Doug decided to stay in Dove Creek a few more days just to visit some of the mosques and get a feel of the Muslim people since there were so many that lived there. He wanted to see how they felt about America and a little about the way they lived and believed. What he found during his stay surprised him a little because most of the Muslim people in Dove Creek appeared to be peaceful and loving people and not bent on destroying Israel or America like the radical Muslim terrorist he was after. He found there were actually Muslim organizations from Dove Creek that denounced the attacks on America on 9/11/2001. One of them was the Islamic Supreme Council of America. To Doug they seemed to be a peaceful and a genuinely moderate Muslim American organization and not the kind he was after.
While he was still in Michigan, he learned that a meeting had recently taken place at West Chester University in West Chester, Pennsylvania. The meeting was titled “Islam in America, Intercultural differences.” One of the keynote speakers at the University was what many consider the “Most Important iman” in America for Hezbollah and a supporter of an Iranian imam. He is the head of the Islamic Center in Dove Creek, Michigan. His name is Anwar Zalawinni and the leader of one of the largest mosques in Dove Creek, Michigan. Doug found out that he had hosted a Muslim radical speaker at his mosque in 1998. The radical speaker delivered a long hate filled rant against “Jews and Christians.” He called Jewish Americans “forces of evil” with a “Satanic mentality.” Zalawinni and his congregants gave the radical speaker a standing ovation when he was finished.
When Doug realized this mosque leader was also a radical Muslim who had strong ties to foreign terrorist organizations he was angry and knew he was going to find a way to kill him. Doug thought if he was a good guy he wouldn’t have ties with these radical terrorist organizations. He was angry that Zalawinni was spreading his hatred and propaganda in his mosque to all his members. He was so angry that he stayed awake most of the night pacing and thinking how Zalawinni would be a perfect target for him to kill. He was an older man in his early seventies. He had gray hair and a gray beard and mustache. He carried himself like a man with a lot of self-worth and pride. The members of his mosque seemed to idolize him for his beliefs and teachings. The problem Doug had with this target was there were too many women and children that would die if he blew up the mosque. He had to come up with another plan. He decided he would visit the mosque and find out more about Zalawinni’s daily routine. He was just the kind of person Doug didn’t want in America spreading his hatred of the Christian and the Jewish people. He wondered how many other hate filled meetings Zalawinni had held at his mosques just like the one in 1998.
Doug stayed several more days in Michigan just watching Zalawinni’s every move. He followed his car from the mosque to his home every day for five days until he was sure Zalawinni would be where he wanted him when he decided to kill him. He also watched the neighborhood where he lived and found a house about three blocks down the street that looked like the owners might be on vacation. There was a light left on in the front and newspapers had been stacking up for a few days so he knew the owners were probably gone. While he was stalking Zalawinni he was also keeping an eye on the empty house to see if anyone returned. No one had come or gone from the house since he had been watching it those past five days. There was an alley in the back of the house where he could park his car and make a quick getaway.
One evening after dark, he crept close to the empty house and looked around. Checking the windows and doors he found everything was locked so he broke a window in the back door and slowly opened it, went inside, and shut the door behind him. After he felt comfortable in the house he went to the front window and started studying the route his target would take. Watching Zalawinni for those five days he knew that he would leave his house at about the same time in the morning and head to the mosque. He always drove in the same direction as the empty house. After all the planning he had done he was satisfied about where and how he was going to kill Zalawinni.
The night before he was going to kill him he went back to his camp and cleaned his rifle and put it back under the back seat of his car along with the bullets he was going to use. He also put the pistol with the silencer in the car as well. For some reason he had a funny feeling he may need the pistol for additional protection on this trip.
The following morning before daylight, Doug put on his disguise of his hat, mustache, goatee, black clothes and drove to the spot where he was going to park his car in the alley. He put the gun and the bullet clip in the black carry bag over his shoulder. He grabbed his pistol and stuck it in his belt. He then went to the empty house and silently slipped inside. He didn’t turn any lights on as he opened up a living room window that was covered with a screen. He took up his firing position on his knees and used the window seal as a rifle support. He made sure a bullet was in the chamber and the clip was in place. He sat there in silence and just waited for his target. Just like clockwork, Zalawinni started backing out of his driveway and slowly headed in Doug’s direction. As soon as he saw him heading in his direction Doug took quick aim and had him in his sites with the crosshairs right on his head. When he drove a little closer Doug slowly squeezed the trigger and watched in the scope as the bullet went through the car window, struck its target in the head, and parts of his head exploded like a watermelon. He was thinking, gotcha! Your evil and hate-spreading messages are over.
He quickly gathered up his things; put them in the bag and over his shoulder. He made sure he wiped the door knobs clean on both sides, even though he had worn the surgical gloves during the attack. He was almost to his car when he saw a large Caucasian man coming toward him from out of the corner of his eye. Doug could tell he was big and angry. As the man tried to grab him by the arm he said, “Hey, what are you doing stealing stuff from my neighbor? Give me that bag.” Doug didn’t say anything to him; he just quickly turned toward the man, pulled out his pistol, and shot him in the head. Then he realized the man must have been watching his car and thought he was a burglar when he saw the bag over his shoulder. He looked around quickly to see if there was anyone else in the alley or watching him but didn’t see anyone. He threw his bag in the front seat and sped away. As he drove away he was thinking about the man he just killed and thought the big slob should have stayed out of my business. It was a case of wrong place, wrong time for that poor fool. He drove several blocks, took off his disguise, and threw everything under the back seat of his car. By killing Zalawinni he felt he had gotten rid of an access of evil in America. He was happy that this man would never spread hatred to his congregation or anyone else ever again.
During his research he had found out about a training camp called “Fish Creek Pass” in Colorado. It was supposed to be another training camp for the radical Muslim terrorists but he wasn’t able to confirm that it really did exist. There was still snow in the area this time of the year and that would’ve made things a little more difficult for him to get his intended target. He decided he would forego that target for now. He knew he had plenty of other targets.
Doug thought there were a lot of individual targets in Pennsylvania but he wanted to try and hit the key terrorist training camps instead of mosques. Now that he had found out more about the radical Muslim training camps from his own personal observations and experiences, he felt they were his best targets. He wanted to focus on the camps because he felt he could kill more of the true radical terrorists where they were training.
It seemed like the mood in America had starting to change. The people were seeing the true goals of these radical Muslim camps and there were protests going on all over America. The American people were speaking out about the terrorist camps more and more. They wanted the Muslim terrorist out of America and Doug felt like the snowball effect was starting to take place in America. There had been several violent clashes reported between the Christians and the “peaceful and loving” Muslims in America. Doug felt that if we had to fi
ght the terrorist extremist in America it would be better to do it now than wait until they have infiltrated America to the point of no return.
The Michigan targets were an emotional experience for Doug and he needed a few days to rest and plan out his next target. One thing he wanted to see since he wasn’t that far away was the Mount Rushmore National Memorial. He was going to South Dakota for a few days and see the Memorial. He figured he could blend in with the three million visitors that go there each year.
South Dakota was known also for its “Black Hills Gold.” Doug had once purchased a ring and matching earrings for Shirley when they were younger that was made out of black hills gold that came from South Dakota. It was silver and had gold leaves on it and he thought the combination looked beautiful together.
Doug had read that it is believed that North Dakota has a reservoir of oil underground that is as large as the oil deposits in the Middle East. He wandered why the United States wasn’t drilling our own oil instead of being so dependent on the foreign countries. He believed it must be some type political issue or big oil company manipulation and not just an environmental issue like they tried to make everyone believe.
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Chapter 23 - Mount Rushmore, South Dakota