Washington state: Muslim convert who has stated his "willingness to die for Islam" stabs two people after discussion of religion

David Wood sums it up: "There's certainly not enough information yet to determine what's going on here. But based on the information released so far, it seems (1) that Scott C. Fandrich is a Muslim who has announced his willingness to die for Islam, (2) that he was approached by Jerry Kush in Starbucks for a discussion 'about cars and religion,' and (3) that Fandrich followed Kush outside and stabbed him repeatedly. Fandrich could, of course, turn out to be a complete nut case. Or he could be yet another Muslim convert who realizes that Islam calls for the violent subjugation of non-Muslims. We'll see what the investigation reveals."

"Starbucks stabbing suspect may have been motivated by religious extremism (with video): Affidavit says he made statements about 'his willingness to die for Islam,'" by Paris Achen for The Columbian, March 12 (thanks to Answering Muslims):

A 55-year-old suspect in the stabbing of two people in a Starbucks coffee shop drive-thru at one of the busiest intersections in Clark County may have been motivated by religious extremism, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Scott C. Fandrich of Ridgefield appeared Tuesday in Clark County Superior Court on suspicion of two counts of first-degree assault.

Judge Barbara Johnson set bail at $500,000. Fandrich is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges March 22. Vancouver attorney Jack “John” Peterson was appointed to defend him.

Fandrich wore an orange jumpsuit and limped into the courtroom. In a low voice, he mumbled answers to questions from Senior Deputy Prosecutor Camara Banfield.

Fandrich is accused of attacking Jerry Kush, who is either 70 or 71, just before 5 p.m. in the Starbucks drive-thru at 11502 S.E. Mill Plain Blvd., in Cascade Park, after the two had a conversation about religion, according to court records.

The affidavit said:

Hamza A. Shariati, 21, told police that he had met Fandrich at about 2 p.m. Monday to discuss religion. During their conversation at one of the cafe’s tables, Kush approached and chatted with Fandrich about cars and religion.

When Kush got up and left, Fandrich followed him out of the building, Shariati said. Then, Shariati said, he heard sirens.

Shariati told police that Fandrich had made statements in the past about “his willingness to die for Islam.” He said he knows that Fandrich “has conflicts with people.”

Kush was stabbed at least five times in the neck, abdomen and the side of the chest and had to undergo emergency surgery Monday night at PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center.

Bystanders tried to intervene and stop Fandrich, according to earlier reports by The Columbian. One of them, Jerry Nehnevaj, 49, was stabbed in the right lower leg when he attempted to grab Fandrich and pull him off of Kush, according to the affidavit....

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SaleemSmith | March 15, 2013 9:39 AM | Reply

Motivated by "religious extremism" ?

Well if by religious extremism you mean being motivated by the Qur'an, hadith and sira, then yes.

Another Islam inspired Muslim fulfilling his personal jihad for the perfect religion of peace.

We ex-Muslims know that Islam is not what the Muslims would have the non-Muslims believe it is. The cruel cult of Mohammedanism is an outright fraud.

undaunted | March 15, 2013 10:42 AM | Reply

I guarantee these attacks will be committed more and more frequently til they're common, like in Israel. So, here is how to intervene, should you choose. Written for someone deciding to help cops in trouble, the suggestions, which you may or may not choose at any time to use or not, are solid and timeless...

http://freemendo.typepad.com/undaunted/2010/10/hioh-silver.html

Wellington | March 15, 2013 11:08 AM | Reply

A student of mine, a very bright guy and a devout Christian, told me just this past Monday of a conversation he had the previous week with a Muslim about Christianity and religion in general. He said that at first the Muslim was polite but after a while the Muslim became angrier and angrier with him and finally this student just called the conversation off.

He told me the Muslim simply ceased to argue coherently or logically, became very insulting and could not tolerate the idea, even in the abstract, that Christianity was the true religion, as of course this student of mine believes. This episode was an eye opener for this impressive young man whom I teach. He told me he won't soon forget it.

LemonLime | March 15, 2013 2:45 PM | Reply

Fandrich is accused of attacking Jerry Kush, who is either 70 or 71, just before 5 p.m. in the Starbucks drive-thru at 11502 S.E. Mill Plain Blvd., in Cascade Park

Hamza A. Shariati, 21, told police that he had met Fandrich at about 2 p.m. Monday to discuss religion.

Bystanders tried to intervene and stop Fandrich, according to earlier reports by The Columbian. One of them, Jerry Nehnevaj, 49, was stabbed in the right lower leg when he attempted to grab Fandrich and pull him off of Kush...

What the f are all these Third World people doing in a sleepy rural/suburban community in the south part of Washington State?

dumbledoresarmy replied to comment from LemonLime | March 16, 2013 12:46 AM | Reply

I'd be surprised if 'Jerry Kush' was a Muslim. Non-Muslim Indian? Elderly gent, who annoyed a Westerner who had gotten suckered into (or was being suckered into) Islam. Maybe he tried to tell Fandrich - who is most definitely anglo-american - that he should stay away from Muslims; that Islam is Bad News. If he was a non-dhimmi non-Muslim Indian, that's what I would have expected; a warning.

And Jerry Nehnevaj tried to rescue the victim and got hurt himself. I don't know whether Nehnevaj is a 'Hindu' or a 'Muslim' name. If it's Hindu, then what we have here is not an evil 'third worlder' but a decent person doing the right thing. A quick google of the surname Nehnevaj threw up no Muslim forenames and lots of forenames that were not 'nicknames' but, rather, given names that were entirely western. My gut feeling is that Jerry Nehnevaj is not a Muslim. If so, his 'third-worldness' doesn't really bother me. He intervened to try to stop a stabbing.

And you didn't read the whole article, I think.

Here's a bit more of what happened:

"Nehnevaj told police that he came to Kush’s assistance after he heard a woman screaming, “‘Help, he’s got a knife.’”
"Another bystander, Randall S. Douglas, 58, stomped on Fandrich’s arm, causing him to drop the knife."
So there *was* a standard-issue American present. Black or white? who cares, *he* did the right thing, too. Quick thinking, that. 58 years old; not a young man.

And there was another bystander, not named, who 'had obtained a shovel and “wield(ed)” it to persuade the suspect to stay put until police arrived.'

I observe, btw, that the one person in all this - besides the perp - whom we *do* definitely know to be a Muslim, does not seem to have lifted a finger to try to rescue the person being attacked. My gut reaction, on rereading the story, is that Hamza Shariati's actions and reactions during the conversation and succeeding events - if recorded on a CCTV say - should be examined very carefully, frame by frame by frame. 'Handler'. Like someone turning an attack dog loose and then sitting back discreetly to watch the fun...

dumbledoresarmy replied to comment from dumbledoresarmy | March 16, 2013 12:56 AM | Reply

PS I just googled the name 'Jerry Kush' and at lest two of the folks who came up - one female, one male, neither the person in the story - were as white as the driven snow.

One was a white-skinned blue-eyed blonde lady from Florida - who had committed a crime of some kind - and another was an Anglo-American on facebook.

'Kush' could be a anglicised version of surnames like 'Kushnir' which hail from Central Europe (and that would make sense, in Canada).

UPDATE

I just found another story that has an interview with his family and a picture of Kush himself.

He's got a beard, but he doesn't really look like a 'third worlder' to me; so my initial guess that his surname was Indian, is way off (as confirmed by the other two 'Kushes' that I already found).

http://www.katu.com/news/local/Family-Vancouver-Starbucks-stabbing-victim-jerry-kush-didnt-know-attacker-197716951.html

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