July 7th People's Independent Inquiry Forum -> Fort Hood Shooting

Fort Hood Shooting, Major Nadal Malik Hasan

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Bridget

Posted: Nov 12 2009, 06:04 PM

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QUOTE

Hasan to be charged with premeditated murder, Army official says

By Peter Slevin and William Branigin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, November 12, 2009; 12:46 PM

FORT HOOD, Tex. -- Army officials intend to charge Maj. Nidal M. Hasan with premeditated murder in last week's killing of 12 soldiers and a civilian at Fort Hood, an Army official said Thursday.

The murder charges are expected to be announced Thursday afternoon.

Authorities have said Hasan will be tried in a military court because he is a service member, the shooting took place on an Army post, and all of those slain were Defense Department personnel. Of the 13 who died, four were officers, eight were enlisted soldiers and one was a retired chief warrant officer who was working as a civilian at Fort Hood.

Hasan, 39, an Army psychiatrist, allegedly opened fire Nov. 5 with two handguns on unarmed soldiers who were preparing for deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. The attack at Fort Hood's Soldier Readiness Processing Center also left 38 people wounded. It has been described as the deadliest mass shooting at a U.S. military installation.

The rampage ended when Hasan was shot by civilian police who responded to the scene. Hasan was subsequently flown to an Army hospital in San Antonio, where he has been reported in stable condition as he recovers from four gunshot wounds.

Hasan has refused to talk to Army or FBI investigators, authorities said. He requested legal representation and met with two attorneys. His civilian lawyer, retired Col. John P. Galligan, has said he would not permit Hasan to be questioned without a defense attorney present.

Officials at Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio said Hasan was taken off a ventilator Saturday after arriving the day before from a hospital in Temple, Tex. A spokeswoman at Brooke said Monday, "He is in stable condition, and he is conversing with the medical staff, the doctors and nurses who are assisting with his medical needs."

Galligan, who was hired by Hasan's family, and Maj. Christopher E. Martin, Fort Hood's senior defense attorney, met with Hasan for about half an hour Monday night at Brooke. Galligan later questioned whether Hasan could get a fair trial at Fort Hood.

The attorney said his client knew he was a suspect in the Fort Hood shootings but that there were no formal charges at the time that could be discussed at the Monday meeting.

Colleagues and relatives have said that Hasan, a U.S.-born Muslim of Palestinian descent, opposed the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and was upset about his own looming deployment to Afghanistan. Relatives also said he had been harassed because of his religion.

At the apartment complex where Hasan lived in Killeen outside Fort Hood, another soldier had vandalized Hasan's car and tore off a bumper sticker that read "Allah is Love," prompting Hasan to file a complaint to police, a co-manager of the complex said. The soldier had been in Iraq and reportedly was upset to learn that Hasan was Muslim.

Residents of the complex said Hasan gave away furniture, food, clothes and other belongings on Wednesday and Thursday before the shootings, telling neighbors he was going to be deployed to Afghanistan on Friday.

Hours after Hasan gave an air mattress and other items to his next-door neighbor, Patricia Villa, and offered her money to clean his apartment after he left, he allegedly opened fire at the Fort Worth processing center.

Prosecutors are expected to focus in part on Hasan's actions at the apartment complex before the shootings as they seek to prove premeditation.

Bridget

Posted: Nov 13 2009, 12:54 AM

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Joined: 26-November 05

See previous post here on al-Awlaki:

QUOTE

From The Times
November 12, 2009
Preacher linked to Fort Hood killer has support in Britain
Imam Anwar al-Awlaki

Sean O�Neill, Crime and Security Editor and Richard Kerbaj

A radical preacher who allegedly inspired the Fort Hood gunman has a large following in Britain and counts prominent mainstream Muslims among his supporters.

The FBI is investigating communications between Major Nidal Hasan, who killed 13 people at the Texas army base last week, and Imam Anwar al-Awlaki, a US-born Muslim cleric now based in Yemen. Mr al-Awlaki, 38, who described Major Hasan on his blog as �a hero�, has been a regular visitor to Britain and delivers frequent lectures to British audiences by video or via the internet.

Counter-terrorism sources said yesterday that Mr al-Awlaki was barred from entering Britain on security grounds while the anti-extremist Quilliam Foundation said he was �perhaps the most influential pro-jihadist ideologue preaching in English today�.

Despite his extremist reputation, the cleric had attracted support from mainstream British Muslim groups. Azad Ali, president of the Civil Service Islamic Society, wrote last November that Mr al-Awlaki was �one of my favourite speakers and scholars�.

