Breaking: Soldier murdered in Arkansas; Update: Shooter a Muslim convert, opponent of military; Update: “Studied” in Yemen?
posted at 2:17 pm on June 1, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
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A gunman with an assault rifle targeted a military recruitment office today in Little Rock, Arkansas, killing one of the recruiters and wounded another. Police arrested a suspect, but details are still sketchy:
One Army recruiter was killed Monday and a second was wounded in a shooting at a recruiting office, and a suspect was arrested, police said.
Police Lt. Terry Hastings said the recruiter was shot when a man in a black SUV opened fire on the office in west Little Rock at about 10:30 a.m.
The vehicle was stopped on Interstate 630 a short time later and a suspect was taken into custody. Hastings said the suspect pulled over and surrendered without incident.
Police said they found an assault rifle in the vehicle.
We’ll update the story as developments hit the wires. The AP reported that police found “packages” in the SUV the suspect used to get away from the murder scene. A bomb-disposal unit got called to the scene, but no report yet on what they found.
This could have any of several different motives: political, personal, insanity. I’d caution against reading too much into it until we hear more from the police. We’ll be keeping an eye on it.
Update: More here from KATV:
Authorities say the incident occurred around 10:00 a.m. at a U.S. Army Navy Career Center inside the Ashley Square Shopping Center at 9112 North Rodney Parham Road. According to Lt. Terry Hastings with the Little Rock Police Department, two enlisted soldiers standing outside the office were hit when the unidentified suspect drove up and began shooting.
Both of the wounded were taken to a nearby hospital, where one of the victims died a short time later, according to police.
Update II: This Ain’t Hell says the victim was a recruit just back from basic training, and not the recruiter. I’ve adjusted the title accordingly.
Update III: The murder victim has been identified as William Long, and the other victim as Quenton Ezeagwula. Keep them and their families in your prayers tonight.
Update IV: Police have identified the shooter as Carlos Bledsoe, but that’s not what he’s calling himself these days:
A Muslim convert who said he was opposed to the U.S. military shot two soldiers outside an Arkansas recruiting station, killing one of the soldiers, police said Monday.
“This individual appears to have been upset with the military, the Army in particular, and that’s why he did what he did,” Little Rock Police Lt. Terry Hastings said in a phone interview.
“He has converted to Muslim here in the past few years,” Hastings said. “To be honest we’re not completely clear on what he was upset about. He had never been in the military.”
Hastings identified the man in custody as Carlos Bledsoe, 24, of Little Rock, who was going by the name of Abdul Hakim Mujahid Muhammad. He did not have further details. The names of the soldiers were not released, nor was the condition of the wounded soldier.
Gateway Pundit wonders whether this is “sudden jihadi syndrome”. Breitbart reports that Bledsoe aka Muhammad will get charged with one count of murder — and 15 counts of terrorism. I’m sure we will have more as this develops.
Update V: Robert Spencer hears that the shooter studied Islam abroad — in Yemen. He’s trying to get more details on it now.
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This is not being handled any differently than when Bush was in power. Why does America’s leaders pander and carry so much water for Islam? It can’t merely be the library money from rich Arab Muslims can it? As long as I can remember, America has protected Saudi Arabia with the excuse that they didn’t want to risk losing access to Saudi oil.
And now the Saudis own you financially, as well as politically. And it is the oil ticks who finance and promote all the Islamic evil in the world. They must quietly chuckle over Scotch in their horse palaces.
This piece of crap Muslim will now proceed to tie up your court system and cost you millions for decades to come.
“I summon my blue-eyed slaves anytime it pleases me. I command the Americans to send me their bravest soldiers to die for me. Anytime I clap my hands a stupid genie called the American ambassador appears to do my bidding. When the Americans die in my service their bodies are frozen in metal boxes by the US Embassy and American airplanes carry them away, as if they never existed. Truly, America is my favorite slave.”
