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CAIR – April 28, 2008
Probe in the mysterious death of Riad Hamad sought
SAN ANTONIO, TX, April 28, 2008 - The San Antonio chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-San Antonio) today called for a Justice Department investigation into the death of Riad Hamad, whose body was found earlier this month in a Texas lake. The body had been bound with duct tape.
Hamad, a 55-year-old middle school teacher, was a peace activist and director of the Palestine Children's Welfare Fund. His family said he had received death threats in the past because of his advocacy on behalf of the Palestinian cause. Local police are leaning toward a ruling of suicide.
"Because of the unusual nature of this case and Mr. Hamad's past political activism, we urge the Justice Department to open an independent investigation into the cause of death," said CAIR-San Antonio President Sarwat Husain.
She said Hamad's office was recently raided by the FBI, but he was never formally accused of any wrongdoing.
According to KLBJ Radio News Hamad claimed on a videotape that he was being targeted by federal agents because he ran the Palestine Children's Welfare Fund out of south Austin.
"All of our work is very transparent. We don't work with any militant group or violent group, or anybody with a militant affiliation," said Riad Hamad, in a 2003 interview with freespeech TV.
In the 19-minute interview, found online, Hamad says several shipments of used books and clothing had been returned to his home address and on at least one occasion, a neighbor who signed for a package was questioned by a federal agent.
"We were hacked really bad," Hamad said. "We called the FBI and they said this is cost of business and would not do anything to help. There were like three different people who gave information about me that I only know."
In the video, Hamad says he held several degrees, including Bachelor's and Master's, from the University of Texas and was in the process of completing another.
"I don't have an affiliation," he says on the video. "I've been here since 1970. I was never involved in any militant or group that would hurt anybody... something violent."
Austin Police has preliminarily ruled his death a suicide. Hamad's body was found floating in Lady Bird Lake and had been bound with duct tape. Police say the binding was in a manner which he could have done it to himself.
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