Thread: Police: (Saudi) Man made death threats in store, said he was God (Prophet Muhammad )

Police: Man made death threats in store, said he was God

Douglas Walker , dwalker@muncie.gannett.com
Published 11:55 a.m. ET March 27, 2017 |
Updated 6:26 p.m. ET March 27, 2017


MUNCIE, Ind. – City police said a Muncie man created a disturbance in the northside Goodwill store on Saturday, in the process choking a store clerk, breaking an officer’s hand – and proclaiming himself to be God.

Khaliad Sulaiman Bilal, 24, of the 3700 block of North Tillotson Avenue, was arrested on preliminary counts of strangulation, intimidation, battery, battery on law enforcement, resisting law enforcement and disorderly conduct.

However, Bilal – also alleged to have threatened to kill several people in the store – was admitted to IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital rather than taken to the Delaware County jail.
Police were called to the store – at 5035 W. Hessler Blvd. – about 1:30 p.m. after receiving a report of a man “fighting with customers and staff.”

Witnesses – several of whom took cellphone videos of the incident, according to police reports – said Bilal at first “aggressively approached” those inside the Goodwill store, “trying to preach to people and also putting his hands on customers.”

They said he became increasingly agitated, “screaming about being Muslim and how he was going to kill everyone including the police,” a report said.

During the disturbance, a 50-year-old store clerk was allegedly battered and strangled by the Muncie man.

That woman told police Bilal “grabbed her by the throat and applied pressure” after he became upset “while trying to covert (her) to Islam.”

Bilal allegedly fought with officers when they arrived, and continued to do so after being shocked with an electric stun device, repeatedly kicking at officers after he was handcuffed. One officer’s hand was broken during the melee.

After the Muncie man was placed in an ambulance, Bilal was asked to identify himself and said he was God, an officer said.

Earlier, while still in the store, Bilal had said several times “that he was the Prophet Muhammad and told us that we were going to hell,” an officer wrote.

According to a probable cause affidavit signed Monday by Delaware Circuit Court 1 Judge Marianne Vorhees, after he is released from the hospital, Bilal will be held in the county jail under a $10,000 cash bond.

Also Monday, additional preliminary charges – of battery on law enforcement and resisting law enforcement – were lodged against Bilal after he allegedly repeatedly struck an IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital police officer in the face.

The officer reported he was called to the BMH emergency room about 5:30 a.m. when Bilal managed to escape from restraints he had been placed in “due to several prior violent incidents.”
As the officer and a nurse tried to place him back in the restraints, Bilal “struck me in the face approximately three times, knocking my glasses off (and) sending them flying,” the policeman wrote in a report.

The officer said he then struck Bilal twice, once in the mouth, in an effort to subdue him.

Court records reflect no prior charges against the Muncie man.

In a statement placed in response to a related online story at thestarpress.com. David Ferrell, a chaplain at the hospital, noted Bilal’s alleged actions “sound nothing like the actions of God, or Prophet Mohammed.”

“These are the ravings of an obviously disturbed individual,” the chaplain wrote, expressing hope Bilal would receive any needed psychological care and then face prosecution for any crimes he has committed.

“Knowing the good that has been, and continues to be done by our local Muslim community, this individual's actions should not be seen as reflective upon these fine community members,” Ferrell said.

http://www.thestarpress.com/story/ne...-god/99687752/

Police: Man tased after striking officer, yelling ‘Allah Akbar’ in Goodwill scuffle

Staff ReportsPublished:
March 28, 2017, 3:52 pm Updated: March 28, 2017, 11:35 pm

WATCH THE VIDEO REPORT AT THE LINK


MUNCIE, Ind. (WISH) — One man is facing charges after he struck an officer for attempting to restrain him following a commotion in Muncie.

It happened just before 2 p.m. Saturday inside a Goodwill store when officers were responding to a call for a fight.

Upon arrival, officials found 24-year-old Khalid Bilal confronting store employees.

According to reports, Bilal then went on to break an officer’s hand after an attempt to place Bilal into custody.

Bilal was later tased after charging another officer that arrived on scene. After the tasing, the officer was eventually able to corral Bilal into handcuffs. The suspect then began to kick the officer repeatedly with both legs, causing authorities to shackle his legs.

Reports stated that Bilal was yelling “Allah Akbar” throughout the ordeal.

One customer told 24-Hour News 8 she was scared for her life. She was inside the store shopping with her three children when she heard a man screaming at the front.
“A guy had become very irate and was screaming at one of the employees and then grabbed him by the collar and start pushing him and screaming are you scared,” said Chasity Fraley, customer.

“He was just so full of rage and violence I never seen anything like that before,” Fraley added.

Not sure what was going on, Fraley said she began moving her kids.

“We moved to a different aisle… so I could take my kids away from the situation because they got very scared at that point and then I heard him say ‘I’m going to kill everyone in here,”’ she said.

That’s when Fraley says a female employee stepped in trying to calm the man down.

