Fort Hood shooter: 'It would be an honor... to be a citizen' of the Islamic State
By RYAN GORMAN
It would be an honor to be a "citizen" of the Islamic State caliphate, the convicted Fort Hood shooter reportedly wrote in a chilling letter to the terror group.
Nidal Hassan, the former Army psychiatrist currently sitting on death row for killing 13 and injuring 30 Army personnel, addressed the letter to the terror group's leader and signed it SoA – Soldier of Allah.
"I formally and humbly request to be made a citizen of the Islamic State," Hasan writes in the undated letter addressed to "Ameer, Mujahid Dr. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi," according to Fox News, which obtained the document.
"It would be an honor for any believer to be an obedient citizen soldier to a people and its leader who don't compromise the religion of All-Mighty Allah to get along with the disbelievers," says the two-page handwritten correspondence.
Authorities have officially categorized Hassan's actions in the 2009 rampage as "workplace violence," but this latest revelation casts doubt on that assertion.
John Galligan, Hassan's attorney, told the network the letter "underscores how much of his life, actions and mental thought process are driven by religious zeal.
"It also reinforces my belief that the military judge committed reversible error by prohibiting Major Hasan from both testifying and arguing...how his religious beliefs" led to the shooting spree.
Hassan has company among disenfranchised American Muslims wanting to be a part of the Islamic State.
Earlier this week, NBC News revealed that Douglas McCain, a Muslim rapper from Minneapolis, died recently while fighting for ISIS.
Wednesday then brought news that a second American also from Minneapolis, Abdirahmaan Muhumed, died fighting alongside McCain.
McCain and Muhumed reportedly grew up together and had known each other since at least high school.
A source told Fox News that "at least 10 young men" have traveled from Minnesota to Syria to take up the mujahedeen cause.
The State Department has yet to confirm either death, but at least one Congressman, Republican Peter King, from New York, fears there may be a growing threat from the Twin Cities.
"People in the community knew about it and that people in the community were covering it up."
Obama said Thursday in comments to the press that the U.S. government recognizes ISIS as a growing problem, but admitted no strategy has yet been conceived to deal with the threat.
Related links:
American citizen killed in Syria over the weekend while fighting for ISIS
Slain American journalist James Foley was reportedly waterboarded by ISIS terrorists
Obama tamps down prospect of strikes in Syria
