No "normal" person commits suicide by blowing himself up in public with a backpack full of explosives. Yet that is the official story regarding Joel Henry Hinrichs III, who was killed Saturday night in an explosion outside the University of Oklahoma's football stadium, where 80,000 fans were watching a game. See here.

According to University of Oklahoma president David Boren, although Hinrich had "emotional difficulties in the past," there is "certainly no evidence at this point which points to any other kind of motivation other than his personal problems." I hope this is simply a ruse, however transparent, to help the FBI conduct its investigation into this apparently botched act of domestic terrorism without alerting Hinrich's possible accomplices. For surely, in the absence of compelling evidence to the contrary, anyone who blows himself up in public near large crowds of people should be presumed to be a terrorist, not a bizarrely suicidal college student. For unsubstantiated reporting of Hinrich's apparent terrorist connections, see here.

Steve Warshawsky  10 03 05