Blogging Joel Hinrichs

I'm one of the many folks out there blogging the Joel Hinrichs suicide bombing that resulted in his death. Asking questions that the media should be demanding of law enforcement is not engaging in conspiracy theorizing or kooky thought. It's a deadly serious endeavor to obtain the facts and circumstances surrounding a very troubling incident that may [have -ed added] resulted in the death and injury to far more than just Hinrichs.

Meanwhile, OU fans received instructions on what to do in case of an emergency situation. That's good information to have in general, but if the suicide was an isolated case, why the extra precautions. OU officials would rather be safe than sorry, which is a comforting thought, especially for all those parents out there who might be worried.

Joel "Joe" Henry Hinrichs III, an engineering student, died when his bomb went off about 100 yards from the packed stadium during the second quarter of OU's game against Kansas State. The stadium was not evacuated then, but fans were kept away from the area west of the stadium afterward.

The FBI has been investigating. FBI officials have said they may never know if the troubled student tried or intended to get inside the stadium.

Fans are urged to follow the safety plan in case of severe weather or "the unlikely event of an emergency."

The FBI and the JTTF has been investigating the incident and can't seem to determine whether Hinrichs attempted to get into the stadium or not. In other words, they can't seem to determine or agree on a motive. The apparent suicide note found on a computer doesn't shed any additional light, and there's no way to tell whether Hinrichs attempted to get into the stadium.

In light of the fact that investigators can't seem to lock down that particular fact, some folks are completely certain that this incident was the work of a loner who wanted to take his own life because he was angry.

I just think we need to rule out all the other possibilities because if this wasn't just the work of a loner and that he was intent on taking the lives of other people, someone better be rethinking security at major events.

The Counterterror Blog has more. That blog had an earlier piece that echoes what I had suggested was known and unknown about the case and the motive. I've purposefully minimized the coverage of the plane ticket, which some attribute to being in the possession of someone other than Hinrichs. The eyewitness accounts of Hinrichs going to the local mosque are offset by competing eyewitness testimony saying he never attended. Then, there's the issue of whether Hinrichs ever attempted to get into the stadium at all. I've posited that it wasn't even a necessary aspect of a plan to commit mass murder to try to gain entry to the stadium as he could simply wait for fans to come to him during halftime or after the game ended. We simply don't have the information necessary to form any conclusions on that point either.

There are simply too many questions and not enough answers to simply say that this was a run-of-the-mill suicide. The media's noncoverage, coupled with the tight lipped law enforcement response suggests that there is more to this story than they're willing to let on. We may have to wait until the warrant is unsealed to know for sure.

UPDATE:
Others tracking the Hinrichs story and the MSM coverage include Generation Why, the Penguin Proletariat, and Stuck on Stupid.

UPDATE:
Cathy Young seems to think that some of the bloggers covering this story are crying wolf. Among those she calls out are The Jawa Report (and some of the comments there), Michelle Malkin, and Powerline. However, she also notes:

And finally, the responsibility for the hysteria over the Oklahoma "suicide bombing" does not rest entirely with the blogs: a lot of the false rumors were fanned by the local TV stations (though it's not clear to what extent their coverage was blog-driven). At best, the mainstream media and the blogs can complement each other's strengths, with professional journalists gathering the news and bloggers subjecting their reports to fact-checking and critical analysis. In this case, what looks like sloppy and hysterical reporting by the local mainstream media fed sloppy and hysterical coverage by blogs. And vice versa.

Considering that most bloggers are simply analyzing and comparing notes taken by others - particularly news reports, the possibility for a feedback loop of craziness is possible. Cathy thinks that noting the proximity of Hinrichs' apartment to a nearby mosque is irresponsible speculation. However, I would argue that with eyewitness reports of him visiting the mosque and disputed by others, including the head of the local MSA, that proximity takes on an importance that would otherwise not have been there.

Technorati: terrorism, suicide bomber, hinrichs, bomb.