Brother of University of Oklahoma Bombe Joel Hinrichs Arrested for Threat

Michael P. Wright — Norman, Oklahoma, USA — mpwright9@aol.com

The Associated Press reports that the brother of a University of Oklahoma student who blew himself up last year on campus is now facing federal charges in Colorado. Thomas Hinrichs was charged Tuesday in Denver federal court with threatening to assault or murder an FBI agent.

http://www.kktv.com/home/headlines/...

http://www.gazette.com/display.php?...

Review: Joel Hinrichs Most Likely Intended to Commit Mass Murder in October 2005

In a broadcast two weeks after Joel Hinrichs exploded the bomb and killed himself last October on the OU campus during a football game, CNN security analyst Pat D’Amuro pointed out that the FBI and ATF had agreed that "any bombing that took place would be presumed a terrorist attack until proven differently."

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRI...

After the explosion, OU president David Boren got it backwards. Framtic to protect sales of football tickets, Boren "presumed" that the bombing was just a "lone suicide" by an "emotionally troubled" student, and he was broadcasting that message to the world within a few hours after the event.

In an article published September 13, 2006, the Oklahoma Gazette followed Boren’s script and quoted an FBI spokesman denying that the Hinrichs bombing was a terrorist act, because there was no "political agenda" attached to it. This statement, carefully constructed from words seemingly chosen to humor Boren, conveniently evades another very important issue. The fact is that not all acts of mass murder are terrorism.

At the time of the explosion, which was three minutes before halftime, Hinrichs was seated on a bench which was a two-minute walk from the stadium and adjacent to an OU sidewalk. This strongly suggests that he did intend to commit mass murder and was obstructed by an accidental early detonation.

A huge question is whether Hinrichs had tried to enter the stadium during the game. A news article in The Tulsa World (October 7, 2005) reported an interview with library security guard Adam Smith, who spoke to a stadium ticket-taker a few minutes after the explosion. The ticket-taker told him that a strange-looking fellow with a backpack had attempted to enter, but fled after being asked to submit to a search. Of course at that time Smith had no photo of Hinrichs which would have enabled the ticket-taker to identify him.

We know that the FBI quickly obtained such a photo. Further, it is a safe assumption that the FBI showed that photo to the ticket-taker and asked him if there were a match. Finally, it is another safe assumption that if there had been no match, Boren would have triumphantly broadcast that fact all over the world. But guess what? There was no news report about this question. Is it a safe bet that there was a match, and this unpleasant fact was covered up?

Relying on the Freedom of Information Act, several months ago I wrote to the FBI and asked them to disclose to me the information reported to them by the ticket-taker, when they showed him the photo of Hinrichs. There has been no reply.