‘I did it for Allah’, says Muslim convert who shot two young US army recruits

ABDULHAKIM Muhammad, 23, who has been charged with fatally shooting an American soldier at a military recruiting centre, said yesterday that he did not consider the killing murder because US military action in the Middle East justified his actions.

Survivor Pvt Quinton I Ezeagwula, left, and the man who shot him, Abdulhakim Muhammad

Survivor Pvt Quinton I Ezeagwula, left, and the man who shot him, Abdulhakim Muhammad

A second soldier was injured in the attack on June 1.

Said Muhammad:

I do feel I’m not guilty. I don’t think it was murder, because murder is when a person kills another person without justified reason.

The murdered soldier, whose funeral was held on Monday, was Pvt William Andrew Long, 23. The wounded recruit was Pvt Quinton I Ezeagwula, 18.

According to this report, Muhammad told Associated Press that he admitted to his actions to police, and said he was retaliating against the US military.

Yes, I did tell the police upon my arrest that this was an act of retaliation, and not a reaction on the soldiers personally. It was an act, for the sake of God, for the sake of Allah, the Lord of all the world, and also a retaliation on US military.

Muhammad said he wanted revenge for claims that American military personnel had desecrated copies of the Koran, and had killed or raped Muslims.

This no Muslim, male or female, sane or insane, little, big, small, old can accept or tolerate. US soldiers are killing innocent Muslim men and women. We believe that we have to strike back. We believe in eye for an eye. We don’t believe in turning the other cheek.