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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- A man who admits that he intentionally plowed into nine people on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus last week told authorities he was disappointed that more people were not around when he carried out the alleged attack. In a search warrant released Tuesday, Mohammed Taheri-azar told authorities that for two years, he had been thinking about some type of attack because "the United States government had been killing his people across the sea." Taheri-azar told authorities he had been carefully planning the attack for two months and had rented the Jeep Cherokee in which he drove on...

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- The man who told authorities he drove a SUV into a crowd of students at UNC three weeks ago appeared in court. After the hearing, family members said they are shocked by their loved one's actions and words. Mohammed Taheri-azar, 22, appeared to laugh during a hearing earlier in the day as witnesses described the attack on the university's flagship campus. Taheri-Azar told investigators that he drove through the crowd at the Pit, a popular gathering spot on campus, because he wanted to kill people as payback for the killing of Muslims around the world. Laila...

Hillsborough, N.C. -- A University of North Carolina graduate charged with running down students on a campus plaza to avenge the deaths of Muslims told a judge Wednesday he plans to plead guilty. Mohammed Taheri-Azar, 23, is charged with nine counts each of attempted murder and felonious assault. He was in custody on $5.5 million bail. Taheri-Azar asked that he be allowed to represent himself, but he decided to keep his court-appointed lawyer

CHAPEL HILL - A man charged with trying to kill students at the University of North Carolina by driving through a popular campus gathering spot says in a series of letters he does not deserve punishment. He also talks about his youth in Charlotte, referring at one point to a school fight he said he started at Myers Park Traditional Elementary School. And he refers to Mohammed Atta, ringleader of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States, aqs "one of my role models." Mohammed Taheri-azar is accused of driving a Jeep Cherokee into a crowd of students gathered at...

This week's Voldemort Award goes to the New York Times for its account of a curious case of road rage in North Carolina: "The man charged with nine counts of attempted murder for driving a Jeep through a crowd at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill last Friday told the police that he deliberately rented a four-wheel-drive vehicle so he could 'run over things and keep going.' " The driver in question was Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar. Whoa, don't jump to conclusions, the Times certainly didn't. As the report continued: "According to statements taken by the police, Mr. Taheri-azar,...

Protests are planned for Monday in the same area of campus at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where, authorities said, a former student plowed a sport utility vehicle into nine people Friday afternoon. The College Republicans, Americans for an Informed Democracy and the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies are sponsoring the event, scheduled for 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. Monday in "The Pit," a central area of the UNC-Chapel Hill campus. The event is open to the public and free of charge. Police said Mohammad Taheri-azar, a 2005 UNC-Chapel Hill graduate, admits he acted to "avenge...

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - A recent University of North Carolina graduate faces attempted murder charges after he allegedly drove a sport utility vehicle through a popular campus gathering spot Friday, clipping and scattering startled bystanders. No one was seriously hurt. Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar, 22, who graduated in December after studying psychology and philosophy, was in the custody of campus police. They intended to charge him with attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, said police Capt. George Hare. Taheri-azar called police to surrender and then awaited officers on a street two miles from the campus,...

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Authorities say 23-year-old Mohammed Reza Taheriazar drove a silver Jeep Grand Cherokee drove into The Pit at the UNC-Chapel Hill campus around noon Friday, injuring five students and a visiting scholar.