocco.")

Entire Article:
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2003/12/21/
the_five_percent_rap/

This shows what Ruth posted about the large muslim convert population of African American's in our prison system