Mr Ali, whose society�s patron is Sir Gus O�Donnell, the Cabinet Secretary, distanced himself from the cleric�s views last night. He said: �I reject them and disassociate myself from them completely.�

The cleric was also praised in 2006 by Osama Saeed, an SNP parliamentary candidate, who said �he preached nothing but peace�. Mr Saeed said last night he felt �cheated� by Mr al-Awlaki. He added: �I completely disagree with what he has said about Fort Hood.� (See here for Osama Saeed's response to this article)

But Mr al-Awlaki�s lectures are still circulated widely. The Times acquired DVDs of his lectures at two Islamic bookshops in East London, while Jimas, a registered charity based in Ipswich, offers downloads of his sermons.

Earlier this year a video lecture by Mr al-Awlaki was delivered at the East London mosque with a poster depicting New York in flames. The cleric was also the lead tutor, again via video, for weekend courses in Islamic thought held in April in London and Birmingham.

Mr al-Awlaki was born in New Mexico in 1971 but spent 11 years in Yemen, where his father was born, before returning to the US where he studied civil engineering at Colorado State University. He was an imam at Rabat mosque in San Diego where he met two of the September 11 hijackers, Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar. The 9/11 Commission report said Mr al-Awlaki �developed a close relationship� with the hijackers but he condemned the atrocities at the time.

The cleric moved from San Diego to be an imam at Falls Church, Virginia, where he is reported to have first met Major Hasan. Investigators have uncovered evidence of contact between the pair from December 2008.

Between 2002 and 2005, when he was placed on a UK security watchlist, he was a frequent visitor to Britain, addressing congregations and conferences in London, Birmingham and Leicester. He spoke at �Islam for Europe� at Wembley conference centre in 2003. After 2005 he settled in Yemen and since being detained briefly there in 2006, is not thought to have travelled to the West. He is believed to be hiding in Yemen�s Shabwa or Mareb provinces, which with Jof province make up the �triangle of evil�, home to many al-Qaeda militants.

Inayat Bunglawala, of Muslims4UK, said Mr al-Awlaki had �a significant following� among �disillusioned British Muslims�. He added: �It is imperative his views are rigorously countered by more learned Islamic scholars.�

Nasser al-Awlaki, the preacher�s father, said he had had no contact with his son for eight months, adding: �He has nothing to do with al-Qaeda. But he�s a devout Muslim. He has never been involved in anything against anybody.�

Bridget	Posted: Nov 13 2009, 10:00 AM
Group: J7 Admins Posts: 10,513 Member No.: 2 Joined: 26-November 05	Reviving the War of Terror: Patsy framed in Secret Team psy-op to generate public support for wars SOTT

numeral

Posted: Nov 15 2009, 02:03 PM

Group: J7 Forum Team
Posts: 3,978
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Joined: 4-December 05

A scoop by "Republicans For Fair Media"

CODE

http://rffm.typepad.com/republicans_for_fair_medi/2009/11/rffmorg-exclusive-major-nidal-malik-hasan-terror-attack-at-ft-hood-eyewitness-account-of-what-really.html

QUOTE

RFFM.org Exclusive: Major Nidal Malik Hasan's Killing Spree at Ft. Hood: Eyewitness Account Of What Really Happened
EXCLUSIVE

EDITOR'S NOTE:

The following is a narrative from a U.S. Army Colonel who was an eyewitness to the attack on fellow soldiers by Major Nidal Malik Hasan at Ft. Hood, Texas on Thursday, November 5th, 2009 which led to the deaths of 13 members of the U.S. Army and the wounding of 30 others. This JAG (Judge Advocate General) officer had his account transcribed by a retired General in the U.S. Army. The story told here may be in contrast to what is being released to the media by C.I.D.'s* inqueries into the incident.

The following first person narrative is told by an Army officer who prefers to remain anonymous, yet desires the truth be told.

Since I don't know when I'll sleep (it's 4 am now), I'll write what happened (the abbreviated version ..... The long one is already part of the investigation with more to come). I'll not write about any part of the investigation that I've learned about since (as a witness I know more than I should since inevitably my JAG brothers and sisters are deeply involved in the investigation). Don't assume that most of the current media accounts are very accurate. They're not. They'll improve with time. Only those of us who were there really know what went down. But as they collate our statements they'll get it right.

I did my SRP last week (Soldier Readiness Processing) but you're supposed to come back a week later to have them look at the smallpox vaccination site (it's this big itchy growth on your shoulder). I am probably alive because I pulled a ---------- and entered the wrong building first (the main SRP building). The Medical SRP building is off to the side. Realizing my mistake I left the main building and walked down the sidewalk to the medical SRP building. As I'm walking up to it the gunshots start. Slow and methodical. But continuous. Two ambulatory wounded came out. Then two soldiers dragging a third who was covered in blood.

