rigorousintuition.ca

Posted: **Tue May 23, 2006 6:11 pm**

What was that all about? <hr /> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Sniper-Trial.html">www.nytimes.com/aponline/...Trial.html</a> Malvo Takes Stand Against Sniper Partner ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) -- John Allen Muhammad had grand plans to extort millions of dollars from authorities in the 2002 Washington-area sniper shootings so he could set up a camp to train children how to terrorize cities and ''shut things down,'' accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo testified Tuesday. Asked whether he believed Muhammad's plans, Malvo said yes. ''He's a man of his word. If he tells you he is going to do something, it is done,'' Malvo said. ''If he says it, it is legit.'' Malvo, who had never before taken the witness stand against his fellow sniper, gave the most detailed account yet of the planning that went into the three-week shooting spree that left 10 people dead at gas stations and parking lots. Malvo also said Muhammad devised a two-phase plan to shoot as many as six random people each day for 30 days in the Washington area and then target children and police officers with explosives. They planned to place explosives on school buses in Baltimore, kill a Baltimore police officer and then set off explosives packed with ball bearings at the officer's funeral. When Malvo asked Muhammad why, he said, ''For the sheer terror of it -- the worst thing you can do to people is aim at their children.'' Midway through the spree, Malvo said, Muhammad described the plans to take money they would extort from authorities to end the sniper shootings and establish a Canadian commune to train 140 homeless children in terrorist shooting and bombings to ''continue the mission'' in other cities. After the Oct. 9, 2002, shooting of Dean Myers in Manassas, Va., Muhammad was upset that the two were not meeting their self-imposed quota of six shootings a day. Malvo said he became upset and refused to talk to Muhammad. At one point, Malvo said he put on headphones, listened to music and refused to acknowledge Muhammad. Muhammad responded angrily, and told Malvo ''I'm not going to deal with it. When people have doubts is when they get caught.'' Muhammad, 45, and Malvo, now 21, were arrested Oct. 24, 2002, at a western Maryland rest stop. They have already have been convicted in Virginia for a sniper murder there. Muhammad received a death sentence while Malvo was given a life term. Prosecutors in Maryland have said they are pursuing a second trial in case the Virginia conviction is overturned on appeal and to provide justice in Montgomery County, where six of the 10 killings occurred. The last time the two came face-to-face was in October 2003, when Malvo was brought in at Muhammad's first trial. Malvo refused to testify, invoking his constitutional right against self-incrimination. Before testifying, Malvo told the judge that he intends to plead guilty to murder charges against him in Montgomery County. He appeared nervous but was expressionless when he entered the courtroom, looking generally in Muhammad's direction but not making direct eye contact. Muhammad, who is acting as his own lawyer, said in his opening statement that both he and Malvo were innocent and that they were merely roaming the area looking for Muhammad's children who were taken away from him after a previous marriage. In his testimony, Malvo said he was so distraught after the six-hour conversation in July 2002 outlining plans for the spree that he played Russian roulette, crying in a bathtub. He pulled the trigger several times before realizing the next trigger pull would be fatal. ''I just broke down. I couldn't pull the trigger,'' Malvo said. He described how he spent the night in a Baltimore cemetery, training a Bushmaster .223-caliber rifle on a fast food restaurant, waiting for pregnant women. He said he saw four, but couldn't bring himself to shoot. The pair scouted dozens of shooting sites in the region. They looked for scenes that had few surveillance cameras, a limited number of witnesses and easy escape routes. They stopped at many shooting sites, such as shopping malls, parking lots and the area around Howard University in Washington, D.C., but aborted because too many people were nearby. Malvo said he shot three people during the spree, but that Muhammad was the triggerman in the others. Malvo said he was supposed to shoot five children at a Bowie middle school Oct. 7, 2002 as they got off a bus, but that no buses arrived. Instead, he shot 13-year-old Iran Brown. In most cases, Malvo acted as the spotter with Muhammad firing from the trunk of their modified Chevrolet Caprice. Using two-way radios, Malvo would tell Muhammad when it was clear to shoot and then watch the victim fall in the Caprice's side mirror. Muhammad would then scramble back into the driver's seat, and the pair would drive off. When Malvo fired, he shot from outside the Caprice. He also described meeting Muhammad in the Caribbean after Malvo's parents largely abandoned him. Malvo said Muhammad ''basically took me under his wing'' a few months after they met in May 2000. He said he came to love Muhammad. Malvo tried to dissuade Muhammad from his plan and suggested they should simply get Muhammad's children and leave the country. Muhammad trained Malvo in weapons, kept him on a rigorous diet that allowed only one meal each day, and introduced him to the teachings of the Nation of Islam, Malvo said. Muhammad hated America and thought white people were ''the devil.'' He eventually became impressed with his young charge, saying after Malvo calmly shot a man at an Ashland, Va., restaurant, ''I've created a...monster.''

