There’s going to be a pretrial conference on Monday between Houssein Zorkot and Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Diane Hathaway. (“Conference between Zorkot, judge could determine if case goes to trial”).
You recall that Zorkot, a third-year medical student at Wayne State University at the time of his arrest last September 8th at Dearborn’s Hemlock Park, was charged with carrying a concealed weapon, possession of a dangerous weapon, and felony firearm after being detained by police for dressing in camouflage and deploying at Hemlock Park with a loaded AK-47. (“How the Press & Guide Does ‘Fair and Balanced’").
At issue between Zorkot’s defense attorney and the Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor, according to Sean Delaney at the Dearborn Press & Guide is whether or not Zorkot had the intent to harm someone, an element required to stand trial on the felony firearm charge.
Mayor Jack O’Reilly defended the decision to hide the information about Zorkot’s arrest for three days, out of fear that "the public. . .make a connection between this case and the anniversary of September 11.” ("Dearborn Police Profile Area Man Just for Being a Medical Student"). (Zorkot was arrested on September 8).
Our interest in this is seeing brought to light whatever facts there are about Zorkot’s local connections with Hezbollah, which he openly supports, and which no one denies.
As is repeated in every Press & Guide story about Zorkot, “While the Dearborn resident openly supports Hezbollah — a group designated as a terrorist organization by the United States — he has not been identified as a terrorist or linked to any terrorist group, according to police.”
While Zorkot may in fact not have been found with a plastic card in his wallet that identifies him as a member of the "Dearborn Chapter of the Party of God", I think there's room for further inquiry.
Showing posts with label Houssein Zorkot. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Houssein Zorkot. Show all posts
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Update on Hemlock Park Hezbollah Fighter
There are going to be still more delays before any facts about the Houssein Ali Zorkot case see the light of day.
Zorkot, the third-year medical student who was arrested last September for deploying in Hemlock Park with loaded AK-47, has changed his mind about waiving his preliminary exam, and wants one after all. (“Accused Hemlock Park gunman back in court”).
He waived his preliminary exam in December, letting himself be bound over for trial in circuit court. But now the circuit court has granted Zorkot’s motion to come back to Judge Hultgren’s courtroom Dearborn’s 19th District Court for his preliminary exam. At a preliminary a prosecutor must show the court that there’s sufficient probable cause that a crime has been committed to warrant trial. The new hearing is now scheduled for April 18.
City officials say Zorkot has not been tied to terrorism. But Zorkot was running a pro-Hezbollah website, and posted photographs of himself in Lebanon wearing military garb, and posing in front of heroic photographs of Hezbollah Headman Hassan Nasrallah (known locally in Dearborn as “Our Leader!”). Zorkot was charged with “one count of carrying a dangerous weapon with unlawful intent, one count felony firearm and one count of possession of a loaded firearm.”
When he was stopped by police exiting Hemlock Park he fought back so hard he had to be Tasered twice.
Frankly, this may all turn out to be nothing, or at least, nothing that ever adds up to anything. Zorkot may have become the victim of his own fantasies of himself as a fighter, and got caught playing army in the park with a loaded AK. I am interested, though, in the basis for the dangerous weapon with unlawful intent count.
Zorkot, the third-year medical student who was arrested last September for deploying in Hemlock Park with loaded AK-47, has changed his mind about waiving his preliminary exam, and wants one after all. (“Accused Hemlock Park gunman back in court”).
He waived his preliminary exam in December, letting himself be bound over for trial in circuit court. But now the circuit court has granted Zorkot’s motion to come back to Judge Hultgren’s courtroom Dearborn’s 19th District Court for his preliminary exam. At a preliminary a prosecutor must show the court that there’s sufficient probable cause that a crime has been committed to warrant trial. The new hearing is now scheduled for April 18.
City officials say Zorkot has not been tied to terrorism. But Zorkot was running a pro-Hezbollah website, and posted photographs of himself in Lebanon wearing military garb, and posing in front of heroic photographs of Hezbollah Headman Hassan Nasrallah (known locally in Dearborn as “Our Leader!”). Zorkot was charged with “one count of carrying a dangerous weapon with unlawful intent, one count felony firearm and one count of possession of a loaded firearm.”When he was stopped by police exiting Hemlock Park he fought back so hard he had to be Tasered twice.
