| Hasan Akbar | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 21, 1971 Watts, Los Angeles, California |
| Allegiance | United States of America |
| Service/branch | United States Army |
| Years of service | 1998–2004 |
| Rank | Former sergeant, reduced in rank to private after sentencing |
| Unit | 326th Engineer Battalion, 101st Airborne Division |
The Hasan Akbar case refers to an event in the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, when Hasan Karim Akbar (born Mark Fidel Kools on April 21, 1971, in Watts, Los Angeles, California)[1] was convicted of the double-murder of two officers assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division at Camp Pennsylvania, Kuwait.[2]
The victims were Army Captain Christopher Seifert and Air Force Major Gregory Stone. Fourteen other soldiers were also wounded in the incident, which took place on 23 March 2003. The sentence of death, affirmed by the commander of the 18th Airborne Corps,[3] is due to be heard on the court's docket when scheduled by the Army Court of Criminal Appeals under an automatic appeal. As of 2010 Hasan Akbar is confined in the United States Disciplinary Barracks.
Contents |
Mark Fidel Kools was renamed Hasan Karim Akbar after his mother remarried and converted to Islam, changing her child's name to a Muslim one as well.[1]
He was admitted in 1988 under the name of Mark Fidel Kools to the University of California, Davis, graduating nine years later with Bachelor's degrees in both Aeronautical and Mechanical Engineering.[4] After joining the United States Army, he was assigned to Company A, 326th Engineer Battalion of the 101st Airborne, assigned as a sapper and eventually deployed to Kuwait.
Army Captain Christopher Seifert was also a member of the 101st Airborne Division. Air Force Major Gregory Stone, a member of the 124th Air Support Operations Squadron, Idaho Air National Guard, was attached to the 101st Airborne Division.
Akbar was charged in a hand grenade-and-shooting attack that killed two soldiers and wounded 14 other soldiers on March 23, 2003. The attack occurred at Camp Pennsylvania, Kuwait, a rear base camp for the invasion. There, Akbar threw four hand grenades into three tents during early morning when the majority of troops were sleeping and fired his rifle during the ensuing chaos. News reports at the time claimed that Akbar had been recently reprimanded for insubordination and was told he would not join his unit's push into Iraq.
Although Akbar confessed to the crimes, his lawyers claimed that he had a history of mental illness which was known to the military.[5] During his trial, Akbar smuggled a pair of scissors out of a conference room, then asked the Military Police officer guarding him to remove his hand cuffs so he might use the restroom. When the MP did remove Akbar's restraints, he then stabbed the MP in the shoulder and neck with the scissors before being wrestled to the ground by another MP. The army judge did not allow this attack to be admitted as evidence prior to sentencing.[6][7][8]
He was tried in Fort Bragg, North Carolina in front of a military jury of nine officers, with ranks from major to colonel, and six senior sergeants. There were 13 men and two women on the jury.
Since the Vietnam War, Akbar is the first U.S. soldier to be charged with the murder of another soldier during wartime, and the third soldier since the Vietnam War to be sentenced to death for killing a fellow soldier.
Military officials attributed Akbar's motive to resentment.[13] In a diary entry dated 4 February 2003, Akbar referred to mistreatment by his fellow soldiers:
Akbar wrote prior to the attack "I may not have killed any Muslims, but being in the army is the same thing. I may have to make a choice very soon on who to kill."[14]
Prosecutors alleged that his diary entries and his actions (stealing hand grenades and turning off the generator that lit the camp) showed that the attack was premeditated.
Akbar himself reportedly said, just moments after his arrest, "You guys are coming into our countries, and you're going to rape our women and kill our children."[15][16]