Posted: **Tue May 23, 2006 6:29 pm**

You know, there was a somewhat odd story in the Post about that trial a few days ago. It seems the Sniper has, out of the blue, become a Lawyer. Here's some snippets: <blockquote>Quote:<hr>Muhammad's Metamorphosis Impresses Some Trial Observers John Allen Muhammad strides into the Montgomery County courtroom looking every bit the lawyer. Gone is the orange jumpsuit he wore in Virginia when he was sentenced to death. Gone, too, is the hair that towered over him as he prepared for trial in Maryland. He now wears suits and ties. He carries with him a stack of legal papers, shuffling them purposefully at the defense table. He speaks the language of law, begging the "court's indulgence" and asking that a "continuous objection" be noted for the record. Although lawyers and other observers say a conviction is a near certainty, Muhammad's trial is providing fresh and sometimes surprising glimpses into the man accused in the 2002 sniper rampage that instilled fear across the region. Because he is acting as his own attorney, the trial, now in its third week in Rockville, has showcased Muhammad's personality and demeanor to a degree that his Virginia trial did not. "You'd think he'd be rambling and off the wall," said Matthew E. Bennett, a Rockville lawyer who, after observing Muhammad in the courtroom, rated his performance "above average for a layperson." [...] In the jury's presence, Muhammad has said nothing of the elaborate conspiracy theory attributed to him by a psychiatrist: that he was framed because he knew of then-Attorney General John D. Ashcroft's secret role in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. He is not recognizable as the man that the psychiatrist, hired by his former attorney, diagnosed as "clearly psychotic, delusional, paranoid and incompetent to assist his attorneys, much less represent himself." Instead, standing behind the defense table, Muhammad the trial advocate addresses witnesses as "sir" or "ma'am." At times, he laughs appropriately. Other times, he relishes catching witnesses in minor contradictions. He speaks softly, mumbles and sometimes stumbles over his words. "Ma'am," he said last week to a prosecution witness, "are you, uh, trained in terminal ballistics?" "I've received some training in ballistics . . ." "Ma'am, yes or no," he interrupted, in true lawyerly fashion. "Are you trained in terminal ballistics?" Although he has a high school education and no formal legal training, Muhammad was ready with a response on another occasion last week when prosecutors said he was trying to introduce a report improperly. "Your honor, I'll establish a foundation," he volunteered. After dropping in one day last week, Philip Collins, a lawyer in Bethesda, said: "He's probably got more trial experience than a lot of second- and third-year attorneys." Another spectator, claims adjuster Eric Ferebee, said that he has been cross-examined by less competent lawyers. "I think he got a great tutorial in the Virginia trial," Ferebee said. "He's ready. He's prepared. I hate to give the guy accolades, but you know. . ." [...] He has not visibly reacted to gruesome pictures of sniper victims or to recordings of emotional 911 calls. He has made frequent unsettling references to a "lead snowstorm," a term of art that describes the pattern of damage caused when a high-velocity round fragments inside the body. Montgomery Circuit Court Judge James L. Ryan allowed Muhammad -- who represented himself for two days in the Virginia trial -- to fire his public defenders more than a month ago. Three private attorneys are acting as standby counsel, permitted to advise Muhammad and help him prepare but not speak for him in court or to the media. [...] Lawyers not in the case said Muhammad's apparent defense strategy could unravel if Malvo, who is sentenced to life in Virginia, pleads guilty in Maryland and agrees to cooperate with prosecutors. Malvo, they noted, is the only person in a position to know as much as Muhammad does about the pair's activities during those 22 days in October. If Muhammad questions him carelessly, Malvo could say things that the jury might never otherwise hear. "He's going to be potentially opening some very wide doors," lawyer Robert C. Bonsib said. <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/17/AR2006051702270_pf.html">www.washingtonpost.com/wp...70_pf.html</a><hr></blockquote> I guess he's a quick study, if nothing else.

Posted: **Tue May 23, 2006 7:16 pm**

<blockquote>Quote:<hr>They planned to place explosives on school buses in Baltimore, kill a Baltimore police officer and then set off explosives packed with ball bearings at the officer's funeral.<hr></blockquote> Wasn't there a recent thread on RI which had some other odd Baltimore connections?

