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Oklahoma: Muslim who beheaded coworker “justified his actions based on his reading of the Quran”

Aug 13, 2016 7:02 pm By Robert Spencer

Investigators have waved that away, saying that Nolen clearly doesn’t know anything about Islam, you know, the religion of peace: “Hunt testified that Nolen had developed ideas about being a Muslim that are irrational and contradictory. He said they are not in keeping with normal Islamic teachings or even the extreme ideology of ISIS.” Never mind that business about “When you meet the unbelievers, strike the necks” (Qur’an 47:4)

Meanwhile, authorities are, true to form, doing all they can to portray Nolen as insane: “The SMU professor told the judge Nolen would not agree to an interview in the jail. Hunt said Nolen called him a ‘white heathen’ and walked out. ‘He appears to be living in a fantasy world,’ the professor told the judge.” Yes, he is living in that fantasy world in which Muslims are “merciful to one another, harsh to the unbelievers” (Qur’an 48:29).

Alton Nolen

“Admitted murderer in Moore beheading case had ISIS flag in car, prosecutor reveals,” by Nolan Clay, The Oklahoman, August 12, 2016 (thanks to Charles):

NORMAN — The Muslim convert who beheaded a co-worker at a Moore food plant in 2014 had an ISIS flag in his car, a prosecutor revealed Friday during a hearing on his mental competency.

Alton Alexander Nolen, 31, also had researched on his computer ISIS and beheadings, Cleveland County District Attorney Greg Mashburn said.

Nolen pleaded guilty in May to first-degree murder for beheading the co-worker. He also pleaded guilty to assault and battery with a deadly weapon for trying to behead another co-worker and to assault with a dangerous weapon for confronting a plant official with a knife.

He wants to be sentenced to die by lethal injection. First, though, Cleveland County District Judge Lori Walkley must decide whether to accept his plea.

At issue is whether Nolen is mentally competent to enter a guilty plea and knowingly waive his rights to a jury trial. The judge heard from three experts Friday on that issue and will rule Wednesday.

If she accepts the guilty plea, she will begin Nolen’s sentencing. She could, however, send Nolen to the state mental hospital in Vinita for further evaluation. She brought up that possibility at the end of the all-day hearing Friday, asking what would be the harm in doing so.

A defense expert who spent nine hours with Nolen in May described him as schizophrenic.

“He has lost touch with reality. It has gone to that extreme,” Texas neuropsychologist Antoinette McGarrahan told the judge. “He can’t think rationally because he firmly believes he is being held captive, and we are all evil and the devil.”

McGarrahan said Nolen is severely mental ill with a thought disorder. She called him grandiose in his thinking and so paranoid that “it permeated his entire being.”

A respected Oklahoma psychologist, testifying for the prosecution, disagreed. The expert, Shawn Roberson, described Nolen’s behavior as simply his personality and not mental illness.

Roberson examined Nolen last year and again in June. He testified that Nolen did not act paranoid during their time together.

“He is able to engage in a coherent conversation,” Roberson said. “I just think he’s uncooperative.”

Nolen kept his head down during most of the testimony, occasionally yawning. He spoke only a little at the start of the hearing, saying, “Praise to Allah, yes” when asked if he was staying with his guilty plea.

“Praise to Allah, no,” he said when the judge asked if he wanted more time to consider.

About the case

Prosecutors say Nolen beheaded co-worker Colleen Hufford inside Vaughan Foods on Sept. 25, 2014, shortly after he was suspended for making racial remarks. She was 54.

Prosecutors say he also assaulted three other workers who tried to stop him as he cut Hufford’s neck.

Prosecutors say he then tried to behead another co-worker, Traci Johnson, and charged with a knife at the company’s chief operating officer, who shot him. Prosecutors say Johnson was his primary target, because she had complained about his remarks. He did not know Hufford.

Nolen had started working at the plant in January 2013 while at a halfway house for felons finishing prison sentences, records show.

Nolen refused in May to plead guilty to three assault counts involving the three workers who reported fighting with him.

Prosecutors have told the judge in legal papers that Nolen after his arrest “justified his actions based on his reading of the Quran and stated that he would do the same thing again to anyone who oppressed him.”

The revelation about the ISIS flag came during the testimony of defense expert Robert Hunt, a professor at Southern Methodist University and an expert on Islamic beliefs.

