The lawyer for former Memphian Abdulhakim Muhammad spoke to The Associated Press today about his client, who is charged with capital murder in the shooting death of a soldier and the wounding of another Monday outside a military recruiting center in Little Rock.Attorney Jim Hensley (pictured at right) says Muhammad left college to teach English in Yemen but became radicalized while there. Hensley further stated that the FBI hung Muhammad out to dry after he was detained (Hensley says it was because Muhammad's visa had expired; previous reports said Muhammad was using a phony Somali passport).
"Here comes the FBI, who may be able to help this guy or save his life, and then they leave and then he's got to go back in with these hardened terrorists. He's got to survive, how do you live with that?" Hensley said. "He absolutely feels that the FBI and anyone else associated with the United States government left him to the wolves, that's for certain."ABC News has a long report about Muhammad's connections to a mosque in Columbus, Ohio, that has been known as a jumping-off point for radicals, especially Somalis, before they go overseas to fight jihad.
Also in the report, some interesting speculation about Muhammad's time in Yemen that would appear to contract lawyer Hensley:
His travels to Yemen are another promising area of investigation by the FBI and to other intelligence agencies. While in Yemen it is believed that Muhammad attended the Damaj Institute, an Islamic institute attended by a number of radicalized U.S. converts which was once attended by John Walker Lindh, the "American Taliban" captured in Afghanistan.The Jewish Telegraphic Agency has more information about Muhammad's research of Jewish sites for potential targeting. Citing the Secure Community Network, which ABC says is reliable in such matters, JTA mentions Memphis among cities where Muhammad had been looking into Jewish entities.
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