Authorities held, released Pakistani roommate of OU suicide bomber

Tulsa World/AP ^ | 10/5/2005 10:39:00 AM

[sully777]

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) -- The Pakistani roommate of a man authorities say died when he detonated an explosive device outside a crowded football stadium was led in handcuffs from a party shortly after Saturday's explosion, the head of an Islamic student group said.

Fazal M. Cheema, a finance major, shared a university-owned apartment with Joel Hinrichs III, 21, who died Saturday when a device attached to his body exploded as he sat on a bench outside George Lynn Cross Hall.

Cheema and three other Muslim students were led in handcuffs from a party by police after the blast, Ashraf Hussein, president of the Muslim Student Association, said Tuesday. They later were released...

...OU President David Boren said authorities continue to believe that Hinrichs... acted alone. He said Hinrichs' roommate, along with his acquaintances, were questioned by federal authorities...

The FBI said in a statement Tuesday that there is no current threat posed by additional explosive materials, that there is no known threat from anyone else related to the incident and that there is no known link between Hinrichs and any terrorist or extremist organization or activities...

Meanwhile, Norman feed store operator Dustin Ellison said Hinrichs attempted to purchase ammonium nitrate a few days before the explosion...a key ingredient in the 1995 attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.

The FBI told [Hinrich's father]...more high-density hydrogen peroxide was found in the apartment.

[sully777]

Funny how this story and the story concerning the pipebomb found on an OK City plane has died quickly. Odd developments in Oklahoma despite the MSM fadeaway

[Rummyfan]

OU should close the Muslim Student Association immediately and the FBI should put all these under a microscope!

[cripplecreek]

According to Hussein, Cheema is a really really nice guy. LOL

[sully777]

Informal ping of interest.

[Diddle E. Squat]

Funny how this story and the story concerning the pipebomb found on an OK City plane has died quickly.

And yet you just posted a new story with new information that just came out.

[Rosemont]

Story gets more and more interesting.

[fishtank]

Yes, it is "funny".

We need to talk this up like we did with the "Swift Boat/ Kerry" issue.

P.S. Boren is a 'Rat. Was he a guv or senator or both?

....next door neighbor of Slick42 to boot.....

[TomGuy]

the story concerning the pipebomb found on an OK City plane

I hadn't heard of that. When?

[bella1]

Something tells me that the FBI, if not involved yet, will be shortly. Just a hunch.

[fishtank]

How could they release the guy if the apartment had explosives in it?

[sully777]

Student Arrested at Airport Free to Resume Classes
The Norman Transcript
http://www.airportbusiness.com/article/article.jsp?id=3145&siteSection=5

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) -- A University of Oklahoma student accused of transporting an explosive device into Will Rogers World Airport last week is free to begin attending classes when the fall semester starts Monday.

Charles A. Dreyling Jr., 24, who is free on $10,000 bail, remains a student at the university, OU spokeswoman Catherine Bishop said Tuesday.

He is one semester away from completing an aviation management degree, his lawyer Kent Eldridge said...[Snip]

...Former Oklahoma City Mayor Kirk Humphreys (R), who is Dreyling's landlord and his longtime friend, said Dreyling had created a ''glorified firecracker'' and then forgotten that it was in his luggage...[snip]

...Dreyling was arrested at a security checkpoint on Aug. 10 after a Transportation Security Administration employee noticed something suspicious in his carryon luggage as it went through an X-ray machine.

The device was described in an FBI affidavit as a CARBON DIOXIDE cartridge filled with gunpowder that could be detonated when connected to a power source such as the batteries Dreyling had in his electric razor and in his cell phone, which were also in his carryon bag...[Snip]

...U.S. Department of Homeland Security documents obtained by The Norman Transcript newspaper indicate federal agents who searched Dreyling's residence found gunpowder, carbon dioxide cartridges and wires as well as a computer with a video of detonation of a device similar to the one transported into the airport....[snip]

---

Former Republican mayor with political asperations of OK Gov, or US congress, defends man caught taking a deadly pipe bomb SIMILAR TO THE LONDON BOMBERS' explosives onto a commercial airline. Kirk Humphreys calls it a "glorified firecracker."

That's a fascinating quote from the former mayor of OK City. If you think that is weird, something is very fishy about the news media coverage of the OU "suicide bomber" mentioned in the news recently.

