The courtroom erupted in chaos when the guilty verdict was read in a San Diego courtroom yesterday.
Kassim Al-Himidi was found guilty in the bludgeoning death of his wife who had asked for a divorce (she didn’t die right away, but lingered for three days).
Besides shouting that he was innocent, Al-Himidi demanded that someone get him “international help” to pursue the hate crime allegation and to get him someone “overseas” to get him out of jail.
Update April 24th: Son speaks out about his own outburst in courtroom, here.
From NBC7 San Diego (be sure to watch the video!):
A broken family’s screams erupted in a San Diego courtroom after a guilty verdict was announced in the trial of an Iraqi immigrant who killed his wife.
As the defendant cried out in Arabic “not guilty,” his mother-in-law flailed her arms, screaming “you killed my daughter,” while his two teenage sons chose opposing sides.
Jurors found Kassim Al-Himidi, 49, guilty in the death of his wife Shaima Alawadi — a bloody, brutal beating once considered a hate crime that was, in the end, an act of domestic violence.
I guess these Iraqi’s haven’t quite assimilated (or is it integrated?) enough to accept that they live in America and their crimes are judged in an American justice system.
“This is bulls—!” This is f—ing bulls—!” the son yelled. “My dad is innocent. He was tried unfairly.”
Al-Himidi smirked, crossed his arms, shook his head, wagged his finger and began praying as the jury was polled one by one. At one point, he put his head on the table in front of him. Then, he too began yelling.
According to a translator, Al-Himidi screamed out in Arabic, “God knows I’m not the killer. I’m not the killer! I’m innocent. Not guilty.”
As deputies rushed to place handcuffs on Al-Himidi, he continued to yell, telling his family to seek international help on this case and have investigators look at it as a hate crime. He said to get him help from overseas to get him out of jail, the translator said.
By the way, the “hate crime” hoax had frightened Muslims in the El Cajon area into thinking there was a raving Islamophobe on the loose killing Muslims in their kitchens. CAIR and the Southern Poverty Law Center were right in the forefront helping fan the flames.
Brenda Walker tells us about the NY Times “hate crime” coverage which I didn’t know about. Gee, do you think the NYT will have an update story now?
The New York Times reported at the time, March 2012, Iraqi Immigrants in California Town Fear a Hate Crime in a Woman’s Killing and included an emotional photo of the distraught husband Kassim Alhimidi weeping over his wife’s body, clutching her feet.
Our first coverage of the fishy tale is here.
By the way, note to “welcoming” San Diego: California and county taxpayers had to foot the bill for this trial (translator alone probably cost a bundle!), why not submit the bill to the US State Department for repayment!
I’m beginning to lose track of how many major criminal trials involving refugees that we have posted in recent months—the Iraqis are especially busy in court.