Posted on 10/07/2005 7:04:52 AM PDT by indcons
NORMAN -- An incident related by a ticket taker at Saturday's OU-Kansas State game raises questions about whether a student who died in a suicide explosion tried to gain entrance to Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.
But University of Oklahoma officials continue to deny that Joel Henry Hinrichs III tried to enter the stadium before dying about 100 yards away.
OU student Adam Smith said Thursday that he was approached as he was leaving the stadium Saturday by a ticket taker from Gate 6 who wanted to know what had happened.
Smith said he told the gate worker that there had apparently been an explosion outside the stadium and someone had been blown up.
"He gave me a wide-eyed look, and said: 'Oh, that's really strange,' " Smith said. The ticket taker recounted that a young man who looked strange and was wearing a backpack that looked full tried to get into the stadium.
However, when he was asked to open his backpack, "the guy didn't say a word and sprinted away," Smith said he was told.
Vice President of Communications Catherine Bishop said OU officials have "been assured that there is no validity to the Gate 6 rumor." Bishop said the story has been checked out by the university's athletic department.
Meanwhile, the FBI continued to have no new comments on the case Thursday.
Hinrichs, a 21-year-old, third-year engineering student described by his father as a loner and a depressed and troubled son, died Saturday in what officials have called a suicide explosion that occurred during the second quarter of the OU-Kansas State football game. The explosion was sizeable enough to leave a large burned-out area surrounding a park bench in front of a campus building, prompting concern from the public about what would have happened if the blast had occurred inside the stadium amid a crowd of 84,000 fans.
Hinrichs' roommate was Fazil Cheema, a student from Pakistan. Law enforcement officials late Saturday came to the Parkview Apartments complex where the pair lived, located Cheema at a neighboring apartment, then interviewed him and about a half-dozen others, who are Muslims. However, spokesmen for the local Muslim community say Cheema himself is not a practicing Muslim.
An OU instructor in Arab languages whose native country is Egypt said Thursday that he was among the small group of Muslims handcuffed by Norman police and led to FBI agents, who questioned him for about two hours early Sunday morning.
Instructor Hossam Barakat said Norman police were "really aggressive," but FBI agents were polite and apologized for having to interview Barakat and the others gathered at one of the units of Parkview Apartments.
Hinrichs and Cheema lived in a nearby unit, and Cheema was at the neighboring apartment when police arrived. Cheema has moved from the Parkview Apartments to another apartment in Norman, acquaintances say, but Cheema cannot be reached.
Barakat and others are concerned that the OU explosion could be unfairly connected to the Muslim community. Barakat said he does not know Cheema very well. Members of the Islamic Society of Norman say that Cheema is not a Muslim and does not attend the mosque.
"Cheema was an atheist who was angry with God because he had lost much of his hearing," said Tariq Alzoubi, who noted many international students especially from the Mideast region are reluctant to talk about the case.
The Muslims who practice at the Islamic Society of Norman emphasize that they have never seen Hinrichs at the mosque.
In a letter being sent to students and parents, OU President David Boren said he has been "assured that law enforcement officials including federal officers have found no evidence of a conspiracy involving others which creates an ongoing threat to our community."
"We believe that we should not judge others or jump to conclusions about others on the basis of color, race, gender, economic status or freely exercised religious beliefs," Boren said in the letter made public Thursday.
Mick Hinton (405) 528-2465 mick.hinton@tulsaworld.com
Ears still ringing from his last missionary endeavor?
Thanks for the information.
According to that TV news interview, if I recall it correctly, Hinrich tried to enter the stadium three times, twice at one gate and once at another, but was turned away after he refused to be searched.
I believe the name of the ticket taker and the assertion that Hinrich turned and "sprinted away" is new. At least I don't recall those details.
Note that Boren is now issuing a typically clintonoid statement: "OU President David Boren said he has been 'assured that law enforcement officials including federal officers have found no evidence of a conspiracy involving others which creates an ongoing threat to our community.' "
If you parse that, you see that he doesn't say there was no conspiracy but that LEOs have said they have found no evidence of a conspiracy. In other words, it depends what the meaning of the word is is.
The MSM is hitting the snooze alarm until the "timing is right". At least that's what Fox is doing according to a fellow freeper.
Covering this story would support Bush's contention that we are at war.
The two are connected and this is no coincidence.
Nah...it's those Gaza Synod Lutherans.
The MSM in conjunction with the U.S. Govt is covering this thing up.
Oops. I just parsed it further. Boren doesn't even say that they say that there is no evidence of a conspiracy. He says that they say that there is no evidence of a conspiracy which threatens OU in the future.
In other words, maybe there IS evidence of a conspiracy that threatened OU a few days ago, and that conspiracy possibly might represent a future threat too, but we don't know that for sure, because at the moment they are all denying everything and lying low.
Difficult for most people (except the MSM) to avoid that conclusion. There is also an alert in Philly right now.
And muslims never lie to us infidels!
The FBI has a track record of doing this very thing (OKC Bombing, TWA Flight 800), and unless some facts start coming out pretty soon, I'm going to believe this is what is going on.
Is this the Amtrak scare?
Clearly Boren is going to state there is no evidence of any type conspiracy, to say otherwise wouldn't be conducive to a learning environment.
It's obvious Hinrichs depression was a motivating factor as he ultimately didn't detonate in a crowded area. What I find unusual is the method he chose for suicide and who his closest friends appeared to be. It's difficult to believe this is purely coincidental.
please add em to you're list, I live in OK
"practicing Muslim" means the one actually carrying the bomb.
You bet...can't have too many jedis!
;-)
The government wants to keep it quiet so as to not spook the game.
The MSM wants to keep it quiet to avoid supporting Bush.
Opposite reasons, identical results.
IMHO, YMMV
"BTW, his family confirmed that he was NOT a football fan."
Going to OU and not a football fan... I would have called the feds right away.
BTW, blowing himself up does not substitute for yelling, "BOOMER!"
You got it!
An atheist that is angry with God?
As likely as a Judeo-Christian blaming their deafness on Buddha. Who are we to doubt this.
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