Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar

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Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar (born May 5, 1983 in Tehran) is an Iranian-born American citizen who confessed to intentionally hitting people with a car on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to "avenge the deaths of Muslims worldwide" and to "punish" the United States government. While no one was killed in the attack, nine people were injured (none seriously). Shortly after the attack, he turned himself in and was arrested. He currently awaits trial. In one letter, Taheri-azar wrote, "I was aiming to follow in the footsteps of one of my role models, Mohammad Atta, one of the 9/11/01 hijackers, who obtained a doctorate degree."^[1]

Contents 1 The attack 2 After the attack 3 Public statements 4 Letter to police explaining his motive 5 Letter to the Daily Tar Heel 6 About the attacker 7 Aftermath 8 References 9 External links

[edit] The attack

On the afternoon of Friday, March 3, 2006, Taheri-azar drove a rented silver 2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee through a common courtyard area of campus known as The Pit. The Pit is a highly trafficked area centered between the student bookstore, student center, dining hall, and libraries. It is a popular gathering spot, filled not only with students going to and from class but also with participants in various student organization-related activities.^[2]

His top speed was estimated by witnesses to be from 40 to 45 MPH.^[3] He struck nine pedestrians, six of whom were taken to the hospital for treatment and released; the other three declined to be treated.

The Pit is not readily accessible to vehicular traffic; a car could only get there through a small service access. While there are normally barricades to prevent cars from approaching The Pit, they were not in place on the day of the attack.

[edit] After the attack

After the incident, Taheri-azar drove to a nearby city street and called 9-1-1 to turn himself in to authorities. He calmly confessed to perpetrating the attack. He told the dispatcher his location and requested that he be arrested. He told the dispatcher that the reasons for his actions were outlined in a letter which he left on his bed in his Carrboro apartment. Taheri-azar then gave himself up upon the arrival of police at the scene.

Later that afternoon, officials evacuated the Carrboro apartment complex where Taheri-azar lived, then stormed the unit while media helicopters circled overhead. Along with the letter described in the 911 call, officials found his UNC-Chapel Hill diploma folded in his closet, along with the Carolina blue graduation gown used just three months before.

On Monday, March 06, when he appeared in an Orange County courtroom, he stated that he would defend himself, and that he looked forward to the opportunity of sharing the law of Allah. He smiled as he left the courthouse^{[citation needed]}.

He was charged with nine counts of attempted first-degree murder and nine counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious bodily injury. He is being held in Central Prison in Raleigh on a $5.5 million bond.

On Wednesday, May 03, a grand jury indicted him on nine counts of attempted first degree murder, four counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, and five counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury.^[4] The case will go to superior court next, for either a trial or a plea.

Early on, the FBI was involved in the investigation, but their current involvement is unknown.^[5]

[edit] Public statements

Taheri-azar has made the following public statements:

March 03, 2006:

In response to the 911 operator asking why he did it:

"To punish the government of the United States for their actions around the world".^[6][7]

March 05, 2006:

To police investigators:

[I did it to] "avenge the deaths or murders of Muslims around the world."^[8]

March 06, 2006: At his arraignment, when asked if he was trying to kill people, he said yes.^[9]

The local ABC network affiliate sent a request for an interview with Taheri-azar.^[10] On Friday, March 10, he responded with a letter addressed to news anchor Amber Rupinta. In the letter he wrote:

In the name of Allah, the merciful the compassionate

Dear Ms. Rupinta:

I've included a visitor's application. I left a one page letter for the police in the bedroom of my apartment at 303 Smith Level Rd. A-34 but in brief;

I live with the holy Koran as my constitution for right and wrong and definition of injustice.

The Koran also spelled Quran is a scientific and mathematical miracle so there can be no doubt that it is from a supernatural source, i.e. Allah the creator and controller of all things. Those who follow the Koran, i.e. the truth, are members of one family, as the Koran states. Allah in the Koran gives permission for those who follow Allah to attack those who have waged war against them, with the expectation of eternal paradise in case of martyrdom and/or the living of one's life in obedience of all of Allah's commandments found throughout the Koran's 114 chapters.

I've read all 114 chapters about 20 times since June of 2003 when I started reading the Koran. The U.S. government is responsible for the deaths and torture of countless followers of Allah, my brothers and sisters. My attack on Americans at UNC-CH March 3, was in retaliation for similar attacks orchestrated by the U.S. government on my fellow followers of Allah in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia and other Islamic territories. I did not act out of hatred for America but out of love for Allah instead. I live only to serve Allah by obeying all of his commandments of which I am aware by reading and learning the contents of the Koran.

