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September 01, 2006

Omeed Popal and the swallows of spring

The stories on Omeed Popal's murderous rampage are still bringing forth new details. SFGate

"Everyone needs to be killed," Omeed Aziz Popal calmly told officers as he sat in the back of a police car after a hit-and-run rampage that left one person dead in Fremont and 19 injured in San Francisco.
[...]
...his comments, as recorded in police reports filed by three officers who spoke with Popal, suggest a level of planning that may belie claims of mental illness, authorities say.
[...]
Popal told one officer that he "wanted to come to San Francisco and kill people," and another officer that "everyone needs to be killed," the police reports said.

"I planned to kill those people I ran over last night -- they needed to be killed," Popal said at one point.

At this point in time it would appear that Popal is an equal opportunity murderer, and his statements not jihadist oriented as were the statements by Naveed Afzal Haq ("These are Jews and I’m tired of getting pushed around and our people getting pushed around by the situation in the Middle East.") or Mohammed Taheri-azar ([I did it to] "avenge the deaths or murders of Muslims around the world.").

Some would argue that even asking the questions about Popal's motives is "racist". Or even labeling the other murderers "terrorists" is wrong because Haq or Taheri-azar weren't part of an organized terrorist cell.

I would argue committing criminal acts in support of, or to benefit a particular criminal ideology/group does constitute terrorism. That's the criteria used in California when determining gang enhancements in criminal court. I don't see why we should hold Haq or Taheri-azar to any lesser standard then we would Valentino Mitchell Arenas, who was not part of a gang, but who murdered a CHP officer in cold blood in order to "impress" Pomona 12th Street gang.

Consider, too, that if Popal had been a skinhead running over people outside of the African-American Cultural Center, the media would have been just as remiss over not asking questions about motive as they were in this case.

At the present time, it looks as if Omeed is more the cuckoo than the swallow.

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Posted by Darleen at September 1, 2006 07:01 AM

Comments

Terrorism is quite simply the tactic of killing UNRELATED individuals to frighten many others into submission. Terrorists do not necessarily act in concert with others - the defining aspect is that they seek to terrorize others beyond the range of physical harm.

Posted by: Guest at September 1, 2006 11:28 PM