When I first read the news that an individual had apparently committed suicide outside of the football stadium at the University of Oklahoma last Saturday during a game between the Sooners and Kansas State, I didn't pay very close attention:
One person was killed in an explosion in a traffic circle about 100 yards from a packed football stadium at the University of Oklahoma on Saturday night in what authorities were calling a suicide."We are apparently dealing with an individual suicide, which is under full investigation," OU President David Boren said in a statement.
Tragic, yes. But worthy of further attention, no. Or so I thought. Here's Mark Tapscott:
University of Oklahoma President David Boren seems determined to have everybody believe Joel Henry Hinrichs III was merely a disturbed young man who decided to commit suicide by blowing himself up within 100 yards of a stadium containing 84,000 screaming fans of Sooner football.Sorry, I don't buy it, at least not yet. Here's why: First, The Daily Oklahoman is reporting authorities found a large cache of bomb-making materials in Hinrichs' apartment. The cache is so big that the Oklahoman reported one of the officials on the scene estimated a full 24 hours would be required to cart away all of the material.
Suicide victims don't normally accumulate a large amount of bomb-making material in their homes. People intent on blowing up other people do.
There's plenty of other disturbing details, including reports that the bomber, a recent Muslim convert, attempted to buy some ammonium nitrate -- a key ingredient in the bomb that was used to attack the Murrah building in Oklahoma City -- from a feed store in Norman a couple of days before his death.
Today, it was announced that the university would tighten security at home football games, and that Big 12 conference officials participated in a teleconference today to discuss the bombing.
The next question that we ought to be asking is this: Is this the work of a lone nut much like the El Al shooting at LAX a few years ago (looking increasingly unlikely), or are we looking at the more disturbing possibility that public events like college and pro football games are being targetted by a more organized effort?
It seems like every hour new and disturbing details come to light. To keep up with everything, stay with Tapscott, who is all over the story.
UPDATE: More from Gateway Pundit. Looks like we might have to put this guy in the same category as John Walker Lindh and Jose Padilla -- American-born jihadis.
My friend has been discussing sporting events as a target for years (ever since 9-11). People can be searched at the gate to prevent this but it doesn’t stop an airliner from crashing into a jam packed stadium on a sunday (or being flown) or a bombing of this sort if it’s done while people are tailgating (outside the search area).