DAR AL HARB - U.S.A. - NORTH CAROLINA: "EVERYBODY, I HATE ALL AMERICANS AND ALL JEWS"

Following courtroom outburst, Iranian accused of running down students sent for mental evaluation

HILLSBOROUGH, North Carolina: An Iranian man charged with running down people on a university campus, allegedly to avenge Muslims, was sent to a state mental hospital Monday after an outburst in court in which he said he hated all Americans and Jews.

During a hearing on letters he wrote to a judge, Mohammed Taheri-Azar said, "Everybody, I hate all Americans and all Jews," The News & Observer of Raleigh reported.

The Iranian native who grew up near Charlotte had pleaded not guilty in January to nine counts of attempted first degree murder and another nine counts of felony assault stemming from the March 2005 incident in which authorities said he drove a white Jeep into a crowd on a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill plaza.

"Death to Israel," he added.

No one was seriously injured in the incident. In a call to emergency dispatchers, Taheri-azar said he wanted to punish the U.S. government and later told investigators he wanted to "avenge the deaths of Muslims around the world."

He has been held in prison in lieu of $5.5 million (€4.2 million) bail.

In another outburst Monday, he also turned to his lawyer, James Williams, and asked: "Who is this foll? Who is this moron? I don't know who this moron is."

The letters Taheri-Azar has written to the court have been sealed by Superior Court Judge Carl Fox.




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