Posted: **Tue May 23, 2006 11:04 pm**

mcGowan in his element: <blockquote>Quote:<hr> NEWSLETTER #20 Special Bulletin: The DC Snipers October 31, 2002 (updated and re-posted on November 10, 2003) We interrupt our regularly scheduled newsletter for this special bulletin ... Two unlikely suspects have been selected to play the roles of the feared 'DC Snipers': John Allen Muhammad, usually described as a 41-year-old 'drifter,' although until fairly recently he had spent his entire adult life in the military; and a 17-year-old Jamaican immigrant named Lee Boyd Malvo (also identified as Lee Byron Malvo and John Lee Malvo), who entered the country illegally several years ago. The pair allegedly conducted their killing spree by utilizing what police have described as a car specially modified to create a mobile sniper's nest. There are, alas, numerous problems with the official scenario. And there is certainly no shortage of weirdness surrounding the alleged exploits of the pair. Consider the following: * Muhammad's ex-wife, with whom he has had a stormy relationship marked by bitter custody battles, recently relocated to the DC area to take a job at, of all places, John Ashcroft's Justice Department. This peculiar fact, reported by the British press, has been curiously absent in the blanket coverage of the case by the American media. (<a href="http://www.observer.co.uk/focus/story/0,6903,820087,00.html)">www.observer.co.uk/focus/...7,00.html)</a> * Two years ago, Muhammad reportedly kidnapped his own children, in direct violation of a court order, and took them out of the country for an extended period of time. There is no indication that he was charged with any crime in connection with those actions, nor for repeatedly threatening his former wife. * That same former wife charged Muhammad, in court documents, with tapping her phone line. No explanation has been given as to how Muhammad acquired the necessary skills and equipment. (<a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/la-na-sniper25oct25004444.story)">www.latimes.com/news/prin...444.story)</a> * The rifle allegedly used in the shootings was purchased in June from a Tacoma, Washington-based dealer operating under the name "Bull's Eye Shooter Supply." The shop, located near the Army's Ft. Lewis base, is owned by a former U.S. Army sniper instructor. Muhammad completed his lengthy tour of duty at Ft. Lewis, which has, curiously enough, a sniper training program. (<a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-profile26oct26.story)">www.latimes.com/news/nati...t26.story)</a> * ... but wait. According to investigator/writer Jon Rappoport's newsletters, the Bushmaster rifle that authorities first tried to connect to Muhammad was actually purchased, by Muhammad, from a different Tacoma gun dealer operating as "Welcher's Gun Shop." The problem, apparently, is that Muhammad subsequently sold that gun back to Welcher's, which then sold it to another customer, who still has the gun in Tacoma. Rappoport claims that those transactions were confirmed by Welcher's employees. In order then to put another Bushmaster rifle in Muhammad's hands, it was claimed that he had, after selling back the first rifle, purchased an identical one from Bull's Eye. If Rappoport's information is correct, then it is conceivable that the alleged purchase of a second rifle was fabricated after the fact. [Update: It doesn't require much reading between the lines of a June 2003 L.A. Times report to reach the conclusion that Bull's Eye has a history of supplying weapons for covert operations. It would hardly be surprising if that entity also pretended to supply a weapon to a patsy: "One of the rifles confiscated from Buford O. Furrow Jr. on the day he killed a postal worker and wounded five people at a Los Angeles Jewish community center was sold at the same Tacoma, Wash, gun store linked to the rifle used by the Washington, D.C. snipers ... In 1997, the Tacoma retailer, Bull's Eye Shooter Supply, sold Furrow one of two .308 caliber Imbel rifles found in his van ... Authorities have also traced the Bushmaster .223-caliber semiautomatic assault rifle allegedly used by John Allen Muhammad and Lee Malvo ... to the same Tacoma gun store. After the manufacturer shipped the gun there, there are no records reflecting how it left the store, according to court records ... Authorities have traced guns involved in 52 crimes to Bull's Eye from 1997 to 2001 ... At least 238 guns - including the one allegedly used by the snipers - have 'disappeared' from the store in the last three years ..." (<a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-jcc7jun07,1,3241028.story)">www.latimes.com/news/loca...028.story)</a> (emphasis added)] * Although Muhammad is generally portrayed by the media as a chronically unemployed drifter who made a habit of staying at homeless shelters, he doesn't appear to have had money problems. Consider all of the following facts which have emerged in various press accounts: o Before kidnapping his children, Muhammad was ordered to pay nearly $900 per month in child support ($869, by one account), indicating that the court had reason to believe that he had a fairly substantial income at the time. o He has reportedly owned, or co-owned, a number of businesses, including a karate school, an auto repair shop, and something that he called, strangely enough, "Reality Enterprises." (<a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/la-na-profile25oct25004444.story)">www.latimes.com/news/prin...444.story)</a> o A number of witnesses have commented on the incongruity of an allegedly homeless man who always had money to spend. The L.A. Times reported that a former girlfriend told her family that Muhammad's "story didn't make any sense ... He was a hard-luck drifter with money, a man who could pick up and fly to the Caribbean whenever he got the inclination." The same Times report added that "She wasn't the only one asking questions ... The director of the shelter has said [of Muhammad] ... 'He was rather secretive about his past and present ... He was closed-mouthed. He didn't have a visible source of income, but he was able to travel at a moment's notice.'" (<a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-na-killers27oct27.story)">www.latimes.com/news/nati...t27.story)</a> The Independent Online noted that with "no apparent means of support, Muhammad and companion John Lee Malvo traveled from the Caribbean to the north-western United States, and points in between, over the past year and a half. How they financed their activities remains a mystery." The man who runs the homeless mission where Muhammad last stayed in Washington state, Reverend Alan Archer, was reportedly "amazed to see Muhammad getting phone calls from a travel agent." Archer recalled that Muhammad flew off on ski trips to both Denver and Salt Lake City. (<a href="http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=79&art_id=qw1035806221674B225&set_id=1)">www.iol.co.za/index.php?c...;set_id=1)</a> o While living in Antigua, with no visible means of support, Muhammad nevertheless was able to send all three of his children to an exclusive, private school. (<a href="http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=79&art_id=qw1035806221674B225&set_id=1)">www.iol.co.za/index.php?c...;set_id=1)</a> * Two years ago, Muhammad, an American citizen born and raised in Louisiana, obtained an Antiguan passport -- allegedly by lying about who his mother was. Why he would be taken at his word and not required to show proof of Antiguan citizenship has not been explained. (<a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-profile26oct26.story)">www.latimes.com/news/nati...t26.story)</a> Also unexplained is why he was issued the