Hearing the shots but not seeing the shooter, along with a couple other soldiers, I stood in the street and yelled at everyone who came running that it was clear but to "RUN!" I kept motioning people fast.

About 6-10 minutes later (the shooting continuous), two cops ran up, one male, one female. We pointed in the direction of the shots. they headed that way (the medical SRP building was about 50 meters away). Then a lot more gunfire. A couple minutes later a balding man in ACU's* came around the building carrying a pistol and holding it tactically. He started shooting at us and we all dived back to the cars behind us.

I don't think he hit the couple other guys who were there. I did see the bullet holes later in the cars. First, I went behind a tire and then looked under the body of the car. I've been trained how to respond to gunfire � but with my own weapon. To have no weapon I don't know how to explain what that felt like. I hadn't run away and stayed because I had thought about the consequences or anything like that. I wasn't thinking anything through. Please understand, there was no intention. I was just staying there because I didn't think about running. It never occurred to me that he might shoot me. Until he started shooting in my direction and I realized I was unarmed.

Then the female cop comes around the corner. He shoots her. (According to the news accounts she got a round into him. I believe it, I just didn't see it; he didn't go down.) She goes down. He starts reloading. He's fiddling with his mags. Weirdly, he hasn't dropped the one that was in his weapon. He's holding the fresh one and the old one (you do that on the range when time is not of the essence but in combat you would just let the old mag go). I see the male cop around the left corner of the building. (I'm about 15-20 meters from the shooter.) I yell at the cop, "He's reloading, he's reloading. Shoot him! Shoot him!�

You have to understand, everything was quiet at this point. The cop appears to hear me and comes around the corner and shoots the shooter. He goes down. The cop kicks his weapon further away. I sprint up to the downed female cop. Another captain (I think he was with me behind the cars) comes up as well. She's bleeding profusely out of her thigh. We take our belts off and tourniquet her just like we've been trained (I hope we did it right � we didn't have any CLS (combat lifesaver) bags with their awesome tourniquets on us, so we worked with what we had).

Meanwhile, in the most bizarre moment of the day, a photographer was standing over us taking pictures. I suppose I'll be seeing those tomorrow. Then a soldier came up and identified himself as a medic. I then realized her weapon was lying there unsecured (and on "fire"). I stood over it and when I saw a cop yelled for him to come over and secure her weapon (I would have done so but I was worried someone would mistake me for a bad guy).

I then went over to the shooter. He was unconscious. A Lt Colonel was there and had secured his primary weapon for the time being. He also had a revolver. I couldn't believe he was one of ours. I didn't want to believe it. Then I saw his name and rank and realized this wasn't just some specialist with mental issues.

At this point there was a guy there from CID and I asked him if he knew he was the shooter and had him secured. He said he did. I then went over the slaughter house. the medical SRP building. No human should ever have to see what that looked like, and I won't tell you. Just believe me. Please. There was nothing to be done there.

Someone then said there was someone critically wounded around the corner. I ran around (while seeing this floor to ceiling window that someone had jumped through movie style) and saw a large African-American soldier lying on his back with two or three soldiers attending. I ran up and identified two entrance wounds on the right side of his stomach, one exit wound on the left side and one head wound. He was not bleeding externally from the stomach wounds (though almost certainly internally) but was bleeding from the head wound. A soldier was using a shirt to try and stop the head bleeding. He was conscious so I began talking to him to keep him so. He was 42, from North Carolina, he was named something Jr., his son was named something III and he had a daughter as well. His children lived with him. He was divorced. I told him the blubber on his stomach saved his life. He smiled. A young soldier in civvies showed up and identified himself as a combat medic. We debated whether to put him on the back of a pickup truck. A doctor (well, an audiologist) showed up and said you can't move him, he has a head wound. We finally sat tight.

I went back to the slaughterhouse. They weren't letting anyone in there. not even medics. Finally, after about 45 minutes had elapsed some cops showed up in tactical vests. Someone said the TBI building was unsecured. They headed into there. All of a sudden a couple more shots were fired. People shouted there was a second shooter. A half hour later the SWAT showed up. There was no second shooter. That had been an impetuous cop, apparently. But that confused things for a while.

Meanwhile I went back to the shooter. The female cop had been taken away. A medic was pumping plasma into the shooter. I'm not proud of this but I went up to her and said, "This is the shooter, is there anyone else who needs attention... do them first". She indicated everyone else living was attended to. I still hadn't seen any EMTs or ambulances. I had so much blood on me that people kept asking me if I was ok, but that was all other people's blood. Eventually (an hour and a half to two hours after the shootings) they started landing choppers. they took out the big African American guy and the shooter. I guess the ambulatory wounded were all at the SRP building. Everyone else in my area was dead.

