D.C. Sniper Makes A Request

(All emphases by Always On Watch)

When the D.C. Snipers were arrested, mention was made of a "personal jihad." The media hushed that one up pretty quickly.

But in this article from Gates of Vienna, we have the following information:

"During the Beltway Sniper crisis, back in the fall of 2002, a series of articles in The Washington Times described John Allen Muhammad’s conversion to Islam, and his later break with the Nation of Islam (the articles are no longer available, but extracts have been preserved here). Apparently the NOI was not militant enough for Mr. Muhammad, and he left it to become involved with a group called Jamaat ul-Fuqra (Arabic for 'community of the impoverished'), a terrorist organization founded by a notorious Pakistani cleric, Sheikh Mubarak Ali Gilani."

From today's Washington Post, here is an excerpt from an article entitled "Muhammad Asks to Defend Himself":

"Sniper John Allen Muhammad has written a letter to a Maryland judge saying he wishes to represent himself during his first-degree murder trial because he has "no confidence or trust" in the two public defenders assigned to the case.

"'I'm very patience, now I have no more patience with Paul and/or Brian,' Muhammad wrote in a three-page letter, referring to Montgomery County public defender Paul DeWolfe and Brian Shefferman, two well-respected lawyers. 'All they have done is "lied" to me over and over Can you help me, I knew that I would need to fight in the court room but I didn't know that I would need to do that out side of the court room.'

"Montgomery Circuit Court Judge James L. Ryan filed Muhammad's handwritten letter as a motion and scheduled a hearing for tomorrow to discuss its merits.

"'We expect to fully address the issues Mr. Muhammad addressed in his letter before Judge Ryan,' DeWolfe said yesterday. He declined to respond in greater detail to the letter.

"Muhammad wrote that he would appreciate 'stand-by' attorneys 'to assistance me in mine defence. Not to defend me in mine defence.'

"Muhammad said he has tried unsuccessfully to get his attorneys to tell the court that he wants to represent himself because 'I don't want what happened in Va. on the first day of the trial.'

"Muhammad, 45, fired and re-retained his attorneys during his Virginia murder trial in the fall of 2003. He was sentenced to death in March 2004 after being convicted of killing one of 10 people slain during the sniper shootings that terrified the Washington area in October 2002.

"He is scheduled to go on trial May 1 on charges that he randomly killed six people in Maryland with a high-powered rifle in the 2002 slayings. Lee Boyd Malvo, 20, who is alleged to be his accomplice and who also has been convicted of murder in Virginia, is scheduled to be tried in October...."

Perhaps Muhammad wants to live after all. Or perhaps he's looking for a forum in which to explain his commitment to Islam. Perhaps Moussaoui's model in court has inspired Muhammad:

"Moussaoui Says He Was to Hijack 5th Plane"

"ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- Al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui testified Monday that he and would-be shoe bomber Richard Reid were supposed to hijack a fifth airplane and fly it into the White House as part of the attack that unfolded Sept. 11, 2001.

"Moussaoui's testimony on his own behalf stunned the courtroom....

"Before Moussaoui took the stand, his lawyers made a last attempt to stop him from testifying, but failed. Defense attorney Gerald Zerkin argued that his client would not be a competent witness because he has contempt for the court, only recognizes Islamic law and therefore 'the affirmation he undertakes would be meaningless.'..."

Does a Muslim's taking the oath in a courtroom now mean that his testimony is automatically subject to suspicion? That idea certainly opens a new can of worms!