By ANGELA K. BROWN AND ALLEN G. BREED, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
FORT HOOD, Texas -- There was the classroom presentation that justified suicide bombings. Comments to colleagues about a climate of persecution faced by Muslims in the military. Conversations with a mosque leader that became incoherent.
As a student, some who knew Nidal Malik Hasan said they saw clear signs the young Army psychiatrist -- who authorities say went on a shooting spree at Fort Hood that left 13 dead and 29 others wounded -- had no place in the military. After arriving at Fort Hood, he was conflicted about what to tell fellow Muslim soldiers about the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, alarming an Islamic community leader from whom he sought counsel.
"I told him, 'There's something wrong with you,'" said Osman Danquah, co-founder of the Islamic Community of Greater Killeen "I didn't get the feeling he was talking for himself, but something just didn't seem right."
Danquah assumed the military's chain of command knew about Hasan's doubts, which had been known for more than a year to classmates in a graduate military medical program. His fellow students complained to the faculty about Hasan's "anti-American propaganda," but said a fear of appearing discriminatory against a Muslim student kept officers from filing a formal written complaint.
Military authorities continued yesterday to refer to Hasan as a suspect in the shootings, and have not yet said if they plan to charge him in a military or civilian court. His family described a man incapable of the attack, calling him a devoted doctor and devout Muslim who showed no signs that he might lash out with violence.
Authorities believe Hasan fired more than 100 rounds at a soldier processing centre at Fort Hood in the worst mass shooting on a military facility in the U.S.