---

1) Original OU suicide bomber story: Oct 2, 2005, 6:42 am

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) One person was killed in an explosion in a traffic circle about 100 yards from a packed football stadium at the University of Oklahoma on Saturday night in what authorities were calling a suicide....[snip]

...A police bomb squad detonated explosives found at the site of the blast. The area near the stadium was searched by bomb dogs.

2) On the subject of radio coverage for this odd incident: After a day of brewing on the blogosphere the #1 talkradio program in Tulsa, 740 KRMG decided to give a fuller investigation Sunday and Monday of this week. How? KRMG decided to give coverage to the father and sister of the suicide bomber NOT THE ACTUAL BOMBING or police investigations in his residence.

3) Father Of Suicide-Bombing Victim Denies His Son Had An
Agenda

"(Norman, OK) -- The University of Oklahoma engineering student who blew himself up didn't have a political agenda and wasn't trying to hurt anyone else. Joel Hinrichs (HEIN-ricks) Jr. says his son,
Joel Hinrichs the Third, was "checking out" as he put it. Hinrichs says he told the FBI his son was disengaged from politics and says agents told him they DID NOT find a suicide note. Hinrichs used HYDROGEN PEROXIDE to construct the bomb and had the device
strapped to his body when he detonated it. He was sitting on a bench outside the botany-microbiology building, which is about 100 yards from OU's Memorial Stadium. Thousands of people heard and even felt the blast during the second quarter of Saturday night's
game. "

4) Monday’s broadcast on 740 KRMG also quoted the bomber's sister: "It must have been an experiment gone wrong...it must have been an accident."

5) Saturday night and Sunday morning broadcasts quoted the father differently: "My son was depressed. He took a year off from college
due to depression. I can't imagine he WAS INVOLVED IN SOMETHING MORE..."

---

So, the MSM and government's line is that it was a suicide by a depressed boy. Or it was an experiment outside a crowded stadium WITH SECONDARY EXPLOSIVES READY TO BLOW UP--an experiment that went wrong. Or it was just an experiment without secondary explosives. But it's not terrorism. It's not linked to terrorism. Even though it has all the hallmarks of a classic AQ terror plot.

Also there was no suicide note but Feds ruled it a suicide. There were other bombs confiscated and detonated. Then the Feds said the bombs didn't exist rather the bomb squad let off an explosion to see if there were bombs. Also the bomber looked like he came from Osama High School but his muslim features were never reported except in a file picture. The bomber was said to have depression and anti-social behavior. But then he was quickly morphed into a quiet but friendly scientist that tinkered until he accidently died. Some sources on the internet say he frequented a mosque. The sources indicate material from the bomber's residence were bomb-making in origin and literature was pro-muslim. But how can we trust the internet sources?

The bomb found on this guy was a simple bomb-similar to the pipe bomb found on the guy arrested at OK City airport, as well as THE TERRORIST IN LONDON. But the MSM now tells us the bomber was a loner with no terror connections. We are told there is no connection even though there seems to be a strong connection.

We are also led to believe the suicide bomb was NOT a botched terrorist attack during a televised sports game which the HSA warned would be prime target after 9-11. It was not a botched terror attack performed on the Jewish Sabbath right before Rosh Hoshana. And there is no connection between this bomber and the fact that he lived in a problematic area of the USA known for harboring 9-11 terrorist ringleaders. No connections whatsoever.

So I say let's kill the story.

Never forget http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/1567815.stm

[null and void]

Story gets more and more interesting as the focus improves...

[Oorang]

Ping

[popdonnelly]

"According to Hussein, Cheema is a really really nice guy. LOL"

Oh, to be sure. Knowing what we know about Hinrichs, what sane student would want him for a roommate?

[AppyPappy]

Yet another mere coincidence, huh?

[Chena]

How could they release the guy if the apartment had explosives in it?

That's what I want to know. Most student apartments aren't very big so I find it hard to believe that he didn't know about it.

[cripplecreek]

Actually there are several stories that have come out in local news down there.

This thread from last night is still active and has nearly 2000 posts but there are links to a half dozen stories about the bombing.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1496731/posts

[AppyPappy]

Amazing that it hasn't gotten further than the local news. Yet, if this had been outide an abortion clinic.....

