I've been trying to see if this guy's photograph is among the
"Save Our State" / "Minutemen" white supremists.
I like the comment, "You just don't pull guns on people just
because you don't like the color of their skin."
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Files refute reservist's Iraq story
Haab detained 7 at state rest stop
Robert Anglen
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0803haab03.html
When Patrick Haab was arrested in April for holding seven undocumented
immigrants at gunpoint at an Arizona rest stop, the Army reservist
described himself as an Iraq war veteran and used that status to
generate financial support and sympathy from around the country.
But military records obtained Tuesday by The Arizona Republic show that
Haab never served in Iraq and indicate that he was on the verge of
being removed from the military because he was paranoid, threatened to
kill himself and pulled a knife in an altercation with fellow soldiers.
In February 2004, Haab was removed from his unit in Kuwait, the records
show, after he reportedly told a commanding officer during an Arabic
cultural awareness class that he "just wants to kill all of the camel
jockeys," including a Muslim soldier in his own unit.
As a result of that incident and an apparent suicide attempt moments
later, Haab was transferred back to the United States for a mental
health evaluation at Fort Bragg and Walter Reed Medical Center, records
state.
The records are in stark contrast to the picture Haab painted of
himself at the time of his arrest: a dedicated and meritorious soldier
who just wanted to return to duty.
Haab refused to talk about his military service or the issues contained
in the records when contacted via cellphone Tuesday. "I can't talk," he
said. "I have nothing to say."
According to the records, he received counseling for five months and a
military official said "he did not think Sgt. Haab was ready to return
to duty or become a functioning part of society." Military officials
found out that while on "med hold" at Fort Bragg, Haab spent $12,000 on
a .50-caliber sniper rifle. They were concerned enough to contact the
Surgeon General's Office.
At the end of October 2004, Haab's unit demobilized.
Haab moved to Mesa in January and took a job as an Army reservist in
Deer Valley. In previous interviews Haab said that he moved to Arizona
to join another military unit and was preparing to go to Afghanistan.
Haab's current military status is unclear. Records and e-mails show
that officers in that unit were concerned Haab was hiding his
mental-health issues and questioned his fitness for duty.
On April 10, Maricopa County sheriff's deputies arrested Haab and
charged him with seven counts of aggravated assault with a deadly
weapon after he drew his pistol on seven immigrants in an encounter at
a desolate Interstate 8 rest stop.
Haab has repeatedly said his decision to draw his gun was a case of
self-defense and said he feared for his life when the immigrants rushed
toward him in the darkness.
Haab, who has accused the Sheriff's Office of wrongful arrest and has
demanded $1 million in compensation, spent four nights in jail before
all of the charges were dismissed by the Maricopa County Attorney's
Office.
Barnett Lotstein, special assistant to the Maricopa County attorney,
said Tuesday that the military records do not affect the decision not
to prosecute Haab. "The fact that he had blemishes in his past would
not be relevant," he said.
County Attorney Andrew Thomas dismissed charges against Haab because of
a state law that allows citizens to make an arrest when a felony has
been committed. According to Thomas, all seven of the immigrants were
committing felonies: the smuggler in planning the operation and the six
immigrants in "conspiring" to illegally cross the border.
Haab's arrest and subsequent release triggered a storm of protest on
both sides of the immigration issue and has prompted a review by the
U.S. Department of Justice to determine if Haab violated federal civil
rights laws.
Haab maintained that race had nothing to do with his decision to stop
the immigrants, but following his arrest he became a celebrity on
conservative talk radio and television shows where he said immigrants
were turning the country into "Americo," a combination of America and
Mexico.
Sheriff Joe Arpaio said Tuesday that the military records speak for
themselves.
"I've said it before and I'll say it again: You don't pull guns on
people because of the color of their skin," the sheriff said, adding
that the decision to arrest Haab was the right one. "I will continue to
defend my deputies. They made the right decision."
The Sheriff's Office collected Haab's military records as part of its
investigation and released them to The Republic, which filed a request
under the state's open records law.
Haab played up his military service in jail interviews after his arrest
and on a Web site dedicated to building his defense fund, which refers
to Haab as a sergeant and pictures him in full military dress.
A local resident who put up Haab's $10,000 bail bond said he wanted to
help the soldier. Haab and his family said repeatedly that they had
gotten support from veterans across the country, who have described
Haab as a hero and patriot.
Haab joined the reserves in 2001 and served with distinction in a civil
affairs battalion in Kosovo, where he was awarded multiple service
medals.
Records show that military officials became concerned that Haab was
experiencing stress related problems at the end of his service in
Kosovo in 2003. They say by the time he transferred with his unit to
Kuwait in 2004, he had become "distant, uninterested in training and
paranoid."
In media interviews, Haab acknowledged taking doctor-prescribed
anti-depressants while in the military, saying he was suffering from
stress after his friend died in a roadside bombing. There is no mention
of that in the records.
According to the records, military officials said that when Haab's unit
was delayed in the Czech Republic because of an aircraft problem, "Sgt.
Haab thought it was a conspiracy to blow up the hotel with the entirety
of his (unit) in it."
Two months after arriving in Kuwait, the records state, Haab was pulled
out of the cultural awareness class by his superior and ordered to talk
to a chaplain. A few hours later, he became distraught, threatened to
commit suicide and got into a scuffle with military officials
attempting to take away a hidden knife.
Haab's lawyer, Douglas Loefgren, said Tuesday that he could not comment
on the records because he had not had a chance to review them. He
questioned if the records should have been released at all.
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http://sf.irk.ru/www/ot3/otiii-gif.html
http://www.rightard.org/ http://www.thedarkwind.org/
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