Hunt testified that Nolen had developed ideas about being a Muslim that are irrational and contradictory. He said they are not in keeping with normal Islamic teachings or even the extreme ideology of ISIS.

“The use of beheading by ISIS is in the context of perceived crimes against the Muslim community and involves trials, however unjust, and a finding of guilt,” Hunt wrote in a report to the judge. “They do not involve settling personal disputes.”

The SMU professor told the judge Nolen would not agree to an interview in the jail. Hunt said Nolen called him a “white heathen” and walked out.

“He appears to be living in a fantasy world,” the professor told the judge….

Mashburn brought up the ISIS flag and computer research as he began questioning the SMU professor. Using an old phrase, Hunt conceded the group could have affected Nolen, calling the group “grist for his mill.”

FBI agents interviewed Nolen twice about possible ties to terrorist groups but concluded he had none.

The judge last October found Nolen mentally competent to be prosecuted, but defense attorneys are allowed to raise the issue more than once if new doubts arise.

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Filed Under: American jihadis, converts to Islam, Featured, Jihad in the U.S. Tagged With: Alton Nolen


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Comments

  1. JAR says

    Aug 13, 2016 at 7:15 pm

    Hunt might be both a SMU professor and white heathen, but he ain’t no “expert on Islamic beliefs.”
    Hurrah for the company COO who was packing a weapon for close encounters.

  2. Marty says

    Aug 13, 2016 at 7:22 pm

    It had to be kept in mind that Islam itself is a mental disease that produces pedophiles, sociopaths, and sadists.

    • f c king says

      Aug 14, 2016 at 2:34 am

      I agree. A “religion”, that allows murder, rape, slavery, pedophilia ( little boys and girls ) , robbery, extortion, anything, as long as it is in the name of the prophet, and the acts are committed against infidels. Perfect way to attract many inbred, tribal followers.

  3. Jay Boo says

    Aug 13, 2016 at 7:23 pm

    Cause unknown????
    Charleston, SC Church shooting suspect Dylan Roof did not behead anyone.

    It took Obama and the MSM approximately 5 nanoseconds to declare his shootings as a racist hate crime and insist on the banning the Confederate flag.

    • Jay Boo says

      Aug 13, 2016 at 7:30 pm

      BTW Alton Nolen’s victim was a — WHITE woman.
      You won’t hear Obama or the MSM ask if this MUSLIM had any racist views.

  4. Wellington says

    Aug 13, 2016 at 7:31 pm

    Robert Hunt is an expert on Islamic beliefs? Yeah, right. Just imagine how he would stand up to Robert Spencer here should the two engage in a debate.

    The “mental illness” excuse in one Western nation after another for atrocious Muslim behavior is becoming exceedingly tiring—–and pathetic. Western elites will continue not to take notice of this but the rank and file in one Western nation after another are ever increasingly doing so.

    The preservation of the West now clearly resides in the body politic and not at all with the Western elites, the present crop of which are just about the dumbest and silliest of Western elites ever. Actually, I think this “group” are in first place here, eclipsing the elites of the fifth century A.D., those in the 1930s, or at any other time in Western history. Hard to top a Merkel, a May, a Trudeau or an Obama, now isn’t it?

  5. a fool says

    Aug 13, 2016 at 7:35 pm

    We believe in the Bible, none other! They should all return to their Home Land and live their lives as they USED TO, not here! They either live as we do , or they must leave! We will never accept ant her book as the way of life in this Country!

    Santa be Gone!!!

  6. Angemon says

    Aug 13, 2016 at 8:41 pm

    He said they are not in keeping with normal Islamic teachings or even the extreme ideology of ISIS.

    Why, yes, who ever heard of ISIS decapitating people or something like that?

    “The use of beheading by ISIS is in the context of perceived crimes against the Muslim community and involves trials, however unjust, and a finding of guilt,” Hunt wrote in a report to the judge. “They do not involve settling personal disputes.”

    Oh, is that how you want to play? Fine. Are the basis ISIS uses for trials of perceived crimes against the muslim community applicable to individuals? If so, what are the penalties for individuals? Because you’re taking ISIS propaganda and pretending that’s all they do – apparently, ISIS decapitates journalists for crimes against the muslim community (the crime of carrying a specific citizenship card) but they don’t have a legal system used to solve disputes amongst individuals.

