In his first public interview since his Jan. 24 arrest outside the Islamic Center of America, Roger Stockham, 63, told the Associated Press he meant to spray paint "Crazy Horse 18" — a message protesting the Iraq war — on the mosque's exterior wall. But he said he didn't intend to use the powerful fireworks he had with him to attack the building or those worshipping inside, as prosecutors have alleged.
"I have a history of making threats of explosions," Stockham said during the 30-minute interview at the Wayne County Jail. "If I wanted to do that I would've had no problem doing that."
Stockham has been involved in several violent incidents since returning from Vietnam after a stint as a commercial pilot in Indonesia. Stockham went to prison for planting a bomb at a Reno, Nev., airport in 1985. He tipped off the FBI, which disarmed it. By then, he had held a psychiatrist at gunpoint, kidnapped his own son, tried to hijack a plane, crashed a plane, and set fire to buildings. More recently, he threatened to kill the president.
Police say when they arrested Stockham during a traffic stop, he had 96 fireworks in his car, including M-80s and smoke bombs, as well as alcohol and a ski mask they say he was wearing when officers first spotted him. Witnesses said hours earlier at a nearby bar, Stockham sipped Scotch and bragged about how he was going to cause an explosion at the mosque.
Stockham, who had been living in Imperial Beach, Calif., has pleaded not guilty to the charges of making a false report or threat of terrorism, and possessing explosives with an unlawful intent.
Wayne County Prosecutor's Office spokeswoman Maria Miller declined comment on the case.
Stockham's attorney Matthew Evans has said his client is "eccentric" but not insane. Stockham said he is on bipolar medicine and has been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder.
Joe Nahhas, a manager at a Detroit bar, testified in February that Stockham nursed a Scotch while talking about setting off a "big explosion" at a mosque, which Nahhas took to mean the Islamic Center of America.
Stockham said the bar manager "totally blew out of proportion what I tried to say to him."
"I said 'event.' He was translating it into 'explosion,' " Stockham said. "I had to (say) over and over, 'spray can, graffiti.' ... I said nothing about blowing up anything.
"I planned to do it at night," he said. "I would've ordered another drink but finally he became such a nuisance I left."
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