By Heather Grossmann
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
The massacre at Fort Hood on Thursday has hit closer to home after it emerged that the alleged shooter told fellow army officers to go to Times Square with bombs strapped to their bodies, according to published reports.
The FBI, reports the New York Times, is aware of frightening Internet postings by a man with the same name as the suspected shooter, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, who authorities believe killed 13 people and wounded 28 others at the army post in Texas.
The postings on blog site Scribe, which are believed to be authored by the suspect, spoke of the heroism of suicide bombers who die to protect Islam, comparing the act to a soldier who falls on a grenade to protect his compatriots, the Times reported.
Hasan, who converted to Islam, had experienced problems with his colleagues in the past, who allegedly picked on for being Muslim.
Col. Terry Lee, who worked with him, told Fox News that Hasan had made several “outlandish” comments about six months ago, saying that “Muslims should stand up and fight against the aggressor” and that “Muslims had a right to rise up and attack Americans.”
The colonel also said that when Hasan heard the news in June of the double-shooting outside a U.S. Army recruitment center in Little Rock, Ark. by a Muslim convert, he appeared happy about it. He was outraged about what he deemed to be poor treatment of the accused shooter following the incident.
More recently, Hasan apparently told fellow officers, “maybe we should have more of these where people strap bombs on themselves and go to Time Square,” according to a secondhand account recalled by Lee.
The suspect reportedly joined the army straight out of high school and became a psychiatrist, where he frequently counseled soldiers suffering from PTSD. He was apparently petrified at the thought of deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan, and over the past several years had fought numerous times to be released from his Army duties, several outlets reports.
According to Col. Lee, Hasan seemed to become more and more agitated by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, saying that the U.S. should get out of Afghanistan immediately.
At a press conference Friday morning President Barack Obama remarked on the tragedy.
“I would caution against jumping to conclusions until we have all the facts," Obama said. "What we do know is that there are families, friends and an entire nation grieving right now for the valiant men and women who came under attack yesterday in one of the worst mass shootings ever to take place on an American military base.”
Obama said that from now until Veteran’s Day, the flags at the White House and all federal building will be flown at half-staff.
Hasan is in stable condition after being shot four times by a Fort Hood officer. He has not yet been interrogated.
