These Internet searches are supposed to be signs of his “progressive radicalization.” His Qur’an reading during the same period, and the extent to which it also may have aided in that “radicalization,” is not recorded.
“Judge allows evidence of Fort Hood suspect’s Web searches on jihad,” from CNN, August 2:
(CNN) — A military court judge ruled Friday that the prosecutors may use as evidence Maj. Nidal M. Hasan’s Internet searches on jihad and the Taliban in the days and hours before his alleged deadly rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, the military said.
Hasan, who will represent himself in his court martial, told the judge he plans to call two witnesses during the trial, which will begin hearing testimony on Tuesday, the military said.
Judge Col. Tara Osborn, however, declined to rule on a motion by Hasan and Fox News to compel the government to allow him to have an on-camera interview. The judge said the matter was outside the court’s purview, a Fort Hood press release said.
Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, faces a court martial on murder charges stemming from a November 2009 shooting rampage at the base near Killeen, Texas, that left 13 people dead and dozens more wounded.
The judge deferred ruling on a prosecutor’s motion to introduce materials to establish a timeline of Hasan’s alleged “progressive radicalization,” including his presentations in defense of suicide bombing and about soldiers conflicted between military service and their religion when such conflicts result in crime, the military said.
That motion also seeks to introduce materials about Hasan’s interest in Sgt. Hasan Akbar, a U.S. soldier convicted of killing two soldiers in a 2003 grenade attack in Kuwait. The judge said she would rule on the motion once the trial begins and as the government presents evidence, in order to have context, the military said….