Special Bulletin: The DC Sniper Suspects
10/29/02 6:52:57 PM Pacific Standard Time
Dave has put a lot of pieces together here, said it better than I ever could.
There was a report from another source about the supposed rifle that Muhammad allegedly used, that he had sold it back to the shop he purchased it from. According to this:
"* The rifle allegedly used in the shootings was purchased in
June from a Tacoma, Washington-based dealer
operating under
the name "Bull's Eye Shooter Supply." The shop,
located near
the Army's Ft. Lewis base, is owned by a former
U.S. Army
sniper instructor."
I would gather that this is not the same rifle.
Now here's an interesting tidbit I hadn't seen before:
"* Muhammad's ex-wife, with whom he has had a stormy relationship
marked by bitter custody battles, recently relocated
to the DC
area to take a job at, of all places, John Ashcroft's
Justice
Department. This peculiar fact, though reported
by the British
press, has been curiously absent in the blanket
coverage of
the case by the American media."
As I repeatedly said throughout the shooting spree - PSY-OPS!
dave@davesweb.cnchost.com wrote:
Greetings from the Center for an Informed America
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added to this mailing list.Special Bulletin: The DC Sniper Suspects
October 29, 2002
http://davesweb.cnchost.com/nwsltr20.htmlWe interrupt the regularly scheduled newsletter for this special
bulletin ...This was supposed to be a continuation of the previous newsletter,
complete with a long list of links that I didn't quite get to last time,
but current events have taken precedence and must be addressed. I am
therefore sending out two 'Special Bulletins' -- this one, on the arrest
of the alleged DC snipers, and a second on the untimely death of Senator
Paul Wellstone.These two bulletins will be combined on my website as Newsletter #20.
This will be followed by Newsletter #21, which will consist primarily of
a very long list of links, including all of the ones that I had
originally intended to include with Newsletter #19.Two unlikely suspects have been selected to play the roles of the feared
DC snipers: John Allen Muhammad, commonly described as a 41-year-old
'drifter,' though until fairly recently he had spent his entire adult
life in the military; and a 17-year-old Jamaican immigrant named Lee
Boyd Malvo (also identified as Lee Byron Malvo and John Lee Malvo), who
entered the country illegally several years ago.The pair allegedly conducted their killing spree by utilizing what
police have described as a car that had been modified to create a mobile
sniper's nest. There are, alas, numerous problems with this scenario.
And there is certainly no shortage of weirdness surrounding the alleged
exploits of the pair.Consider the following:
* Muhammad's ex-wife, with whom he has had a stormy relationship
marked by bitter custody battles, recently relocated to the DC
area to take a job at, of all places, John Ashcroft's Justice
Department. This peculiar fact, though reported by the British
press, has been curiously absent in the blanket coverage of
the case by the American media.
(http://www.observer.co.uk/focus/story/0,6903,820087,00.html)
* Two years ago, Muhammad kidnapped his own children, in clear
violation of a court order, and took them out of the country
for an extended period of time. There is no indication that he
was charged with any crime in connection with these actions,
nor for repeatedly threatening his former wife.
* That same former wife charged Muhammad, in court documents,
with tapping her phone line. No indication has been given as
to how Muhammad acquired the skills and equipment to do this.
(http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/la-na-sniper25oct25004444.story)
* The rifle allegedly used in the shootings was purchased in
June from a Tacoma, Washington-based dealer operating under
the name "Bull's Eye Shooter Supply." The shop, located near
the Army's Ft. Lewis base, is owned by a former U.S. Army
sniper instructor. Muhammad completed his lengthy tour of duty
at Ft. Lewis, which has, curiously enough, a sniper training
program.
(http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-profile26oct26.story)
* Though Muhammad is generally portrayed by the media as a
chronically unemployed drifter who stayed at homeless
shelters, he doesn't appear to have had problems with money.
Consider all of the following facts which have emerged in
various press accounts:* Before kidnapping his children, Muhammad was ordered
to pay nearly $900 per month in child support,
indicating that the court had reason to believe that
he had a fairly substantial income at the time.
* He has reportedly owned, or co-owned, several
businesses, including a karate school, an auto
repair business, and something called, strangely
enough, "Reality Enterprises."
(http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/la-na-profile25oct25004444.story)
* A number of witnesses have commented on the
incongruity of an allegedly homeless man who always
had money to spend. The L.A. Times reported that a
former girlfriend told her family that Muhammad's
"story didn't make any sense ... He was a hard-luck
drifter with money, a man who could pick up and fly
to the Caribbean whenever he got the inclination."
The same Times report added that "She wasn't the
only one asking questions ... The director of the
shelter has said [of Muhammad] ... 'He was rather
secretive about his past and present ... He was
closed-mouthed. He didn't have a visible source of
income, but he was able to travel at a moment's
notice.'"