    FBI agents interviewed Nolen twice about possible ties to terrorist groups but concluded he had none.

    Let’s say that I say “go out and kill muslims” and someone who reads it goes out and kills muslims. That person has absolutely no ties to me – we don’t know each other, we never communicated in any way or fashion, there’s a demonstrable lack of ties between the two of us, that person just heard what I said, pledged their allegiance to me and acted in accordance with what I said. When they stood trial, would I be held responsible for what that person did? Because that’s exactly what’s going on here. ISIS called on muslims to kill non-muslims and muslims act on it.

    I suspect in the above scenario I’d he held partially responsible for their actions even though there’s no demonstrable tie among me and the murderer, so why is it that law enforcement quickly and often plays the “there’s no ties between this person and ISIS” card as if it means anything?

    • JAR says

      Aug 13, 2016 at 10:39 pm

      OT

      Maybe someone could translate the name of the mosque for us in this breaking news report:

      http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/08/13/imam-friend-shot-killed-broad-daylight-nyc/

      • Custos Custodum says

        Aug 14, 2016 at 12:40 am

        Interesting report. Note this passage:

        one man who knew him described him as “the pope for [the] neighborhood.”

        Guess somebody else wanted to be pope in the neighborhood – “Little Dhaka” has its own Cesare Borgia.

      • gravenimage says

        Aug 14, 2016 at 1:07 am

        “AL Furquan” means “the criterion”, and refers to the Qur’an itself. “Masjid” means “Mosque”. I’m not sure what “Jame” means.

        We should not be surprised if it turns out that this pair turn out to have been gunned down by other Muslims.

      • vicki says

        Aug 14, 2016 at 7:53 am

        http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/drive-by-shooter-queens-gravely-injures-men-article-1.2749901

        Scroll down a bit for the sketch of the gunman

        • CrossWare says

          Aug 14, 2016 at 8:56 am

          Here: http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.2750320.1471162585!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/article_1200/article-liberty-0813.jpg

          Is it racist and islamophobe to say this is another Muslim looking fella?

  7. abad says

    Aug 13, 2016 at 10:21 pm

    Muslims simply do not belong in the western world.

    They would be way better off in a nation like Islamic Paradise of Syria(TM) or Saudi Arabia.

    I am willing to have my tax dollars deport these Muslims, even if they were born on USA soil but converts to the Religion of Insanity(TM)

  8. No Fear says

    Aug 13, 2016 at 11:58 pm

    Remember your Lord inspired the angels with the message, “I am with you, give strength to the believers, and I will instill fear into the hearts of the unbelievers. Strike above their necks and strike every finger-tip from them.” – Quran 8:12

    So , obviously, according to the Western mainstream media, that verse does not mean “cut their heads off”. Maybe they think it means “invite them over for a coffee”.

  9. gravenimage says

    Aug 14, 2016 at 1:11 am

    Oklahoma: Muslim who beheaded coworker “justified his actions based on his reading of the Quran”
    ……………………..

    Well, duh.

    Qur’an 47:7:

    So when you meet those who disbelieve, strike their necks until, when you have inflicted slaughter upon them, secure their bonds, and either confer favor afterwards or ransom them… That is the command…

  10. BC says

    Aug 14, 2016 at 3:31 am

    Muslims are the greatest and most perfect racists of all time. They have declared hostility to all of the human race who are not followers of Islam. They call them infidel and as such are damned and destined to extermination or enslavement

  11. Ted Tyler says

    Aug 14, 2016 at 4:29 am

    What is needed here is a psychologist who is knowledgeable in the doctrine of Islam. Without that knowledge, you are in the position of NOT knowing your enemy. The first step would be to get the guy to start talking. After a few preliminary useless introductory attempts at conversation, you could open with “‘tell me about Muhammad…..” or “Are all people who do not believe in the prophet garbage?…”

  12. Creole Gumbo says

    Aug 14, 2016 at 5:40 am

    Seems like Charles Manson had the wrong attorney. Just think, if he hired these guys he would be out on the streets again convincing young men and women to kill the nonbelievers.

