Hussein Zorkot is the guy who was arrested on Sept 8 prowling around Hemlock Park in Dearborn, MI, in dark clothes, with his face painted, and toting a shiny new AK-47. He’d posted a note on his website stating that his “personal jihad” was starting that day. The police were notified by people who saw Zorkot in the park, and according to a site called Crime Library, here’s what he told them when they arrested him:

When asked by investigators what he had been doing in Hemlock Park just before his arrest, Zorkot claimed he had been wandering around with his AK-47 hoping to be spotted. He said he wanted word to get back to his family and friends that he was a tough guy.

That’s a lot of trouble to go to to prove your toughness. But Zorkot had to do something. His own stepmother was out and about spreading rumors about him that could not be allowed to stand.

According to the source, who asked not to be identified, Hussein Zorkot, 26, claimed his stepmother had been spreading rumors about him throughout Dearborn’s large Arab population, rumors that hindered his ability to find a wife.

Although Hussein Zorkot refused to give investigators any specifics about the rumors, the source said, they may have involved allegations that he is a homosexual.

“That’s the worst thing you can be in the Arab community,” the source told Crime Library.

The police didn’t buy it that day and aren’t buying it now.

“It was a crappy answer,” the source said. “He knew it, but it was easy and he stuck to it.”

Toughness: Not proven. Stupidity: Maybe. Or maybe not. Zorkot had situated himself in Hemlock Park perfectly to carry out an actual attack.

It was dusk when witnesses spotted Zorkot carrying a rifle and walking along the railroad track that cuts diagonally across the west side of the small park. The setting sun still provided enough light to shoot by, while the creeping darkness made spotting a black-clad figure difficult. The slight rise of the railroad track offered high ground and cover, and the treeline running beside it offered concealment.

Hussein Zorkot’s 2007 Ford Explorer sat backed into a space in a nearby parking lot, positioned for a possible quick getaway and with its license plate concealed from view. The parking lot exits onto Hemlock Street, two blocks from Schaefer Road, a major north-south thoroughfare.

If his intention was to launch a sniper attack in Hemlock Park, Hussein Zorkot would have been hard pressed to find a better spot to shoot from. It offered everything a sniper needs — cover, concealment, escape.

Zorkot’s choice of clothing also suggested a desire to get away, hinting at a possible campaign of terror instead of a suicidal mass shooting.

My guess is that Zorkot is a Hezbollah wannabe who didn’t succeed for one reason or another. The ghey rumor angle is a new one, and may go down in history as one of the lamest defenses ever.