Posted on 10/09/2005 11:22:54 AM PDT by JustaCowgirl
NORMAN - University of Oklahoma officials, the Muslim community, students and others are waiting for the FBI to connect the dots in last week's public suicide of an OU student.
Joel Henry Hinrichs III, 21, was killed Oct. 1 in an explosion that officials say he caused not far from a packed Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.
But the dots cannot be connected, at least at this point, said Stephen Sloan, a former University of Oklahoma professor who is alarmed that far-right extremist groups have taken to the Internet with conspiracy theories attempting to link the actions of Hinrichs to the Muslim community of Norman and to the Middle East.
The FBI has provided little information about its investigation but said last week that there is no known link between Hinrichs and terrorist or extremist organizations. But questions linger as to Hinrichs' intent before he died in an explosion while sitting on a park bench in front of the George Lynn Cross microbiology building about 100 yards west of the stadium.
"No doubt there are a lot of questions to be answered," Sloan said. "But it is unfortunately logical to think that he was trying to get into the stadium."
The terrorism expert said the size of the explosion indicates that it was designed to hit more than Hinrichs. He said it seems more than coincidence that this occurred on the Saturday night of a football game.
A student, Adam Smith, related last week that he learned from a ticket taker at Gate 6 on the north side of the football field that a young man had tried to gain entrance. The ticket taker wanted to examine the man's backpack, which prompted the man to sprint away, Smith said he was told.
The FBI reportedly has confirmed that its review of surveillance cameras in the stadium did not reveal that Hinrichs tried to gain entrance. However, OU President David Boren declined at midweek to say whether cameras are mounted at all entrances.
The FBI has kept mum about the explosive that Hinrichs used and declined to comment on reports that large amounts of explosives were in his apartment.
The explosion that killed Hinrichs also burned a large area around the bench. If the explosion had occurred inside the stadium, it could have killed fans, prompting the question of whether that was Hinrichs' intent all along.
A suicide note apparently has not been found. Hinrichs' father, who had conversations with the FBI, told The Associated Press that his son did not leave a suicide note.
Joel Hinrichs Jr. told the Tulsa World that he knew his son was troubled, but he had no idea he wanted to die.
"I would have been there within whatever the speed limit would allow me to be if I had any inclination that he was this unhappy," the father said from his family's home in Colorado Springs the day after the explosion.
It remains unanswered as to whether Hinrichs could have concocted the explosive device on his own, although there are no indications he acted with others.
Those who knew of him -- from his high school teacher in Colorado Springs to fellow engineering students at OU -- said he was typically a loner who sat by himself in the classroom. He was among the National Merit Scholars whom Boren has attracted to the OU campus.
His father told the Colorado Springs Gazette that at an early age, Hinrichs was fascinated with science. At the time of his death, he was a third-year engineering student at OU.
Boren has said it appears this is an "individual suicide," noting that Hinrichs waited until people were inside the stadium before he took his life.
University officials say they have no record of Hinrichs having a season ticket or purchasing one for the OU-Kansas State game.
OU Vice President of Communications Catherine Bishop added, however, that the university has no way of knowing whether Hinrichs could have purchased a ticket from someone outside the stadium, where many people typ ically sell tickets on game day.
Sloan said the public should note the fact that if Hinrichs did try to get into the stadium, he was stopped.
"If Hinrichs was turned away, that is a positive mark in terms of security awareness," he said.
While Hinrichs' individual actions are still being probed, the Islamic community of Norman is on edge, fearful that this troubling event is somehow linked to Muslims.
"Haven't we learned from the bombing of the Murrah Building (in 1995) in Oklahoma City, when the first reports tried to tie the bombing to a foreigner from the Middle East?" Sloan said. "But that proved to be false.
"It is much too early to render a full judgment," said Sloan, who regrets that some people already are convinced this is a conspiracy.
Hinrichs lived at Parkview Apartments, just a few blocks from the mosque of the Islamic Society of Norman. Also fueling the link to some kind of Middle East terrorism is the fact that Hinrichs' roommate, Fazil Cheema, is from Pakistan. Acquaintances of Cheema's say he is not a practicing Muslim and never attends services at the mosque.
