Posted on 10/26/2005 12:40:47 PM PDT by LibertyRocks
OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma - Has terrorism returned to the Oklahoma City area? That is what folks in Norman have been asking, ever since a 21-year-old student at the University of Oklahoma killed himself in what some are calling an attempted homicide bombing.
On Saturday, October 1, engineering major Joel Hinrichs detonated a homemade bomb near Memorial Stadium, where 84,000 fans were watching the hometown Sooners take on Kansas State.
That was just a hundred yards from a newly replaced bench -- it was there, just before halftime, that a powerful explosion ripped through the entire area, taking Hinrichs with it.
From the outset, both the FBI and University of Oklahoma President David Boren have insisted that Hinrichs acted alone. They say his death was a random suicide, carried out by a troubled young man, and that Hinrichs had no intention of hurting anyone but himself. But others who have followed the case closely are not so sure.
Mark Tapscott of the Heritage Foundation remarked, “There are about 30,000 suicides in America--unfortunately--every year. And you can go back a decade, and you will not find a single one of those suicides who blew themself up in proximity, close proximity, to 84,000 people at a football game.”
Tapscott and other online bloggers have questioned Hinrichs' true intentions. They point to his Pakistani Muslim roommate and the location of his apartment--just one block from the Norman Mosque.
It is the same mosque that convicted 9/11 plotter Zacarias Moussaoui attended when he lived in Norman. As for Hinrichs, a spokesman for the mosque told us he had never seen him there.
“The first time we've seen his picture is when the news and the media put his pictures in the papers and on TV. Other than that, we've never seen him here,” stated Mohamed Elyazgi, a spokesman for the Norman Mosque.
But in a CBN exclusive, a former neighbor of the mosque, who wishes to remain anonymous, told us she did see Hinrichs there--not once, but several times.
“I did see Joel on several occasions outside of the mosque, actually, in the parking lot of the mosque,” the neighbor said. “It wasn't in the yard, it wasn't behind the fence, it was always in the parking lot when I would see him. And there was one time when I passed him, actually, on the sidewalk. As soon as I saw the picture of Joel Hinrichs on TV, not the clean-shaven one, but the one with the beard, I knew immediately that that was the gentleman I had seen on several occasions.”
Hinrichs' father says his son never would have converted to Islam, and that young Joel was no terrorist. Joel Hinrichs Sr. declared, “My pride is under challenge somewhat, by the fact that he took his life. But in terms of a terrorist, a terrorist is somebody who tries to scare other people. And there was nobody around when Joel did what he did.”
But the FBI has admitted that it still is not sure whether Hinrichs tried to enter Memorial Stadium.
And why did Hinrichs attempt to buy ammonium nitrate fertilizer at a local feed store just days before killing himself? That is the same deadly material Timothy McVeigh used to blow up the Oklahoma City Federal Building in 1995.
“We don't have a lot of people who come in and actually specifically state that they need ammonium nitrate,” Dustin Ellison of Ellison Feed & Seed said. “When it's used in that terminology now, it's kind of...it just catches your attention when somebody asks for that.”
Oklahoma Congressman Tom Cole understands the concerns surrounding Hinrichs' death. But he is confident that the FBI's findings are correct, and that Hinrichs only meant to harm himself.
Rep. Cole stated, “We do have a person that has a long documented history of having a very troubled past. It's a person that had been isolated, who seemed a little bit odd. Who, according to his brother, had frequently been teased and tormented as a young person by fellow students. Sort of classic loner, who didn't fit in.”
Law enforcement authorities found additional explosives during a search of Hinrichs’ apartment. Some news outlets have reported they also found jihadist literature. The FBI denies this claim.
But anyone looking to dig deeper will not have much luck--the Department Of Justice has sealed the search warrant for Hinrichs' apartment.
Although it has grabbed most of the attention, Hinrichs' suicide is not the only troubling incident to take place on America's college campuses these past few weeks.
At UCLA, authorities discovered what they called "an improvised explosive device." Near the University of California's San Diego campus, authorities found a homemade chemical lab in the bathroom of a student's apartment. The student killed himself as police attempted to enter the residence.
At Prairie View A & M in Texas, a student was arrested when authorities found bombmaking materials in his dorm room. He is also charged with trying to buy a handgun with counterfeit money.
And at Georgia Tech, in what officials now say was a prank, a student planted three explosive devices on campus.
As for the University of Oklahoma, it has tightened security at all home games in the wake of Hinrichs' death.
The Oklahoma City Memorial is a daily reminder of the deadly effects of domestic terrorism. And for many here, questions still linger about Hinrichs' death. Was it just a lone suicide? Or was it part of a larger conspiracy to bring terrorism back to America's heartland?
I'm thinking this was a "work accident", either from our side, or from his side to prevent him from being captured and interrogated.
