FRIDAY, AUGUST 27, 2010


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B5


Suspected serial killer would face life sentence Abuelazam arraigned


in Michigan on first charge from 18 attacks


by Maria Glod and Caitlin Gibson A Michigan prosecutor said


Thursday that a suspect in a string of unprovoked attacks on men in Virginia, Michigan and Ohio is “evil” and should get the maximum sentence of life with- out parole.


BY ASTRID RIECKEN FOR THE WASHINGTON POST Tanim Awwal, standing, an international relations major, talks to fellow students. From left are Katie Roett, Jenni Muns and Devin Turner. Political reflection during Ramadan muslims from B1


them, any suggestion that being Muslim is incompatible with be- ing American is disturbing. “My brother came home one night really upset,” said Asma Mian, a 20-year-old junior from Potomac. He’d encountered a man on the Metro who was rail- ing against the proposed commu- nity center and mosque in Lower Manhattan. It rattled her to see her 17-year- old brother so emotional. “He barely gets involved in politics. He’s not extremely religious or anything,” she said, adding that people his age can be quick to take offense. They “feel like it’s more a personal attack. It’s more mortifying than it would be if you were older.” That anger, youth leaders and terrorism experts warn, could push some young Muslims into the arms of such extremists as U.S.-born cleric Anwar al-Aulaqi, who has been linked to several


terrorist plots. In his recruiting efforts, Aulaqi often portrays Is- lam as being under attack by the West. The most vociferous mosque opponents “do not know what they are doing,” said Yahya Hen- di, the Muslim chaplain at Georgetown University. “They are radicalizing people.”


‘Only takes one or two’


Brian Fishman, a counterter- rorism expert at the New Amer- ica Foundation, said that the vast majority of American Muslims disagree with Aulaqi and are un- likely to be radicalized by the mosque debate. “The problem is that it only


takes one or two,” Fishman said. “They get a couple of people to do something crazy, and that will spark a backlash and reinforce a cycle of separation.” Madiha Nawaz, a 20-year-old senior who was born in Pakistan and grew up in Fairfax, voiced similar concerns as the sun set


over the AU campus. If protesters succeed in stopping the Islamic center’s construction, she said, it could make young Muslims feel more marginalized. “It could lead people toward being more self-secluded,” she said, “and it could lead to home- grown terrorism.” Muslims are tired of being lumped together with a tiny mi- nority who have committed ter- rorist acts, explained Tanim Aw- wal, 20, the president of AU’s Muslim Student Association. Awwal, holding a blue paper-


back Koran, said the notion of Muslims as “other” serves not only Islamic extremists but also those on the far right of U.S. poli- tics. “If you’re going to say that we’re separate from people, you’re going to do what the radi- cals want — on both sides.” But many young Muslims have been heartened by statements of support from the likes of Presi- dent Obama, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and “The


Daily Show” host Jon Stewart. “It helps to know that you have some people behind you. Not be- cause they’re the same religion as you, but just because they know what’s right and what’s wrong,” said Adam Sbita, 21, a junior at George Mason University who grew up in Falls Church and wears the traditional thobe, a long shirtdress, of his family’s home country of Libya. In 10 or 15 years, he added, he hopes such debates will be a thing of the past.


‘Civil rights’ tested In fact, many Muslims regard


the current controversy as an op- portunity to assert themselves as Americans, just as other minor- ities have had to do in the past. “It’s become more of a civil rights issue than anything else,” said Adeel Zeb, former AU chap- lain and founder of the Deen Foundation for Muslim Campus Life. “Young Muslim Americans are becoming more proud to be Muslim because of all this contro- versy. Your civil rights are being tested on a national scale.” Although Zeb said he could see the controversy potentially aid- ing extremists, he said it also could help young Muslims unite and build stronger bridges with non-Muslims. “It really hits the heart of young Muslim Americans,” he said. “Everyone has to go through this pledge process the way other groups have in America.” At AU’s iftar feast, Nawaz mused about this moment in the history of America’s Muslims. “You saw it in Topeka, Kan.,


you saw it in Brown v. Board of Education,” she said. “It may be time for us now. It may be time for Muslim Americans to em- brace their hyphenated identity.” bahrampourt@washpost.com


Elias Abuelazam, 33, an Israeli citizen who has ties to Northern Virginia, is suspected of attacking 18 men, five fatally. Three of those assaults occurred this month in Leesburg, where Abuelazam once lived and still has family. On Thursday, Abuelazam was flown under tight security to Michigan from Georgia, where he was arrested Aug. 11 as he waited at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to board a flight to Tel Aviv. Later in the day, he was arraigned and ordered held without bond by a Michigan judge.


Abuelazam is charged in one stabbing case in Michigan, but Genesee County Prosecuting At- torney David S. Leyton said he is “very, very confident” that Abuel- azam is a serial offender. “We will convict him and we will lock him up for the rest of his life. His vic- tims deserve nothing less,” Leyton told reporters after the hearing. “I’ve seen speculation in the last few weeks that anyone who would commit these crimes is sick. I be- lieve he is not sick, he is evil.” Leesburg authorities have not


filed charges against Abuelazam but said their investigation is con- tinuing. Leesburg police said they are looking at possible links to an unsolved 2009 homicide that oc- curred in a townhouse complex where Abuelazam once lived and are creating a timeline of the sus- pect’s movements. They also searched a car Abuelazam drove.