Muslims who attend the mosque also say they are not aware that Hinrichs ever set foot in the mosque.
The quest for the truth, however, has been hindered by the fact that Cheema himself has not made himself available to the media since the incident occurred. He has left the apartment where he lived with Hinrichs, although he is still believed to be in Norman.
Acquaintances say that Hinrichs and his roommate have in common the fact that both could be called loners, and possibly ended up as roommates at Parkview because neither of them had other friends, so they were assigned to live together.
Tariq Alzoubi, a Muslim who has been part of the Islamic community in Norman for several years, said when he found out that the individual who died was white and not Middle Eastern, "I was not happy, but I was relieved. Then the issue came up that his roommate might be Pakistani."
Originally from Jordan and Saudi Arabia, Alzoubi said Muslims have been on edge when something like this happens ever since Sept. 11, 2001.
"Before 9-11, I knew 30 Saudi students at OU; all but two of them left," he said.
"My only concern in all of this is that we stay away from collective punishment for something bad that happened here," he said.
Mick Hinton (405) 528-2465 mick.hinton@tulsaworld.com
Didn't you love this part:
"OU aviation still trains anyone who wants to fly"
(insert dark humor here)
including suicide bombers and terrorists...lol
These apartments are very small -- no one could do anything without their roommate knowing.
LOL. Maybe they have members on this website?
I felt safe in the parking garage area because I have been there a lot but I got a creepy feeling at those apartments when they kept staring at me. I used the rental car my son and his friends drove to the Cotton Bowl so my car was parked in my driveway. :)
See post #137 -- has a link to a story in the Norman Transcript. Went out of business but OU Flying School is still open.
That is exactly what I had going through my mind as well! Great minds think alike!
I know one station in Norman is covering it, but I spoke to a few Oklahoma fans this weekend in Dallas, they had been to that game and were here for TX-OU. Most had not heard much about it, a few did not know anything. Nothing. I broke the story to them. That's scary. If a bomb blows up outside a school, and no one is injured that is on all the cable networks for at least 8 hrs. This is a coverup.
But the question is--do they also teach them to land?
I think he was just saying he would get there as soon as possible. Don't throw dirt on someone because of things not being said the way YOU want them.
With the exception of channel 9 here, teevee is reporting that Jihad Joey was just some unfortunate depressed lad who happened to die when a bomb went off. I'm not kidding.
If you don't live in the OKC/Norman area, it is not being covered -- coverup is right and when you dig into Boren's past and allegations that are out there it becomes downright scarey.
A 2002 incident involving a Pakistani student that got a white wrestler and another student kicked out for a semester, ended up being a lie, and then he (Pakistani) ended up being deported instead of having a trial thanks to Boren raises the hair on the back of your neck.
Fortunately Channel 9 is independently owned while the other two are owned by the New York Times and Hearst Corp respectively.
"But the question is--do they also teach them to land?"
LOL..apparently not.
Do we know there were any explosives for sure. I have seen various figures posted as to the amount removed from hundreds to thousands of pounds. Are we sure this is not the "Hundreds of Bodies in Trees" kind of exaggeration and misinformation?
It is inconceivable to me that the roomate whould have been releashed had there really been anything in that apartment bigger than a firecracker.
Talk about overwrought implications. Geez. It he said "hi" you would be analyzing why he didn't say "hello" and its political implications.
"It he said "hi" you would be analyzing why he didn't say "hello" and its political implications."
Well, hello there. You and MurrayMom ... you're just about where I'd expect you to be on this.
You have no idea what any take of mine on this is but being addicted to wild generalizations I am sure you will let us know anyway.
"You have no idea what any take of mine on this is but being addicted to wild generalizations I am sure you will let us know anyway."
I look forward to hearing you hold forth again on "the national income" and how home schooling causes this to decline, whatever it is.
"Before 9/11 i knew 30 Saudi students at OU,all but 2 of them have left."Well maybe they graduated?Or maybe the author(or Alzoubi)is attempting to infer that Saudi students don't feel safe at OU?
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