Frankly, this may all turn out to be nothing, or at least, nothing that ever adds up to anything. Zorkot may have become the victim of his own fantasies of himself as a fighter, and got caught playing army in the park with a loaded AK. I am interested, though, in the basis for the dangerous weapon with unlawful intent count.
Friday, December 14, 2007
Houssein Zorkot Update
Houssein Zorkot appeared this morning for his preliminary exam in Dearborn's district court.
Zorkot’s preliminary examination has been delayed several weeks because the defendant was undergoing a psychiatric evaluation determining his competency to stand trial. This morning the court accepted the stipulation of both the prosecution and the defense, agreeing with the forensic report stating Zorkot is competent, and, in fact, “normal,” for purposes of standing trial.
Zorkot thereafter waived his right to his preliminary exam. Next he will be formally arraigned (December 28th) and bound over for trial in circuit court.
Over the prosecution's objections, the court agreed with the defendant that the $1M bond was too high, and recommended that it be lowered to a $100,000 cash bond, . Assuming Zorkot can meet the bond, he will be released with a tether, and confined to his home.
Family members and friends of Zorkot were present in the courtroom ready to vouch, if called upon, that if Zorkot were released from jail he would pose no further threat, nor try to flee. At the same time, the Wayne State University medical school, (where Zorkot had been studying medicine prior to his arrest), sent a representative to court expressly to reiterate that, even if Zorkot were released on bond, he would still not be allowed to return to the school.
Zorkot’s preliminary examination has been delayed several weeks because the defendant was undergoing a psychiatric evaluation determining his competency to stand trial. This morning the court accepted the stipulation of both the prosecution and the defense, agreeing with the forensic report stating Zorkot is competent, and, in fact, “normal,” for purposes of standing trial.
Zorkot thereafter waived his right to his preliminary exam. Next he will be formally arraigned (December 28th) and bound over for trial in circuit court.
Over the prosecution's objections, the court agreed with the defendant that the $1M bond was too high, and recommended that it be lowered to a $100,000 cash bond, . Assuming Zorkot can meet the bond, he will be released with a tether, and confined to his home.
Family members and friends of Zorkot were present in the courtroom ready to vouch, if called upon, that if Zorkot were released from jail he would pose no further threat, nor try to flee. At the same time, the Wayne State University medical school, (where Zorkot had been studying medicine prior to his arrest), sent a representative to court expressly to reiterate that, even if Zorkot were released on bond, he would still not be allowed to return to the school.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Houssein Zorkot Correction
We got it wrong a couple weeks back when we predicted that CAIR-Michigan would come riding to the defense of Houssein Zorkot, the young Lebanese medical student who's been charged with three felonies arising from his deployment to Dearborn’s Hemlock Park with a loaded AK-47. Zorkot is an avid supporter of Hezbollah, and on the day he was arrested declared the beginning of his “personal jihad.”
But rather than coming to his support, neither CAIR, nor CAIR-Michigan, nor the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), (which supports Hezbollah), nor the Arab-American News, (which often apologizes for Hezbollah), have made any public mention of Zorkot at all. Maybe Osama Siblani at the Arab-American News just didn't think Zorkot's arrest was newsworthy, but he covered a much less significant local crime story that week that lacked any potential terrorist angle, or Muslim arrestee. ("Suspect taken into custody for attempted murder").
Zorkot appeared in court last Friday for a preliminary hearing. We thought we’d be there, too, hoping to get some more information about what went on that night. Aside from Zorkot’s father and a couple of boosters from the Dearborn Press & Guide, no one from the Muslim community showed up to give moral support to the suspect.
Zorkot’s attorney asked for additional time to investigate the facts of the case, and the court ordered a competency exam. The hearing was adjourned until November 9, so we still haven’t had a chance to hear what any of the evidence is.