“We continue to devote lots of time and resources to build and strengthen our cases, and also to build and strengthen the cases that Michigan has brought against him,” Leesburg Police Chief Joseph R. Price said. He said investigators are in close touch with prosecutors in Leesburg and Michigan. Edwar Zeineh, one of Abuela-


zam’s attorneys, said Thursday that “the time with our client was spent answering questions about ‘what’s next’ as far as the criminal process.” He noted that only a sin- gle charge has been filed. Price has said he thinks the at- tacks in Leesburg were racially motivated. Sixteen of the victims in the three states were black, one was a dark-skinned Hispanic man and one was white. The random attacks in Michi- gan, where Abuelazam has re- cently lived and worked at a li- quor store, began in late May. In each case, the victim was walking alone. Often, the attacker ap- proached a victim under the guise of needing directions or help with a broken car.


Authorities said Abuelazam came to Leesburg in early August. He had once worked with trou- bled children at Piedmont Behav- ioral Health Center, now North Spring Behavioral Healthcare, in Leesburg. The Virginia assaults began


Aug. 3, when a teenager out for a nighttime jog suddenly felt a sharp pain, then turned to see a man who had plunged a knife into his back. Two days later, police said, an assailant stabbed a 67- year-old man who was sitting on his apartment stoop. On Aug. 6, an assailant asked a man for help fixing a dark-green sport-utility vehicle, then struck the good Sa- maritan in the head with a ham- mer.


Abuelazam also is a suspect in the stabbing of a man outside a Toledo church.


glodm@washpost.com gibsonc@washpost.com


ANDRE J. JACKSON/DETROIT FREE PRESS VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS


Elias Abuelazam arrives in Michigan under police escort after a flight from Georgia, where he was arrested.


NOTICE OF EVENING HEARING FOR PUBLIC COMMENT PHOTOS BY SUSAN BIDDLE FOR THE WASHINGTON POST


Abdullah Faisal, left, Asma Mian, Mashal Shah and Farah Mohamed prepare to break the Ramadan fast together with an iftar, a traditional feast, at American University, where they are students.


D.C. seeks commuter input on slug sites slugging from B1 “Slugging is a win-win-win sit-


uation,” Connolly said. “It is a win for commuters, who get to work more quickly than if they were driving alone. It is a win for the region and the District of Colum- bia because it reduces the num- ber of cars entering the city. And it is a win for all residents of the region because slugging reduces vehicle miles traveled and the as- sociated air pollution.” David B. Billy, political director of the International Association of Fire Fighters, said that as he drove home about 4:15 p.m. Aug. 13 from his Washington office to Springfield, he stopped in a slug line near the Washington Monu-


on washingtonpost.com


Commuters, put in your plug for a slug


Show us on our interactive map where you think slug pickup sites for carpoolers should be. Go to PostLocal.com.


ment to pick up two riders so he could use the HOV lanes on I-395. After stopping in the right-hand lane to pick up the passengers, Billy received a $100 ticket for il- legally stopping in an evening rush-hour zone. “If they can put bicycle lanes


on Pennsylvania Avenue, they can set up slug spots to help re- duce traffic and pollution for us,”


said Billy, who has used slug lines since moving to Springfield in 2003. D.C. police say they have not


targeted slug-line pickup sites but have issued citations for vehi- cles blocking rush-hour lanes. “We have no problem with the slug lines and want to work with the motorists who engage in this impromptu arrangement, but of- ficers cannot ignore vehicles cre- ating a hazard, or blocking lanes of traffic,” D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier said in a statement. “We are working with DDOT and the motorists to find a solution to serve everyone.”


kravitzd@washpost.com


In the Matter of an Investigation into the Reliability and Quality of the Electric Distribution


Service of Potomac Electric Power Company


Case No. 9240


Before the Public Service Commission of Maryland


An evening hearing for the purpose of receiving public comments on the reliability and quality of the electric distribution service of Potomac Electric Power Company has been scheduled on Thursday, September 2, 2010, beginning at 6 p.m. in the following location:


Hallam Theatre Queen Anne Fine Arts Building Prince George’s Community College 301 Largo Road Largo, Maryland 20774.1


Persons should have a photo ID for entry into the building.


In order to provide for all persons that attend the hearing to have the opportunity to speak, the Commission asks that oral comments be limited to less than five minutes. Elected officials that wish to speak at the hearing should contact the Commision’s Director of Legislative Affairs, Melanie Santiago-Mosier,2


Written comments also may be filed by September 2, 2010. Originally signed paper comments3 shall be


submitted to Terry J. Romine, Executive Secretary, Maryland Public Service Commission, William Donald Schaefer Tower, 6 St. Paul Street, 16th Floor, Baltimore, Maryland 21202, and reference “Case No. 9240 – Public Comment.”


Potomac Electric Power Company is directed to: (1) cause a display advertisement to be published in a newspaper(s) of general circulation throughout its service area at least once prior to the September 2, 2010 hearing; and (2) place on its home page a notice of the evening hearing in a manner that a customer need not click on a link to determine the time, date, location and the purpose of the hearing.


What! Still not getting home delivery? 1-800-753-POST washingtonpost.com/subscribe


By Direction of the Commission, Terry J. Romine Executive Secretary


1 Directions to Prince Georges’s Community College are accessible via the following link: www.pgcc.edu/aboutUs/mapDirections.aspx 2 3 Ms. Santiago-Mosier may be contacted by phone, (410) 767-8035, or by email, msantiagomosier@psc.state.md.us


In order for the Commission to ensure that written comments are properly entered into its docket system, only written comments submitted either by mail or hand-delivery will be entered into the Commission’s docket system. Documents sent via email or facsimile will not be entered into the Commission’s docket system.


SF no later


than 5 p.m., Tuesday, August 31, 2010. A sign up sheet will be available one-half hour prior to the beginning of the hearing for other persons to sign up to speak during the hearing.


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