He attempted to get into the stadium, then fled when the guard wanted to search his backpack. He (and others) had to be figuring that cops were now looking for him
More disturbing is the attempted purchase of Ammonium Nitrate. ANFO needs a blasting cap or other primer to set it off. I'm thinking the TATP was originally intended to be the primer for a OKC-size ANFO bomb
Great thread.
Bookmark
Not going to convince me that he triggered that bomb intentionally. My bet is that someone took him out.
There have also been "rumors" around that he tried to drive his car into the oval -- not too smart because you have to have special passes to get in that area on gameday even before this. According to local law enforcement that car had 400 lbs of explosives in it.
This smelled from the first night. Will say one thing -- security is now definitely tighter and I mean tighter. Surveillance everywhere thanks to Government grants. Ever hear of a Government grant getting awarded and items put in within a few weeks? According to a letter to season ticket holders that I received, feds and state came through with the grants to upgrade security. For that I am grateful but a lot of tightened security for a "lone, depressed suicide bomber who blew himself up!"
The question is, has it ever left America's heartland? I don't think so.
mark
"According to local law enforcement that car had 400 lbs of explosives in it."
Hi PhiKapMom. Been a week or so for me on these OU bombing threads, but sounds like there's a bit of new coverage, and some new info? Has this 400 lbs of explosives in the car been reported anywhere, or are we talking local grapevine stuff here?
I'm really wondering about that old blue Lincoln Town Car now, left sitting in the apartment building parking lot, if there had been explosives in it. I'd think that car would have been taken away, had that been the case.
Is this tied to the bottles in the car somehow, according to local law enforcement?
That was reported right after the NPD blew up the explosives and some surmized on here the reason for the Town Car was that they had air bags to keep the car level when it had a lot of weight in the back. I think I was watching Channel 5 news when they reported the amount of explosives.
There is new info about someone coming forward that saw the bomber at the Mosque.
"There is new info about someone coming forward that saw the bomber at the Mosque."
Well, it's a start, having a witness willing to come forward on this, but I'm afraid that the account given by this witness is too easily discounted to amount to much. She always saw him outside the mosque, or on the sidewalk by the mosque. His apartment was right there, so this isn't going to count for much, especially with those who want to make all this go away, so busily spinning plausibly deniable tales to counteract any suspicion.
Silence has been deafening around here from OU President since Saturday's game when we all saw the new instructions about evacuation due to "weather" or other conditions.
No one I know that heard all of that thinks that this was a lone, depressed suicide bomber. All doubts were erased by the announcements on Soonervision.
I haven't talked to a soul who believes the suicide note either -- not one!
"I haven't talked to a soul who believes the suicide note either -- not one!"
I'm sure the note thing was just intended to quiet speculation, and to make the whole thing sound more plausible to a broader audience that would not be as familiar with the details as you folks in Norman are, should the story start to break out and get wider coverage. The statement that Hinrichs' father made was worded in such a manner that it is hearsay. You've heard very little new about it since, too ... right?
We are still hearing a lot of things that no one will go "on the the record" about and some of our media is still investigating. Have heard this is not the only neighbor that saw him there.
The investigation is also ongoing. The search warrant is still sealed but word leaked that they have the hard drives so the suicide note is as they say -- "odd!"
Are people genuinely afraid to come forward? Why? Fear of reprisal, fear of being sued for defamation? What is the mood and climate like there?
I want the facts to be laid bare so we all can see and decide. But, the longer it's all drawn out, the less likely it is that there will be any repercussions. It loses immediacy and becomes lore.
Time's a-wastin' on this, because we have a very short collective memory. Sad but true.
People have come forward but unless you know people in law enforcement or the legal community, you hear little and what you hear, you cannot post.
What I don't understand is how they were able to shutdown the MSM.
Our local media is sitting on stories that don't have double sourcing and unlike the MSM, they won't go with those stories.
Thanks for the flag.
Thanks for the ping!
Or he accidentally set it off while trying to move it from the backpack to under his clothing, or by some other means. The stuff isn't called "Mother of Satan" for nothing you know. It's pretty touchy stuff, especially if prepared somewhat "inexpertly".
Do they say what kind of explosives? 400 pounds of most of 'em would be a heck of a bomb. 400 pounds of TATP would be insane. Even 400 pounds of plain old black powder would not be anything to mess with. It's slightly more than the weight of the explosives in a MK-83 1,000 pound bomb (385 lbs Tritonal, Minol II, or H-6), And of course an old Lincoln Town car would provide plenty of fragments.
She said "I did see Joel on several occasions outside of the mosque, actually, in the parking lot of the mosque,” the neighbor said. “It wasn't in the yard, it wasn't behind the fence, it was always in the parking lot when I would see him. And there was one time when I passed him, actually, on the sidewalk."
In the parking lot, is whole lot different than just "outside the mosque". IIRC the parking lot is inside the fence, but PKM can confirm that, since she did a "drive by" recon of it.
Parking lot is definitely inside the fenced area in the back and north side of the mosque.
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