Though we may have gotten our original prediction wrong about Muslim leaders' public response to all this, it’s still significant that there’s been utter silence from CAIR, especially from the local chapter’s interview-hungry director, Dawud Walid, who never tires of repeating accusations of Islamophobia wherever Muslim suspects are involved.
At this stage, I have to think the uncharacteristic quiet suggests just how serious the evidence against Zorkot really is.
The thing is, that thanks to concessions from federal and local law enforcement obtained shortly after 9/11, (see, for example, "1-800-DIG-THIS," and "London BRIDGES"), Muslim leaders get a first glimpse at any prominent criminal actions that might throw unwelcome light on domestic sympathies or cooperation with Islamic terrorism. Because of that, local Muslim wheels often know what police and prosecutors are up to well before the press and public do.
We’re fairly certain something like that went on here, because Zorkot’s arrest and arraignment were such a closely-held secret for days. Instead of following the usual sequence for this kind of arrest, that is, arrest-- followed by news reports of the arrest-- followed by the arraignment of the suspect--Zorkot was arrested on a Friday night and arraigned four days later before the city finally issued a press release later that day. The press release tried to excuse the delay as the result of officials’ fears that “announcing the arrest of an armed Arabic man so close to anniversary of the [9/11] attack would stir anti-Muslim sentiments and fan the flames of terrorism.”
The mayor and the cops then went out of their way to explain that none of the evidence of Zorkot’s deep committment to Hezbollah, jihad, and paramilitary training, (not to mention his purchase, on Day One of his “personal jihad,”of an AK-47), gave them any clues about what Zorkot’s motives were.
Then, when Police Chief Mike Celeski congratulated the eyewitnesses who reported Zorkot’s behavior to police, he said “If it weren't for their quick-thinking — and the actions of our officers — the situation could have quickly escalated.”
Jack O’Reilly said, “Given his actions, his behavior and the way he was dressed, I don't believe a $1 million bond is unreasonable. With any luck, it will keep him in jail until we're able to sort this out.”
All of which tells us that at least the police believed there was a “situation,” that it had the potential to escalate, and that Zorkot’s actions and behavior convinced officials the world was better off with Zorkot behind bars.
We also know that Zorkot's statements when he was arrested led to police obtaining a search warrant for his home, where they seized his laptop upon which, lo and behold, there were numerous Hezbollah-related photographs and other material.
We also know one of the three felonies Zorkot is charged with is carrying a dangerous weapon with unlawful intent. That charge requires evidence that the “defendant carried a firearm or dangerous weapon with the intent to unlawfully use it against another person.” The kind of specificity called for in that language demands more than just being detained with a loaded weapon for no apparent reason, but actual intent to use it against somebody.
My guess is police know more about what Zorkot intended than they are admitting now, because Zorkot told them his intent by way of a statement or admission at the time of his arrest. I also think, though I'm less confident all the facts will come out, that the cops knew enough from what Zorkot said during his arrest to put together the two COMPLETELY UNRELATED concepts of "loaded AK-47 with unlawful intent" and "Hezbollah-supporting jihadist wesbite," at least sufficiently enough to get a search warrant.
I also think the area’s Muslim leaders were shown the prosecution’s case before the September 11 arraignment, to forewarn them not to prematurely rally to Zorkot as an emblem of police overreaction and Islamophobia--only to find themselves, when and if the facts ever come out, trying to defend a real, live terrorist that the public’s not going to sympathize with at all.
For right now, and until the rest of the evidence about Zorkot finally comes out, we can't speculate much further about what he was up to that night.
But as for CAIR, their motives aren’t so hard to read. They don’t like Zorkot and his case because he’s turning out to be the guy they spend all their time telling us doesn’t even exist--except in our fevered, Islamophobic imaginations.
But rather than coming to his support, neither CAIR, nor CAIR-Michigan, nor the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), (which supports Hezbollah), nor the Arab-American News, (which often apologizes for Hezbollah), have made any public mention of Zorkot at all. Maybe Osama Siblani at the Arab-American News just didn't think Zorkot's arrest was newsworthy, but he covered a much less significant local crime story that week that lacked any potential terrorist angle, or Muslim arrestee. ("Suspect taken into custody for attempted murder").
