With just days before he heads to trial, the accused Fort Hood shooting suspect, Maj. Nidal Hasan, renounced his citizenship with the United States, repudiated his Army oath and publicly embraced — once again — his affiliation as a “Soldier of Allah.”
His beliefs were revealed on Thursday, via personal writings about American and Islam that were released to Fox News.
The documents included the acronym “SoA,” widely believed to stand for “Soldier of Allah.” In one Oct. 18, 2012, document, Maj. Hasan said it’s not “permissible” for someone to choose America’s political system over Shariah law, Fox News said. He also wrote that Muslims shouldn’t “compromise their beliefs” for those who don’t follow the tenets of Islam.
Maj. Hasan’s court-martial trial is set for Tuesday. He’s charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder for his admitted role in the killing of 13 soldiers and injuring of more than 30 during a November 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood in Texas. Maj. Hasan is serving as his own attorney and has said on previous occasions that he shot the soldiers in order to protect his Muslim allies.
Victims and family members hope the documents might counter what the government has tried to paint as an instance of “workplace violence,” rather than terrorism, Fox News reported.
“The government has tried to deny that this was an act of terrorism. I think that, I hope that if people hear the words from Hasan’s own mouth, that they will understand that this was an act of terrorism,” said Staff Sgt. Shawn Manning, who was shot six times in the rampage, Fox News reported.
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In the documents, it was revealed that Maj. Hasan also described radical Islamist Anwar al-Awlaki — who was killed by a U.S. drone strike in 2011 — as a “teacher, mentor and friend,” Fox News reported.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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