Posted on 07/06/2002 8:34:50 AM PDT by kattracks
LOS ANGELES, Jul 06, 2002 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- The Egyptian immigrant who gunned down two people at Los Angeles International Airport drew little attention during the 10 years he lived in the United States. However, an INS spokesman said the man's first petition for permanent residency had been denied.
The Immigration and Naturalization Service rejected Hesham Mohamed Hadayet's request to remain in the country in February 1996, INS spokesman Ron Rogers said in Saturday's Orange County Register. It wasn't clear why.
The agency began deportation procedures, but in 1997, Hadayet was granted permanent residency through his wife, Hala, who received an immigration visa through the Department of States' Diversity Lottery Program, the Register and Los Angeles Times reported.
Hadayet's uncle, Hassan Mostaffa Mahfouz, told The Associated Press in Egypt that Hadayet had only about a year remaining before he qualified for citizenship and that he was happy in the United States.
"I don't believe what happened," Mahfouz said. "I felt that he could not do that."
Police files from Irvine, where Hadayet lived, show officers went to his apartment on a domestic dispute call six years ago, but he was not prosecuted. Nothing else in the files even hints at the violence he unleashed Thursday, on his 41st birthday.
The FBI said Hadayet went to the El Al counter intending to kill people, but his motive remained unclear Saturday.
Israeli officials said they would consider the attack an act of terror unless it was proven otherwise. But on Friday, White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said, "There is no evidence, no indication at this time that this is terrorists."
FBI special agent Richard Garcia said it still wasn't known if Hadayet harbored anti-Israel feelings.
"Besides terrorism and such, we are also looking into the possibility of a hate crime. We're also looking into the possibility of the person being despondent," Garcia said.
Hadayet was the fourth person in line at the counter when he opened fire, authorities said. He fired 10 or 11 bullets before he was shot dead by an airline security guard.
Three other people were wounded, including a guard who was stabbed by Hadayet as he fought with the wounded gunman. FBI spokesman Matt McLaughlin said the guard will recover. A fourth bystander suffered heart trouble after the attack.
Hadayet was armed with a .45-caliber semiautomatic Glock pistol, a 9 mm handgun and a 6-inch knife. A law enforcement source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Hadayet had owned one of the guns "for years" and purchased the other a couple of months ago.
Abdul Zahav, a man who said he worked for Hadayet until he was fired two years ago, said Hadayet once told him he hated all Israelis.
"He kept all his anger inside him. So he can't hold it anymore, he can't hold it anymore," Zahav said.
Others painted a far different picture of Hadayet.
"He was never hateful or belligerent," said Dan Danilewicz, whose 17-year-old son was a friend of the Hadayet family. "I can't see him carrying a knife or gun into the airport. Nothing anti-American or anti-Semitic ever came out of their mouths."
Hadayet's wife and sons, Adam, 8, and Omar, 14, had left California for Egypt about a week before the shootings.
Relatives said Hadayet was a Cairo-born accountant who ran a limousine company out of his apartment. Mahfouz said Hadayet studied commerce at Ain Shams University in Cairo and worked as an accountant in a bank before leaving for the United States in 1992.
"He is a very, very tender person and close to his family," Mahfouz said.
Irvine police Lt. Dave Freedland said Hadayet had three contacts with the department since 1996 - all of them "unremarkable."
Police records show officers were called to the apartment on May 19, 1996, over a domestic dispute. They found Hadayet and his wife "had been involved in a physical confrontation." Police referred the case to the district attorney for potential assault-and-battery charges against both parties, but the office declined to prosecute.
The only other Irvine police files on Hadayet were when he was robbed in January 1997 while driving a cab at Orange County's John Wayne Airport, and when he was listed as a witness and victim in a fraud case reported last November.
Neighbors said Hadayet was quiet, but once became angry when an upstairs neighbor hung large American and Marine Corps flags from a balcony above his front door after the Sept. 11 attacks.
"He complained about it to the apartment manager. He thought it was being thrown in his face," neighbor Steve Thompson said.
There was no record of such a complaint, said Rich Elbaum, a spokesman for The Irvine Co., which owns the complex where Hadayet lived.
The flags were there the day of the shooting. A bumper sticker on Hadayet's front door that read "Read the Koran" was removed by authorities.
The FBI searched the apartment Thursday night, impounding a Toyota Camry, a computer, books, binders and other material.
Los Angeles officials, meanwhile, sought to assure the public that the city was safe.
"We have no information of any credible threats anywhere in the city of Los Angeles," Mayor James Hahn told reporters outside police headquarters.
By ANDREW BRIDGES Associated Press Writer
Copyright 2002 Associated Press, All rights reserved
Anybody remember why Bush the Elder signed this thing?
My, my, my. Sounds like another moslem beating his wife. No wonder they make them wear veils...
Unfortunately you are correct now we shall see can we be smart enough to change the policy or are we too stupid as a nation to survive.
Stay well - Stay safe - Stay armed - Yorktown
Maybe another reason is to not have to pay out the 1.6 million dollar federal payouts to victims. The 9-11 payout no doubt set a precendent.
And we can bet the rent, that their are many, many others, with fanatic, pit bull tempers, just waiting to go off to contribute to their cause. The best way to go undetected, it to remain alone, out of the group. The potential for there being thousands of these individuals among us, is incredible.
May have been part of the Immigration Act signed in 1990 which besides the diversity lottery, raised legal immigration numbers to almost 1 million annually. It was done according to its sponsors as a way of cutting down on illegal immigration by offering more legal visas, but all it did was increase immigration overall because illegals continue to pour in.
Brilliant plan by the eggheads in Washington.
Good post, Saber. I agree with you.
Fascinating reading.
Another reason to not "celebrate diversity."
I agree. Someone must have seen a reason to deny him.
I was just wondering where they were. Sure adds credence to the "sleeper" theory.
Yes, and it was a deliberate decision by the govt, in the interest of diversity and multiculturalism. Kind of sucks doesn't it?
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