[yellowdoghunter]

Funny how this story and the story concerning the pipebomb found on an OK City plane has died quickly. Odd developments in Oklahoma despite the MSM fadeaway

I know exactly what you mean....and thanks for posting the new story with new information....however, like you said, it seems to fade away after a day or two....when it appears something IS going on.....

[Cboldt]

The FBI said in a statement Tuesday that there is no current threat posed by additional explosive materials, that there is no known threat from anyone else related to the incident and that there is no known link between Hinrichs and any terrorist or extremist organization or activities.

Sgt. Klink, sort of.

[Blogger]

As long as a Christian was the one attacking the clinic. If it is a Muslim, forget it. It's the religion of peace.

[Thumbellina]

http://newsbusters.org/node/1895

We Aren't Getting the Full Story on the OU Football "Suicide Bomber"
Posted by Mark Tapscott on October 4, 2005 - 06:01.
University of Oklahoma President David Boren seems determined to have everybody believe Joel Henry Hinrichs III was merely a disturbed young man who decided to commit suicide by blowing himself up within 100 yards of a stadium containing 84,000 screaming fans of Sooner football.

Sorry, I don't buy it, at least not yet. Here's why: First, The Daily Oklahoman is reporting authorities found a large cache of bomb-making materials in Hinrichs' apartment. The cache is so big that the Oklahoman quoted one of the officials on the scene as estimating a full 24 hours would be required to cart away all of the material.

Suicide victims don't normally accumulate a large amount of bomb-making material in their homes. People intent on blowing up other people do.

Second, the proximity to the stadium suggests Hinrichs' target was the crowd, perhaps as people were leaving the game. But being an OU student, he presumably would have access to the student seating section and could have gone from that area to anywhere else in the crowd he chose.

What better place to detonate a bomb guaranteed to both kill and maim many, as well as incite terror and possibly a stampede that would kill and injure more people? My guess is Hinrichs was kept from reaching his target by a premature detonation. Add the proximty of the Micro-Biology building and you may have the potential for a kind of bio-bomb that could have guaranteed utter chaos in and around the stadium.

Third, why was Boren sufficiently familiar with Hinrichs to so quickly issue an opinion about his motive in the bombing? When he resigned in November 1994 as a senator, Boren was chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. He left the Senate just as the Democrats lost their majority in the GOP sweep of 1994.

Add to his Senate years the presence of an active and long-established Muslim student presence on the OU campus stemming from the school's excellent Petroleum Engineering program, and it stands to reason that Boren has been privy to intelligence briefing as head of the school. Is that how he knew of Hinrichs?

Fourth, Hinrichs appears to have a fresh beard, which is characteristic of new Muslim male converts. His father told The Oklahoman his son was a quiet, intellectual type, but he had no idea what might have incited him to take his own life. We can only assume the father also didn't know of the bomb-making material in his son's apartment. Perhaps we are dealing with a recent or a secret convert?

Finally, if Hinrichs was just a disturbed guy who decided to kill himself with a bomb 100 yards from a crowd of 84,000 people instead of simply putting a bullet through his temple, slashing his wrists or some other traditional way of doing away with oneself, why is the FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force now the lead agency in the investigation?

Go here to read the latest dispatch from The Oklahoman.

[adam_az]

"Something tells me that the FBI, if not involved yet, will be shortly. Just a hunch."

FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force is involved - i posted the press release pdf url on the big thread yesterday

[LA Woman3]

"Joe would have become a Muslim fanatic when pigs fly," the father side.

Odd statement!

[Aquinasfan]

Meanwhile, Norman feed store operator Dustin Ellison said Hinrichs attempted to purchase ammonium nitrate a few days before the explosion...

That's a pretty big "meanwhile" to bury in the story.

[texasbluebell]

Luckily the pipe bomb was found before he boarded the plane, but interestingly, this was another student from Norman -- he says he built it for "fun" -- why would an aviation management student do that?

I might believe it was just a fun project if it was an engineering student, but aviation? And then just to forget it was in his baggage?

Color me skeptical.

http://www.normantranscript.com/localnews/local_story_230004903

[adam_az]

"Add the proximty of the Micro-Biology building and you may have the potential for a kind of bio-bomb that could have guaranteed utter chaos in and around the stadium."

That is just stupid given the small size of the bomb

[sully777]

I'm just a simple schmoe with a computer and a brain. I see no connections with anything. Grinning.