I suppose the emergency responders were told there were multiple shooters. I heard that was the delay with the choppers (they were all civilian helicopters). They needed a secure LZ* but other than the initial cops who did everything right, I didn't' see a lot of them for a while. I did see many a soldier rush out to help their fellows/sisters. There was one female soldier, I don't' know her name or rank but I would recognize her anywhere, who was everywhere helping people.

A couple people, mainly civilians, were hysterical, but only a couple. One civilian freaked out when I tried to comfort her when she saw my uniform. I guess she had seen the shooter up close. A lot of soldiers were rushing out to help even when we thought there was another gunman out there.

This Army is not broken no matter what the pundits say. Not the Army I saw. And then they kept me for a long time to come.

Oh, and perhaps the most surreal thing, at 1500 (the end of the workday on Thursdays) when the bugle sounded we all came to attention and saluted the flag in the middle of it all.

This is what I saw. It can't have been real. But this is my small corner of what happened.

* LZ -- Landing Zone
* ACU's -- Army Combat Uniform
* CID -- Criminal Investigation Division

Bridget

Posted: Nov 22 2009, 10:19 AM

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Posts: 10,513
Member No.: 2
Joined: 26-November 05

QUOTE

Restraints on Fort Hood suspect tighten

Outside the gates of Fort Sam Houston, retired Army Col. John P. Galligan, lead attorney for Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, said he felt the Army sought the pretrial detention hearing prematurely and he discussed possible consequences of Hasan's new status.

In a court hearing from a San Antonio military hospital room Saturday, the Army obtained a judicial order that placed more restrictions on Fort Hood shooting suspect Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan and makes it easier for the military to move him from Brooke Army Medical Center pending trial, according to his lead lawyer.

But where Hasan might be moved � or when � remained a mystery after the hearing, which lasted an hour and a half and was held in BAMC's intensive care unit, where Hasan is recuperating, the lawyer, retired Army Col. John P. Galligan, said.

Galligan addressed reporters outside the gates of Fort Sam Houston, where BAMC is located, because the Army did not allow media at the hearing and sidestepped a legal challenge from the San Antonio Express-News that sought access for journalists.

Post guards chased away journalists who approached Galligan's vehicle after the hearing because half of the car was still within the outer perimeter gate.

The Army supplied only vague details of the hearing late Friday after getting media inquiries. It even refused to identify the prosecutors.

Galligan said Hasan's immediate command at Army III Corps, based at Fort Hood, notified Hasan earlier Friday that it would seek to change his status from restricted patient to pretrial detainee. Galligan said that usually requires a hearing to be held soon after the request.

Galligan said he asked that Hasan's immediate commander be at the hearing, but the commander was not available and was a no-show, Galligan said.

At the hearing, a military judge, Lt. Col. William R. Hintze, granted the Army's request and also found enough probable cause for the 13 charges of premeditated murder to remain against Hasan, Galligan said. Hasan was charged Nov. 12 in the shootings that killed 13 people and wounded more than 30 at the Soldier Readiness Center at Fort Hood.

Hasan, a Muslim, was conflicted about having to deploy to Afghanistan to fight other Muslims, according to news accounts. Other accounts say he reached out to extremists, but Galligan � who said he was not going to address the allegations at this time � cautioned against rushing to judgment.

�A couple of days ago, he was a restricted patient,� Galligan said. �He is now a confined patient. .. When the status changes to pretrial confinee, there are consequences.�

Galligan said there might be limits on visits to Hasan, for example, or that it might lead to his being moved farther from his lawyers or where it would be more difficult to get their counsel. Galligan said it was unclear when Hasan might leave BAMC.

�I've asked that the prosecutors delineate those things,� Galligan said. �There were no immediate clear answers.�

Galligan said the command rushed the hearing for no reason, given that Hasan is not likely to go anywhere. Galligan said Hasan remains in severe pain and is paralyzed.

Galligan previously said Hasan had no feeling from his waist down, but noted Saturday that he has �no sensation from his chest down.�

Galligan, who is defending Hasan with help from a military lawyer, Army Maj. Christopher Martin, has also asked the government for an investigator and an additional military lawyer to assist them, and for security clearance so he can better represent Hasan. The military has not yet granted those requests, which Galligan believes should have come before the Army asked for the pretrial detention hearing.

�All I'm saying is he's been in the hospital and ICU and I saw no immediate reason to change his status,� Galligan said. �We think the government asked for pretrial confinement prematurely.�

�He's paralyzed. He's not going to go on leave.�

source

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