Zorkot appeared in court last Friday for a preliminary hearing. We thought we’d be there, too, hoping to get some more information about what went on that night. Aside from Zorkot’s father and a couple of boosters from the Dearborn Press & Guide, no one from the Muslim community showed up to give moral support to the suspect.
Zorkot’s attorney asked for additional time to investigate the facts of the case, and the court ordered a competency exam. The hearing was adjourned until November 9, so we still haven’t had a chance to hear what any of the evidence is.
Though we may have gotten our original prediction wrong about Muslim leaders' public response to all this, it’s still significant that there’s been utter silence from CAIR, especially from the local chapter’s interview-hungry director, Dawud Walid, who never tires of repeating accusations of Islamophobia wherever Muslim suspects are involved.
At this stage, I have to think the uncharacteristic quiet suggests just how serious the evidence against Zorkot really is.
The thing is, that thanks to concessions from federal and local law enforcement obtained shortly after 9/11, (see, for example, "1-800-DIG-THIS," and "London BRIDGES"), Muslim leaders get a first glimpse at any prominent criminal actions that might throw unwelcome light on domestic sympathies or cooperation with Islamic terrorism. Because of that, local Muslim wheels often know what police and prosecutors are up to well before the press and public do.
We’re fairly certain something like that went on here, because Zorkot’s arrest and arraignment were such a closely-held secret for days. Instead of following the usual sequence for this kind of arrest, that is, arrest-- followed by news reports of the arrest-- followed by the arraignment of the suspect--Zorkot was arrested on a Friday night and arraigned four days later before the city finally issued a press release later that day. The press release tried to excuse the delay as the result of officials’ fears that “announcing the arrest of an armed Arabic man so close to anniversary of the [9/11] attack would stir anti-Muslim sentiments and fan the flames of terrorism.”
The mayor and the cops then went out of their way to explain that none of the evidence of Zorkot’s deep committment to Hezbollah, jihad, and paramilitary training, (not to mention his purchase, on Day One of his “personal jihad,”of an AK-47), gave them any clues about what Zorkot’s motives were.
Then, when Police Chief Mike Celeski congratulated the eyewitnesses who reported Zorkot’s behavior to police, he said “If it weren't for their quick-thinking — and the actions of our officers — the situation could have quickly escalated.”
Jack O’Reilly said, “Given his actions, his behavior and the way he was dressed, I don't believe a $1 million bond is unreasonable. With any luck, it will keep him in jail until we're able to sort this out.”
All of which tells us that at least the police believed there was a “situation,” that it had the potential to escalate, and that Zorkot’s actions and behavior convinced officials the world was better off with Zorkot behind bars.
We also know that Zorkot's statements when he was arrested led to police obtaining a search warrant for his home, where they seized his laptop upon which, lo and behold, there were numerous Hezbollah-related photographs and other material.
We also know one of the three felonies Zorkot is charged with is carrying a dangerous weapon with unlawful intent. That charge requires evidence that the “defendant carried a firearm or dangerous weapon with the intent to unlawfully use it against another person.” The kind of specificity called for in that language demands more than just being detained with a loaded weapon for no apparent reason, but actual intent to use it against somebody.
My guess is police know more about what Zorkot intended than they are admitting now, because Zorkot told them his intent by way of a statement or admission at the time of his arrest. I also think, though I'm less confident all the facts will come out, that the cops knew enough from what Zorkot said during his arrest to put together the two COMPLETELY UNRELATED concepts of "loaded AK-47 with unlawful intent" and "Hezbollah-supporting jihadist wesbite," at least sufficiently enough to get a search warrant.
I also think the area’s Muslim leaders were shown the prosecution’s case before the September 11 arraignment, to forewarn them not to prematurely rally to Zorkot as an emblem of police overreaction and Islamophobia--only to find themselves, when and if the facts ever come out, trying to defend a real, live terrorist that the public’s not going to sympathize with at all.
For right now, and until the rest of the evidence about Zorkot finally comes out, we can't speculate much further about what he was up to that night.
