Posted on 10/13/2005 3:41:16 PM PDT by MizSterious
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Bad timing blamed for group's detainment The Oklahoman NORMAN - A University of Oklahoma instructor from Egypt said he and others of foreign descent were handcuffed at gunpoint and questioned after the OU bomb blast Oct. 1, but added he is not bitter. "Not at all. I understand. They explained. But if they keep coming back -- that's something else," Hossam Barakat said. "Because I'm not guilty in any way." Barakat, 37, blames unfortunate timing. The roommate of the student killed by the explosion just happened to wander into an apartment where he and four or five others were visiting. Also arrested was Pakistani student Fazal M. Cheema, the roommate of the student who apparently killed himself with a bomb, Joel "Joe" Henry Hinrichs III. Cheema took a polygraph test and later was released, The Oklahoman has learned. The others do not wish to be identified or interviewed, Barakat said. He described them as either born abroad or Americans of Middle Eastern descent but said he does not believe they were targeted because of nationality or religion. "It wasn't toward the Muslim community. It was just because of Cheema," Barakat said. "I can understand. He's the roommate." Roommate visited The others came under suspicion because Cheema had stopped by an apartment where they were talking around midnight Oct. 1, Barakat said. "Cheema always come to this apartment. That night, he just walk in," Barakat said. In addition, one of the men in the apartment was a visiting professor from Algeria who had his suitcases packed and was ready to leave the country on an airplane the following day, Barakat said. "I understand, absolutely, that something had happened and we needed to cooperate. If this had happened in any other country, they would have done it the same way." Hinrichs, an engineering student, has tentatively been identified as the student who died Oct. 1 in an explosion on a campus bench about 100 yards from OU's packed football stadium. Investigators believe he blew himself up. Investigators found identification on the body, but the state medical examiner is awaiting DNA test results for a positive identification. Salvador Hernandez, special agent in charge of the FBI's Oklahoma City office, told a congressman Tuesday the investigation into the explosion is continuing, but so far it appears to be "an individual act." Barakat, who lives in the same university apartment complex as Hinrichs, said that hours after the bomb blast, he went to another apartment in the complex to say goodbye to the Algerian friend who was scheduled to fly out of the United States the next day. Later, Cheema dropped in unexpectedly, staying only a few minutes. When Cheema left, the commotion began. Outside, guests heard yelling, Barakat said. "We heard someone said, 'Put your hands up! Put your hands up!' And someone looked from the window and seen that Cheema got arrested," he said. Because Cheema has a hearing impairment, he did not respond immediately to the police order to stop. "That's why they got mad and started to yell and flashed in his eyes and got guns," Barakat said. Barakat said he started to leave his friend's apartment to go home about 15 minutes later, but an officer pulled a gun and ordered him back inside. "We knew that they are investigating this thing but I didn't know that we are under house arrest. That didn't come to our mind," Barakat said. Hours passed as the group waited in the apartment. "We are terrified. We were sitting waiting for them to come at any time," Barakat said. About 4:05 a.m., police telephoned the apartment and told the group to come out the front door, one at a time, hands up, he said. As they arrived outside, they were ordered to kneel and put their hands behind their heads so they could be handcuffed. Barakat said they were separated at that point and questioned individually. "They asked if I knew Joel," Barakat said. "I said, 'No.' They kept asking over and over, 'Do you have bombs, guns or knives?'" Barakat said he did not. About 5:30 a.m. Sunday, all were released to go home except Cheema, who was put up in a motel overnight because FBI agents wanted him to take a polygraph the next day, Barakat said. The apartment where they had been was among those evacuated so officers could remove explosive material from Hinrichs' home, so the group went to Barakat's apartment, which was outside the evacuation area. Exhausted, they fell asleep, some on the floor, he said. An FBI agent called again about 8:45 a.m. Oct. 2, saying agents wanted to talk to them some more, Barakat said. Later that morning, the agents arrived but instead of questioning them at Barakat's apartment as expected, they took them to an FBI office in Oklahoma City, where they spent the day watching football on television with an equal number of FBI agents. The agents brought in chicken for lunch and pizza for dinner and joked with the men. But they also accompanied them to the rest room, Barakat said. Eventually, an immigration officer arrived and questioned each person individually to make sure they were in the country legally, he said. "He make a copy of everything I have in my wallet -- everything except the cash," he said. Later, FBI agents separated the group again and asked more questions: Where have you been? What have you been doing? Do you know any radical person in the Islamic community? Did you ever see anyone taking anything out of Hinrichs' apartment in a garbage bag? Barakat said he answered "no" to the last two questions. About 10:30 p.m., an FBI agent finally told them it was all over and thanked them for their assistance. Barakat said the FBI agents were polite and professional throughout the investigation, but he also said Norman police were "very aggressive, very mean." |
Pinged a few people I can remember off-hand - Several new items today...
