English Teacher, Dammaj Student, American Jihaddist
The murderer was bullied by FBI while in Yemeni jail so he became a fanatic? Oh come on… The first story of being radicalized in Yemeni prison was more believable. ( Update at NPR, a little more realistic. )
Fox: “He said my concern was the FBI agent coming in over there (Yemen) and I thought would be there to help me,” Hensley says. “He was there to torment me a little bit more, to explain that I was in trouble, I was going to be looked after, that I was going to be watched over. And if I ever got out of here I’d have to be concerned with him. That’s what he said.”
That same Ohio mosque. There’s a good blog devoted to jihaddism in Ohio, I’ll try to find it again. ABC
Nuradin Abdi was convicted in 2007 of planning to blow up an Ohio shopping mall. Iyman Faris was convicted in 2003 of planning to blow up the Brooklyn Bridge. Christopher Paul was convicted in 2008 of conspiring to use explosives against targets in the U.S. and Europe.
The mosque, according to well informed sources, is a small house of worship that has regularly been frequented by foreigners with radical sympathies who, after their stops in Ohio, continued onward. The Imam of the mosque was not immediately available for comment.
Columbus has been identified as the jumping off point for Somalis residing in the United States, including Somali Americans, to become radicalized and then head overseas to wage jihad.
While in Yemen it is believed that Muhammad attended the Damaj Institute, an Islamic institute attended by a number of radicalized U.S. converts, which was once attended by John Walker Lindh, the “American Taliban” captured in Afghanistan.
It is unknown what role Muhammad’s visit to Yemen may have played in his radicalization. His lawyer Jim Hensley told the Associated Press today that Muhammad went to Yemen to teach English to Afghan war refugees, but was jailed over problems with his visa.
Hensley said Muhammad was “tortured” and “radicalized” while in the Yemeni prison.
Prior to his drive-by shooting at the Little Rock recruiting center, Muhammad had used the Google Maps application to investigate recruiting centers in at least five other states, as well as Jewish institutions, a day care center, a post office and a Baptist Church, according to a report issued Tuesday by the Department of Homeland Security,
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The man accused of killing an Army private outside an Arkansas recruiting center never suffered torture or beatings while jailed on an immigration violation in Yemen, an official with the country’s embassy said Friday.
Embassy spokesman Mohammed Albasha denied claims by Abdulhakim Muhammad’s lawyer that abuse radicalized the man into becoming a terrorist. Instead, Albasha said, the once-idealistic college student from Tennessee found his own way to religious anger after converting to Islam in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Muhammad’s claims “are not credible because he is attempting to find any pretext to justify his violent actions, even those that are completely false,” Albasha said in a statement to The Associated Press. “He was not subjected to torture that has driven him to become a terrorist against his own fellow American citizens. These allegations are absurd.”
U.S. Army
AP Photo – In this undated photo provided by the U.S. Army in Little Rock, Ark., Tuesday, June 2, 2009, Pvt. William Long, 23, of Conway, Ark., is shown Friday, May 15, 2009. Long was killed outside an Army-Navy Career Center in a west Little Rock shopping center on Monday, June 1.Danny Johnston
AP Photo – Attorney Jim Hensley is interviewed at his North Little Rock, Ark., office Thursday, June 4, 2009, as he speaks about his client Abdulhakim Muhammad who is accused of killing a soldier outside a Little Rock recruiting center Monday, June 1.Danny Johnston
AP Photo – Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad stands in a Little Rock, Ark., courtroom Friday, June 5, 2009, for his initial appearance with his new attorney. Muhammad is accused in the death of a military recruiter outside the Army-Navy Career Center in a west Little Rock shopping center.Danny Johnston
AP Photo – Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, right, appears in a Little Rock, Ark., courtroom with his new attorney Jim Hensley Friday, June 5, 2009. Muhammad is accuesd in the death of a military recruiter outside the Army-Navy Career Center in a west Little Rock shopping center.Danny Johnston
AP Photo – In this photo taken Tuesday, June 2, 2009, Abdulhakim Muhammad, 23, waits in a Little Rock, Ark., courtroom where he was charged in the Monday, June 1, death of a military recruiter. Muhammad’s lawyer on Thursday, June 4, 2009, said his client was tortured and radicalized in a Yemeni prison.CLICK FOR MORE PHOTOS
Dead soldier’s family sought quiet in Arkansas
The 23-year-old Muhammad appeared briefly Friday in Little Rock District Court. Judge Alice Lightle formally appointed lawyer Jim Hensley, who raised the abuse claim on Thursday, to represent him.Muhammad was silent during the hearing. He has pleaded not guilty to a capital murder charge in the death Monday of Pvt. William Long. Another soldier, Pvt. Quinton I. Ezeagwula, was wounded in the shooting. Hensley has said his client wants to hold a news conference with reporters or issue a statement to “explain himself.”
Hensley had told the AP on Thursday that “hardened” Islamic terrorists inside the prison where Muhammad was held for four months indoctrinated him into their radical beliefs. He also said that while in prison he faced torture and beatings from jailers, prisoners or both that left him scarred.
Muhammad, born Carlos Bledsoe, traveled to Yemen in September 2007 and taught English in the port city of Aden with the British Council for about two months, Albasha said. Muhammad then traveled to San’a, the country’s capital, and taught English classes while attending Arabic courses with a group known as The City Institute, the spokesman said.
Police arrested Muhammad on Nov. 14 for overstaying his visa and living illegally in the Middle Eastern nation, Albasha said. He was deported Jan. 29 to the U.S.
A law enforcement official previously told the AP that Muhammad was arrested and jailed for using a Somali passport. On Friday, Hensley acknowledged Muhammad had such a passport at the time of his arrest, but said it was only to remain in the country with his wife.
