Shooter of Military Buildings a Fanatical Muslim

[Anonymous]

A 22-year-old Alexandria man has been charged with shooting at military buildings in the D.C. region last fall, and federal officials said in court papers that he videotaped himself shouting “Allah Akbar” after he fired shots at the U.S. Marine Corps museum in October.

Yonathan Melaku, a Marine Reservist, was taken into custody Friday under suspicious circumstances at Arlington National Cemetery. He had been carrying a backpack that held plastic baggies with ammonium nitrate, a material that can be used to make a bomb, as well as a notebook that included references to Osama bin Laden and “The Path to Jihad.”

[Anonymous]

A fanatical muslim, or a mentally ill loner?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A fanatical muslim, or a mentally ill loner?

Are they mutually exclusive?

[Anonymous]

How on earth would we know at this point?

They do not believe he has ties to a terrorist organization.

He is a reservist and therefore could be a disgruntled employee.

Or it's possible that he joined the Marine Corps because he is a radical who wanted to disrupt military operations, although apparently working alone.

He might be mentally ill but they have not provided such information.

Desperate people of all religions frequently invoke God's name before doing stupid things. That can be part of their delusion or justification, who knows?

[jsteele]

While I realize that "Allah Akbar" is an Arabic phrase generally associated with Muslims, do you have additional evidence that this guy is a Muslim, let alone a fanatical one? This is a serious question. Every Ethiopian I have asked has told me that the guy's name is a very common Ethiopian name among Christians, but not one that they would expect for a Muslim. This area is full of Ethiopians, so ask one yourself and see if you get the same answer.

[Anonymous]

I think sometimes angry, crazy and/or selfish people do terrible things and then claim it was done in the name of religion when really it was only about them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think sometimes angry, crazy and/or selfish people do terrible things and then claim it was done in the name of religion when really it was only about them.

Agreed. Disgruntled or disturbed people want an explanation for their pain and a justification for their retribution. It is easy to justify your actions if you imagine that your target is the enemy of God and you are his messenger. Look at the Jaycee Duggard kidnapper. Is he a religious fanatic, or a messed up guy who wove religion into his personal justifications?

Of course we judge the Christian as a crazy guy who brought religion into his messed up delusion. But what do we do with the equivalent muslim? He is "devout" or "fanatical". In other words, we assume it is his adherance to Islam and his firm conviction that leads him to do wrong, not that he is unstable and calls on Allah where the other guy invokes Jesus.

[Anonymous]

or maybe it is that disgruntled and disturbed people, who happen to be muslim, are being bombarded with hateful messages from certain leaders of their community?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:or maybe it is that disgruntled and disturbed people, who happen to be muslim, are being bombarded with hateful messages from certain leaders of their community?

Maybe, but there it is again. If Muslim, it is a "leader of their community". If it is Fred Phelps or David Koresh, he is that wacko pastor.