1.) Inhofe, Cole seek answers in OU blast
http://newsok.com/video/1641314/
By Tamara Pratt
NEWS 9
Interesting video with a phone call recorded from Cole.
a.) Cole said there is "no indication one way or another" regarding Hinrichs attempting to enter the stadium. To say this they would have to be completely ignoring Adam Smith's statements. Apparently Jayna Davis has found and contacted the ticket-taker, but they are refusing comment. (Forgot to note where I found that info (re: Davis) - will look and provide a link when I find it)
b.) I'm wondering why Inhofe is not commenting in the media on this at all...
c.) Still wondering how the FBI was able to tell Cole what has been found in the apartment if the file is sealed per the DOJ.
2.) Also, a transcript from Mark Tapscott's appearance last night on CNN:
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0510/14/asb.01.html
3.) And, thanks to FReeper origlonewolf for transcribing Cole's appearance (complete with stutters and mis-pronunciations) on Hannity and Colmes last night...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1502759/posts?page=76#76
Thanks for the ping and the transcripts. Still scratching my head.
I'll post sometime soon when I'm finished with the family background and y'all can FReepmail me for it--it's too detailed to post. *yawn* It's also pretty boring.
I will say one other thing, in a roundabout way. I do not want to step on anyone's toes, so I'm not sure how to state this, except what I found.
I knew absolutely nothing about Jehovah's Witnesses before this, except that I actually let some into my home a few years ago and let them talk to me. All I heard was armageddon and the end of time.
So, I wanted to learn more about the religion while I looked at the family's comings and goings. I was under the impression that if someone said they were a JW, then they had to be rather intense and active about it, or they wouldn't be in it anymore. That part was right.
I knew about the "no blood transfusions" thing, but I did NOT know about the not saluting the US (or any other nation's or secular entity's) flag, or the never celebrating anyone's birthday or any holidays, or the shunning of family members who weren't "in the truth," meaning a practicing JW.
There was more and I was rather shocked to read it. I wanted to find out the true beliefs of the "church" (but it's not--they hate churches) and could only find ONE hit on google out of 488,000 that was positive or truly written by the religion to its adherents. That was the watchtower website, the real one--there are many anti- ones with similar names.
Just don't know what to make of all that, as it pertains to Joel H. Hinrichs III. Except for one thing--I did start reading the first few website hits I got that looked legit and they all said that suicide among family members, especially offspring, was a major problem. There were numerous references to this, but I had to quit reading after a few hours, it was all so dark.
Does anyone here have anything to add to help my understanding about JW? TIA
I'm guessing at this point you've found a link between Hinrichs family and the JW religion? Anyway, I'm looking forward to reading your synopsis on the family when you are finished. (o:
" and yet anything contrary"
Correction: and yet NOTHING contrary.
You've done a good job going through the transcript. According to Tapscott there was a lot that was taped that wasn't broadcast as well...
For some reason everyone in the MSM - who most of the time are at least questioning of officials' reports - are for some reason trying to push the "official story" of lone suicide instead of looking at this in any objective way. It is disturbing frankly...
"It is disturbing frankly..."
Yes, it is. If I were truly the paranoid sort, I'd also be quite disturbed by how long any reply containing "TATP" or "ANFO" takes to post, lol.
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