passport in July 2000, although the Antiguan government claims that its records don't show Muhammad entering the country until May 2001. (<a href="http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=79&art_id=qw1035806221674B225&set_id=1)">www.iol.co.za/index.php?c...;set_id=1)</a> Was Muhammad traveling on that passport between July 2000 and May 2001? And if so, to where? * Initial reports speculated that Muhammad had received sniper training. The Army has subsequently denied this. Most reports now hold that Muhammad, throughout what the Times described as a "checkered, 16-year military career," never distinguished himself as a skilled shooter. (<a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/la-na-profile25oct25004444.story)">www.latimes.com/news/prin...444.story)</a> As the Times explained: "All soldiers entering the Army undergo basic training with M-16 rifles. Once every year, they have to requalify, earning 'marksman,' 'sharpshooter' or 'expert' marks. Muhammad ultimately earned only a sharpshooter mark, so to compare him to a military sniper would be inaccurate." (<a href="http://www.calendarlive.com/printedition/calendar/cl-et-roug26oct26.story)">www.calendarlive.com/prin...t26.story)</a> Indeed it would. To even be considered for admission to the Army's sniper schools reportedly requires three consecutive 'expert' rankings. Muhammad could not even manage one such score over the course of a sixteen year career. He could though, rather amazingly, score head shots on live targets from up to 500 yards away, even while firing from inside a cramped car trunk with limited visibility. Imagine that. * ... but wait. Did Muhammad have more training than what is officially acknowledged? He frequently claimed that he had. Was this just baseless boasting? o The WSWS reported that "various sources indicate that Muhammad liked to boast about his service in the army and claimed to be working for the CIA and FBI." While applying at a government office on Antigua, he "claimed to have attended 'Special Forces/ Sniper School' in the US military and to have 'taught urban warfare.'" In the summer of 2002, Muhammad told a nephew in Baton Rouge "a dubious story about working for the Central Intelligence Agency." (<a href="http://www.wsws.org/articles/2002/oct2002/snip-o28.shtml)">www.wsws.org/articles/200...o28.shtml)</a> o Muhammad further claimed that Malvo was also a highly trained operative, recruited for his ability to infiltrate the youth culture. (<a href="http://www.msnbc.com/news/825625.asp?pne=msn&cp1=1#BODY)">www.msnbc.com/news/825625...p1=1#BODY)</a> o The Guardian reported that Muhammad "appears to have told friends" that he had received training as a sniper and had served in Special Forces. (<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,819054,00.html)">www.guardian.co.uk/intern...4,00.html)</a> o Muhammad's former business partner in the karate school also recalled being told that his partner had served in Special Forces. (<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,819695,00.html)">www.guardian.co.uk/intern...5,00.html)</a> * Muhammad's alleged accomplice, just seventeen years old and with no formal firearms training, is claimed to have been the gunman in some of the sniper shootings. Reports claim that Muhammad trained Malvo in the use of firearms by taking target practice on a tree stump in the backyard of a Tacoma home -- as though hitting a large tree stump from across a backyard is equivalent to hitting a human target from hundreds of yards away, from an awkward position within a car trunk. * According to published reports, neither of the two had ever lived in the Washington, DC area. The pair arrived there just prior to the time that the shootings started. Strangely though, they had a thorough enough knowledge of the area to locate strategic sites from which to shoot, and to map out escape routes that enabled them to evade capture. * The car, a 1990 blue Chevrolet Caprice acquired just before the shooting spree began, is a former police cruiser that was purchased from a New Jersey auto dealership named (and this, I have to say, is a nice touch) "Sure Shot Autos." (<a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/la-na-sniper25oct25004444.story)">www.latimes.com/news/prin...444.story)</a> * The nation bore witness to some of the most brilliant police work in recent memory when someone saw fit to release a "composite sketch" of a featureless, white, box truck, and then have that image plastered all over the nation's television screens. Could anything have possibly been more counterproductive? You can imagine the calls flooding into the hotline: "Yeah, I think I counted 27 of them sniper trucks today." * Just hours before the suspects were arrested, Chief Charles Moose - who has become a fixture on cable and network newscasts - issued via national television what appeared for all the world to be a post-hypnotic, 'triggering' cue. As the Guardian described it: "Hours before the arrest yesterday morning of the two men now believed to be responsible for the string of murders around Washington, the Montgomery county police chief, Charles Moose, made his strangest communication with the then-unknown suspects. Swallowing hard, he began to read from a prepared statement. 'You indicated that you want us to do and say certain things,' he said, as mystified reporters looked on. 'You asked us to say, quote: 'We have caught the sniper like a duck in a noose.' We understand that hearing us say that is important to you.' Investigators offered no illumination of the reference, even after John Allen Muhammad and Lee Malvo were taken into custody yesterday." Just hours later, the suddenly known suspects were found sleeping soundly and were taken into custody without offering any resistance. They were only a few miles from both the first and last shooting scenes. That final surreal announcement followed a series of increasingly bizarre, cryptic communications by Moose to the purported snipers. (<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,818958,00.html)">www.guardian.co.uk/intern...8,00.html)</a> * At one point, Moose pleaded with the suspects to call police on the phone number that had supposedly been left behind in a message from the sniper. No one in the media bothered to ask why, if the number was in fact left by the sniper, the police were now imploring the suspect to call them on that number. Did the sniper leave the police their own phone number, just in case they might have forgotten it? * Until last year, John Allen Muhammad was known as John Allen Williams. He changed his name just in time, it appears, for the media to be able to portray him as some sort of Islamic fundamentalist. But just eleven years ago, Williams served in the Gulf War, demonstrating that he apparently had no reservations about participating in a brutal assault upon a predominantly Islamic nation. (<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,819054,00.html)">www.guardian.co.uk/intern...4,00.html)</a> * Muhammad has been described by various witnesses as an extremely controlling man who exerted an extraordinary amount of influence over his young accomplice. Their relationship has been described as "drill sergeant/recruit." Some reports claim that the pair first met in Antigua, while others suggest that they first teamed up in Tacoma. No reports have offered much insight into how or why this odd couple became partners. (<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,819695,00.html)">www.guardian.co.uk/intern...5,00.html)</a> * Muhammad was not at first booked on murder charges, but rather on charges of harassing his ex-wife two years ago. * As previously noted, Malvo entered the United States illegally. Not long