  13. UNCLE VLADDI says

    Aug 14, 2016 at 5:41 am

    Re: ““He has lost touch with reality. It has gone to that extreme,” Texas neuropsychologist Antoinette McGarrahan told the judge. “He can’t think rationally because he firmly believes he is being held captive, and we are all evil and the devil.”

    McGarrahan said Nolen is severely mental ill with a thought disorder. She called him grandiose in his thinking and so paranoid that “it permeated his entire being.””

    UM … YEAH. ABOUT THAT… Muhammad himself was a cowardly psychotic criminal who wrote a book of lies telling everyone else what fun it was to be him.

    NO OTHER MOTIVATIONS NEED TO BE SEARCHED FOR!

  14. UNCLE VLADDI says

    Aug 14, 2016 at 5:43 am

    Re: “defense expert Robert Hunt, a professor at Southern Methodist University and an expert on Islamic beliefs… testified that Nolen had developed ideas about being a Muslim that are irrational and contradictory. He said they are not in keeping with normal Islamic teachings or even the extreme ideology of ISIS.

    “The use of beheading by ISIS is in the context of perceived crimes against the Muslim community and involves trials, however unjust, and a finding of guilt,” Hunt wrote in a report to the judge. “They do not involve settling personal disputes.”

    THIS GUY IS SUCH A LIAR THAT HIS TESTIMONY SHOULD NEVER AGAIN BE ACCEPTED IN ANY COURT OF LAW, AND HE SHOULD BE JAILED FOR PERJURY.

  15. Mubarak says

    Aug 14, 2016 at 6:05 am

    It is a naive apprehension that the Qur’an and the Hadith assisted by other written or cultural traditions in the Muslim world and the world of Muslims are the only arbiters
    in the recruitment and radicalization of moderate, peaceful or indifferent Muslims. The indictment of these preconceived cultural road markers are there inability to come to terms with the pride, the hate, the resentment and the envy that so saturates the Muslim mind fostered in this mental and cultural environment – also in the rise in western culture.

    The difference between Christianity and Islam is, that in Islam these poisonous attitudes can be “baptized” and recruited in the service of Allah and his prophet in order to bring about the peace that supposedly automatically will manifest itself, when Islam rules supreme. It is just the old adage and viscous illusion that the end justifies the means.
    So please attack this idea and not Muslims, who have fallen prey to this seduction in its most stubborn, religious version

  16. dumbledoresarmy says

    Aug 14, 2016 at 6:11 am

    He wants to be executed so he can be counted as a Shaheed. So… as an alternative… wonder how he’d go at Life in a max security prison… with NO quran, NO qibla, NO access to Islamic ‘prayers’, NO halal food, going ‘cold turkey’ off all cult reinforcement… with his supervised exercise periods to be usefully spent…. shovelling the dung out of a pigpen (whilst the pigs were not there, in order to protect them from acts of violence and cruelty to animals). Varied by cleaning out a dog shelter’s exercise yard (again, whilst the animals were not present).

  17. Always On Watch says

    Aug 14, 2016 at 8:54 am

    Not a peep on any of the news channels I watch.

    Did Fox News cover this at all?

  18. Florida Jim says

    Aug 14, 2016 at 10:55 am

    Muslims are led by ignorant Imams and the koran is easily confusing to all who read it. Many memorize it and still don’t understand what they follow, Because many are confused we must realize they cannot be trusted in a free society muslins are not free and cannot live with freedom and remain a muslim.Caliphate, Sharia, Jihad, Taqiyya, God has no son…..are basic beliefs and they kill to protect and advance them, everywhere.

  19. Karen says

    Aug 14, 2016 at 1:12 pm

    “The use of beheading by ISIS .. involves trials, however unjust, …” Hunt wrote in a report to the judge. “They do not involve settling personal disputes.”

    Something of a fine point, since ISIS also encourages personal initative in the spread of terror outside the reach of their ‘caliphate’.

    Mr. Hunt seems to build a false either-or scenario; either Nolan was acting for ISIS, or he was insane. In fact, there’s an infinity of motives and inspiration in between those choices.

  20. mike says

    Aug 14, 2016 at 5:44 pm

    A good argument for the re-insstitution of capital punishment.

    • mike says

      Aug 14, 2016 at 5:45 pm

      re-insstitution should have been reinstitution

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