Labeling the Taheriazar Incident

Was Taheriazar's act of driving a rental SUV into a crowd of people at the UNC Chapel Hill campus an act of terrorism? Based on his statements, it certainly appears to be the case, but the authorities have been silent on the subject.

Protests are planned for Monday in the same area of campus at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where, authorities said, a former student plowed a sport utility vehicle into nine people Friday afternoon.
The College Republicans, Americans for an Informed Democracy and the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies are sponsoring the event, scheduled for 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. Monday in "The Pit," a central area of the UNC-Chapel Hill campus. The event is open to the public and free of charge.

Police said Mohammad Taheri-azar, a 2005 UNC-Chapel Hill graduate, admits he acted to "avenge the death of Muslims around the world." UNC police and local authorities, however, say they have not taken a stance on that interpretation, but are simply repeating what the suspect has told them.

UNC-Chapel Hill student leaders said that Monday's protest is aimed at the reluctance of the university to label Friday's incident as an act of terrorism.

"This is innocent people being attacked by an SUV, driven by a man who was doing it for retaliation for treatment of Muslims around the world," said Jillian Bandes, with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. "To me, that spells terrorism."

The media reports have largely avoided headlining the religious motivations behind the attack. Michelle Malkin has more.

The Muslims Students Association and Young Democrats have also been invited to attend the rally, which is scheduled from 11am to 1pm.

Taheriazar is due in court later today. He's being held on $5.5 million bail. If convicted on all the charges, Taheriazar could face up to 100 years in prison.

Orange-Chatham District Attorney Jim Woodall said an attempted first-degree murder charge could carry a sentence of just over 10 years to 13 years per count. If a jury found aggravating factors, the judge could sentence someone for 16 to 18 years per count.

UPDATE:
Taheriazar is going to represent himself. Oh joy.

Mohammed Taheri-azar, a 2005 graduate from Charlotte, said he would represent himself. A member of the Public Defender's offered to oversee the case, but Taheri-azar said he wanted to represent himself to remain in control of the proceedings. He mentioned Allah, courtroom members say.

"I could not clearly hear what he said, but he mentioned that he was going to explain … the law of Allah," District Attorney Jim Woodall said. "He seemed very clam and composed, seemed to clearly understand what was going on."

Where does the law of Allah say that it's okay to run down a bunch of students while on campus? He would have been better off claiming insanity than going down this road.

There are also some questions about whether Taheriazar had a prior run in with law enforcement:

Chapel Hill police spokeswoman Jane Cousins said Taheri-Azar has one prior arrest on his Chapel Hill record. He was arrested June 16, 2003, on one count of resisting arrest and reckless driving.

According to Charlotte police records, a Mohamed Dahran Taheri, who has the same Charlotte address as Taheri-azar, was arrested April 15, 1999, on charges of operating a vehicle without a license and reckless driving with intent to endanger. Both counts were dismissed.

It is unclear whether Taheri and Taheri-azar are the same person. Taheri's birth date, for example, is listed as March 5, 1982 - not May 5, 1983. Police records, however, state that no other person named Mohammed was listed as a resident of that address. Additionally, campus police initially pegged Taheri-azar's age at 23.

Taheri and whoever lived with him moved away from Sparrow Lane before 2004, said the nanny for the current tenants.

DPS spokesman Randy Young declined comment on the investigation into past priors.

Poarch said all he was sure of was that his campus record was clean.

UPDATE:
Others blogging the situation: GOP and College, Junkyard Blog, Kabobfest thinks that drunk fratboys are a worse threat on campus than Muslims driving SUVs, and Superfun Powerhour who notes that it wasn't an Islamic terrorist but an evil SUV that was at fault.

UPDATE:
Michelle wonders if we can start calling it terrorism yet:

A suspect who is accused of hitting students with a sport utility vehicle at the University of North Carolina made his first court appearance Monday.
Mohammad Taheri-azar, a 2005 UNC-Chapel Hill graduate, smiled and waved before his hearing Monday. Taheri-azar told the courtroom that he was "thankful for the opportunity to spread the will of Allah."

As he left court, Taheri-Azar told reporters, "the truth is my lawyer." When asked if he was trying to kill people, he said yes.

Don't know how much of a defense can be made when you're essentially admitting to all of the charges against you before the national media.

UPDATE:
Terrorism Unveiled has more background information on Mohammed Taheriazar. Apparently, he wasn't always as religious as he now proclaims to be. Athena also wonders whether this meets some threshold level of terrorism.

Outside the Beltway, Ranting Profs, The Counterrorism Blog, and Church and State also weigh in.

UPDATE:
Mark Tapscott looks at the continuing saga of the Joel Henry Hinrichs investigation, which, while being officially considered a suicide, doesn't fit the evidence. He juxtaposes the Hinrichs incident with the Taheriazar incident. The key difference is that we only have circumstantial evidence in the Hinrichs case, but Taheriazar is still alive.

Mary Katherine Ham is also blogging on Hugh Hewitt's site. Michelle Malkin links to the 911 call - which includes the following:

It was really to punish the government of the United States for their actions around the world

Are we still unclear as to motive? Taheriazar seems to want to make it abundantly clear what his motive was. Can you connect the dots? Better yet, can the law enforcement agencies involved?

Others blogging: Hyscience and AJ Strata.

Technorati: unc chapel hill, taheriazar, taheri-azar, cartoon jihad.

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