Muslim convert pleads not guilty in soldier death

Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad pleaded not guilty today to the shooting death of a soldier at the Army-Navy Career Center in Little Rock.

Who is Muhammad? Well, he’s a Muslim convert accused of shooting two uniformed soldiers outsides of the recruiting center because of “political and religious motives.”

It’s not clear how those motives influenced Muhammad’s action. The AP reports, though, that a prosecutor said Muhammad had admitted to killing Private William Long and wounding another soldier “because of what they had done to Muslims in the past.”

The local Fox affiliate has more from Little Rock homicide detective Tommy Hudson’s report:

* “Mr. Muhammad stated that he was mad at the US Military”
  * “Mr. Muhammad stated he fired several rounds at the soldiers with the intent to kill them” from arrest report released this morning
  * “Mr. Muhammad further stated that he would have killed more soldiers if they had been on the parking lot.”