FORT HOOD, Texas — A U.S. senator said Sunday he would start an investigation of whether the Army missed signs that the man accused of killing soldiers at Fort Hood had embraced an increasingly extremist view of Islamic ideology.
Sen. Joe Lieberman’s call for the investigation came as word surfaced that Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan apparently attended the same Virginia mosque in 2001 as two hijackers in that year’s terrorist attacks, at a time when a radical imam preached there. Whether Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, associated with the hijackers is something the FBI will probably look into, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.
Classmates participating in a 2007-2008 master’s program at a military college complained repeatedly to superiors about what they considered Hasan’s anti-American views. Dr. Val Finnell said Hasan gave a presentation at the Uniformed Services University that justified suicide bombing and told classmates that Islamic law trumped the U.S. Constitution.
Another classmate said he complained to five officers and two faculty members.
He wrote in a survey sent to the Pentagon that fear in the military of being seen as politically incorrect prevented an “intellectually honest discussion of Islamic ideology” in the ranks.
Lieberman, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, wants Congress to determine whether the shootings constitute a terrorist attack.
“If Hasan was showing signs, saying to people that he had become an Islamist extremist, the U.S. Army has to have zero tolerance,” Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut, said on “Fox News Sunday.” “He should have been gone.”
Authorities continue to refer to Hasan, 39, as the only suspect in the shootings that killed 13 and wounded 29, but they won’t say when charges would be filed and have said they have not determined a motive. Hasan, shot by civilian police to end the rampage, was in critical but stable condition at an Army hospital in San Antonio.
He was breathing on his own after being on a ventilator Saturday, but officials won’t say whether he can communicate.
Sixteen victims remained hospitalized with gunshot wounds, and seven were in intensive care.
Hasan’s family called him a devoted doctor and devout Muslim who showed no signs that he might lash out.
Army Chief of Staff George Casey warned against reaching conclusions about the suspect’s motives until investigators have explored the attack.
“I think the speculation (on Hasan’s Islamic roots) could potentially heighten backlash against some of our Muslim soldiers,” he said on ABC’s “This Week.”
Imam Johari Abdul-Malik, outreach director at the Dar al Hijrah Islamic Center, said he did not know whether Hasan ever attended the Falls Church, Va., mosque but confirmed that the Hasan family participated in services there.
The mosque is one of the largest on the East Coast, and thousands of worshippers attend prayers and services there every week. Abdul-Malik said it’s a mistake for people to conflate regular attendance at a mosque with extremism.
Muslims pray at the mosque multiple times a day, he said.
“It’s part of family life. It’s like going out for ice cream after dinner,” he said.
An official speaking on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss the case said an initial review of Hasan’s computer use found no evidence of links to terror groups.
