ABC News

Alleged Ft. Hood Gunman May Have 9/11 Mosque Link

Lieberman: Senate to probe Ft. Hood shooting; alleged gunman tied to 9/11 hijackers' mosque

Photo: Hasan's Pistol May Be Linked To 'Guns Galore' Shop in Texas: Federal Agents Tracking Serial Number, Purchase Record of Suspected Massacre Weapon
The 2007 picture provided by the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences shows Nidal... Expand
(Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences/AP Photo)
More Photos

A key U.S. senator said Sunday he would begin an investigation into whether the Army missed signs that the man accused of opening fire 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 as two Sept. 11 hijackers in 2001, 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.

Related

Another classmate said he complained to five officers and two civilian faculty members at the university. He wrote in a command climate survey sent to Pentagon officials that fear in the military of being seen as politically incorrect prevented an "intellectually honest discussion of Islamic ideology" in the ranks. The classmate also requested anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

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, who was shot by civilian police to end the rampage, was in critical but stable condition at an Army hospital in San Antonio.

NEXT >
Next Story: Obama to Reveal Afghanistan Plan Tuesday
Comment & Contribute

Do you have more information about this topic? If so, please click here to contact the editors of ABC News.

Watch Video
1 2
U.S. News
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT