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
Because he was deaf?
Ok, just a lame attempt at humor. If in fact cheema is NOT a practicing muslim, and does not attend mosque, it is less likely that he was part of an islamic terrorist plot. While, as another poster said, it doesn't PROVE he wasn't involved, that fact is that there is no evidence that is WAS involved, and the speculation was driven by the possibility that he was muslim.
One rule when speculating (or in so many other decision-making tasks) is to be sure to go back to original assumptions when things change, to see if you would reach the same conclusion from scratch with the new set of data. Otherwise you get stuck on a theory well after all the assumptions for the theory have been disproven.
Still strange there's no news about this running around.
Well so far we've been told he couldn't hear very well and can't read much, maybe he's blind too! How in the world was this guy attending college classes??
There's no link that I'm aware of. I just thought it was curious that it was mentioned during a discussion of events in NY.
"I cant for the life of me understand any other reason why this story hasnt been front page material."
Like someone else here said, because it wasn't an abortion clinic.
Coach Stoops is not one to tangle with -- none of the rest of the crowd knew they are locked down so I imagine he didn't either. I don't blame him for being livid. Matches my disposition completely.
I go in Gate 7 and as I reported on here several times, some rent-a-cop look in my bag which is large and never bothered to look below my purse sitting on top or in my daughter's purse. Asked several people sitting around us after we finally heard what had happened in the 4th quarter and two women never had their handbags searched at Gate 7 or other items they were carrying.
Security has been lax this whole season and I don't care what Boren has to say. Right now Boren has the credibility of a gnat and that may be giving him too much credibility.
Cheema has not been seen at all from what I am hearing.
There's lots of rumors going on all over the country. The MSM runs all over the place chasing down false leads in Philly, New York and elsewhere, yet ignores a suicide bomber in OK. Someone sometime has to connect the dots.
Just now a thread from long time member seekingthetruth was put in Breaking News and related how Las Vegas is being locked down with all police/fire leaves cancelled and hospitals on special alert. It was yanked because the link went to a porn site, but it may have been genuine.
PKM, did you catch seekingthetruth's thread before it was yanked?
I hear they are bringing OJ in to help with the case.
Question: Don't know to what degree you've been following this story, but... would this be the protocol for an indictment, or a coverup?
At this point we're talking about fourth-hand info. Some anonymous ticket taker (or so he said) who told somebody who told a reporter who wrote about it for a known liberal newspaper. That's real dependable.
BTTT
This article related one more piece of data, if we can believe it to be true:
Cheema the roommate had lost most of his hearing.
Think about that for awhile.
Do you have a source for this info?
Inquiring Sooners want to know...
HUH!? WHAT'S THAT!? AH CAIN'T HEAR YE! AFTER ALL THEM YEARS DOING DEMOLITION AH CAIN'T HEAR NEARLY NOTHIN!
No "awhile" for me; my suspicious brain thought immediately that there might be a connection between explosions and hearing loss. And there would certainly be reason to blame Allah for that!
Please post the compilation of verified info for this guy's benefit.
That is a fact and is not speculation. It is sealed! The Boren spin keeps falling apart -- wonder what his next statement will backtrack on as he changes by the day. He should just keep his mouth shut but his arrogance and iron fist control won't allow him it looks like.
I have supported Boren many times on this forum but I am stating here and now, I NEVER will again. He needs to resign and do it yesterday. His coddling of the Middle East students is beyond ludicrous. Having a foreign student working in the Athletic Department defies my comprehension when there are plenty of Oklahoma kids that would love that chance. If you haven't heard, the bomber's roommate worked for the Athletic Department. My daughter couldn't get a job through work-study because of income but they allow foreign students to get jobs on campus?
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