Officials: Jihadi literature found in arrested soldier's backpack
Pfc. Naser Abdo is seen here in a screengrab from a 2010 interview CNN conducted with him.
July 28th, 2011
12:58 PM ET

Officials: Jihadi literature found in arrested soldier's backpack

[Updated at 1:34 p.m.] Jihadi literature was found in a backpack belonging to Army Pfc. Naser Jason Abdo, who said he wanted to attack soldiers at Fort Hood, two law enforcement officials said.

[Updated at 12:58 p.m.] A soldier arrested near Fort Hood, Texas told investigators that he wanted to attack Army soldiers outside Fort Hood, a law-enforcement official said.

[Updated at 12:06 p.m.] Read a full story on the incident at Fort Hood here.

[Updated at 11:16 a.m.] The soldier suspected of having bomb-making materials near Fort Hood, Texas, is expected to face federal charges, possibly as early as Thursday afternoon, a federal law-enforcement official said.

[Updated at 11:13 a.m.] A statement on the Fort Hood website acknowledged Pfc. Naser Abdo's arrest but said it had no connection to the base.

"We are aware at this time that Killeen Police Department arrested a soldier yesterday. The incident leading to the arrest did not occur on Fort Hood and the soldier was not a Fort Hood based soldier," the statement said.

Abdo was assigned to Fort Campbell in Kentucky.

Abdo refused to deploy to Afghanistan on grounds of his religion and had put in the paperwork to be discharged as a conscientious objector. The Army approved his request, but he was then charged with child pornography and went AWOL, the official said.

"We have two things that I believe make us American, and that's freedom of religion and freedom of choice," he said in an interview last year.

He said he had to remain true to Islam.

"I've come to the conclusion that the consequences I would face by refusing deployment are a lot less than the consequences I would face should I go. I don't think I would be able to live with myself if I deployed," he said.

Abdo had put in the paperwork to be discharged as a conscientious objector at Fort Campbell. The Army approved his request, but he was then charged with child pornography and went AWOL, the official said.

CNN spoke with Abdo in 2010 when he was trying to be discharged as a conscientious objector.

Watch what he had to say about the issue:

[Updated at 11:00 a.m.] Texas police arrested a U.S. soldier who went AWOL this month after being charged with possessing child pornography, a Defense Department official told CNN Thursday.

Pfc. Naser Abdo was assigned to Fort Campbell in Kentucky but was arrested in Killeen, Texas, near Fort Hood, the military base where a 2009 shooting spree left 13 people dead and 32 others wounded.

Killeen police received a call from a gun shop owner about a suspicious man in the store who was asking questions about 40-caliber ammunition and then bought three boxes of 12-gauge ammunition and a magazine for a pistol, the defense official said. He paid cash and left in a cab. He then went to a surplus store and allegedly bought a military uniform.

FBI agents searching the soldier's hotel room found gunpowder, shotgun shells, a pressure cooker, 18 pounds of sugar, four magazines and ammunition, the defense official said. The FBI is investigating the case.

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Filed under: Fort Hood • Military • Texas
soundoff (342 Responses)
  1. WildFire

    Kill him. He talked about how Islam is a religion of peace well he have proven it isn't. Now dispose of his worthless body.

    July 28, 2011 at 11:38 pm | Report abuse |
  2. yannaes

    I am retired and 67 years old, (not that has bearing on anything) but I have a position where I am living being a starter at a golf course in Europe. I can understand why the govt. is making it challenging for me to get the job..paper work, security checks, etc. and nothing is full proof..This guy wanted to be caught..why else would he be leaving his material in a locker, and or backpack?
    He might be very bright, but did not make a wise decision. Let's not go overboard on the muslim situation...LeVey was not a muslim when he did his thing in Oklahoma City.