(http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-na-killers27oct27.story)
The Independent Online noted that with "no apparent
means of support, Muhammad and companion John Lee
Malvo traveled from the Caribbean to the
north-western United States, and points in between,
over the past year and a half. How they financed
their activities remains a mystery." The man who
runs the homeless mission where Muhammad last stayed
in Washington state, Reverend Alan Archer, was
reportedly "amazed to see Muhammad getting phone
calls from a travel agent." Archer recalled that
Muhammad flew off on ski trips to both Denver and
Salt Lake City.
(http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=79&art_id=qw1035806221674B225&set_id=1)
* While living in Antigua, with no visible means of
support, Muhammad nevertheless was able to send his
three children to an exclusive private school.
(http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=79&art_id=qw1035806221674B225&set_id=1)* Clearly there was someone, or some entity, bankrolling
Muhammad's activities. The media will likely either ignore
this fact, or will attempt to link Muhammad to some sort of
'terrorist' organization, though it isn't likely that many
fingers will be pointed at his most likely benefactor -- the
terrorist organization known as the CIA.
* Two years ago, Muhammad, an American citizen born and raised
in Louisiana, obtained an Antiguan passport -- allegedly by
lying about who his mother was. Why he would be taken at his
word and not required to show proof of Antiguan citizenship
has not been explained.
(http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-profile26oct26.story)
Also unexplained is why he was issued the passport in July
2000, although the Antiguan government claims that its records
don't show Muhammad entering the country until May of 2001.
(http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=79&art_id=qw1035806221674B225&set_id=1)
* Initial reports speculated that Muhammad had received sniper
training. The Army has subsequently denied this. Most reports
hold that Muhammad, throughout what the Times described as a
"checkered, 16-year military career," never distinguished
himself as a skilled shooter.
(http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/la-na-profile25oct25004444.story)
As the Times explained: "All soldiers entering the Army
undergo basic training with M-16 rifles. Once every year, they
have to requalify, earning 'marksman,' 'sharpshooter' or
'expert' marks. Muhammad ultimately earned only a sharpshooter
mark, so to compare him to a military sniper would be
inaccurate."
(http://www.calendarlive.com/printedition/calendar/cl-et-roug26oct26.story)
Indeed it would. To even be considered for admission to the
Army's sniper schools reportedly requires three consecutive
'expert' rankings. Muhammad could not even manage one such
score over the course of sixteen years. He could though,
rather amazingly, score head shots on live targets from up to
500 yards away, even while firing from inside a cramped car
trunk with limited visibility. Imagine that.
* But did Muhammad have more training than what is officially
acknowledged? He frequently claimed that he had. Was this just
baseless boasting?* The WSWS reported that "various sources indicate
that Muhammad liked to boast about his service in
the army and claimed to be working for the CIA and
FBI." While applying at a government office on
Antigua, he "claimed to have attended 'Special
Forces/ Sniper School' in the US military and to
have 'taught urban warfare.'" In the summer of 2002,
Muhammad told a nephew in Baton Rouge "a dubious
story about working for the Central Intelligence
Agency."
(http://www.wsws.org/articles/2002/oct2002/snip-o28.shtml)
* Muhammad further claimed that Malvo was also a
highly trained operative, recruited for his ability
to infiltrate the youth culture.
(http://www.msnbc.com/news/825625.asp?pne=msn&cp1=1#BODY)
* The Guardian reported that Muhammad "appears to have
told friends" that he had received training as a
sniper and had served in Special Forces.
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,819054,00.html)
* Muhammad's former business partner in the karate
school also recalled being told that his partner had
served in Special Forces.
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,819695,00.html)* Muhammad's alleged accomplice, just seventeen years old and
with no formal firearms training, is claimed to have been the
gunman in some of the sniper shootings. Reports claim that
Muhammad trained Malvo in the use of firearms by taking target
practice on a tree stump in the backyard of a Tacoma home --
as though hitting a large tree stump from across a backyard is
equivalent to hitting a human target from hundreds of yards
away, from an awkward position within a car trunk.
* According to published reports, neither of the two had ever
lived in the Washington, DC area. The pair arrived there just
prior to the time that the shootings started. Strangely
though, they had a thorough enough knowledge of the area to
locate strategic sites from which to shoot, and to map out
escape routes that enabled them to evade capture.
* The car, a 1990 blue Chevrolet Caprice purchased just before
the shooting spree began, is loaded with symbolism (for those
who follow such things):* The vehicle was purchased from a New Jersey auto
dealership named (and this, I have to say, is a nice
touch) "Sure Shot Autos."
(http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/la-na-sniper25oct25004444.story)
* It was formerly used as a police cruiser.
* The name "Caprice" means, according to Webster's New
World Dictionary, "a sudden, impulsive change in
thinking or acting" -- such as, say, a 41-year-old
man suddenly becoming a deranged serial sniper* I should probably add here that a blue Chevy Caprice bears
strikingly little resemblance to a white van or box truck.
