Lawsuit Says TV Station Falsely Labeled City Man
Ed Godfrey
08/25/1995
NOTE:
Al-Hussaini Hussain said he lost his job, was beaten, spat upon and feared for his life.
All because, he says, KFOR-TV in Oklahoma City fingered him as the elusive "John Doe 2" who was responsible for the April 19 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.
Hussain, a refugee from Iraq who lives in Oklahoma City, filed a lawsuit Thursday in Oklahoma County District Court against KFOR-TV Channel 4; its owner, Palmer Communications; reporters Jayna Davis and Brad Edwards; and News Director Melissa Klinzing.
The Oklahoma City resident claims in the lawsuit Channel 4 falsely accused him of being "John Doe 2" in a June 7 broadcast.
At a news conference Thursday, Hussain's lawyers, Tulsa attorneys Gary Richardson and William Donovan, accused the television station of "tabloid journalism at its best. "
"Here is a man that came to America seeking freedom and was put in imprisonment by a local TV station," Richardson said.
The lawsuit accuses KFOR of falsely reporting that Hussain was with bombing suspect Timothy McVeigh days before the bombing, that Hussain drove a brown pickup speeding away from the scene of the bombing and that the 30-year-old ex-restaurant worker was "the notorious bombing suspect John Doe No. 2."
Klinzing said Thursday the station was "confident in our reports and confident KFOR will prevail in the case. "
Klinzing would not comment further, saying the station's staff and lawyers needed more time to study the lawsuit.
Richardson said Hussain was subjected to "unbelievable harassment by Channel 4." The attorneys claim the lawsuit will prove KFOR officials acted with negligence and malice in airing their report.
The FBI never considered Hussain a suspect, Richardson said.
Even though the KFOR reporter did not name Hussain and had his face digitally blurred, Richardson said the newscast identified Hussain through "innuendo. "
Dr. Samir Khalil, a friend of Hussain's who was translating for him at Thursday's news conference, said Hussain was working for him doing home repair at the time of the bombing.
Since the KFOR report, Hussain can't find a job and people still "look at him with anger," Khalil said.
Khalil said Hussain fled Iraq last year to escape Saddam Hussein's army.
The lawsuit does not specify any financial damages being sought.
Moussaoui Linked to 9/11 Mastermind
Nov 20, 12:08 PM (ET)
By JOHN J. LUMPKIN
( WASHINGTON (AP) - Accused Sept. 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui met with the suspected mastermind of the attacks in late 2000 or early 2001 in Afghanistan, a top al-Qaida operative has told his interrogators, U.S. officials said.
Ramzi Binalshibh, a former aide to top al-Qaida operative Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, said Mohammed provided Moussaoui with contacts in the United States, said officials speaking on the condition of anonymity.
But Binalshibh and Mohammed were not confident in Moussaoui's ability to keep a secret, and decided to use him as a backup for the hijacking plot, Binalshibh told the officials, who have never detailed what they believe Moussaoui's precise role was to be in the attacks.
Binalshibh was an associate of Mohammed, Moussaoui, chief hijacker Mohamed Atta and others in the Hamburg, Germany-based cell that led the attacks. He was captured by U.S. and Pakistani authorities during a raid in Karachi on Sept. 11, 2002, and has since been held in U.S. custody at a secret location.
The Moussaoui-Mohammed contacts were first reported Wednesday by the Washington Post.
Moussaoui was arrested in August 2001 after acting suspiciously at a Minnesota flight school. He has acknowledged in court that he is an al-Qaida member but said he had nothing to do with the Sept. 11 plot. He has attempted to call Binalshibh as a defense witness in his conspiracy trial.
Moussaoui traveled from Europe to an al-Qaida training camp Afghanistan in 1998, according to prosecutors. He also went from London to Pakistan in December 2000 and returned in February 2001. It was during this time that U.S. officials believe he met with Mohammed in Afghanistan.
Binalshibh, a Yemeni, lived with Atta and two other hijackers in Germany in the years before the attacks. In 2000, he tried four times to obtain a visa to enter the United States. Authorities claim he wanted to be one of the hijackers.
After his efforts to enter the country failed, he began sending money and other logistical support to the hijackers. He boasted of his role in the attacks during an interview he and Mohammed gave the Arabic television network al-Jazeera earlier in 2002.
Counterterrorism officials say several al-Qaida captives have told them that Mohammed, a Kuwaiti who holds Pakistani citizenship, was the operational mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks.