United States v. Hasan K. Akbar

Sergeant Hasan Karim Akbar (born Mark Fidel Kools on April 21, 1971) threw four hand grenades into three tents in which other members of the 101st Airborne Division were sleeping, and fired his rifle at fellow soldiers in the ensuing chaos.

Army Captain Christopher S. Seifert was fatally shot in the back, and Air Force Major Gregory L. Stone was killed by a grenade.

Akbar was born Mark Fidel Kools on April 21, 1971, and grew up in Watts, Los Angeles, California.

[2] His father, John Kools, converted to Islam while in prison on a gang-related charge, and changed his surname to Akbar before his release in 1974.

By March 2003, elements of the division were staging at Camp Pennsylvania, a U.S. military encampment in the Northern desert of Kuwait, in connection with the upcoming invasion of Iraq.

In the early morning hours of March 23, 2003, Akbar turned off a power generator which was operating lights in the area where the attack occurred.

Next, Akbar threw four M67 fragmentation hand grenades into three tents in which other members of the division were sleeping, causing numerous injuries.

[4] His father John Akbar was reported by the Associated Press as saying that his son had told him of complaining to superiors about "religious and racial harassment.

"[12] Prosecutors alleged in the court martial that his diary entries, together with his actions of stealing hand grenades and turning off the generator that lit the camp, showed that the attack was premeditated.

He had suffered worsening symptoms in the military, which included "paranoia, irrational behavior, insomnia and other sleep disorders," making it impossible for him to do his job.

[16] On November 20, 2006, Lieutenant General John R. Vines, commander of the XVIIIth Airborne Corps, affirmed the death sentence against Akbar.

The next step in his case requires the President of the United States in his role as Commander in Chief to order the execution to take place, which is currently done by lethal injection.