Files refute reservist's Iraq story

Haab detained 7 at state rest stop

Robert Anglen

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0803haab03.html

When Patrick Haab was arrested in April for holding seven undocumented

immigrants at gunpoint at an Arizona rest stop, the Army reservist

described himself as an Iraq war veteran and used that status to

generate financial support and sympathy from around the country.

But military records obtained Tuesday by The Arizona Republic show that

Haab never served in Iraq and indicate that he was on the verge of

being removed from the military because he was paranoid, threatened to

kill himself and pulled a knife in an altercation with fellow soldiers.

In February 2004, Haab was removed from his unit in Kuwait, the records

show, after he reportedly told a commanding officer during an Arabic

cultural awareness class that he "just wants to kill all of the camel

jockeys," including a Muslim soldier in his own unit.

As a result of that incident and an apparent suicide attempt moments

later, Haab was transferred back to the United States for a mental

health evaluation at Fort Bragg and Walter Reed Medical Center, records

state.

The records are in stark contrast to the picture Haab painted of

himself at the time of his arrest: a dedicated and meritorious soldier

who just wanted to return to duty.

Haab refused to talk about his military service or the issues contained

in the records when contacted via cellphone Tuesday. "I can't talk," he

said. "I have nothing to say."

According to the records, he received counseling for five months and a

military official said "he did not think Sgt. Haab was ready to return

to duty or become a functioning part of society." Military officials

found out that while on "med hold" at Fort Bragg, Haab spent $12,000 on

a .50-caliber sniper rifle. They were concerned enough to contact the

Surgeon General's Office.

At the end of October 2004, Haab's unit demobilized.

Haab moved to Mesa in January and took a job as an Army reservist in

Deer Valley. In previous interviews Haab said that he moved to Arizona

to join another military unit and was preparing to go to Afghanistan.

Haab's current military status is unclear. Records and e-mails show

that officers in that unit were concerned Haab was hiding his

mental-health issues and questioned his fitness for duty.

On April 10, Maricopa County sheriff's deputies arrested Haab and

charged him with seven counts of aggravated assault with a deadly

weapon after he drew his pistol on seven immigrants in an encounter at

a desolate Interstate 8 rest stop.

Haab has repeatedly said his decision to draw his gun was a case of

self-defense and said he feared for his life when the immigrants rushed

toward him in the darkness.

Haab, who has accused the Sheriff's Office of wrongful arrest and has

demanded $1 million in compensation, spent four nights in jail before

all of the charges were dismissed by the Maricopa County Attorney's

Office.

Barnett Lotstein, special assistant to the Maricopa County attorney,

said Tuesday that the military records do not affect the decision not

to prosecute Haab. "The fact that he had blemishes in his past would

not be relevant," he said.

County Attorney Andrew Thomas dismissed charges against Haab because of

a state law that allows citizens to make an arrest when a felony has

been committed. According to Thomas, all seven of the immigrants were

committing felonies: the smuggler in planning the operation and the six

immigrants in "conspiring" to illegally cross the border.

Haab's arrest and subsequent release triggered a storm of protest on

both sides of the immigration issue and has prompted a review by the

U.S. Department of Justice to determine if Haab violated federal civil

rights laws.

Haab maintained that race had nothing to do with his decision to stop

the immigrants, but following his arrest he became a celebrity on

conservative talk radio and television shows where he said immigrants

were turning the country into "Americo," a combination of America and

Mexico.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio said Tuesday that the military records speak for

themselves.

"I've said it before and I'll say it again: You don't pull guns on

people because of the color of their skin," the sheriff said, adding

that the decision to arrest Haab was the right one. "I will continue to

defend my deputies. They made the right decision."

The Sheriff's Office collected Haab's military records as part of its

investigation and released them to The Republic, which filed a request

under the state's open records law.

Haab played up his military service in jail interviews after his arrest

and on a Web site dedicated to building his defense fund, which refers

to Haab as a sergeant and pictures him in full military dress.

A local resident who put up Haab's $10,000 bail bond said he wanted to

help the soldier. Haab and his family said repeatedly that they had

gotten support from veterans across the country, who have described

Haab as a hero and patriot.

Haab joined the reserves in 2001 and served with distinction in a civil

affairs battalion in Kosovo, where he was awarded multiple service

medals.

Records show that military officials became concerned that Haab was

experiencing stress related problems at the end of his service in

Kosovo in 2003. They say by the time he transferred with his unit to

Kuwait in 2004, he had become "distant, uninterested in training and

paranoid."

In media interviews, Haab acknowledged taking doctor-prescribed

anti-depressants while in the military, saying he was suffering from

stress after his friend died in a roadside bombing. There is no mention

of that in the records.

According to the records, military officials said that when Haab's unit

was delayed in the Czech Republic because of an aircraft problem, "Sgt.

Haab thought it was a conspiracy to blow up the hotel with the entirety

of his (unit) in it."

Two months after arriving in Kuwait, the records state, Haab was pulled

out of the cultural awareness class by his superior and ordered to talk

to a chaplain. A few hours later, he became distraught, threatened to

commit suicide and got into a scuffle with military officials

attempting to take away a hidden knife.

Haab's lawyer, Douglas Loefgren, said Tuesday that he could not comment

on the records because he had not had a chance to review them. He

questioned if the records should have been released at all.

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0803haab03.html

Fred, Haab was not even in the MMP. He has not even so much as HEARD of save our state...man.

he fits the SOSMM profile to a tee though

mentally disturbed gun nut just looking for a chance to brandish or use it - against other races who's skin color is different

Arabs and Latinos being demonized together is a common mental defect SOSMM racists have...

And talk radio church sure played it up to rally the cause when they thought they could get a ratings boost out of it - the very talk radio you idiots take as gospel..

This is another desperate grasping of straws to link anything remotely negative to SOS or the Minute Men-

That article had no mention of SOS or MMP, and here you are trying to make it seem like this fellow was on patrol alongside Gilchrest, Simcox and Chase...

Again, with facts puh-leeeeeze?

This guy was well intentioned, but was ignorant of the law. It would have been better if he drew another weapon, like his cell-phone and called BP to detain the aliens. (Which is what MMP would do, and have done..)

one of the dots is talk radio - funny when it was being pounced upon as a heroic action things were peachy - yet now that it's aquired the stench of racism the denials abound - with the burden of proof always on the non-racists to waste as much of our time as possible

um - no

you go to bed without your beef supper