King Fahd Bin Abdul-Aziz, Jeddah 1993 from AASW front Page
BL@KBIRD on June 2, 2009 at 12:13 PM
I studied last summer in Yemen. There is a lot of anti-American sentiment there, even though there are signs everywhere showing how American dollars helped build this neighborhood or that economic zone. Beautiful place though, if you like the 14th century.
Johnson on June 2, 2009 at 12:21 PM
I do not know if this was posted yet but here is Gov. Palin statement on this:
Governor Palin Statement on William Long
“The stories of two very different lives with similar fates crossed through the media’s hands yesterday – both equally important but one lacked the proper attention. The death of 67-year old George Tiller was unacceptable, but equally disgusting was another death that police believe was politically and religiously motivated as well.
William Long died yesterday. The 23-year old Army Recruiter was gunned down by a fanatic; another fellow soldier was wounded in the ambush. The soldiers had just completed their basic training and were talking to potential recruits, just as my son, Track, once did.
Whatever titles we give these murderers, both deserve our attention. Violence like that is no way to solve a political dispute nor a religious one. And the fanatics on all sides do great disservice when they confuse dissention with rage and death.”
Governor Sarah Palin
From SarahPAC.
Clyde5445 on June 2, 2009 at 12:25 PM
I could read all 5 pages of the comments but I am lazy. Has Obama issued a statement yet?
peterargus on June 2, 2009 at 12:32 PM
Not yet, O is too busy detroying prosperity.
daesleeper on June 2, 2009 at 12:35 PM
needed a little emphasis on OUR TROOPS which the idiot in chief just wont do anything for.
let’s see how the “muslim apology tour” goes.
maybe some yemenis will greet him.
UNREPENTANT CONSERVATIVE CAPITOLIST on June 2, 2009 at 12:50 PM
The shooter certainly is a thug. I find the term quiet appropriate given that the source of the word is a follower of a god of death.
darktood on June 2, 2009 at 1:01 PM
Not a word from my city newspaper about it… but they had another article on the front page about the abortion doctor murder. No wonder they are one of the 10 major papers going under.
GoodBoy on June 2, 2009 at 1:05 PM
Esthier, Esthier, it’s not always about you. You were on the rational side of the argument. It was the argument itself that I was referring to, and the fact that unjustly calling someone a “thug” was being translated by some into a declaration of racial bias – instead of bias against people who sucker-shoot young military recruits, which I think is at least equally likely. My point was that sensitivity to charges of racism is something the left depends on to stifle discussion of real issues, and that people who fall for this ploy are morons. But thank you for insulting my intelligence after you misread my comment by taking it as a personal attack; that helps me classify you as slightly paranoid, and in the future I’ll take that into consideration when reading your vehement and argumentitive posts.
Have a nice day. :)
Venusian Visitor on June 2, 2009 at 1:06 PM
It’s 1:30 PM EST
Still no word from the CIC of the soldier who was gunned down?????
bridgetown on June 2, 2009 at 1:32 PM
Actually you’re demonstrating (again) that you don’t know what was being argued.
You’re should allow sleeping dogs to lie.
baldilocks on June 2, 2009 at 1:37 PM
I’m should do that, I suppose. I’m guess that when I’m just reread the arguments before posting that I’m got everything wrong. Why don’t you’re get them all together in one post so you’re can prove me wrong?
Venusian Visitor on June 2, 2009 at 1:50 PM
If a Muslim or a Black Panther were shot for simply being who they were, it would be plastered all over the MSM. Two brave young men that enlist and are shot for their country by a terrorist, and there is silence.
My thanks to these brave souls and my prayers go out to their families. I too have a son in an Army uniform, and he’s not safe on American soil serving a president that holds his kind in contempt.
Hening on June 2, 2009 at 1:52 PM
Your president is poised to fellate Islam in his big speech in Egypt after which he will deliver a personal blow job to the Saudi Kingdom and Americas true masters. He dare not comment on these soldiers, it would risk alienating the Muslims he seeks to blow even more. Besides, Obama was up front way back when he was running for office that between America and Muslims, he would side with Islam.
BL@KBIRD on June 2, 2009 at 2:00 PM
Vehement and argumentative? From the person calling everyone a moron out of the blue, while clearly showing a lack of understanding over what occurred here?
