Soldier Murdered at Recruiting Station

by: Richard Allen Smith

Tue Jun 02, 2009 at 22:39:56 PM EDT


With Brandon in the midst of rucking to D.C., me being overwhelmed with school, and other frontpagers doing the things we do to make a living (not that any of this is an excuse, except for Brandon), we failed to report on this terrible story yesterday:

A Muslim convert who said he was against the U.S. military pleaded not guilty Tuesday to capital murder in connection with the shooting of two soldiers outside an Arkansas recruiting center.

One soldier died in the attack Monday, police said.

Abdul Hakim Mujahid Muhammad, 23, was ordered held without bail at a hearing Tuesday in Little Rock. He is charged in the death of Pvt. William Long, 23, of Conway, outside the Army Navy Career Center in Little Rock.

Terrible news, and keep the family of PVT Long in your thoughts.

One thing I found interesting about the article is that the first sentence included this:

A Muslim convert

rather than this:


Pvt. William Long, 23, of Conway

Which item did the author of this piece find to be more important to the story: The fact that a brave, young, American who had pledged to lay down his life for his country was murdered? or that a "Muslim convert" had comitted a crime?

Seriously, traditional media, can we honor our fallen for just one second before we start engaging in the blatant fear mongering?

Also, good discussion on this going on in the diary by deMeme (who did not drop the ball).

Richard Allen Smith :: Soldier Murdered at Recruiting Station
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I don't see any fear mongering there (0.00 / 0)
I think what we should be trying to figure out next are the circumstances regarding his apparent conversion. Where did he convert? Whom was running the conversion program or the mosque? From where was the funding for this place coming?  

You don't see anything (0.00 / 0)
in the fact that the first words of the story addressed a Muslim convert committing a crime, rather than the murder of an American Soldier? And should we be investigation the personal religious backgrounds of every person that commits a crime? or just Muslims?

I'm on twitter.

[ Parent ]
Not really (4.00 / 1)
It was addressed in the article that an American soldier was murdered. Maybe not in the beginning but it was addressed nonetheless. We shouldn't investigate the personal religious background of everyone whom commits a crime. But at the same end, when a crime like this occurs, a crime that has a very high probability of being politically/religiously motivated, then we should investigate the religious background, especially given our current situation.  

[ Parent ]
Although (0.00 / 0)
if the investigation of this guy's religious background goes where I think it will, I would be more than satisfied with him being referred to as a Wahhabi convert vice a Muslim convert.  

[ Parent ]
RS: I think that the DoD and the FBI have been pretty closed mouth about (0.00 / 0)
giving out any info other than the comment defining the hometown recruiting assistant program. KATV seems to be getting its info from the Little Rock police which would explain the emphasis on the shooter.

"Motive" seemed to be the question that KATV was pursuing when the story first broke.

There's been no obit that I can find yet. My guess is that William has not been released to the family at this time.

Anyway it is hard to tell if the DoD is managing the news or the media is not covering the two soldiers. My guess is that the media is reporting what they can find details about.

Footnote about timing and DoD managing the news with Pat Tillman's mom negative reaction to McChrystal's hearing today:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITI...


[ Parent ]
More about the story. Link to family interviews (0.00 / 0)
http://www.katv.com/news/stori...

There's a link to an interview with Long's father, Daris who is a Marine Vet.

I'm in NW AR and we have two news papers: AR DEM-Gazette which is also a Little Rock paper and the Morning News. They have no coverage that I can find on the net. KATV is not one my cable channels.

I've been getting info from
http://www.katv.com
and a rewrite of their coverage at
http://www.cnn.com

Just saw the story covered on Rachel Maddow.



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