Iranian in US campus 'car attack'

[FishTail]

An Iranian student has been charged with attempting to murder nine people with a car in the US to "avenge the deaths of Muslims", he told police.

Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar, 22, drove a rented Jeep into a crowd at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill on Friday, police said.

Mr Taheri-azar, a graduate of the university, then called police to surrender, officers said.

No-one was seriously hurt in the incident, which the FBI is probing.

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Mr Taheri-azar has been charged with nine counts of attempted first-degree murder and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to cause bodily injury.

Police said he drove the Jeep Cherokee into a pedestrian plaza close to two libraries and the student union block at the centre of the campus.

Derek Poarch, chief of the university's police department, told the Associated Press news agency Mr Taheri-azar had said he wanted to "avenge the deaths or murders of Muslims around the world".

Mr Taheri-azar is being held in a prison in nearby Raleigh and will appear in court on Monday.

Mr Poarch said Mr Taheri-azar said he had told police they would find out more about his motives if they searched his home.

Mr Poarch said nothing dangerous had been found in the search but declined to give further details.

"There is no indication whatsoever that he acted in any way other than alone," Mr Poarch said.

The AFP news agency says tensions at the university have been high since a campus newspaper printed one of the cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad that have caused outrage in Muslim communities worldwide.

Muslim students staged a sit-in protest at the newspaper offices.

BBC News

[Norm357]

Charge him as a terrorist and let me put a bullet in his head.

[BrickCop]

Of course the media will dismiss this as a meaningless, isolated incident. Had that been a white Christian running down a group of Muslims the pundits would be screaming "HATE CRIME" on every channel as they lectured us on intolerance.

[Andrewtx]

Of course the media will dismiss this as a meaningless, isolated incident.

I turned off the TV a second ago after the knuckleheads on the news wouldn't stop suggesting that there's no evidence that this was an event planned by Al Qaeda and therefore probably not a 'terrorist' incident. As though unless the scheme is hatched in a cave in Afghanistan, it shouldn't be considered terrorism.

The reaction is usually worse, though. Usually within 5 minutes of just about anything happening, they're quoting the FBI as saying that there's no connection to terrorism. Whatever that means.

[TXCharlie]

They're covering it up the same way they covered up that guy who accidentally blew himself up outside the sports stadium a few months ago - I think it was in Oklahoma. Of COURSE he was a terrorist, but apparently not very good at handling explosives.

[Norm357]

Yahoo news reports:

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - A University of North Carolina graduate from Iran, accused of running down nine people on campus to avenge the treatment of Muslims, said at a hearing Monday that he was "thankful for the opportunity to spread the will of Allah."


Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar was accused of driving a sport utility vehicle through The Pit, a popular campus gathering spot, injuring nine people Friday. None of the victims was seriously hurt.

Police Chief Derek Poarch said Taheri-azar told investigators he intentionally hit people to "avenge the deaths of Muslims around the world."

Taheri-azar, 22, appeared in Orange County District Court in nearby Hillsborough on nine counts of attempted murder and nine counts of assault.

His bail was set at $5.5 million, and he was assigned a public defender, but he said after the hearing: "The truth is my lawyer."

Taheri-azar graduated from North Carolina in December after studying psychology and philosophy. Investigators believe he has spent most of his life in the United States.

On campus, UNC students held what they called an "anti-terrorism" rally.

"We don't want terrorism here, and we're not gonna stand for that where we live and where we go to school," said Kris Wampler, a student at UNC and member of the College Republicans, which helped organize the rally.

About 50 students attended the rally, including several Muslim students who debated with organizers and said Taheri-azar had not been linked to any terrorist group.

"When you think in terms of a global context, this was an isolated incident," said Khurram Bilal Tariq, a 22-year-old junior.

Stephen Mann, an 18-year-old freshman, said he wasn't singling out Islam with his call to label Friday's incident terrorism. He said a member of any religion who did what Taheri-azar is accused of doing should be called a terrorist.

"If you try to hurt someone in the name of a cause, that's terrorism," he said.

___

[Daynathepayna]

Taheri-azar graduated from North Carolina in December after studying psychology and philosophy. Investigators believe he has spent most of his life in the United States.

Let's hope they find a cramped, bleak, miserable jail cell where he can spend the rest of his life.

[TXCharlie]

Oh, well, that explains it: psychology and philosophy.

[Prometheus]

My Defender: Truth
Allah guides my steps in court.
- "Lethal Injection"