before the sniper killings began, he was detained by the INS, who were aware of his status as an illegal immigrant. Strangely though, he was subsequently released. Under normal circumstances, Malvo would have been deported. * It is asserted by the police that someone claiming to be the sniper told them in a telephone conversation that they should "take him seriously," and that if they had any doubts about that, they should "check with the people in Montgomery." If this conversation did in fact take place, the most logical conclusion to draw would be that the sniper was referring to Montgomery County, Maryland, where six of the sniper's victims were shot. But for some inexplicable reason, police immediately focused their attention on Montgomery, Alabama, where they claimed to have connected the sniper killings to a seemingly unrelated robbery/murder that was committed with a handgun of a caliber not known to have been in the possession of either Muhammad or Malvo. Among the unanswered questions raised by that unexpected turn of events: why did investigators turn their attention to Alabama? why did they zero in on that particular unsolved crime? and how were they able to suddenly identify a previously unidentified fingerprint? * The L.A. Times reported that there were a number of items in the suspects' car at the time of their arrest that seem a little out of place in a homeless drifter's vehicle. In addition to the (planted?) Bushmaster rifle, scope and bipod, there was a Sony laptop computer, a pair of two-way radios, and - as one might expect to find - a global positioning system. (<a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-sniper30oct30.story)">www.latimes.com/news/nati...t30.story)</a> * That same Times report implicates Muhammad in the February 16 murder of a 21-year-old Tacoma, Washington woman. The link to Muhammad was made as follows: "Tacoma Police Chief David A. Brame said at a news conference late Monday that a Tacoma gun hobbyist he declined to identify had befriended and housed Muhammad and Malvo for several months this year. The gun owner came forward after the two men were charged in the sniper rampage. Brame said the man voluntarily turned over to police a .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol and a .44 magnum revolver that he said he had loaned to Muhammad on occasion during the first six months of this year." Ballistic tests purportedly revealed that the .45 was used to murder the woman and the .44 was used to vandalize a synagogue. Obvious questions arise: Who is this mysterious "gun hobbyist"? Is he a member of the law enforcement community? Why did he "on occasion" loan his guns to a man he had known for only a few months? For what purpose did he think the guns were being used? Why isn't the "gun hobbyist" himself a suspect, and why is his identity being concealed? * On October 30, the New York Times reported that "State and federal investigators said today that John Muhammad had been talking to them for more than an hour on the day of his arrest in the sniper shootings, explaining the roots of his anger, when the United States attorney for Maryland told them to deliver him to Baltimore to face federal weapons charges and forcing them to end their interrogation." The investigators claimed that Muhammad had waived his right to an attorney and was talking freely when federal prosecutor Thomas Di Biagio shut their interrogation down. Di Biagio claimed that he was acting on orders from the White House and the U.S. Justice Department, though both seem to have distanced themselves from Di Biagio's actions. Investigators claim that they felt confident that they could have gotten a confession out of Muhammad. Federal officials claimed, rather remarkably, that they weren't really interested in a confession. An unnamed "senior federal law enforcement official" was quoted as saying: "Tell me what more we need from them? We have the ballistics. We don't need the confession." But was it really a confession that federal officials were worried that the investigators might hear? Or was it something else? Whatever it was, they won't be hearing it now: "since then Muhammad has not talked to investigators." (<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/30/national/nationalspecial/30XCOUN.html?todaysheadlines)">www.nytimes.com/2002/10/3...headlines)</a> * The Independent Online noted in passing, without elaboration, that Muhammad's ready supply of cash may have been due to a "combination of odd jobs and crimes that included human smuggling." Is that what Muhammad's rather mysterious travels were really all about? And if so, on whose behalf was he working? (<a href="http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=79&art_id=qw1035806221674B225&set_id=1)">www.iol.co.za/index.php?c...;set_id=1)</a> * Clearly there was someone, or some entity, bankrolling Muhammad's activities. Who were his hidden benefactors? The media will likely either avoid the issue entirely or attempt to link Muhammad to some sort of 'terrorist' organization, although it isn't likely that many fingers will be pointed at his most likely benefactor: that world-wide terrorist organization that we all know and love as the CIA. [Update: former investigative reporter Jim Rarey has looked into Muhammad's criminal history and discovered that none of the alleged sniper's past arrests appear in the FBI's national database. Rarey has also raised questions about the ease with which Muhammad has avoided prosecution for his crimes. The obvious inference is that "the government for some reason was protecting Muhammad." (<a href="http://www.worldnewsstand.net/MediumRare/33.htm)">www.worldnewsstand.net/Me...re/33.htm)</a>] This bulletin includes only the bits and pieces of incongruous information that have emerged thus far through various avenues of the media. While there is far more that has yet to be discovered, it is already clear that there is much more to this story than what has been presented to the American people. Meanwhile, U.S. authorities are busily maneuvering to stage a trial with a predetermined outcome -- one that will include the execution of 17-year-old Malvo. The media is clamoring for that execution to take place, even though there has been no compelling evidence presented thus far to indicate the young man's guilt. It is important to remember that we are talking here about a kid who has been victimized throughout the entirety of his brief stay here on planet Earth. Born onto the mean streets of Jamaica, in a land ruled by violent druglords, and apparently abandoned by his father, Malvo survived a childhood that no kid should have to endure. Smuggled into the States in the hold of a cargo ship, in the hopes of finding a better life, Malvo found nothing but further victimization and despair -- at the hands of a man named John Allen Muhammad. But through it all, Malvo remained - as friends and acquaintances have told reporters - an intelligent, thoughtful, unerringly polite and friendly kid. But he was also, if police spokesmen and the bloodthirsty media are to be believed, a serial sniper. So let's execute the bastard. We don't even need to bother with a trial. The sooner the better. Maybe we can make it part of the half-time show at this year's Super Bowl. <a href="http://davesweb.cnchost.com/nwsltr20.html">davesweb.cnchost.com/nwsltr20.html</a> <hr></blockquote> I'd add that the one of the victims was FBI analyst Linda Franklin who studied terrorist threats on the internet. Her background explains this easily enough...she used to teach English for the DOD. She also helped found <a href="http://www.infragard.net/about_us/facts.htm">infragard</a>. As Hannibal Lecter might say, "don't the killings appear a little TOO random?"

