<blockquote>
Man found in Lady Bird Lake was teacher, FBI target
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/04/18/0418body.html
By Tony Plohetski, Sue Banerjee
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Friday, April 18, 2008
Austin police said Thursday that they are leaning toward a ruling of
suicide
in the death of a middle school teacher and activist whose body was found
Wednesday in Lady Bird Lake with his hands and legs bound and tape over
his
eyes.
Police identified Riad Hamad, 55, at a news conference Thursday and said
the
binding of his limbs and the placement of the tape was consistent with
Hamad having done it himself.
Austin police homicide Sgt. Joe Chacon said family members told
investigators that the Clint Small Jr. Middle School teacher had "several
stressors" in his life and had talked about possibly killing himself.
Police said that they think Hamad walked from his car to the lake, based
on
evidence they gathered at the scene.
"The car was found on the south shoreline with no signs of mysterious
activity," Chacon said.
Police said that they found Hamad's car along Lady Bird Lake on Tuesday
and
searched but did not find him.
Joggers found Hamad's body about 2 p.m. Wednesday near Comal Street and
Nash
Hernandez Sr. Road. Investigators said they found no signs of trauma or a
struggle.
Debbie Russell, president of the local American Civil Liberties Union
chapter, sent an e-mail Thursday to dozens of activists throughout the
city
saying that Hamad's death had been ruled a homicide. Russell said in a
later interview that she wrote that e-mail after she thought she had heard
media re****ts that Hamad had been killed.
She said in the e-mail that Hamad had recently been under investigation by
the FBI ? federal officials confirmed the investigation ? and described
him
as "NOT a terrorist but a peaceworker." Hamad was serving as an official
for the Austin chapter of the Palestine Children's Welfare Fund.
FBI spokesman Erik Vasys said that Hamad had been a "person of interest"
in
a criminal investigation but that he could not elaborate.
Austin police said Hamad's family re****ted him missing Monday. Family
members released a statement Thursday saying that he disappeared after
going to pick up a prescription at a local pharmacy.
Hamad's body was taken to the Travis County medical examiner's office for
an
autopsy. The office did not respond to an open records request Thursday
for
information about the case and would not confirm that Hamad's body was
there.
According to the family's statement, which was released through an
attorney,
Hamad was a University of Texas graduate and had taught in the Austin
school district for a decade.
The family's statement described him as a "peace activist who worked
tirelessly on behalf of those less fortunate than him and was loved and
admired by many members of the local, as well as international community."
"Mr. Hamad's family and friends are obviously devastated over their loss,"
the statement said.
Hamad had taught at Austin Community College but was fired in June 1998
after officials said he violated the school's nondiscrimination policy by
making "***ist and off-colored jokes" in class, school officials said.
Small Middle School Principal Sheila Anderson sent a letter to parents at
the Southwest Austin school Thursday informing them of Hamad's death and
saying that grief counselors were available for students and teachers.
"Mr. Hamad was a longtime and valued member of the Small Middle School
faculty, and his love and passion for education touched us all," Anderson
said in the letter.
tplohetski_statesman.com; 445-3605
Additional material from staff writer Molly Bloom.
</blockquote>
--
"It is proof of a base and low mind for one to wish to think with the
m*****
or majority, merely because the majority is the majority. Truth does not
change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people."
Giordano Bruno
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