Would-be mosque bomber in Michigan had long history of violence
Roger Stockham, the California man arrested in Dearborn this weekend for an alleged plot to blow up the Islamic Center of America mosque, has a long history of extremism, violence and mental problems.
“„According to the Reno Gazette Journal, in 1985, Stockham was arrested and later convicted for throwing a pipebomb in a trashcan at Reno’s Cannon International Airport.
“„During the federal court trial, Stockham said he regularly communicates with extraterrestrials, and psychiatrists testified that he believed he was Christ.
“„In 1981, he escaped from a mental hospital, and turned himself in four months later. In 1983, he was released from a state mental hospital after a prosecutor said he hadn’t done anything “crazy” in awhile, the paper’s archives show.
“„A few years before that, he kidnapped his son from a foster home in Santa Barbara, flew a plane towards LAX with a gun and bombs and demanded he be supplied with a plane to fly to Iran, according to the Reno Gazette Journal. He crashed the plane but no one was injured.
“„The Gazette Journal also reported that, in 1977, Stockham took his psychiatrist hostage in Century City, CA, again with bombs and guns, but surrendered after a standoff with police.
“„Over the years, he also threatened to kill presidents Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush, the newspaper reports.
One has to wonder how many times a person can attempt a terrorist attack and remain free to do it again. And how long before we hear calls to put Stockham in Guantanamo Bay and deny him a civilian trial? Probably a long time. That argument apparently only applies to dark-skinned terrorists.