Posted: **Wed May 24, 2006 3:10 am**

Muhammad was also rumored to have been linked with Jamaat al-Fuqra, the organization of Sheikh Mubarak Ali Gilani which is possibly linked to the Pakistani ISI. As far as I can tell, that rumor began with this article in the London Evening Standard, the claim being sourced to unspecified "investigators": <a href="http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/articles/7159060?source=Evening%20Standard">US sniper 'linked to terror cult'</a>. IMO al-Fuqra is both suspicious in its own right and because of the attention it's received from certain anti-Muslim bigots. See this thread: <a href="http://p216.ezboard.com/frigorousintuitionfrm41.showMessage?topicID=109.topic">Sheikh Gilani vs. the Right Wingnuts</a>. Edited by: <A HREF=http://p216.ezboard.com/brigorousintuition.showUserPublicProfile?gid=albion@rigorousintuition>albion</A> at: 5/24/06 1:15 am

Posted: **Wed May 24, 2006 6:15 am**

Albion, you beat me to the Fuqra connection. I believe he has been associated with an offshoot of al-Fuqra called Muslims of the Americas, which runs "camps" at various remote locations in North America. But I don't even know if it's true that he ever had anything to do with them. McGowan doesn't mention it.

Posted: **Wed May 24, 2006 6:17 am**

Is there any connection with the alleged Washington snipers, John Muhammad and John Malvo & training camps/ rifle ranges in Marion, Alabama, (called 'Ground Zero USA) & in Bly Oregon? These 2 camps are linked to Frank (Francis) Etim/ Sulayman Balal Zainulabidin. Etim & James Ujaama who may be possibly connected (via the London Finsbury park Mosque) to other shadowy figures. I have been trying to research the subject of connections of the Mosque to various figures (Richard Reid - shoebomber, Zacarias Moussaoui, Jerome & David <a href="http://www.norwalkadvocate.com/news/nationworld/sns-worldtrade-embassyplot-lat,0,3646484.story?page=3&coll=sns-newsnation-headlines" target="top">Courtailler</a>,etc. More info at <a href="http://xymphora.blogspot.com/2003_01_01_xymphora_archive.html" target="top">xymphora archives</a>.

Posted: **Wed May 24, 2006 6:28 am**

Richard Reid was a "diciple" (allegedly, that is) of Pir Gilani, the al-Fuqra leader. This connection was one of the things WSJ journalist Daniel Pearl was investigating in Pakistan when he was killed. Wasn't the Bly, Oregon camp associated with Rashid Haroon Aswat, the famously alleged-by-John-Loftus MI6 informant/agent, and for a while suspect in the 7/7 bombings?

Posted: **Wed May 24, 2006 8:57 am**

The Times of London reported that a London based cleric (either Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammed or Abu Hamza of Finsbury Park Mosque) sent Aswat to America in 1999 to set up camps in Oregon for US-born recruits. It was also reported that Oussama Kassir, a Lebanese Swede also accompanied Aswat. The story goes that these 2 were still in the United States in February 2000. They were living in Seattle where they "expounded the writings and teachings" of their London-based mentor in lectures to young Muslims at a city mosque. More from the Times…. Aswat has been known to Western intelligence services for more than three years after the FBI accused him of trying to set up al-Qaeda training camps in the US. When he was arrested in a madrassa (religious school), Aswat is understood to have been posing as a businessmen and using a false name. He was picked up in a raid at a madrassa at Sargodha, 90 miles from Islamabad, by Pakistani intelligence officials and flown to a jail in the capital. Security sources there told The Times that he was armed with a number of guns, wearing an explosive belt and carrying around £17,000 in cash. He had a British passport and was about to flee across the border to Afghanistan. James Ujaama was allegedly associated with Semi Osman (whoah, - that name again!), a man who worked as an automobile mechanic in Tacoma, Washington and was a leader of a mosque in Seattle (the mosque founded by James Ujaama's brother, Mustafa Ujaama, another convert to Islam). The ‘Londistan’ Finsbury Park Mosque & other city mosques (Baker Street) have been focal points for many an actor in the ‘War of Terror’. After Abu Hamza took over, he seemed to be a convenient asset for British security services, much to the chagrin of Muslim trustees who tried in vain for many years to have his activities curtailed (see the Guardian, 17th January 1999) after he ‘took control of the Mosque in 1996 - According to one trustee, Mufti Barkatulla, "we tried to get him arrested but he is never apprehended. I asked Scotland Yard what they were doing. There was suspicion the police had another agenda". (see <a href="http://www.salaam.co.uk/themeofthemonth/september03_index.php?l=48" target="top">here</a>) On 19th October 2004, Abu Hamza Al-Masri was finally charged at Belmarsh Magistrates court. To the British Muslim community it appears that this trial has come to the fore only once there was a demand from the US for his extradition. A successful UK conviction will allow this extradition demand to be avoided and for Abu Hamza to be retained in the UK. There have been several suggestions in Muslim circles and the UK press hinting at the useful role performed by the likes of Abu Hamza. There is also the curious incident in Yemen in 1999, when five men, and Abu Hamza's stepson Muhammad Mustafa Kamel, were held for an alleged bomb plot ( see <a href="http://www.al-bab.com/yemen/artic/gdn42.htm" target="top">www.al-bab.com/yemen/artic/gdn42.htm</a> )- the newspapers also reported that the security agencies had been monitoring Abu Hamza's conversations with the ring leader Abul Hassan Mehdar. Apparently the Yemeni authorities had requested for Abu Hamza's extradition, but to no avail. His stepson was released by Yemen in 2002. Abu Hamza's role has more recently been elaborated as follows: "US authorities were exasperated at the way that Abu Hamza was allowed to preach to a large crowd of radical followers every Friday outside the Finsbury Park mosque. But for a British spook, this kind of weekly photo opportunity is worth its weight in gold, and probably far harder to find with Abu Hamza now in custody, pending extradition to the US" (The Guardian, 26th August 2005). More Info at <a href="http://www.ict.org.il/spotlight/comment.cfm?id=1075" target="top">www.ict.org.il/spotlight/comment.cfm?id=1075</a> Djamel Beghal is the name ‘associated’ with shoebomber Richard Reid. <a href="http://See" target="top">See http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8550539/</a> The London Mosque was being used, but not, I suspect, at the behest of 'Al-Queda' leaders - I have a strong suspicion that there was a level of control above that.