    July 28, 2011 at 11:46 pm | Report abuse |
    • travis

      he had it in his backpack so he could read it. it was Mcvey not LeVey

      July 28, 2011 at 11:55 pm | Report abuse |
    • yannaes

      yes,,but mine was not freudian..do you know who LeVey is or any clue...and you think it was there for him to read it, you got to be kidding..this guy knew from the get go...
      By the way,,LeVey is the founder of the Satanic Church in San Francisco, 1966.. but you may be to young to know that, so you did not get my inference...you know THE GREAT SATAN..get it it now...and as far as reading..this guy had an agenda, he knew exactly what it said..he left a trail even someone as stupid as I would not leave that kind of a trail..hello

      July 29, 2011 at 12:00 am | Report abuse |
  3. travis

    I wonder when he converted...you can't wear the uniform and pull a Muhammad Ali

    July 28, 2011 at 11:53 pm | Report abuse |
  4. musa

    This guy, for me, looks like a convert. In US, I feel like a lot of people are get converted to Islam which is not a good sign. I came here for education and now working after finishing my study. Everywhere I visit in USA, I see so many muslims here and there and a lot of mosques have been built. I wonder why this is happening. Why are moslems so devoted to make mosques and want other non-moslems to get converted to islam? Time to think America! Let it be America, let it always be a land of peace and freedom. Let not force anyone here for anything.

    July 29, 2011 at 1:18 am | Report abuse |
    • SnackyDragon

      "Let it be America, let it always be a land of peace and freedom. Let not force anyone here for anything."
      Unless you're muslim?

      July 29, 2011 at 5:06 am | Report abuse |
  5. Agostino Di Pietro

    I'm glad they caught him before he was able to injure or kill anyone. But CNN and other media agency's should be focusing of why it was so easy to buy a gun. Until the US has proper gun control, stories like this will continue to occur.

    July 29, 2011 at 7:22 am | Report abuse |
  6. ash

    I live in Ontario Canada and we Canadians in PUBLIC schools are no longer allowed to say the Lords Prayer.
    In these same PUBLIC schools we are now having to make rooms for muslims to pray in – I know this article made refrence to Islam but my point is – Where is Canada going ??? Why are immigrants now having more rights in school than original Canadian citizens ???

    July 29, 2011 at 8:25 am | Report abuse |
  7. James

    I live close to this gun shop in Killeen. They do follow federal guidelines regarding background checks but i feel there should be more. Although i feel this way there is only so much that can be done.

    July 29, 2011 at 8:33 am | Report abuse |
  8. Baaaa, Said the Sheep

    I like how he comments on how muslims "preach peace"(or something to that effect) a year before he plans on murdering people he used to call his colleagues. Give me a break. Islam is, by far, the most violent of all religions(in the Quran, it says to either convert, in-slave or MURDER all non-believers). I challenge people to start thinking objectively and to realize that your political correctness is not only making you and your country weak, but also providing a breach in common sense that allows these radical rats to infiltrate. Sure, be kind to everyone and let people live freely, but don't be stupid. I also would like to give the media their well-deserved badge of stupidity for being so afraid clarify when these attacks are done by muslims, but to shout from the rooftops when its a "right wing extttttrrrrreeeeemissssttttss!!!". Next to Obama and the Congress, you people will have your share of the blame for the demise of the USA.

    Tell ya mutha hello for me, OK?

    July 29, 2011 at 8:42 am | Report abuse |
  9. saywhat

    Islam is sure a violent religion ?? @ Baaaa
    Right from the times of the Crusades to the Norman conquest of England (1066), down to Hundred Years Wars lasting 116 years, Wars of the Roses, Anglo – Dutch Wars, English Civil War, War of the Quadruple Alliance, Seven Year War, American War of Independence, Anglo-French War (1803), The War of 1812 ( USA-G.Britain), Boer wars (1880), WW1,2, Korea, Vietnam, Northern Ireland conflict, Falkland war.
    The horors of Hiroshima, Nagasaki, German concentration camps, Holocaust. Rightdown to Iraq invasion, Afghanistan madness.
    Developing weapons of mass destruction of un-imaginable terror. Nuclear, bilogical, chemical & God knows what else.
    We have been responsible for more death & destruction than muslims.
    Is that what Jesus Christ preached/
    Islam is sure a violent religion??

    July 29, 2011 at 10:25 am | Report abuse |
  10. AlAnwar

    U.S TROOPS SPEAK OUT AGAINST NEW WORLD ORDER

    watch from> 6:00
    http://www. youtube. com/watch?v=J8wTckoEZd4

    July 29, 2011 at 6:02 pm | Report abuse |
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