First off, I didn’t insult you. I made my case, for the 100th time and implied that you might not understand the words “looks” and “be”, which may be unfair. It’s far more likely that you skipped over those words and assumed we were saying something we weren’t. Either way, you turned the argument into something it wasn’t, something only an uninformed person would do, either because you missed those words or failed to comprehend what we meant by them.
Second, no one else was arguing that the word “thug” (in the context of saying a man looked like a thug, even though he doesn’t) was implying racism except for me, Baldi and a handful of other people who wisely decided it was time to move on some time ago. Of course everything isn’t about me, but it’s very hard to argue this is one of those things.
That said, who do you think you were responding to?
Third, NO ONE argued that the word thug is, in and of itself, racist. That argument, the one that wasn’t “rational”, never happened.
I’m sorry you’ve taken my posts as vehement or argumentative as I’m neither of those things and generally enjoy myself here or else I wouldn’t bother stopping by. This is a great site full of great people, most of whom I’d love to share dinner with were we in the same area.
But then I’m not at all worried about how you view me. I let my posts speak for themselves. If you don’t like what you see, then skip me. I’m OK with that.
Esthier on June 2, 2009 at 2:01 PM
The silence of the Kommander-in-Thief and his lapdog, Mainstream Media is positively disgusting.
We’re so scr*wed I can’t stand it!
Sweet_Thang on June 2, 2009 at 2:04 PM
You didn’t get everything wrong. Just the part where you claim that people were arguing about whether or not the guy is a thug. No one was. And I’m guessing that everyone on this comment thread thinks that the guy is a thug.
Understanding does not require a new post; simply reading with a bit more comprehension that the phrases “is a thug” and “looks like a thug” are different and carry different connotations. The argument stemmed from the opinion that the perp looked like a thug and many of us wanted to know what it was which made the perp look like a thug to the observer since the perp had a pretty clean-cut appearance. Some came to the conclusion that it was the perp’s race. (The original commenter who opined that the perp looked like a thug has apologized, so we’ll leave that there.) And that’s that.
baldilocks on June 2, 2009 at 2:06 PM
God bless your son and those like him.
Many have suggested that the military go about armed on US soil off base. To those who are suggesting this: be careful what you wish for.
baldilocks on June 2, 2009 at 2:12 PM
Surprise. Another Koran-caused disaster.
Connie on June 2, 2009 at 2:14 PM
OK, one more time, slowly.
1. Two young soldiers are shot in a drive-by at a recruiting station. One dies.
2. A discussion ensues concerning the tragedy and how it relates to trends in American society and politics.
3. A poster improvidently suggests that the shooter looks like a thug.
4. The dead soldier and his wounded comrade are left on the pavement, figuratively speaking, as the topic shifts to whether that was a fair characterization of a well-dressed black man, or whether the characterization is racist.
5. My point: Why is a poster’s possibly racist characterization of the shooter of sufficient gravity to justify abandonment the much more serious topic of the cause of the shooting? I submit that America is race-crazy; that we have been trained to treat accusations of racism as so threatening that they require immediate denial; that we have been systematically conditioned to act in this manner; that this is an device intentionally employed to derail intelligent and pertinent discussions; and that those who allow themselves to be so easily diverted from matters of great consequence by unimportant distractions are – morons.
I was not accusing anyone in particular of being a moron, and I apologize to posters and morons alike. By that term I meant a zombie-like follower of events with limited capacity for independent, critical thinking. But I do think that there are a great number of posters who intentionally insinuate such distractions into the debate for the express purpose of clouding the issue. And I do wish that forum members in general were not so easily distracted by these agents provocateurs.
I’m sorry if I was not sufficiently clear in my earlier posts. I usually write for an audience that does not require such detailed explanations. I will try to do better.