Posted: **Wed May 24, 2006 9:35 am**

I love Dave McGowan. He always goes straight for the dirty secrets aspect of everything he writes about. Remember what a distraction the case was from the important issues of the '02 midterms?

Posted: **Wed May 24, 2006 2:18 pm**

Fascinating facts here, guys. Bump.

Posted: **Thu May 25, 2006 11:00 am**

<blockquote>Quote:<hr>Richard Reid was a "diciple" (allegedly, that is) of Pir Gilani, the al-Fuqra leader. This connection was one of the things WSJ journalist Daniel Pearl was investigating in Pakistan when he was killed. <hr></blockquote> More fascinating stuff..... The excerpt below is from Truth, Lies, and The Legend of 9/11 by Chaim Kupferberg21 October 2003 The URL of this article is: <a href="http://globalresearch.ca/articles/KUP310A.html" target="top">globalresearch.ca/articles/KUP310A.html</a> Enter Daniel Pearl We may never know the true motivation that set Daniel Pearl on a quest that would ultimately lead to his grisly demise. However, thanks to an invaluable article by Robert Sam Anson in the August 2002 issue of Vanity Fair, we do know which key player was involved in guiding him on his quest for knowledge. Mansoor Ijaz is not a man widely known outside his circle, but his intimate connections run deep in Washington's power circles. A counter-terror expert, a member of the Council On Foreign Relations, a Fox News analyst, as well as a business partner of former CIA Director James Woolsey, Ijaz is represented by the public relations firm of Benador Associates, whose client list reads like a "who's who" of the propaganda heavy-hitters who were pushing for a war in Iraq - Richard Perle (former Chairman of the Defense Policy Board), Woolsey (also a member of the Defense Policy Board), Iraqi scientist ( and chronicler of Saddam's weapons program) Khidir Khamza, former Washington Times publisher (and UPI chief) Arnaud De Borchgrave, anti-Saddam author Laurie Mylroie, Harvard professor/CIA associate Richard Pipes (mentor of Mylroie, and father of Daniel Pipes), and Frank Gaffney, president of the hard-right Center For Security Policy (of which Perle and Woolsey are on the advisory council). The interlocking relationships of members of this clique - or "crew", in the parlance of organized crime - is indeed a testament to the power of networking, yet the astonishing scope of their most recent activities - both in the lead-up to and aftermath of 9/11 - is perhaps indicative of a more covertly sinister tint in the psychological makeup of some members of the political "power elite." Ijaz's frequent writing partner, James Woolsey, for example, was one of just 17 participants in a July 2001 bio-warfare exercise dubbed "Dark Winter," a simulation of a mass smallpox attack, co-sponsored by the ANSER Institute of Homeland Security and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Among the other participants was Benador client Arnaud De Borchgrave and New York Times journalist Judith Miller, who had co-authored a book with Benador client Mylroie in the early '90's. Mylroie's book - an attempt at linking Iraq to 9/11 - was released just weeks after September 11 with a foreword written by James Woolsey. Around the same time, Judith Miller had just launched her own well-publicized book on the germ warfare threat - within a week or two of her own well-publicized role as one of the very few recipients of an "anthrax" mailing (which turned out not to be anthrax). As for the anthrax threat, a major principal in the company that holds the exclusive license for the anthrax vaccine is former Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff William Crowe, whose business associate in the consulting firm Global Options is - you guessed it - James Woolsey. As for the present smallpox threat, the man charged with overseeing President Bush's mass vaccination policy was another "Dark Winter" alumnus, Jerry Hauer. Hauer, a former director of Kroll Associates - the security firm at the helm when the Twin Towers fell - is also the man who personally pulled strings in order to get senior FBI official John O'Neill his job as head of security at the World Trade Center. O'Neill, who had left a 30-year career in the FBI only two weeks before September 11, had perished in the rubble of the Twin Towers on his very first day at the post. Incidentally, O'Neill just happened to have been the main FBI official in charge of investigating all things bin Laden. Given the above social contacts, from Daniel Pearl's point of view, Mansoor Ijaz was indeed the man to meet. "He [Pearl] wanted me to introduce him to people who could open doors for him," explained Ijaz in Vanity Fair. One of those doors opened to Khalid Khawaja, a former ISI agent whose militant credentials included a longstanding friendship with Osama bin Laden. But Khawaja was a liberal militant, counting among his acquaintances both Ijaz and Woolsey, with whom he carried on a lengthy correspondence. With Ijaz's letter of reference in hand, Pearl established contact with Khawaja in Pakistan. As reported by Arshad Sharif in a February 14, 2002 item from Dawn, "Khawaja claimed that he introduced Mr. Pearl to his contacts and arranged interviews with Taliban diplomats and other people." According to the "official" record of Pearl's journalistic quest, he was on the trail of Richard Reid, otherwise known as the "shoe bomber." According to Anson, Pearl believed that Reid was a follower of Sheikh Mubarak Ali Shah Gilani, "a leader of an obscure Muslim militant group named Jamaat ul-Fuqra." As Khawaja spins the tale, when Pearl asked for an introduction to Gilani in early January, Khawaja's militant toes went cold. With Khawaja now purportedly out of the picture, Pearl was left to scrounge up his own contacts. Eventually, Pearl found a "connected" militant who went by the name of Chaudry Bashir - but who was, in actual fact, Omar Saeed clothed in yet another alias. Or so that is the "official" version. If true, our man Saeed had his terrorist appointment book just about crammed with militant activities at the time, for he was, according to Indian intelligence, intimately involved with the man who took responsibility for the terrorist attack in Calcutta on January 22, 2002 - just one day before Pearl's disappearance. On that very day, a militant/gangster by the name of Aftab Ansari called in his claim of responsibility for the carnage. As for his connection with Omar Saeed, here is how the Times of India reported it on January 22: "[Indian] CBI Director P C Sharma told visiting FBI Chief Robert S Mueller that Ansari, who claimed responsibility for [today's Calcutta] attack, had taken a ransom of Rs 37.5 million to free shoe baron Parthapratim Roy Burman through hawala channels to Dubai, CBI sources said. Out of this amount, Omar [Saeed] ... had sent $100,000 to Atta through telegraphic transfer, CBI sources said." What was going on here? Apparently, the January 22 Calcutta incident was the trigger for an update on the "legend" of 9/11 - and FBI Director Mueller was on scene to play his part in the unfolding drama. Within hours of the January 22 attack, the Indian Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was circulating news that the main suspect in the Calcutta attack, Ansari, had sent money to Omar Saeed, who then sent it on to Mohamed Atta in preparation for the September 11 attacks. No mention was made of the previously reported involvement of the chief of Pakistani intelligence. In fact, The Times of India would, within the next few weeks, back away from its October 9 article linking Omar Saeed to the Pakistani General - perhaps at the behest of Indian intelligence. The 9/11 money, in the CBI's new version, came from an August 2001 kidnapping masterminded by Ansari and Asif Reza Khan. Unfortunately, Khan was not around by this time to confirm it, as he had already been killed in what was believed to be a staged shootout with Indian police several weeks earlier.

