Memphis Connections?

Back during the summer a Little Rock recruiter was killed and another injured when a former Memphian conducted a drive-by jihadi shooting. The story got little national fanfare and the Little Rock police even tried to downplay its significance at the time:

Muhammad was not part of any terrorist group, nor was his attack part of a larger conspiracy, according to Thomas. "We believe that it's associated with his disagreement over the military operations," the police chief said.

Yet the suspect, Carlos Bledsoe, aka Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, was on a watch list due to spending time in, of all places, Yemen:

While there, Muhammad — a U.S. citizen from Memphis who is a convert to Islam and was previously known as Carlos Bledsoe — studied jihad with an Islamic scholar, Jihadwatch.org reported.

For the record, his parents did not agree with the Little Rock police chief:

"His parents are absolutely in shock. They cannot imagine this is their son. He was not raised this way. He did take a trip to Yemen and they believe certain people had an influence on him," Hensley said Wednesday

Sounds familiar. And just who might have had the biggest influence? Wonder if they are talking to Bledsoe about him right now? Let's hope so.

As to any Memphis connections, other than him hailing from the area Bledsoe once stopped at a Memphis mosque to pray according to its Imam, which spurred the Blue Collar Muse Republican to do some poking around there back in June. He found some interesting things regarding a few members and their admiration for Imam Aulaqi, the same one who was pen-palling with Major Hasan, but there were no smoking guns.

But no need to worry. Despite three jihadists with connections to Yemen, and possibly to Aulaqi himself or his cohorts, the president remained on the golf course and Janet Napolitano says the aviation system worked as planned. Just an overseas contingency, so move along now. You know, more people might cut the snark and cut some slack if this bunch hadn't made their beds with a cover of Bush-blame on this whole thing.

MORE 12/28/09

I wrote the above piece before hearing this story, which also made Hot Air today:

The FBI found three Islamic cassette tapes and miscellaneous papers in the suspect's car, which were removed for additional study, according to the affidavit. Police charged Ibrahim with commission of an act of terrorism, filing false reports and disorderly conduct. He posted $100 bond and was released, pending his court date on Monday.

That's where the 100 dollar figure came from but Cap'n Ed says the folks at 201 Poplar disagree:

Either the original reporting was incorrect or the bail got increased in Ibrahim’s court appearance this morning. According to Shelby County courthouse website, the bail is now at $50,000 (case number 09148795). He has a court date of January 11th. Thanks to Robert A for the information.

If his bond was set at 50K and was increased then he was re-arrested because the initial stories claimed he has posted and walked. The capture took place on Christmas according to this ABC 24 report. There's nothing on WREC's site and very little on Fox 13 but according to Channel 5, they've found Mohamed Ibrahim, but aren't telling us where he is without a small fee.

Two initial impressions-- one, this guy seems more like a lone nut than the others and two, that premise is based on no subsequent reports of him having contacted Aulaqi at some point.