I would be glad to have an on-camera interview.

Sincerely

Mohammed Taheri-azar^[11]

In March 2006 Taheri-Azar was captured on video stating on camera during his court hearing stating, "I hate all Americans, and all Jews, they can all go to hell [...] Death to Israel^[12]

[edit] Letter to police explaining his motive

This is a transcript of the letter Mohammed Taheri-Azar left in his apartment for police to find:

In the name of Allah, the merciful, the compassionate.

To whom it may concern:

I am writing this letter to inform you of my reasons for premeditating and attempting to murder citizens and residents of the United States of America on Friday, March 3, 2006 in the city of Chapel Hill, North Carolina by running them over with my automobile and stabbing them with a knife if the opportunities are presented to me by Allah.

I did intend to use a handgun to murder the citizens and residents of Chapel Hill, North Carolina but the process of receiving a permit for a handgun in this city is highly restricted and out of my reach at the present, most likely due to my foreign nationality.

I am a servant of Allah. I am 22 years of age and I was born in Tehran, Iran. My father, mother and older sister immigrated to the United States in 1985 when I was two years of age and I've lived in the United States ever since.

I attended elementary, middle and high school in North Carolina and I was accepted into the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I began my college career in August 2001 and graduated in December 2005 with a bachelor's degree in psychology and philosophy with Allah's help.

I do not wish to pursue my career as a student any further because I have no desire to amass the impermanent and temporary fame and material wealth this world has to offer. However I made the decision to continue my studies and to graduate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill so that the world will know that Allah's servants are very intelligent.

Due to the killing of believing men and women under the direction of the United States government, I have decided to take advantage of my presence on United States soil on Friday, March 3, 2006 to take the lives of as many Americans and American sympathizers as I can in order to punish the United States for their immoral actions around the world.

In the Qur'an, Allah states that the believing men and women have permission to murder anyone responsible for the killing of other believing men and women. I know that the Qur'an is a legitimate and authoritative holy scripture since it is completely validated by modern science and also mathematically encoded with the number 19 beyond human ability. After extensive contemplation and reflection, I have made the decision to exercise the right of violent retaliation that Allah has given me to the fullest extent to which I am capable at present.

I have chosen the particular location on the University campus as my target since I know there is a high likelihood that I will kill several people before being killed myself or jailed and sent to prison if Allah wills. Allah's commandments are never to be questioned and all of Allah's commandments must be obeyed. Those who violate Allah's commandments and purposefully follow human fabrication and falsehood as their religion will burn in fire for eternity in accordance with Allah's will.

Sincerely yours,

Mohammed Reza Taheri-Azar^[13]

[edit] Letter to the Daily Tar Heel

This is the complete compilation of Koran verses that Taheri-azar cited in justification for his attack on civilians (numbers in brackets refer to suras and verses): [2]

Meditation II: Qur'an Notes Relevant to 3/3/06 Attack May 2, 2006 p 3 of 3

G. Instructions and guidelines for fighting and killing in the cause of Allah

1. Reasons for fighting in the Cause of Allah

a) To stop persecution and oppression of Allah's Followers:

[2.193] And fight with them until there is no persecution, and religion should be only for Allah, but if they desist, then there should be no hostility except against the oppressors

[8.39] And fight with them until there is no more persecution and religion should be only for Allah; but if they desist, then surely Allah sees what they do.

[8.73] And (as for) those who disbelieve, some of them are the guardians of others; if you will not do it, there will be in the land persecution and great mischief.

[85.10] Surely (as for) those who persecute the believing men and the believing women, then do not repent, they shall have the chastisement of hell, and they shall have the chastisement of burning.

b) To release Anger and rage from Allah's followers' hearts:

[9.14] Fight them, Allah will punish them by your hands and bring them to disgrace, and assist you against them and heal the hearts of a believing people.

[9.15] And remove the rage of their hearts; and Allah turns (mercifully) to whom He pleases, and Allah is Knowing, Wise.

c) To test Allah's followers' faith:

[8.17] So you did not slay them, but it was Allah Who slew them, and you did not smite when you smote (the enemy), but it was Allah Who smote, and that He might confer upon the believers a good gift from Himself; surely Allah is Hearing, Knowing.

d) To retaliate against enemies who attack first:

[9.13] What! will you not fight a people who broke their oaths and aimed at the expulsion of the Apostle, and they attacked you first; do you fear them? But Allah is most deserving that you should fear Him, if you are believers.

e) to prevent mischief on earth:

[2.251] So they put them to flight by Allah's permission. And Dawood slew Jalut, and Allah gave him kingdom and wisdom, and taught him of what He pleased. And were it not for Allah's repelling some men with others, the earth would certainly be in a state of disorder; but Allah is Gracious to the creatures.

f) To be rewarded by Allah:

[2.154] And do not speak of those who are slain in Allah's way as dead; nay, (they are) alive, but you do not perceive.

[9.19] What! do you make (one who undertakes) the giving of drink to the pilgrims and the guarding of the Sacred Mosque like him who believes in Allah and the latter day and strives hard in Allah's way? They are not equal with Allah; and Allah does not guide the unjust people.

[9.20] Those who believed and fled (their homes), and strove hard in Allah's way with their property and their souls, are much higher in rank with Allah; and those are they who are the achievers (of their objects).

[9.21] Their Lord gives them good news of mercy from Himself and (His) good pleasure and gardens, wherein lasting blessings shall be theirs;

[9.22] Abiding therein for ever; surely Allah has a Mighty reward with Him.

[9.111] Surely Allah has bought of the believers their persons and their property for this, that they shall have the garden; they fight in Allah's way, so they slay and are slain; a promise which is binding on Him in the Taurat and the Injeel and the Quran; and who is more faithful to his covenant than Allah? Rejoice therefore in the pledge which you have made; and that is the mighty achievement.

[9.120] It did not beseem the people of Medina and those round about them of the dwellers of the desert to remain behind the Apostle of Allah, nor should they desire (anything) for themselves in preference to him; this is because there afflicts them not thirst or fatigue or hunger in Allah's way, nor do they tread a path which enrages the unbelievers, nor do they attain from the enemy what they attain, but a good work is written down to them on account of it; surely Allah does not waste the reward of the doers of good;

[9.121] Nor do they spend anything that may be spent, small or great, nor do they traverse a valley, but it is written down to their credit, that Allah may reward them with the best of what they have done.

2. Obligation to fight:

[2.44] What! do you enjoin men to be good and neglect your own souls while you read the Book; have you then no sense?

[8.72] Surely those who believed and fled (their homes) and struggled hard in Allah's way with their property and their souls, and those who gave shelter and helped-- these are guardians of each other; and (as for) those who believed and did not fly, not yours is their guardianship until they fly; and if they seek aid from you in the matter of religion, aid is incumbent on you except against a people between whom and you there is a treaty, and Allah sees what you do.

[9.38] O you who believe! What (excuse) have you that when it is said to you: Go forth in Allah's way, you should incline heavily to earth; are you contented with this world's life instead of the hereafter? But the provision of this world's life compared with the hereafter is but little.

2.1. Disabled persons exempted:

[9.91] It shall be no crime in the weak, nor in the sick, nor in those who do not find what they should spend (to stay behind), so long as they are sincere to Allah and His Apostle; there is no way (to blame) against the doers of good; and Allah is Forgiving, Merciful;

[48.17] There is no harm in the blind, nor is there any harm in the lame, nor is there any harm in the sick (if they do not go forth); and whoever obeys Allah and His Apostle, He will cause him to enter gardens beneath which rivers flow, and whoever turns back, He will punish him with a painful punishment.

3. Rules for declaring Peace:

[4.89] They desire that you should disbelieve as they have disbelieved, so that you might be (all) alike; therefore take not from among them friends until they fly (their homes) in Allah's way; but if they turn back, then seize them and kill them wherever you find them, and take not from among them a friend or a helper.

[4.90] Except those who reach a people between whom and you there is an alliance, or who come to you, their hearts shrinking from fighting you or fighting their own people; and if Allah had pleased, He would have given them power over you, so that they should have certainly fought you; therefore if they withdraw from you and do not fight you and offer you peace, then Allah has not given you a way against them.

[4.91] You will find others who desire that they should be safe from you and secure from their own people; as often as they are sent back to the mischief they get thrown into it headlong; therefore if they do not withdraw from you, and (do not) offer you peace and restrain their hands, then seize them and kill them wherever you find them; and against these We have given.you a clear authority.

4. Methods of fighting in the cause of Allah

4.1 To inflict equal casualties on the enemies of Allah's followers as the enemy has inflicted:

[2.178] O you who believe! retaliation is prescribed for you in the matter of the slain, the free for the free, and the slave for the slave, and the female for the female, but if any remission is made to any one by his (aggrieved) brother, then prosecution (for the bloodwit) should be made according to usage, and payment should be made to him in a good manner; this is an alleviation from your Lord and a mercy; so whoever exceeds the limit after this he shall have a painful chastisement.

