News of the death of top Al Qaeda figure Anwar Al-Awlaki quickly spread Friday from the remote highlands of Yemen, where he was killed by a U.S. drone attack, to Fort Hood, where the slain cleric’s emails have been connected to the November 2009 massacre.
Even in death, Al-Awlaki could play a role in the upcoming court-martial of Maj. Nidal Hasan, who opened fire inside a Fort Hood medical processing center and killed 13 people. U.S. intelligence intercepted 18 emails between Hasan and Al-Awlaki in the months before the shooting rampage, in which the Army psychiatrist reportedly asked Al Awlaki questions about jihad and told him he “couldn’t wait to join him” in the afterlife, according to ABC News. After the shooting rampage, Al-Awlaki called Hasan a “hero.”
While the FBI had access to the emails, officials ultimately dismissed the communications as legitimate research and failed to inform Hasan’s superiors, according to a U.S. Senate report on intelligence failures before the attack.
Military prosecutors did not introduce evidence about Al-Awlaki during a pre-trial hearing, which did not focus on issues of motive or explore the extent to which Hasan was radicalized before the shooting.
Hasan’s former lead attorney John Galligan, who was let go by Hasan two months ago, said the defense team had long sought the emails between Hasan and Al Awlaki from the U.S. government, but had not received them as of Hasan’s July arraignment. “That’s an important part of the trial,” Galligan said, adding that the issue could be used when it comes to jury selection to disqualify potential jurors.
“People are reading media reports that suggest Hasan (was motivated) by terrorism and of course that has an impact,” he said.
Military law expert Geoffrey Corn said he doubted prosecutors would introduce the controversial emails into the trial, who he said have overwhelming evidence and don’t need them to prove their case. Corn said the emails could unnecessarily confuse jurors since Hasan isn’t facing terrorism charges. “I don’t think the prosecutors want this anywhere near the courtroom,” he said. “If there is no compelling reason to put it on the record, why do it?”
But Corn said defense lawyers could conceivably use the emails in an attempt to save Hasan from the death penalty by arguing he was exploited and duped by the Yemeni cleric.
Hasan’s court-martial is scheduled to begin in March.