But as for CAIR, their motives aren’t so hard to read. They don’t like Zorkot and his case because he’s turning out to be the guy they spend all their time telling us doesn’t even exist--except in our fevered, Islamophobic imaginations.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Dearborn Police Profile Area Man Just for Being a Medical Student
Dearborn Underground can now report with high confidence that Executive Director of CAIR-Michigan, Dawud Walid, will soon announce that the arrest made by Dearborn police of 26-year-old Dearborn resident Houssein Zorkot at Hemlock Park on Saturday night, who at the time was dressed in fatigues, armed with an AK-47, had his face blacked out with camouflage paint, and who fought back against police so hard (Zorkot boasts martial-arts and kickboxing training) that he had to be tasered by police in order to be subdued, (“Man with AK-47 assault rifle arrested after leaving Dearborn's Hemlock Park”), was profiled and arrested for no other reason than that he was a Muslim.
Now that we have that out of the way, we should also mention that Zorkot, a third-year medical student at Wayne State University, was charged on Tuesday “on multiple felony charges, including carrying a dangerous weapon with unlawful intent — a five-year felony.” Police told WXYZ-TV that the AK-47 was loaded. according to the report on WXYZ-TV news, Zorkot’s bond was also set at $1 million, cash, without the customary ten percent deposit, with the result that he remains in jail.
On the day of his arrest, September 8, he had posted on his website photo gallery a new category, “The Start of My Personal Jihad (in the US)”.
It contained only a single photo.
Now that we have that out of the way, we should also mention that Zorkot, a third-year medical student at Wayne State University, was charged on Tuesday “on multiple felony charges, including carrying a dangerous weapon with unlawful intent — a five-year felony.” Police told WXYZ-TV that the AK-47 was loaded. according to the report on WXYZ-TV news, Zorkot’s bond was also set at $1 million, cash, without the customary ten percent deposit, with the result that he remains in jail.
On the day of his arrest, September 8, he had posted on his website photo gallery a new category, “The Start of My Personal Jihad (in the US)”.
It contained only a single photo.
Note the barrel pointing at you in the little round inset.
Zorkot is a fervent supporter of Hezbollah. Other galleries show pictures of Zorkot visiting South Lebanon, where he posed proudly before missile launchers and posters of Sheikh Nasrallah, (known locally by many here in Dearborn as “Our Leader!”).
As sure as night follows day,CAIR’s soon-to-be-made announcement will blame the young man’s arrest on profiling and Islamophobia, but CAIR is not expected to mention details about Hemlock Park being in the heart of Muslim East Dearborn; in other words, that the scene of the arrest was within a short nightstick’s toss of thousands of profileable Arab Muslims, many of whom were not carrying AK-47s, and who still were not arrested by Dearborn police on September 8 for anything.
Nor is CAIR expected to mention that Dearborn's finest were not cruising around that night looking for Muslims to tase when they targeted the innocent Hemlock Park personal jihadist. The cops in fact were responding to resident reports of a man carrying a rifle in the area. (DU has not been able to confirm whether or not the upcoming CAIR press release will include the standard claim that, had reports of a sniper running around with an assault rifle originated in a nonMuslim neighborhood, police would not have bothered to respond. We are just now investigating potential CAIR legal threats to sue the tattle-tale residents for calling police in violation of Zorkot's civil rights).
According to the WXYZ-TV report, Dearborn's Mayor John O'Reilly has issued a press release indicating all requests for comments about this case are to be made directly to him. We have been unable to obtain a copy of this press release, even on the city hall website, (which really violates the whole spirit of a "press release," in our amateurish view).
But WXYZ states that the Mayor's press release explains how he “did not want the public to make a connection between this case and the anniversary of September 11.” This decision by the Mayor causes problems on several levels, but the most frustrating one is that we were just getting ready to connect this up with September 11, and now we can't!
(When we called to ask about permission for the public to connect this case up with Ramadan, we were told for that we had to consult Imam Hassan Qazwini's anticipated press release forbidding that, too.)
Watch and and be amazed at just how fast this story vanishes like the magician's silver dollar.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