[2.179] And there is life for you in (the law of) retaliation, O men of understanding, that you may guard yourselves.

[5.45] And We prescribed to them in it that life is for life, and eye for eye, and nose for nose, and ear for ear, and tooth for tooth, and (that there is) reprisal in wounds; but he who foregoes it, it shall be an expiation for him; and whoever did not judge by what Allah revealed, those are they that are the unjust.

[42.39] And those who, when great wrong afflicts them, defend themselves.

[42.40] And the recompense of evil is punishment like it, but whoever forgives and amends, he shall have his reward from Allah; surely He does not love the unjust.

[42.41] And whoever defends himself after his being oppressed, these it is against whom there is no way (to blame).

[42.42] The way (to blame) is only against those who oppress men and revolt in the earth unjustly; these shall have a painful punishment.

4.2. Cutting of limbs and crucifixion:

[5.33] The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His apostle and strive to make mischief in the land is only this, that they should be murdered or crucified or their hands and their feet should be cut off on opposite sides or they should be imprisoned; this shall be as a disgrace for them in this world, and in the hereafter they shall have a grievous chastisement,

4.3. Beheading and removing fingers:

[8.12] When your Lord revealed to the angels: I am with you, therefore make firm those who believe. I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them.

[47.4] So when you meet in battle those who disbelieve, then smite the necks until when you have overcome them, then make (them) prisoners, and afterwards either set them free as a favor or let them ransom (themselves) until the war terminates. That (shall be so); and if Allah had pleased He would certainly have exacted what is due from them, but that He may try some of you by means of others; and (as for) those who are slain in the way of Allah, He will by no means allow their deeds to perish.

4.4. Ambush (the method I chose on 3/3/2006)

[9.5] So when the sacred months have passed away, then slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them captives and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush, then if they repent and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, leave their way free to them; surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.

5. Additional relevant verses:^[14]

[edit] About the attacker

Although Taheri-azar is originally from Iran, he is a naturalized U.S. citizen who moved to the U.S. at the age of two.^[15] He grew up in the Charlotte area, where he lived with his mother and younger and older sisters. He attended South Mecklenburg High School in Charlotte, where he was a socially-awkward honor student who graduated in 2001. He had a proclivity for fast and expensive cars, and the South Mecklenburg High School yearbook dubbed him the "South's Speedster." He received four tickets between 2001 and 2003 for "unnecessary honking, driving down the middle of two lanes of traffic, and failure to obey directions at a police checkpoint," and for "traveling at 74 mph in a 45-mph zone."^[16]

He enrolled in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2001, where he majored in psychology and philosophy. At one point he dropped out, but returned the following semester. In college, he volunteered at local hospitals. He was graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill in December 2005. Some of those who knew him from UNC described him as "a serious student, shy but friendly," and "kind and gentle, rather than aggressive and violent".^[17] A student who had been in the same history of philosophy class said he was "impressed" with Taheri-azar's "knowledge of classical Western thought." He was serious about his grades, and served briefly as the president of the UNC psychology club.^[18]

However, not all of those who knew him had the same opinion. Taheri-azar was, for a time, a member of the Sigma Epsilon fraternity, but he was expelled by other members, apparently for being reclusive and antisocial. A former member of the fraternity said that Taheri-azar "was from a wealthy family, a frequent marijuana smoker and 'most always high' and that he drank heavily as well".^[19] UNC Chancellor James Moeser described him as "totally a loner, introverted, and into himself".^[20]

At the time of the attack, Taheri-azar had a job at a local fast food restaurant, Jimmy John's Subs.

[edit] Aftermath

In the days following the incident, a debate arose, on the UNC campus and elsewhere, as to whether or not the incident should be classified as an act of terrorism by the university and the media.

Although this incident gained notice in the press and among those who watch Islamic terrorism, it received no mention from politicians, either locally or nationally.

While UNC Chancellor James Moeser described Taheri-azar's attack as one of violence in an internal e-mail to the University community, he stopped short of calling it a full-fledged act of terror. An official "Reclaim the Pit" event occurred on March 20, 2006, where students gathered for a moment of silence.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• "V for Vendetta: Mohammed and Me . . . and Masks" Review of the film V for Vendetta by a professor of Taheri-azar's. The review is described as "one part movie review, three parts meditation" on the relationship between Taheri-azar and the author.