Recruitment Shooting Suspect Doesn’t Think Killing Was Murder
FOX News
LITTLE ROCK, Ark.
A Muslim convert charged with fatally shooting an American soldier at a military recruiting center said Tuesday that he doesn’t consider the killing a murder because U.S. military action in the Middle East made the killing justified.
“I do feel I’m not guilty,” Abdulhakim Muhammad told The Associated Press in a collect call from the Pulaski County jail. “I don’t think it was murder, because murder is when a person kills another person without justified reason.”
Pvt. William Andrew Long, 23, of Conway had just completed basic training and was volunteering at the west Little Rock recruiting office before starting an assignment in South Korea. He was shot dead June 1 while smoking a cigarette outside the building, and a fellow soldier, Pvt. Quinton I. Ezeagwula, 18, of Jacksonville was wounded.
The private, who also had just completed basic training, said he hopes to become a heavy equipment operator in the Army and later serve as a drill instructor. An Army captain repeatedly stopped Ezeagwula from answering questions about what happened during the shooting or his thoughts about the suspect.
Muhammad told the AP he admitted to his actions to police and said he was retaliating against the U.S. military.
“Yes, I did tell the police upon my arrest that this was an act of retaliation, and not a reaction on the soldiers personally,” Muhammad said. He called it “a act, for the sake of God, for the sake of Allah, the Lord of all the world, and also a retaliation on U.S. military.”
In the interview, Muhammad also disputed his lawyer’s claim that he had been “radicalized” in a Yemeni prison and said fellow prisoners that some call terrorists were actually “very good Muslim brothers.”
He also said he didn’t specifically plan the shootings that morning.
“It’s been on my mind for awhile. It wasn’t nothing planned really. It was just the heat of the moment, you know,” said Muhammad, who was arrested on a highway shortly after the attack.
Prosecutor Larry Jegley, who on Monday won a gag order in the case, declined to comment specifically on Muhammad’s remarks.
“I asked for the gag order to protect Mr. Muhammad’s right for a fair trial,” Jegley said. “I’ve never had a situation like this with a gag order and I’m sure Mr. Muhammad’s attorney will take care of it.”
Muhammad, 23, said he wanted revenge for claims that American military personnel had desecrated copies of the Quran and killed or raped Muslims. “For this reason, no Muslim, male or female, sane or insane, little, big, small, old can accept or tolerate,” he said.
He said the U.S. military would never treat Christians and their Scriptures in the same manner.
“U.S. soldiers are killing innocent Muslim men and women. We believe that we have to strike back. We believe in eye for an eye. We don’t believe in turning the other cheek,” he said.
Asked whether he considered the shootings at the recruiting center an act of war, Muhammad said “I didn’t know the soldiers personally, but yes, it was an attack of retaliation. And I feel that other attacks, not by me or people I know, but definitely Muslims in this country and others elsewhere, are going to attack for doing those things they did,” especially desecrating the Quran.
Wild Thing’s comment…………
Where is the outrage from the peace-loving American Muslims? Of course they are silent and once again they argument to being Moderate and playing nice means absolutely nothing.
I hope they feed him pork every day during the trial and then put him to death. CAIR and the ACLU hands off this one, he killed one of our own!!!
There will be no outrage from American muslims over this incident. Their only outrage is when they think they have been sleighted in some way. They do what their imans and mullahs incite them to do.
The killing at the Holocaust museum was despicable also, but that was not done by a muslim. Let’s see how it plays out in the MSM.
Don’t forget when he’s labled a right wing radical that the oh so righteous Democrats were the party of the KKK.
Bob A.
In the Main Stream Media Abortion Doctor Tiller has high priority when it comes to coverage. Afterall, the slaughter of Millions of American Babies, what could be more important than that. To the left, an abortion unperformed is a sacrilidge to their sacrement of abortion. On O’reilly, Ellis Henican, the Eunuch from Newsweek was just outraged that Tiller was even included with this soldier who was slaughtered by a Muslim. He didn’t consider this an act of terror but Tiller, was murdered by a Right-Wing Zealot.
The murder of a Soldier at a Recruiting Station or the Shooting of the Museum Guard is only secondary.
The Main Stream Media(ABC, NBE, CBS,MSNBC, CNN,AND ilk) is afraid of Muslims and they hate the Military.
Tom, Bob A., Mark, thank you everyone.