I read from KRMG last night that an engineer for the city's water supply has connections to the FBI watch list...oh, fiddle sticks, the story is not posted on http://www.krmg.com anymore. Must of been dreaming again.

[2Jedismom]

Oklahoma Ping!

If you want on
or off this list
Freepmail me.

[GOP_1900AD]

I have extensive direct experience with what I am about to write. In general, the Pakistani student communities at major US universities have very, very active social lives. They throw huge parties lasting until dawn with tons of booze and good food. Many non Pakistanis are invited. Some of the women are strikingly beautiful. For young Euro-Americans, there might be a certain allure that arises from this situation. Assuming that it was a goal for a subset of the Pakistani students (for example, Al Qaida or even ISI operatives embedded amongst them) to false flag or even direct recruit Americans, what I have just described would present a perfect opportunity.

[GOP_1900AD]

Sort of like, he was getting coached by the same folks who were probably coaching McVeigh and Nicols ...

[sully777]

I'll be damned. KRMG isn't posting the OU bombing story either. Must be small news compared to...the Tulsa State Fair. Wow, I'm gonna get me a funnel cake.

[ravingnutter]

I call BS...the story in post 22 states:

The cache is so big that the Oklahoman quoted one of the officials on the scene as estimating a full 24 hours would be required to cart away all of the material.

How could it be possible that the roommate did not know?

[OKSooner]

Tulsa World ping.

[Thumbellina]

Also check this site:

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=46640

Littlegreenfootballs is also following this with more links.

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/

[OKSooner]

Thanks. Nice to see you doing the ping list again.

[Osage Orange]

Funny how this story and the story concerning the pipebomb found on an OK City plane has died quickly.

That story...and the explanation rang totally true to me.

But maybe I'm an idgit....been one a time or two before.....

[Americanexpat]

I think Joel's Dad is full of it.

[2Jedismom]

:-D

Thank you, sir!

[quack]

Not to mention this occured 10 years to the day(October 1st,1995) that Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman and 9 others were convicted for their involvement in a conspiracy to plant bombs at New York landmarks like the United Nations building and FBI offices. These people were also accused (but not convicted) of being involved with the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.

[texasbluebell]

Makes no sense at all.

Unless they were living in rather more spacious quarters than most college kids are accustomed to, how would it be possible not to know what his roommate was doing, and accumulating.

And wouldn't all that stuff smell pretty bad? I wouldn't want to live in a room with all those explosives/chemicals, and I think I'd notice!

[OKSooner]

I haven't heard jack on either KRMG or KFAQ. Michael DelGiorno, our local crusader for Truth, Justice, Equanimity, Righteousness, Nobility, Humility, Charity, Chastity, Forebearance, Courage, and a whole bunch of other virtues too, obviously just doesn't know about this story. Someone oughta pick up the phone and call him.

[texasbluebell]

bump

[ravingnutter]

CARBON DIOXIDE cartridge filled with gunpowder that could be detonated when connected to a power source such as the batteries Dreyling had in his electric razor and in his cell phone, which were also in his carryon bag...

One of these was found in my Brother-in-Law's apartment after he died from an epileptic seizure, made the front page of the local paper. They called the bomb squad and everything. He was a pay telephone repairman and had found it on a telephone he was repairing. He took it to his boss and his boss told him he could keep it. He was a just a packrat, not a terrorist, but you couldn't tell it by the headlines, we thought it was funny.

[Thumbellina]

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/008444.php

[fishtank]

KFAQ does surprise me. I expect better from them.

Why is KRMG so quick to bury this? Do they have a lib track record?

P.S. I listen to KFAQ often from out-of-state (they have a strong signal).

[swarthyguy]

Good points, all.

Funny, tho', isn't it, the pervasive prevalence of Pakistanis in the worldwidejihad.

[sully777]

btt

[AD from SpringBay]

Repeat after them: ISOLATED INCIDENT, EMOTIONAL TROUBLE, WHITE KID...now move on and shut up about it!

[OKSooner]

KRMG aspires to be the big MSM outlet in this small market.

All I could speculate about KFAQ is that they're the local broadcaster for OU games. Personally, I don't see why that should be a problem unless they're being leaned on by the University or other interested parties. Let's get the truth out and then play ball. That's just me, though.