* Just hours before the suspects were arrested, Chief Charles
Moose - who has become a fixture on cable and network
newscasts - issued via national television what appeared for
all the world to be a post-hypnotic, 'triggering' cue. As the
Guardian described it: "Hours before the arrest yesterday
morning of the two men now believed to be responsible for the
string of murders around Washington, the Montgomery county
police chief, Charles Moose, made his strangest communication
with the then-unknown suspects. Swallowing hard, he began to
read from a prepared statement. 'You indicated that you want
us to do and say certain things,' he said, as mystified
reporters looked on. 'You asked us to say, quote: 'We have
caught the sniper like a duck in a noose.' We understand that
hearing us say that is important to you.' Investigators
offered no illumination of the reference, even after John
Allen Muhammad and Lee Malvo were taken into custody
yesterday."
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,818958,00.html)
Just hours later, the suddenly known suspects were found
sleeping soundly, and were promptly taken into custody without
offering any resistance. They were only a few miles from both
the first and last shooting scenes. That final surreal
announcement followed a series of increasingly bizarre,
cryptic communications by Moose to the purported snipers.
* At one point, Moose pleaded with the suspects to call police
on the phone number that had supposedly been left behind in a
message from the sniper. No one in the media bothered to ask
why, if the number was in fact left by the sniper, the police
were now imploring the suspect to call them on that number.
Did the sniper leave the police their own phone number, just
in case they might have forgotten it?
* Prior to last year, John Allen Muhammad was known as John
Allen Williams. He changed his name just in time, it appears,
for the media to be able to portray him as some sort of
Islamic fundamentalist. Eleven years ago though, Williams
served in the Gulf War, demonstrating that he apparently had
no reservations about participating in a brutal assault upon a
predominantly Islamic nation.
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,819054,00.html)
* Muhammad has been described by various witnesses as an
extremely controlling man who exerted an extraordinary amount
of influence over his young accomplice. Their relationship has
been described as "drill sergeant/recruit."
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,819695,00.html)
Some reports claim that the pair first met in Antigua, while
others suggest that they first teamed up in Tacoma. No reports
have offered much insight into how or why this odd couple
became partners.
* Muhammad was not at first booked on murder charges, but on
charges of harassing his ex-wife two years ago -- thereby
illustrating that police did indeed have enough evidence to
charge Muhammad with crimes for the actions that he had taken
against his ex-wife, but had previously chosen not to do so.
* As previously noted, Malvo entered the United States
illegally. Not long before the sniper killings began, he was
detained by the INS, who were aware of his status as an
illegal immigrant. Strangely though, he was subsequently
released. Under normal circumstances, Malvo would have been
deported and John Muhammad would have been incarcerated before
the sniper shootings even began.
* It is asserted by the police that someone claiming to be the
sniper told them in a telephone conversation that they should
"take him seriously," and that if they had any doubts about
that, they should "check with the people in Montgomery."
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/Print/0,3858,4531898,00.html) If
this conversation did in fact take place, which seems rather
doubtful, the logical conclusion to draw would have been that
the sniper was referring to Montgomery County, Maryland, where
six of the sniper's victims were shot. For some inexplicable
reason though, police immediately focused their attention on
Montgomery, Alabama. Nearly instantaneously, they then claimed
to have connected the sniper killings to a seemingly unrelated
robbery/murder, which was committed with a handgun of a
caliber not known to have been in the possession of Muhammad
or Malvo. Why the investigators turned their attention to
Alabama, why they focused on this particular unsolved crime,
and how they were able to suddenly identify a previously
unidentified fingerprint, are all questions that police have
not bothered to provide answers to.
* The Independent Online noted in passing, without elaboration,
that Muhammad's ready supply of cash may have been due to a
"combination of odd jobs and crimes that included human
smuggling."
(http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=79&art_id=qw1035806221674B225&set_id=1)
Is that what Muhammad's rather mysterious travels were really
all about? And if so, on whose behalf was he working? Again,
it must be asked: who were Muhammad's unseen benefactors? The
suspect list would seem to be a rather short one.This bulletin includes only the bits and pieces of incongruous
information that have emerged thus far through various avenues of the
media. While there is far more that has yet to be discovered, it is
already clear that there is much more to this story than what has been
presented to the American people.Meanwhile, U.S. authorities are busily maneuvering to stage a trial with
a predetermined outcome -- one that will include the execution of
17-year-old Malvo. The media is clamoring for that execution to take
place, even though there has been no compelling evidence presented thus
far to indicate the young man's guilt.It is important to remember that we are talking here about a kid who has
been victimized throughout the entirety of his brief stay here on planet
Earth. Born onto the mean streets of Jamaica, in a land ruled by violent
drug-lords, and apparently abandoned by his father, Malvo survived a
childhood that no kid should have to endure.Smuggled into the States in the hold of a cargo ship, in the hopes of
finding a better life, Malvo found nothing but further victimization and
despair -- at the hands of a man named John Allen Muhammad.But through it all, Malvo remained - as friends and acquaintances have
reported - an intelligent, thoughtful, unerringly polite and friendly
kid -- who also was, if police spokesmen and the media are to be
believed, a serial sniper.So let's execute the bastard. We don't even need to bother with a trial.
The sooner the better. Then we can all get on with our lives.(Permission is hereby granted for this material to be widely
distributed, provided that the content is not altered in any way.)