A jihadist, that is. Now gone, but not forgotten, are the many statements Muslims and Islamic groups issued at the outset of this case blaming criticism of Islam for Stockham's attempted attack.
When Stockham was assumed to be a non-Muslim, the conclusion followed without question that he was some kind of Islamophobe driven by alleged "hate speech," where all negative attention directed toward Islam is taken as such. Now that he is on record as a convert to Islam, ideology will be out of the picture in favor of casting Stockham as a garden-variety nutjob.
"Judge order [sic] trial for man in Mich. mosque plot," by Jeff Karoub for the Associated Press, February 11 (thanks to JCB):
DEARBORN, Mich. - A California man accused of plotting to attack a popular Detroit-area mosque was ordered to stand trial Friday after police testified that he had 96 fireworks in his car, including M-80 firecrackers and smoke bombs.
Roger Stockham was arrested Jan. 24 during a traffic stop near the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn. Witnesses said the 63-year-old Vietnam War veteran spoke hours earlier at a bar about setting off an explosion at the mosque.
Dearborn Officer John Kostiuk said the fireworks were found in a paper bag on the front passenger seat of Stockham's Chrysler PT Cruiser. Officer Stanley Chiles, a bomb technician, testified that Stockham's cache included fireworks that are illegal in Michigan and potentially dangerous.
Chiles said the fireworks could have hurt someone, especially if combined with the alcohol and spray paint that officers found in the car and gasoline in the tank.
Judge Mark Somers found probable cause to order a trial on charges of making a false report or threat of terrorism and possessing explosives with an unlawful intent.
His next court date is Feb. 18 in Wayne County Circuit Court in Detroit.
Stockham of Imperial Beach, Calif., has a history of mental illness. He has been caught during the past three decades for a string of felonies -- from kidnapping his son and attempting to hijack a plane to planting a bomb outside an airport -- and spent time in various prisons and mental health hospitals.
They found him a new defense attorney, after he rejected the first one, saying, "He is a Shi'ite and I am not."
Outside court, defense attorney Matthew Evans said it was "kind of a stretch" to label the fireworks as powerful -- particularly in connection with the gas in the tank and spray paint. He said authorities have exaggerated the threat posed by Stockham and argued that police "don't even have matches" in evidence.
"It just didn't make any sense," he said. "Once you got the guy in custody, all he's got is a bunch of firecrackers he can buy 40 miles south of here."
The judge said it would not be necessary to have the fireworks in the courtroom and denied Evans' request to have police bring them in.
Evans said Stockham was interested in social protest, not attacking the mosque, and intended to spray paint the words "Crazy Horse 18" on or around the building. The phrase refers to a U.S. Apache helicopter involved in a 2007 attack in Iraq that killed a Reuters news photographer and his driver. Classified video of the attack was posted online last year.
Evans said Stockham's anger was directed at the helicopter's pilot and the U.S. government for not doing more to investigate the attack. [...]
Joe Nahhas, a manager at a Detroit restaurant, testified Friday that he called 911 and the FBI after spending time talking to Stockham in his eatery. He said Stockham told him he was typing letters intended for the media on a laptop computer and wanted Nahhas to distribute them after a "big explosion."
"I asked him where -- where's the explosion?" Nahhas said. "He said 'Here, there, the mosque.'"
Nahhas said Stockham spoke of his conversion to Islam after serving in the Vietnam War and learned about the religion from Indonesian mujahedeen, or holy warriors. He called himself a mujahedeen, [sic] which Nahhas said "raised a flag immediately" for him....
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Stockham is " California man", and a "Vietnam War veteran", and "has a history of mental illness"—none of these, not even the last, is as important to this case as him being *Muslim*.
From the article:
He has been caught during the past three decades for a string of felonies -- from kidnapping his son and attempting to hijack a plane to planting a bomb outside an airport --
.....................................
Every one of these are time-honored Muslim activities.
Notice that his defense attorney's assertion that his client was merely protesting an incident that occurred during the American presence in Iraq doesn't explain why he would be spray-painting such a reference *on a Shi'ite mosque* in Dearborn, if he merely wanted the US government to further investigate the case.
However, his motives become clearer when you find that he is a Sunni Muslim who hates and despises Shi'ites.
More:
Joe Nahhas, a manager at a Detroit restaurant, testified Friday that he called 911 and the FBI after spending time talking to Stockham in his eatery. He said Stockham told him he was typing letters intended for the media on a laptop computer and wanted Nahhas to distribute them after a "big explosion."
"I asked him where -- where's the explosion?" Nahhas said. "He said 'Here, there, the mosque.'"
Nahhas said Stockham spoke of his conversion to Islam after serving in the Vietnam War and learned about the religion from Indonesian mujahedeen, or holy warriors. He called himself a mujahedeen, [sic] which Nahhas said "raised a flag immediately" for him....
.....................................
Stockham may have thought he was here speaking to a fellow Muslim who would be sympathetic to his Jihad aims. Would Joe Nahhas have been as quick to call the FBI if Stockham was planning on blowing up a synagogue rather than a mosque? I hope so.
In any case, kudos to Nahhas for turning in this would-be "Mujahedeen".