Venusian Visitor on June 2, 2009 at 3:44 PM
Here Bambi; the first
attackambush on American soil in eight years. By a cowardly Muzzy convert; on American soldiers. Bambi and only he owns this one.Flying Alaska
Caststeel on June 2, 2009 at 4:02 PM
I’ve found a bit more information about Privates William Long, 24, who was assassinated, and Quinton Ezeagwula, 18, who was injured:
Loxodonta on June 2, 2009 at 4:02 PM
ABC News: Recruiter Shooting Suspect Had Ties to Extremist Locations
Loxodonta on June 2, 2009 at 4:05 PM
Recruiter Shooting Suspect Had Ties to Extremist Locations
The article includes video that includes a local witness describing the scene after the shooting and seeing the two fallen soldiers.
Loxodonta on June 2, 2009 at 4:08 PM
Just sounds like you don’t get online much. If it hadn’t been this “distraction”, it would have easily been another. In fact, there are several more in this exact thread, covering several things that have nothing to do with the victims.
It’s like real life that way. Topics beget tangents which beget tangents and so on, until someone remembers what they were talking about in the first place. The only difference is that here, the topic is always front page.
And in threads like these, there never is much to say on the specific topic itself.
Look at your own post. You had an opportunity to ignore all of this and focus on the victims but chose not to for your own reasons and continued to push the racial aspects of this thread.
Also, I wouldn’t argue that it’s Americans but conservatives specifically who see a pressing need to deny a racism charge, but that’s more because it’s always lobbed at us. It’s a conditioned response.
But it’s not entirely mindless either. Repetition creates a false reality, one that conservatives must combat in order to have any chance of breaking.
I mean no offense with this statement, as I don’t know you at all, but do you mean to come off this condescending?
Esthier on June 2, 2009 at 4:35 PM
Have any Muslim leaders or Imams spoken out against the actions of Abdul Hakim Mujahid Muhammad in Little Rock?
Loxodonta on June 2, 2009 at 4:43 PM
Why would they do that? It’s Mo’s M.O.
daesleeper on June 2, 2009 at 5:06 PM
No, I apologize. The kid who was killed was from my home town and, that aside, I’m not having a good day. But I stand by my premise: GrowFins gratuitously threw the race bomb into the discussion, was immediately called on it, and I think that it should have ended there.
Venusian Visitor on June 2, 2009 at 5:28 PM
How’s this VV. The killer is a THUG THUG THUG THUG THUG THUG THUG THUG. Got it? Don’t answer.
oakpack on June 2, 2009 at 8:06 PM
No Bond for Shooting Suspect
Loxodonta on June 2, 2009 at 9:08 PM
It’s amazing. This is a historically important incident of a terrorist attack on US soil and it’s about to drop off the map barely even acknowledged by the media. Even what passes as conservative friendly media, with a few exceptions, wants the story buried. I don’t get it.
Buddahpundit on June 2, 2009 at 9:11 PM
Poof!
Heh…I figured as much.
BL@KBIRD on June 3, 2009 at 12:38 AM
Mission Accomplished.
labrat on June 3, 2009 at 5:42 AM
Sample headline that might get this story covered in the MSM:
Condolences to William’s family and speedy recovery to Quenton.
Huckabye-Romney on June 3, 2009 at 9:34 AM
Mike Gallagher just played an interview with William Long’s father…Long’s mother was in the parking lot waiting to give her son a ride home.
Gallagher just asked, “Isn’t William Long worthy of a candlelight vigil in stead of Tiller?”
ladyingray on June 3, 2009 at 10:41 AM
First terrorist attack on American soil since 9/11/01. Bush and Cheney were right and they kept us safe for over seven years.
Thank you.
platypus on June 3, 2009 at 12:26 PM
As a US Navy man, I am appalled that my Commander-in-Chief made an immediate statement comdemning the attack on Dr. Tiller (and so was I), but still today has not made a statement condemning the indignant attack on my fellow brother-in-arms. Politics aside, both crimes are heinous in the extreme, but does one deserve the attention of the White house while the other goes virtually ignored? What a shame on so many levels.
RIP Private Long I will pray for you and your family. Thank you for your service you will not be forgotten.
alohapundit on June 4, 2009 at 7:43 PM
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