Posted: **Thu May 25, 2006 5:17 pm**

Was just reviewing the Sheikh Gilani vs the Right Wingnuts thread (link above) and noticed that <a href="http://fuqra.blogspot.com">fuqra.blogspot.com</a> is offline. That was the short-lived blog by the person who claimed to be a disgruntled former Fuqra member who was ready to to dish the dirt on Gilani. As of right now, his handful of entries are gone, replaced by spam. There's a few traces of "Fuqra Hater," as he called himself, in a handful of posts in the "Politics of CP" blog. <a href="http://politicsofcp.blogspot.com/2006/04/former-fuqra-member-seeks-to-expose.html">Former Fuqra Member Seeks to Expose Gilani</a> <a href="http://politicsofcp.blogspot.com/2006/04/incarceration-of-edward-flinton.html">The Incarceration of Edward Flinton</a> <a href="http://politicsofcp.blogspot.com/2006/04/gilani-lives-large-in-lahore.html">Gilani Lives Large in Lahore</a> <a href="http://politicsofcp.blogspot.com/2006/04/gilanis-second-afghan-jihad.html">Gilani's Second Afghan Jihad</a> CP is a right wingnut who has been investigating Gilani. I posted about it earlier not because I have a lot of faith in what the guy says (far from it), but because he and cohorts basically inserted themselves into the story, as it were, by sending someone to investigate one of Gilani's "camps," which in turn provoked a response from Gilani. Shortly thereafter, "Fuqra Hater" appeared...and disappeared. What does it mean? I dunno. After reading CP's blog for awhile, I personally get the sense that he's just an outraged wingnut blogger who's a bit of a blockhead. At the same time, it's almost inconceivable to me that there's not multiple agendas in play here, so...caveat, is all I'm saying. It's probably worth re-iterating that the Fuqra connection with the DC Snipers is speculative. There's also a small trace of "Fuqra Hater" in the thread from last month, when I posted this snippet without attribution. For the record, it was from the end of a post at fuqra.blogspot.com: "So many stories and all are sad, many involve the women getting left behind and the children suffering. I pray that these innocent people who are looking for guidance get away from the Sheikh as I have done, when you have children growing up thinking that a old man in pakistan can see what you are doing here in America just by closing his eyes and chanting some mystical words, then I believe these childrens hearts will be dead before they even have a chance to blossom. May God save the people from Sheikh Gilani and his calamity upon this earth."

Posted: **Fri May 26, 2006 1:12 am**

How weird. I read this post yesterday and today while we were moving into our new storefront in lovely downtown Bellingham Washington, our friend points out this little divey bar and grill that sits on posts in the harbor. It is called 'Waterfront Tavern Seafood and Bar' and apparently is notorious for being frequented not only by Malvo, but Ted Bundy as well. Malvo hung out there for awhile, apparently he and his little friend were staying at the Lighthouse Mission down the street, and while the boy went to the local high school, Malvo sat around all day in the joint drinking (more of that well-moneyed homeless thing apparently). I wasn't able to find out any more details on Bundy's visits but I thought it was damn suspicious that both of them apparently went way out of their way to frequent the same trashy little bar in B'ham. Just wanted to pass this on for those who like to visit such places, who knows? While you're there perhaps you'll meet some spooks or even the next celebrity mass-murderer....

rigorousintuition.ca

That Washington sniper

That Washington sniper

Re: That Washington sniper

Re: That Washington sniper

Re: That Washington sniper

Re: That Washington sniper

Re: That Washington sniper

Re: That Washington sniper

Re: That Washington sniper

Re: That Washington sniper

Re: That Washington sniper

Re: That Washington sniper

Re: That Washington sniper

Re: That Washington sniper

serial murder tour....