“With her, she kinda used a softer tone with him at first, ‘let’s talk about this, what’s the matter can we take it outside,’” Fraley recalled.

But out of nowhere, she said the man attacked that employee.

“He violently grabbed her around the neck and just was punching and whatever he could to her,” she said. “A bunch of employees came out to keep him away from customers.”

It is believed that Bilal had beaten a female worker at the store and grabbed her by the throat prior to officers’ arrival. Bilal reportedly had become upset while attempting to convert the employee to Islam.

Fraley believes employees handled the situation very well.

“They were protecting one another and protecting us they (did) an excellent job at keeping him in a somewhat secured area,” she said. “They were telling people to get back trying to protect people in the store and one another.”

Police said the man was taken to the hospital and continued to attack officers when they tried to restrain him.

Once at the hospital for treatment, Bilal went on to strike an officer three times when the officer attempted to secure a restraint that held Bilal to a hospital bed.

He faces preliminary charges of battery on police, resisting law enforcement, disorderly conduct, battery with injury, intimidation and strangulation.

Goodwill released a statement saying “Because of the actions of Goodwill store management and the Muncie police no one was injured. It is now a police matter and Goodwill is cooperating. Safety of our customers and our employees is a top priority of Goodwill of Central & Southern Indiana.”

24 Hour News 8 contacted the Muncie Police Department for a comment but did not hear back.

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http://wishtv.com/2017/03/28/police-...dwill-scuffle/

Man charged in Goodwill episode; home searched

Douglas Walker , dwalker@muncie.gannett.com
Published 5:22 p.m. ET March 30, 2017 | Updated 45 minutes ago

MUNCIE, Ind. – A Muncie man accused of fighting with police – after he allegedly threatened to kill shoppers at the northside Goodwill store unless they converted to Islam – was charged Thursday with 15 related crimes.

Court documents reveal that Khalid Sulaiman Bilal, a 24-year-old native of Saudi Arabia, has also drawn the attention of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, whose agents on Wednesday received a warrant to search his apartment along North Tillotson Avenue.

When Bilal is released from IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital – where he has been held since the Saturday incident at the Goodwill store at 5035 W. Hesler Blvd. – he will be detained in the Delaware County jail under a $100,000 cash bond, set by Delaware Circuit Court 1 Judge Marianne Vorhees on Thursday.

Chief Deputy Prosecutor Eric Hoffman on Thursday charged Bilal, in Vorhees’ court, with five counts of battery resulting in bodily injury to a police officer, three counts each of resisting law enforcement and battery resulting in bodily injury, and single counts of attempted strangulation, intimidation, criminal trespass and battery.

According to police reports and an affidavit filed by a special agent with the Department of Homeland Security, Bilal “tried to forcefully convert people to Islam” after entering the northside business about 1:30 p.m., at times threatening to kill everyone in the store.

He is accused of battering and choking a store clerk, telling that woman he intended to kill her if she didn’t convert to Islam.

“Bilal attempted to utilize threats and physical violence to convert people to Islam,” the federal agent wrote.

When police arrived, Bilal “assumed a fighting stance and actively fought with officers,” the affidavit said. One of the officers suffered a broken hand in the fracas.
Bilal is also accused of repeatedly striking an IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital police officer in the face at the hospital on Monday.

In his affidavit, the special agent reported that during the Goodwill episode, Bilal repeatedly shouted, “Allahu Akbar.”

While that phrase means “God is greater,” it has often been “used by Islamic radicals prior to and during the commission of a violent attack,” he wrote before detailing several such incidents.

In requesting the search warrant, the agent said he believed “Bilal showed signs of radicalized behavior in the (March 25) incident and is a danger to the community.”

A document filed after the search was conducted indicated agents seized an “Apple MacBook, Dell Inspiron Laptop, Canon camera (and) travel documents.”

Bilal’s apartment is believed to be in a complex owned by Ball State University, and used for student housing.

An inquiry to the university on Thursday did not produce confirmation as to whether Bilal is a BSU student. An official did say he was not employed by the university.
Court records reflect no prior local charges against Bilal.

David Ferrell, a chaplain at IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital, this week said the “ravings of an obviously disturbed individual” should not be held against those who practice the Muslim faith.
Ferrell also noted the “good that has been, and continues to be done by our local Muslim community.”

Richard McKinney, president of the Muslim Center of Muncie, said Thursday he and other leaders of his organization were not familiar with and in no way connected to Bilal.

McKinney said Bilal had apparently left his car parked outside the Muslim Center, which is near the Goodwill store, on Saturday with its keys locked inside.
“Obviously he had intentions of being picked up,” he added.

McKinney noted reports that Bilal referred to himself both as God and the Prophet Muhammad during Saturday’s incident, and called such remarks “the biggest form of blasphemy.”

The Muslim Center president said he would continue to do all he could to dispel negative stereotypes about his faith, perhaps organizing some events aimed at raising public awareness in the wake of the Bilal incident.

http://www.thestarpress.com/story/ne...ched/99834494/