Hasan: A Look at the Terrorist’s Apartment
Much continues to be reported about the man that was Major Nidal Malik Hasan, but among the most eerily creepy stories that has come to light has been a look inside his homely apartment. It should be noted that a great deal of his possessions have likely been confiscated by federal investigators, and he had reportedly been giving away his possessions in the days leading up to his act, but his apartment is rather empty for a man who was earning a military equivalent to a six-figure income. Perhaps he was spending the majority of his income sending it abroad? It was reported yesterday that he may have been sending money to the Middle East – the recipient unclear as of yet.
Reporters including Fox News camera crews were shown inside the sparse one-bedroom apartment of Major Nidal Malik Hasan, who survived the Nov. 5 rampage and has been talking to investigators since he woke up in the hospital.
Among the items reportedly found in his upstairs apartment: bottles of vitamins and medications stuffed in a shoebox for which Hasan had obtained prescriptions or, in some cases, that he had prescribed for himself.
Prescription cough suppressants were among the other bottles reporters said they saw.
A closed closet with a “Do Not Open” sign taped to it was photographed in Hasan’s unit at the Casa Del Norte apartments. A manager there taped the closet door shut after inspecting it and letting the media in, according to the Morning News.
Israeli and Jordanian coins, a prayer rug, a psychiatric medicine manual, a green lockbox left in the kitchen sink, an empty paper shredder and a DVD burner also were seen in the apartment.
Officials investigating the murders confiscated other possessions.
Meanwhile, authorities say they’re looking at whether Hasan was sending money to Pakistan –and if so, why. The Virginia-born soldier is the son of Palestinian immigrants, was raised in the United States and has some relatives still living in the West Bank.
Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., told the Morning News that sources “outside of the [intelligence] community” have information about Hasan’s possible ties to Pakistan, which is battling a large Islamist insurgency movement.
Click here for the full story at the Dallas Morning News.
In another development, the military psychiatrists who supervised Hasan at Walter Reed Army Medical Center reportedly tried to re-channel his growing focus on American-fought wars in Muslim countries.
A Walter Reed staff member familiar with his medical training told The Washington Post that Hasan was ordered to attend university lectures on terrorism, Islam and the Middle East in the hopes of redirecting his increasing preoccupation with the conflicts felt by Muslim American soldiers on the front lines.
U.S. military doctors overseeing Hasan’s medical training reportedly had been worried he was “psychotic” and possibly capable of killing other American soldiers.
Medical officials at Walter Reed Army Medical Center held a series of meetings beginning in the Spring of 2008 to discuss serious concerns about Hasan’s work and behavior, National Public Radio reported.
“Put it this way,” one official told NPR. “Everybody felt that if you were deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, you would not want Nidal Hasan in your foxhole.”
An official who participated in the discussions reportedly told others he was worried that if Hasan was deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, he might leak covert military information to Islamic extremists, NPR reported.
Another official “wondered aloud” to colleagues whether Hasan might be capable of killing fellow soldiers in the same way a Muslim sergeant in 2003 had set off grenades at a base in Kuwait, killing two and wounding 14, the radio network reported.
The officials who discussed Hasan’s status were unaware — as some top Walter Reed hospital officials were — that intelligence agencies had been tracking Hasan’s e-mails to a radical imam since December 2008, NPR said.
Officials considered kicking Hasan out of the program but chose not to partly because firing a doctor is a “cumbersome and lengthy” process that involves hearings and potential legal conflict, sources told NPR.
Officials also believed they lacked solid evidence that Hasan was unstable and were concerned they could be accused of discriminating against him because of his Islamic identity or views.
Hasan is accused of spraying a Fort Hood soldier processing center with more than 100 bullets last Thursday before civilian police shot him. He is recovering, under guard, at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio.
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